Keenan Benches Hull, Blues Win

The St. Louis Blues picked an unlikely time and opponent to break out of a slump.

Playing without leading scorer Brett Hull, the Blues broke a 132-minute scoreless streak with three first-period goals Friday night at Denver and then hung on to beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3, in a game featuring 95 penalty minutes.

Hull was benched by Mike Keenan, coach and general manager, because, after a 3-0 loss Thursday to Phoenix, Hull hinted that Keenan was to blame for the team’s recent woes.

Then the Blues went out and beat the defending Stanley Cup champions as Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy lost for just the second time in 16 games (12-2-2).

New York Rangers 6, Toronto 5--Wayne Gretzky scored two goals, including the tying goal, and assisted on two goals by Bill Berg, including the game-winner with 27 seconds left at New York.

Berg’s second goal of the game, which was also only his second of the season, enabled the Rangers--whose lackluster play for most of the last two periods had upset the crowd at Madison Square Garden--to complete their comeback.

Montreal 3, Chicago 1--Marc Bureau scored the go-ahead goal for the Canadiens off a two-on-one break with 6:17 remaining at Chicago.

Philadelphia 6, Dallas 3--Dale Hawerchuk scored the go-ahead goal with 8:25 to play, and Mikael Renberg added two goals as the Flyers won at Dallas.

Pittsburgh 5, Washington 3--Jaromir Jagr scored twice and Mario Lemieux got the go-ahead goal for the Penguins at Landover, Md.

Edmonton 5, Ottawa 2--Doug Weight scored twice as the Oilers beat Senators at Edmonton.