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Devils Push Montreal To Brink Of Elimination

Associated Press

NHL roundup

Valeri Zelepukin scored three goals as visiting New Jersey beat Montreal 6-4 Tuesday night to move within one victory of sweeping their first-round playoff series.

New Jersey holds a 3-0 lead in the best-of7 Eastern Conference series, and can complete a sweep by winning Game 4 Thursday night at the Molson Centre.

“It’s just teamwork,” Zelepukin said. “It’s five guys working hard. You just have to be in the right place at the right time, and I was three times tonight.”

Devils 6, Canadiens 4

New Jersey 2 2 2 - 6

Montreal 2 1 1 - 4

First period-1, Montreal, Recchi 1 (Koivu, Brunet), :34. 2, New Jersey, Elias 1 (Holik, Chambers), 14:02 (pp). 3, Montreal, Thornton 1 (Stevenson, Savage), 17:06. 4, New Jersey, Holik 1 (Pandolfo, Ellett), 19:35. Second period-5, Montreal, Recchi 2 (Brisebois, Bure), 2:39. 6, New Jersey, Zelepukin 1 (Carpenter, MacLean), 4:58. 7, New Jersey, Zelepukin 2 (MacLean), 7:15. Third period-8, Montreal, Koivu 1 (Recchi), 4:37. 9, New Jersey, Zelepukin 3 (Chambers, Elias), 7:50 (pp). 10, New Jersey, Rolston 3, 19:01 (en-sh). Shots on goal-New Jersey 13-9-5-27. Montreal 10-9-6-25.Powerplay opp.-New Jersey 2 of 7; Montreal 0 of 4.Goalies-New Jersey, Brodeur 3-0 (25 shots-21 saves). Montreal, Thibault 0-3 (26-21).A-21,008 (21,273).

Blackhawks 6, Avalanche 3

At Chicago

Bob Probert, known more for brawling than scoring, had two of Chicago’s four second-period goals as the Blackhawks evened the Western Conference quarterfinals at two games apiece with a victory over Colorado.

Colorado 2 0 1 - 3

Chicago 1 4 1 - 6

First period-1, Chicago, Amonte 2 (Chelios), 3:34. 2, Colorado, Jones 2 (Sakic), 9:31. 3, Colorado, Sakic 1 (Forsberg, Kamensky), 14:17 (pp). Second period-4, Chicago, Probert 1 (Daze, Savard), 5:53. 5, Chicago, Moreau 1 (Amonte, Shantz), 6:57. 6, Chicago, Probert 2 (Shantz, Suter), 10:16 (pp). 7, Chicago, Dubinsky 1 (Suter, Black), 17:53. Third period-8, Chicago, Amonte 3 (K.Miller), 14:28 (sh-en). 9, Colorado, A.Miller 1 (Yelle, Ricci), 16:00. Shots on goal-Colorado 8-9-15-32. Chicago 6-19-6-31.Powerplay opp.-Colorado 1 of 6; Chicago 1 of 5.Goalies-Colorado, Roy 2-2 (30 shots-25 saves). Chicago, Hackett 2-2 (32-29).A-19,046 (20,500).

Rangers 4, Panthers 3 (OT)

At New York

A back-and-forth contest swung in the Rangers’ direction near the end of overtime as Esa Tikkanen bounced a shot off the goalnet camera to give New York a victory over Florida.

The Rangers now lead the first-round, best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 is tonight at Madison Square Garden.

Florida 0 3 0 0 - 3

N.Y. Rangers 2 0 1 1 - 4

First period-1, New York, Eastwood 1 (Sundstrom, Lidster), 13:12. 2, New York, Robitaille 2 (Eastwood, Lidster), 17:09. Second period-3, Florida, Garpenlov 2 (Murphy, Svehla), 1:16 (pp). 4, Florida, Sheppard 1 (Muller, Lindsay), 2:58. 5, Florida, Svehla 1 (Muller), 15:32 (pp). Third period-6, New York, Robitaille 3 (Messier, Gretzky), 19:41. Overtime-7, New York, Tikkanen 2 (Leetch), 16:29. Shots on goal-Florida 14-15-4-6-39. New York 12-13-10-10-45.Power-play opp.-Florida 2 of 4; New York 0 of 2.Goalies-Florida, Vanbiesbrouck 1-2 (45 shots-41 saves). New York, Richter 2-1 (39-36).A-18,200 (18,200).

Blues 4, Red Wings 0

At St. Louis

Geoff Courtnall scored two goals and Grant Fuhr got his second shutout of the playoffs as St. Louis beat Detroit to tie the series at two games apiece.

Detroit 0 0 0 - 0

St. Louis 2 0 2 - 4

First period-1, St. Louis, Courtnall 2 (McAlpine, Hull), 5:50. 2, St. Louis, Demitra 1 (Hull), 18:51. Second period-None. Third period-3, St. Louis, Courtnall 3 (Demitra, Pronger), 1:10 (pp). 4, St. Louis, Pronger 1 (Demitra, Hull), 9:23. Shots on goal-Detroit 9-10-9-28. St. Louis 10-10-7-27.Powerplay opp.-Detroit 0 of 6; St. Louis 1 of 4.Goalies-Detroit, Vernon 2-2 (25 shots-21 saves), Osgood (9:23 third, 3-3). St. Louis, Fuhr 2-2 (28-28).A-19,787 (19,260).

Stars 4, Oilers 3

Edmonton, Alberta

Brent Gilchrist and Jamie Langenbrunner scored third-period goals and Dallas hung on to defeat Edmonton to even their playoff series at two games apiece.

Dallas 1 1 2 - 4

Edmonton 1 1 1 - 3

First period-1, Edmonton, Kovalenko 2 (Arnott, Weight), 10:13 (pp). 2, Dallas, Modano 3 (Sydor, Nieuwendyk), 13:15 (pp). Second period-3, Dallas, Reid 1 (Carbonneau), 2:20. 4, Edmonton, Arnott 1 (Smyth, Kovalenko), 8:23 (pp). Third period-5, Dallas, Gilchrist 2 (Modano, Ludwig), 1:53. 6, Dallas, Langenbrunner 1 (Bassen, Marshall), 5:31. 7, Edmonton, Smyth 2 (Weight, Arnott), 18:47. Shots on goal-Dallas 14-9-7-30. Edmonton 12-10-11-33.Power-play opp.-Dallas 1 of 6; Edmonton 2 of 8.Goalies-Dallas, Moog 2-2 (33 shots-30 saves). Edmonton, Joseph 2-2 (30-26).A-17,099 (17,099).

Coyotes 2, Mighty Ducks 0

Phoenix

Bob Corkum broke a scoreless tie with 7:15 left in the third period, and Phoenix went on to beat Anaheim and even their playoff series at two games apiece.

Anaheim 0 0 0 - 0

Phoenix 0 0 2 - 2

First period-None. Second period-None. Third period-1, Phoenix, Corkum 1, 12:45. 2, Phoenix, Nummenin 2, 19:54 (en). Shots on goal-Anaheim 4-14-14-32. Phoenix 10-9-6-25.Power-play opp.-Anaheim 0 of 4; Phoenix 0 of 3.Goalies-Anaheim, Hebert 2-2 (24 shots-23 saves), Shtalenkov (18:53 period, 0-0). Phoenix, Khabibulin 2-2 (32-32).A-16,210 (17,174).