Busy Richter Keeps Devils at Bay in Rangers’ 6-1 Win

Mike Richter hadn’t shown much of his World Cup MVP form since the NHL season started. He finally did against the New Jersey Devils.

Richter had 53 saves and Brian Leetch and Daniel Goneau each scored twice as the New York Rangers defeated the Devils, 6-1, on Wednesday night despite taking only 23 shots on goal at East Rutherford, N.J.

Richter didn’t have much time to think about anything other than defending his net in the opening two periods as the Devils fired 43 of their team record-tying 54 shots at him.

Wayne Gretzky extended his league-high scoring streak to 13 games (six goals, 14 assists), setting up Leetch’s second power-play goal and another in the third period by Niklas Sundstrom. Darren Langdon also scored for the Rangers, who built a 4-0 lead on 14 shots in the first two periods.

Dallas 2, Buffalo 0--Andy Moog made 24 saves and Benoit Hogue and Greg Adams scored third-period goals as the Stars won at Dallas.

It was their ninth victory of the month, tying the club record for wins in October.

Moog, who has given up one goal in his last three games, earned his 333rd career victory, most among active goalies, and 24th shutout.

Colorado 6, St. Louis 3--Adam Deadmarsh had two goals and an assist, and Peter Forsberg added a goal and two assists at Denver as the Avalanche won their fourth in a row.

NHL scoring leader Joe Sakic had two assists for the Avalanche.

Harry York scored his first NHL goal for St. Louis, which lost its third consecutive game.

Patrick Roy stopped 34 shots for the Avalanche. St. Louis goalie Grant Fuhr stopped 13 of 16 shots before being pulled at 2:12 of the second period.

Florida 3, Chicago 2--Mike Hough scored with 2:17 remaining to give the Panthers a win at Miami and extend their unbeaten streak to 12 games.

The Panthers (8-0-4) are now three games away from tying the 1984-1985 Edmonton Oilers’ NHL record for starting the season without a loss. The Oilers went 12-0-3 that season before their first loss.

Detroit 5, Montreal 3--Sergei Fedorov had a goal and an assist in a wild third period as the Red Wings beat the Canadiens at Detroit.

The Canadiens, who trailed 2-0 after two periods, scored three times as the teams combined to score four goals in a 4:44 span of the third period.

Martin Lapointe, Steve Yzerman, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Darren McCarty also scored for the Red Wings, who are unbeaten in their last six games. Vladimir Malakhov, Stephane Quintal and Brendan Savage scored the Montreal goals.

Washington 4, Philadelphia 2--Jason Allison scored the tie-breaking goal with 1:48 left at Landover, Md., as the Capitals handed the Flyers their third consecutive loss.

The Capitals blew a two-goal lead before coming back to win. After Allison put Washington ahead, Dale Hunter scored into an empty net with 18.2 seconds to go.

New York 2, Hartford 2--Kevin Dineen scored the Whalers’ second power-play goal of the game 4:43 into the third period, giving them a tie in the game at Hartford.

Four of the 33-year-old Dineen’s five goals have come on the power play. He is tied for the NHL lead in power-play goals.

Edmonton 4, Phoenix 1--Ryan Smyth scored twice to lead the Oilers to a victory at Edmonton.

The 20-year-old right wing, who leads the Oilers with nine goals in 12 games, scored the winner in the second period.

Smyth then gave Edmonton some insurance with a power-play goal in the third period.

San Jose 3, Calgary 1--The Sharks broke their home hex against the Flames, getting two goals from Owen Nolan and one from Darren Turcotte for a win at San Jose.

It was the Sharks’ first home victory against Calgary since Jan. 17, 1994, ending a streak of five consecutive losses to the visiting Flames.