NHL ROUNDUP : Robitaille Leads Penguins Over Nordiques

The Pittsburgh Penguins blew open a matchup of the NHL’s best teams with seven goals in the second period Monday night.

Luc Robitaille had two goals and two assists as the Penguins defeated the Quebec Nordiques, 7-5, at Quebec. The Penguins and Nordiques entered the game with identical 13-3-2 records, tied for first place in the overall standings.

Pittsburgh had lost twice since defeating the Nordiques, 5-4, last Tuesday at Pittsburgh.

The Penguins erased a 2-0 deficit with their second-period blitz, which set a team record for goals in one period of a road game. Pittsburgh had eight goals against San Jose in a home game in 1991.

John Cullen, Shawn McEachern, Larry Murphy, Len Barrie and Jaromir Jagr had the other goals for the Penguins, who scored six times in a span of 7:23.

New Jersey 6, Montreal 1--John MacLean had a goal and two assists, and Chris Terreri stopped 26 shots at East Rutherford, N.J., for his first victory of the season.

Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik, Tom Chorske, Sergei Brylin and Claude Lemieux also scored as New Jersey peppered Canadien goaltender Patrick Roy with 53 shots. The six goals and 53 shots were season highs, with the shots coming within one of the Devils’ single-game record. The 53 shots also were the most against Montreal this season.

Boston 2, Ottawa 0--Rookie Blaine Lacher stopped 28 shots at Ottawa to record his second shutout in 11 NHL games.

Lacher improved to 8-2-1 in his first pro game against little-used Ottawa backup Darrin Madeley, a former college teammate.

Madeley gave up goals to Cam Neely and Dave Reid.

St. Louis 3, Toronto 2--Brendan Shanahan, Glenn Anderson and Brett Hull each scored for the Blues at St. Louis.

NHL Notes

Jason Arnott and his coach appeared to smooth over their differences after the Edmonton Oiler forward described criticisms by George Burnett as “brutal” and “retarded.” While the other Oilers practiced, Arnott and Burnett met privately for 15 minutes at the blue line.