Gretzky Gets First Goals in St. Louis for Blues

Wayne Gretzky is the new guy in St. Louis, but there’s still a warm spot in its heart for an old hero, Brendan Shanahan.

“Gretzky is great, but Shan the Man is still No. 1,” read a sign next to the Hartford Whaler bench Saturday night, welcoming Shanahan to the Kiel Center for the first time since the Blues traded him in the off-season.

Shanahan scored his 34th goal and had an assist for the Whalers, but Gretzky had two goals and an assist in his third home game for his new club in leading St. Louis to a 6-3 victory.

Gretzky’s 17th goal came in the second period and he had an empty-net goal with 14.3 seconds to play.

His assist gives him five points in the last two games.

“It was sweet tonight,” he said. “The fans here have been too nice to me.”

Toronto 4, Calgary 3--The Maple Leafs stopped a 10-game winless streak, their longest slide in five years, behind three goals from Kirk Muller at Toronto.

Montreal 3, Ottawa 2--Vladimir Malakhov scored one goal and set up another for the Canadiens, who won at home and sent Ottawa to its sixth loss in a row.

New Jersey 4, Pittsburgh 3--Steve Thomas scored his second goal of the game 21 seconds into overtime for the Devils, who extended their unbeaten streak to seven games.

N.Y. Rangers 6, Washington 1--Alexei Kovalev scored two of the Rangers’ five power-play goals and they ended a season-high five-game winless streak by winning at Landover, Md.

Boston 3, Philadelphia 2--Don Sweeney scored his fourth goal of the season with 2:38 to play, giving the Bruins a come-from-behind victory at home and moving them within a point of Montreal for the eighth and final playoff spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.

N.Y. Islanders 4, Winnipeg 2--Bryan McCabe scored the go-ahead goal in the second period for the Islanders at Winnipeg.

Colorado 7, Vancouver 5--Craig Wolanin’s second-period goal, his seventh of the season, broke a 3-3 tie at Vancouver.