NHL ROUNDUP : Slumping Flames Tied by Nordiques

With the slump they are in, the Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames can’t beat anyone.

They built a 3-0 lead in the first period Tuesday night at Quebec against the Nordiques, the team with the worst record in the NHL, and had to settle for a 4-4 tie.

The Nordiques, who have won five of 22 games, earned the tie when Joe Sakic scored his second goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

The Flames are winless in their last seven games (0-3-4). After beating the Kings, 5-4, Nov. 8, the Flames were 10-4-4 and looking the part of champions. Since then they have had trouble against everyone.

A mistake by defenseman Gary Suter cost the Flames. He misplayed the puck deep in his own end of the ice. Iiro Jarvi passed to Sakic, whose low shot skipped past goaltender Mike Vernon.

Boston 2, Detroit 1--Bob Sweeney circled the net and slipped the puck past goaltender Greg Stefan at 2:09 of overtime at Detroit to give the Bruins their sixth consecutive victory.

St. Louis 7, Minnesota 4--The Blues were ready for Jon Casey at St. Louis. The flashy Minnesota goaltender had shut them out twice already this season.

The Blues scored on three of their first four shots and it was never a contest. Peter Zezel, Steve Tuttle and Rod Brind’Amour scored and sent Casey to the showers in only 11 minutes.

Winnipeg 4, New York Islanders 3--Doug Smail tipped in a shot by Dave Ellett with just 2:28 left at Uniondale, N.Y. to give the Jets a comeback victory. The Islanders failed to hold a 3-1 lead.

Edmonton 4, Vancouver 3--For the second game in a row at Edmonton, Mark Messier scored the winning goal.

Sunday night he did it just eight seconds into overtime. In this game there was still 4:09 left in regulation when he broke the 3-3 tie.