NHL ROUNDUP : Bruins’ Oates Proves Worth With Three Goals

The $100 bill taped to his locker was only a small measure of what Adam Oates meant to the Boston Bruins in a 6-2 victory Thursday night over the Winnipeg Jets at Boston.

Oates, who had three goals, earned the bonus from teammate Brent Hughes, who had offered the money to any Bruin scoring the game-winner against his former team.

“How much can you do with $100?” Oates asked. “I’m sure my wife will want it, anyway.”

Oates’ is tied with Pat LaFontaine of Buffalo for second place in the NHL scoring race with 87 points. Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux, sidelined while being treated for Hodgkin’s disease, leads the league with 104 points.

“People ask you how Adam Oates is scoring goals. He’s going to the net,” Bruin Coach Brian Sutter said. “The three goals couldn’t have combined for 20 feet, but those are 20 tough feet. Not many people go in that territory and he went in there.”

Oates has 33 goals this season, a career best.

Ottawa 5, Hartford 2--Bob Kudelski and Sylvain Turgeon each scored twice at Ottawa as the Senators established a franchise first by recording two NHL victories in one calendar month.

The Senators (5-45-3) had one victory in October, November and December.

N.Y. Islanders 5, Pittsburgh 2--Derek King scored two power-play goals as the Islanders increased their season-best unbeaten streak to six games by defeating the Penguins at Pittsburgh.

The Islanders are 5-0-1 in their last six, their best stretch since a nine-game winning streak from Dec. 31, 1989, to Jan. 19, 1990.

Quebec 6, Philadelphia 3--Scott Pearson scored two goals as the Nordiques got their first victory at Philadelphia since 1985.

The Nordiques had been 0-10-1 at the Spectrum since Oct. 17, 1985.

St. Louis 4, Tampa Bay 2--Craig Janney’s goal with 3:28 to play broke a 2-2 tie and helped the Blues win at Tampa .

Brett Hull had two power-play goals, giving him 36 goals for the season, and goaltender Curtis Joseph stopped 39 shots for St. Louis.

Minnesota, 4, New Jersey 2--Jim Johnson’s first goal of the season sparked a three-goal second period as the North Stars extended their unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2) and ruined the homecoming of Devil Coach Herb Brooks.

Brooks, who won three NCAA titles while coaching the University of Minnesota in the 1970s and guided the U.S. team to a gold medal in the 1980 Olympic Games, was making his first Met Center appearance since he was fired after coaching the North Stars to one of their worst seasons in 1987-88.