Surging Ranger Offense Hangs 10 on Scoreboard

Saying the New York Rangers are red-hot offensively would be an understatement.

Kevin Stevens had three goals and two assists and Ulf Samuelsson scored twice as the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 10-2, Tuesday night at Tampa, Fla.

The Rangers entered the game as the NHL’s lowest-scoring team with 24 goals. After scoring 18 goals in their first 12 games, the Rangers have scored 16 in their last two.

“It’s fun scoring goals--but winning is the biggest thing,” Stevens said “It’s good to get on the board and it’s good to win the way we won tonight.”

The Rangers last scored 10 goals in a game on Dec. 13, 1992 in a 10-5 victory over Montreal.

Stevens completed his first hat trick since Jan. 11, 1994 and the 11th of his career with 5:16 left to play. He recorded five points in a game for the first time since Oct. 17, 1992.

Marc Savard, who has six points in two games since being recalled from Hartford of the AHL on Nov. 5, had a goal and an assist. Savard’s two-game point total matched the six points he collected in his first 28 NHL games.

Lightning right wing Mikael Renberg broke his left thumb during the game and is expected to miss up to a month.

Pittsburgh 3, New York Islanders 2--Robert Lang and Martin Straka scored in the second period to help the Penguins win their first home game.

Pittsburgh had been 0-1-3 at home and the last NHL team without a home win.

The crowd of 10,292 was Pittsburgh’s lowest in nearly three years and 6,666 below the Civic Arena’s capacity.

St. Louis 5, Chicago 2--Pierre Turgeon had three goals and Pavol Demitra had two goals and three assists at St. Louis.

The Blackhawks are winless in their last seven games and 3-6-2 in their last 11.

St. Louis outshot Chicago, 41-14. The 14 shots are a season low for the Blackhawks.

Chicago’s Tony Amonte had his goal-scoring streak stopped at three games.

Nashville 4, San Jose 2--Sergei Krivokrasov and Darren Turcotte scored second-period goals and Mike Dunham made 33 saves for the Predators at San Jose.

Scott Walker had a goal and an assist and Cliff Ronning also scored for Nashville, which is 2-2 on a six-game road trip.

Colorado 1, Phoenix 1--Keith Tkachuk of Phoenix scored in the second period after Peter Forsberg had given Colorado an early lead over the Coyotes at Phoenix.

The Coyotes ran their unbeaten streak to six while posting the best 10-game start in franchise history at 6-2-2. The former Winnipeg Jets, who entered the NHL in 1979, were 6-3-1 after 10 games in the 1993-94 season.

Jimmy Waite (2-0-0) beat the Avalanche for the third time in four decisions in his career, recording 20 saves, and maintained his goal-a-game average.

Patrick Roy (2-7-2), off to a slow start as Colorado tries to deal with injuries to defensemen, had 24 saves.

Buffalo 2, Ottawa 2--Curtis Brown’s short-handed goal and Dominik Hasek’s 38 saves at Buffalo, helped the Sabres extend its unbeaten streak to six games.

The Sabres were on the power play for the last minute of overtime, but were unable to capitalize.

NHL Notes

Detroit forward Brent Gilchrist, who has yet to play or practice this season, will miss another eight weeks after undergoing surgery to release tension on a tightened groin muscle. . . . The Colorado Avalanche acquired defenseman Cam Russell from the Chicago Blackhawks for left winger Roman Vopat and a sixth-round selection in the 1999 entry draft. . . . Two years after retiring because of a degenerative hip condition, former Boston Bruin forward Cam Neely is returning to practice with the team as he eyes a possible comeback. Neely will skate with the Bruins for about 10 days before deciding whether to return to professional hockey, said Harry Sinden, the Bruins’ president and general manager. . . . The Boston Bruins got the last of their free agent holdouts on board, signing defenseman Kyle McLaren to a three-year contract. . . . The NHL suspended New Jersey center Bobby Holik for two games for tripping Florida defenseman Paul Laus is a game last Saturday.