NHL ROUNDUP : Lemieux Plays, Penguins Lose

Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins had two assists in his first game of the season, but the Quebec Nordiques spoiled the four-time NHL scoring champion’s return Thursday with a 7-3 victory at Pittsburgh.

Joe Sakic had two goals in a four-point night and assisted on Valeri Kamensky’s go-ahead goal as Quebec scored the final five goals and won in Pittsburgh for the first time since Nov. 11, 1988.

Lemieux, who missed the Penguins’ first 10 games after back surgery in July, played less than his normal 30 minutes and his timing appeared off, but he still assisted on Pittsburgh’s first two goals.

“I felt comfortable, but I was a little slow,� Lemieux said. “It’s always my role when we get down in the third period to make a big play or score a big goal, but I couldn’t do it.�

St. Louis 2, Hartford 1--Brendan Shanahan’s goal broke a scoreless tie during a five-minute third-period power play as the Blues defeated the slumping Whalers at St. Louis.

The Blues outshot Hartford, 38-23, but Hartford goalie Frank Pietrangelo kept the game close until Shanahan scored his eighth goal of the season.

Boston 6, Ottawa 2--Cam Neely, Steve Heinz and Jozef Stempel scored on consecutive shots in a 72-second span during a five-goal second period as the Bruins rallied for a victory at Boston.

Boston outshot Ottawa, 47-23, including a 19-2 advantage during the second period.

Montreal 3, N.Y. Rangers 3--Adam Graves scored with nine seconds remaining in the third period to give the Rangers a tie at New York.

New York had pulled goaltender Mike Richter for an extra skater when Graves scored past goaltender Patrick Roy, who made 39 saves. Guy Carbonneau, Brian Bellows and Mike Keane scored for the Canadiens, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Florida 5, N.Y. Islanders 2--Former Islander Tom Fitzgerald came back to haunt his teammates by scoring the go-ahead goal during the second period of the Panthers’ victory at Miami.