NHL ROUNDUP : Devils Win but Not Satisfied

Jacques Lemaire has no problems with Steve Thomas making New Jersey fans forget playoff MVP Claude Lemieux by scoring a couple of goals.

But when the Devils forget the team style that made them Stanley Cup champions, Lemaire takes exception.

Lemaire ripped his team Thursday night for a horrible performance over the final 30 minutes in a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at East Rutherford, N.J.

“This was just awful, the way we played,” Lemaire said. “I can’t be positive after an effort like that. Otherwise you’re just waiting for a loss. You can’t say: ‘Hey boys, that’s fine, we won 4-1, that’s a good, good game.’ If we agree we played well, we’re fooling ourselves.”

Winnipeg, playing its second game in as many nights, outshot New Jersey, 17-5, in the final period and only the goaltending of Martin Brodeur prevented the Jets from getting closer.

“There’s no question we let up in the mid-second and the third,” Thomas said. “We had one good period and we were lucky. I think when you look at this team, it’s nice to know, you can play awful and still win.”

The Devils won for the second consecutive game because they played very well in the opening 30 minutes. Thomas sandwiched his goals around Denis Pederson’s first NHL goal as New Jersey outshot Winnipeg, 22-6.

“I’m sure people are going to remember Claude for what he did in the playoffs, but I’m going to come out here every night and work as hard as I can and see what I can do.”

Boston 6, San Jose 6--Adam Oates had two goals and two assists as the Bruins maintained their unbeaten record against the Sharks.

Steve Heinze added two goals for the Bruins, who have a 5-0-2 record against the Sharks. Dave Reid scored the night’s final goal, tying the score for Boston with 8:53 left in the third period.

Chicago 5, Pittsburgh 1--Jeff Shantz took advantage of a mistake by Mario Lemieux to score shorthanded and Patrick Poulin had two goals as the Blackhawks won their home opener over the Penguins.

Gary Suter and Bernie Nicholls also scored for the Blackhawks, who got 28 saves from Ed Belfour.

Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 1--Petr Klima scored twice as the Lightning continued its home-ice domination of the Canadiens.

The victory improved the Lightning’s home record against Montreal to 5-0-1 in its four-year history. Tampa Bay also hold a 6-3-1 overall series advantage.

The Lightning scored first on a power play when Klima’s slap shot from the blue line was deflected by a defenseman over the shoulder of Montreal goaltender Patrick Roy at 4:38.

St. Louis 3, Dallas 1--Grant Fuhr turned aside 35 shots to record his 292nd victory and Brian Noonan broke a 1-1 tie with a second-period power-play goal as the Blues continued their domination of the Stars in Dallas.

The Blues were outshot, 36-19, but they beat Star goalie Andy Moog three times on their first 13 shots en route to their 13th victory in 16 meetings with the Stars.

NHL Notes

Amid trade rumors and after a bitter arbitration case, goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck agreed to a new three-year, $6.5 million contract with the Florida Panthers. . . . The New Jersey Devils and their landlord failed to complete a new lease agreement and were again forced to ask a judge for more time to settle their differences. After all-day talks, the Devils and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority reported progress in their negotiations toward the tentative agreement reached on July 13 to keep the team in the state until 2007.