Montreal Poses No Problem for Blues, 8-1

Changing coaches appears to have turned around the St. Louis Blues’ season.

Brett Hull and Jim Campbell scored two goals each Saturday as the Blues routed Montreal, 8-1, their fourth consecutive victory and the Canadiens’ worst loss at the Molson Centre.

St. Louis is 5-2 since Joel Quenneville replaced Mike Keenan as coach.

“There’s no question about it,” Hull said. “He has brought a breath of fresh air to the team. He’s implemented a system. It’s not just everybody running around chasing the puck. It’s a lot easier to play the game.”

The Canadiens have been outscored, 14-2, in their last two games.

New York Rangers 7, Pittsburgh 4--Mark Messier and Adam Graves scored off Pittsburgh neutral-zone turnovers in a four-goal third period, and the Rangers came from behind to beat the slumping Penguins at Pittsburgh.

Wayne Gretzky led the comeback by setting up three goals.

Mario Lemieux returned from a one-game layoff because of back spasms but didn’t score.

Jaromir Jagr was bothered by a sore ankle and strained groin and returned to the dressing room several times for treatment. He has been held scoreless in consecutive games for the first time since the first two games of the season.

Boston 4, Colorado 1--Trent McCleary scored 25 seconds after the opening faceoff at Boston and the Bruins went on to hand the Avalanche only their second loss in their last 15 games.

Ray Bourque also scored for the Bruins, the 1,338th point of his career, leaving him one shy of John Bucyk’s team record.

The Avalanche played without goalie Patrick Roy, out because of a sprained thumb, and top scorer Joe Sakic, who is nursing a deep laceration in his left calf.

Peter Forsberg was back on the ice for Colorado after sitting out 17 games because of a severe thigh bruise that required surgery.

Detroit 4, Philadelphia 1--Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan and Tomas Holmstrom each had a goal and an assist at Philadelphia.

Detroit goalie Mike Vernon faced only 18 shots as the Red Wings played a stifling defense against the lethargic Flyers.

Dallas 5, Toronto 1--The Stars broke up a close game with consecutive goals by Joe Nieuwendyk, Todd Harvey and Derian Hatcher in the last 11 minutes at Toronto.

Hartford 5, Buffalo 1--Nelson Emerson had two goals and three assists, and the Whalers built a 3-0 lead in the first period at Buffalo.

Sean Burke made 35 saves for Hartford. In the second period, the Sabres outshot Hartford, 20-2, but couldn’t get anything past Burke.

New York Islanders 3, Chicago 2--Eric Fichaud made 47 saves and Derek Armstrong’s goal with 5:21 remaining led the Islanders to their first victory over the Blackhawks at home in 11 seasons.

Phoenix 4, Vancouver 0--Jeremy Roenick scored twice and Nikolai Khabibulin made 26 saves at Phoenix for his third shutout.

Mike Gartner and Cliff Ronning also scored for the Coyotes, who won their second consecutive game after dropping six of seven before the All-Star break.

Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2--Scott Mellanby ended his scoring slump with two goals in 50 seconds at Miami.