Believe It, Red Wings Rout Blues

St. Louis Blues Coach Mike Keenan can now be counted among the believers in the Detroit Red Wings.

“They should be a shoo-in to win the Stanley Cup if they keep playing the way they are right now,” Keenan said after his team was routed by the Red Wings 8-1 Sunday at Detroit.

The Blues, already missing Brett Hull and Shayne Corson, lost goalie Grant Fuhr and was no match for surging Detroit.

Sergei Fedorov and Slava Fetisov each scored two goals as the Red Wings moved within two victories of the NHL regular-season record of 60 set by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. Detroit (58-12-5) has seven games remaining.

Hull was scratched with a pulled hamstring. Fuhr was lifted after giving up Detroit’s second goal in the second period with a reported leg strain.

Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 1--John LeClair closed a memorable March with three goals to give him 15 for the month as the Flyers defeated the Penguins at Philadelphia.

LeClair had 15 goals and eight assists during March, giving him 47 goals and 43 assists for 90 points for the season. The Flyers have now won five in a row and eight of their last nine.

The Penguins, who lost for only the second time in their last eight games, played without NHL scoring leader Mario Lemieux, who took the day off.

New York Rangers 4, New York Islanders 1--Sergei Nemchinov scored twice as the Rangers defeated the Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y. for their second consecutive victory.

Alexei Kovalev snapped a 1-1 tie by putting the Rangers ahead 1:25 into the final period, as he one-timed the rebound of Jari Kurri’s slap shot past Islanders goaltender Eric Fichaud.

Nemchinov clinched the game at 8:03, as his backhander deflected in off a defenseman’s skate.

Boston 6, Buffalo 5--Dave Reid scored two goals in the third period, including a short-handed tally with 3:29 remaining that lifted the Bruins to the victory over the host Sabres.

Reid’s game-winner came after Buffalo was caught out of position in Boston’s zone while attempting to put pressure on the Bruins during a power play. Reid, skating on a 2-on-1 break with Don Sweeney, lifted a wrist shot into the net over Sabres goalie Andre Trefilov.

Adam Oates added two goals for the Bruins. Buffalo was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

Chicago 5, Dallas 3--Bob Probert scored two goals and also assisted on Brent Sutter’s goal, leading the Blackhawks to the victory at Dallas.

Tony Amonte and Jeff Shantz also scored, and Ed Belfour made 22 saves for Chicago, who won for only the second time in six games without injured scoring leader Jeremy Roenick.

Benoit Hogue, Brent Gilchrist and Greg Adams scored for the Stars.

Washington 1, Tampa Bay 1--Roman Hamrlik scored with eight minutes left in regulation, ending Jim Carey’s bid for a third consecutive shutout and lifting the Lightning to a tie with the host Capitals.

Carey had extended his shutout string to a career-best 200 minutes, 4 seconds before Hamrlik scored from the left circle.

Carey finished with 23 saves but was thwarted in his march toward Pat Riggin’s franchise-record shutout streak of 203 minutes, 52 seconds.