Rangers win battle of elite

Brian Leetch and Mike Gartner scored goals 45 seconds apart inthe third period to give the visiting New York Rangers a 5-4 victorySaturday over the Boston Bruins in a collision of division leaders.

Dave Christian scored two goals for the Bruins, who lead theAdams Division. The Rangers are sitting atop the Patrick Division.

Leetch broke a 3-3 tie at 6:22 of the final period with a goalthat ricocheted off Bruins defensemen Garry Galley and Don Sweeney.Gartner then added his second goal of the game at 7:07 as the Rangersskated on the power play.

Galley got one back for the Bruins on a power play at 9:52, butthe Rangers held the lead with good defense down the stretch.

Devils 4, Blues 1: John MacLean had two goals and an assist andSean Burke stopped 29 shots as visiting New Jersey defeated slumpingSt. Louis.

The Blues are winless in their last five games and 1-4-2 intheir last seven since a 12-1-1 streak lifted them near the top ofthe league standings.

Eric Weinrich added a goal and an assist for the Devils, who are4-1-2 in their last seven games.

Flames 5, Canadiens 3: Brian MacLellan scored in the finalminute of the first and second periods to lead visiting Calgary pastMontreal.

Coincidentally, both of MacLellan's goals came at 19:39 of theirrespective periods as the Flames won for the first time in threegames. The Canadiens, meanwhile, have lost three of their last fourhome games.

Maple Leafs 4, Kings 3: First-period goals by Daniel Marois,Mike Krushelnyski and Wendell Clark lifted visiting Toronto past LosAngeles.

The victory was just the Maple Leafs' second on the road thisseason. The Kings, meanwhile, lost only their second game on homeice.

Capitals 3, Islanders 1: Bob Joyce's goal with 1:53 left inregulation snapped a tie and lifted visiting Washington past NewYork.

Joyce scored his first goal of the season when he took a passfrom Alfie Turcotte in the slot and snapped it past Islanders goalieJeff Hackett from 15 feet out.

Oilers 4, Whalers 2: Joe Murphy had a goal and an assist andCraig Simpson scored a power-play goal as visiting Edmonton skatedpast Hartford.

Nordiques 4, Sabres 2: Defenseman Bryan Fogarty had the firstthree-goal game of his career, including two within 35 seconds latein the second period, as host Quebec defeated Buffalo to extend itsmodest undefeated streak to three games.

North Stars 6, Penguins 3: Larry Murphy snapped a 3-3 tie earlyin the third period and Perry Berezan followed with his first twogoals of the season as Minnesota downed Pittsburgh in Bloomington,Minn.