NHL ROUNDUP : Coffey Gets Two Assists in Debut With Red Wings

Paul Coffey, making his first start for Detroit, assisted on two goals as the Red Wings tied the Vancouver Canucks, 4-4, Saturday night at Vancouver.

The Kings sent Coffey, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer among defensemen, to Detroit in Friday for Jimmy Carson and two minor leaguers in a six-player deal.

Detroit’s Bob Probert broke a 3-3 tie at 16:14 of the second period with his ninth goal, with help from Paul Ysebaert and Coffey.

Garry Valk, a checking forward on the Canucks’ fourth line, scored at 15:09 of the third period and the Canucks erased a one-goal deficit for the third time in the game. Valk scored only his second goal of the season after taking a pass from Gerald Diduck

Ysebaert, Ray Sheppard and Mike Sillinger also scored for Detroit as the Red Wings. Cliff Ronning, Adrien Plavsic and Trevor Linden were the other scorers for the Canucks, who are winless in four games (0-1-3).

Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2-- Kevin Stevens, Ron Francis and Shawn McEachern scored power play goals as the Penguins won at Pittsburgh to extend their two-year unbeaten streak against the Flyers to 14 games.

The Penguins lead the season series, 4-0-1, and are 10-0-4 against the Flyers since Jan. 31, 1991. The Flyers lost for the sixth time in their last seven games.

The Penguins are 5-2 in their last seven games and 6-5 without NHL scoring leader Mario Lemieux, who will begin a month of radiation treatment on Monday to combat Hodgkin’s disease.

New Jersey 2, St. Louis 2-- Stephane Richer scored his 17th goal and added an assist as the Devils tied the Blues at St. Louis.

The Blues were seeking their fourth consecutive victory in their chase of the Toronto Maple Leafs for fourth place and the final playoff spot in the Norris Division.

Instead, the Blues fell four points behind the Maple Leafs.

Goalie Chris Terreri made 29 saves as New Jersey snapped a three-game losing streak.

Winnipeg 6, Hartford 3-- Rookie Teemu Selanne became the third player in the NHL to reach the 40-goal plateau and Alexei Zhamnov scored a short-handed goal late in the second period to snap a tie as the Jets won at Hartford.

Zhamnov took a clearing pass from Dean Kennedy up the right boards as Winnipeg was killing a Hartford power play. Zhamnov slipped past Murray Craven and scored on a breakaway to snap a 3-3 tie at 17:46.

Zhamnov also assisted on two other goals as the Jets snapped a two-game losing streak.

Kris King, Phil Housley, Stu Barnes and Mike Eagles also scored for Winnipeg, which has been on 13-3-2 surge since Dec. 27, but lost its two previous games

Boston 6, N.Y. Islanders 5--Rookie goaltender John Blue, with the help of a third-period goal from Ray Bourque, gained his first road victory in the NHL as the Bruins ended the Islanders’ six-game unbeaten streak at Uniondale, N.Y.

Bourque’s slapshot from the upper left circle at 13:32 of the third period turned out to be the game-winner. Benoit Hogue’s 30-foot slapshot tied the game at 10:14.

Blue, 1-1-1 on the road, made 21 saves. Glenn Healy, making his first start since Jan. 8, took the loss for New York. He missed four games with tendinitis in his right wrist.

Tampa Bay 4, Minnesota 3-- Wendell Young, called up from the minor leagues earlier in the day, made 34 saves at Bloomington, Minn., as the Lightning ended the North Stars’ seven-game (6-0-1) unbeaten streak.

John Tucker had a goal and an assist and Chris Kontos scored his 25th goal of the season for the Lightning, who won for just the third time in 17 games (3-13-1).

Minnesota’s Mike Modano reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth time in as many seasons, but the North Stars suffered their first loss since Jan. 14 and first against an expansion team since Feb. 13, 1980, a span of 15 games.

Young, who clinched the victory by stopping Russ Courtnall on a 10-foot shot from the left side with 10 seconds left in the game, struggled early in the season, posting a 3-11-0 record with a 4.23 goals-against average before he was sent to the minors.

Toronto 3, N.Y. Rangers 1-- Doug Gilmour continued his chase of two club records, scoring once and setting up another goal, to spark the Maple Leafs to a win over the Rangers at Toronto.

Gilmour, who will play in his first NHL All-Star game next weekend, is on pace to break Darryl Sitter’s record for assists (72) and points (117). Gilmour has 74 points, including 55 assists, in 51 games.

Montreal 5, Ottawa 3--The Canadiens scored four first-period goals at Montreal to keep the Senators winless in 26 road games.

Montreal took the early lead on goals from Brian Bellows, Vincent Damphousse, Eric Desjardins and Kirk Muller.

Calgary 5, San Jose 4--Joel Otto scored his 11th goal of the season with 2:43 left in the game to lift the Flames to victory over the Sharks at Daly City, Calif.