Titov Does His Share and Penguins Beat Devils

Losing Ron Francis to free agency might not be as bad as the Pittsburgh Penguins feared if German Titov continues to produce.

Titov scored his first two goals for Pittsburgh and Jaromir Jagr had two assists to lead the Penguins to a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night at East Rutherford, N.J.

In acquiring Titov from Calgary this summer, the Penguins hoped he would regain his scoring touch and anchor the second line behind the combination of Jagr, Stu Barnes and Martin Straka.

“We have to help the first line,” said Titov, who scored 20 or more goals in three of his five NHL seasons. “Jags, Stuie and Straks is a good line. We have to help the team win.”

The victory was the Penguins’ second in as many games this season, and it was their first since the team filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 early this week. The 2-0 start is the best for Pittsburgh since it won seven in a row and went undefeated in 13 in the strike-shortened 1994-95 season.

The Devils’ 0-2 start is their first since 1983-84. They were 0-3-1 to open the 1994-95 season--the tie was the first game--before going on to win the Stanley Cup.

Boston 3, Colorado 0--Byron Dafoe stopped 34 shots for his second consecutive shutout and Ray Bourque had a goal and an assist at Denver.

Jason Allison and Joe Thornton also scored for the Bruins, who beat the Avalanche for the first time in four meetings in Denver.

The Avalanche is 0-3 for the first time in the 20-year history of the franchise, which started as the Quebec Nordiques. The shutout extended Colorado’s scoreless streak to 137 minutes.

New York Islanders 2, Tampa Bay 0--Tommy Salo made 22 saves and got his 10th career shutout and Gino Odjick snapped a 29-game goal-scoring streak at Tampa, Fla.

The Islanders have won the last six meetings between the teams, the last four being shutouts. Backup goalie Wade Flaherty recorded three shutouts last season.

Edmonton 4, Vancouver 1--Boris Mironov had a goal and two assists to help the Oilers win their first game of the season and snap a four-game losing streak in Vancouver.

The Oilers went three for seven on the power play. The Canucks managed only 13 shots on goal, including eight through the first two periods.