McKay Starts Paying Off for Stars

Of the four players swapped by the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils, Randy McKay had the least impressive offensive statistics.

So, naturally, he was the first to come through with a big offensive play Wednesday in Dallas.

McKay had two assists in his Dallas debut, including a nifty one-handed flick while his other arm was locked up by a defender that Kirk Muller turned into the game-winner in the Stars’ 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

“It just felt good to contribute,” said McKay, who arrived in Dallas a few hours before the game one day after being traded with Jason Arnott for Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner. “It boosts your confidence. You don’t want to lose your first game with your new team.

“My ice time had diminished in New Jersey, so it’s nice to at least play and do something.”

Arnott didn’t play because of a bad back that’s bothered him for more than a week. The Stars also were without Jere Lehtinen (ankle) and Pierre Turgeon (back), leaving them down three of their most skilled players in a game Dallas badly needed for playoff positioning.

“It’s right there as far as big wins for us this year,” Dallas captain Derian Hatcher said. “After yesterday, and considering the guys we had out, it was a great performance.”

The victory gives Dallas 78 points, good for eighth in the Western Conference. The Stars are one point behind St. Louis.

“It was a frustrating game,” Keith Tkachuk of the Blues said. “It was the biggest game of the year and we didn’t win.”

McKay came to the Stars with only seven assists and six goals in 55 games this season.

New Jersey 3, Chicago 1--Playing the Blackhawks at Chicago inspired the Devils to start strong.

Colin White, John Madden and Bobby Holik scored and the Devils won despite not having leading scorer Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora, who were sidelined with flu.

The Devils controlled play in the first period and early into the second, building a 2-0 lead by 2:34.

New Jersey’s early advantage could have been larger. The Devils outshot the Blackhawks, 12-4, in the first period and had seven prime scoring chances to none for Chicago.

One of those came when New Jersey’s Sergei Brylin was awarded a penalty shot, but was stopped by Jocelyn Thibault just 4:14 in.

“The first period was as good a period as you possibly could play,” said the Devils’ John Vanbiesbrouck, who stopped 21 shots. “I think we were hungry for the puck and moving the puck into their end.”

The Devils have won four of their last five games.

Columbus 3, Minnesota 1--Playing for the first time since a young fan died after being hit by a puck, the Blue Jackets rallied behind Ron Tugnutt’s 24 saves at St. Paul, Minn.

A moment of silence was held before the game for 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil, who died Monday night after being hit by a puck during Columbus’ home game against Calgary on Saturday

Espen Knutsen, whose shot was deflected by a defenseman and hit the girl in the head, had her initials placed on his helmet along with the rest of his teammates.

Tampa Bay 4, Atlanta 2--Dave Andreychuk scored twice for the Lightning during a four-goal second period at Tampa, Fla.

Andreychuk tied the score, 2-2, on a backhand while being pulled down by Kamil Piros at 10:16. He scored the go-ahead goal from a sharp angle near the goal line at 13:56.

Andreychuk also had an assist and moved past Peter Stastny into 26th place on the all-time points list with 1,241. It was his first multigoal game this season and 84th overall.

Montreal 4, Florida 1--Oleg Petrov and Richard Zednik scored, and Doug Gilmour had three assists at Sunrise, Fla.

The game was the first for the Panthers since trading All-Star Pavel Bure to the New York Rangers on Monday.

Zednik gave Montreal a 3-1 lead 58 seconds into the third period with his 19th goal and Petrov capped the scoring at 6:09 with his 23rd.

Phoenix 3, Pittsburgh 1--Ladislav Nagy and Daniel Briere scored in the third period at Pittsburgh and the Coyotes earned at least a point for the 12th time in 13 games.

It was Coach Bob Francis’ 107th victory with the Coyotes, making him the winningest coach in the franchise’s combined history at Winnipeg and Phoenix.

Edmonton 2, San Jose 1--Mike Comrie scored early in the third period at Edmonton, Canada, giving the Oilers their third consecutive victory.

Comrie broke a 1-1 tie at 4:46 of the third period when he took a pass from Anson Carter at the Sharks’ blue line, broke in alone on goalie Evgeni Nabokov and slid a backhander between the goalie’s legs.