Nhl -- Neely's Fingertip Cut Off In Loss -- But Bruin Returns, Gets Assist

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - If the Boston Bruins are going to be beaten, Cam Neely has to be stopped.

The New Jersey Devils did just that yesterday.

Goaltender Chris Terreri stretched his unbeaten streak to nine games and ended John Casey's run at 14 by stopping 33 shots as the Devils beat the Bruins 2-1.

The Devils are unbeaten in eight straight games (6-0-2), tying the franchise record. They won because of the job they did on Neely, who has 50 goals in 46 games. Claude Lemieux was assigned to shadow Neely.

However, the big play came early in the second period when someone slashed Neely's right hand and cut off the tip of his pinky right through the glove. He returned late in the period and finished the game, getting an assist. Neely insisted Devils' defenseman Tommy Albelin slashed him, but Albelin thought it was teammate Bruce Driver, who said he wasn't sure.

"I was off for all our power plays (the team went 0 for 4), and we couldn't get anything going," Neely said.

Dr. Barry Fisher, the Devils' surgeon, called the wound an amputation, one that required 10-15 stitches to fix.

"It was the tip of the finger," Neely said when asked about his injury. "I got some stitches."

Other games

At Montreal 4, Philadelphia 4 - A fluke goal by Vincent Damphousse gave the Canadiens the tie. Damphousse flipped the puck over the back of the net, and it hit the Flyers' Dave Tippett and rolled in at 18:44 of the final period.

New York Islanders 5, at St. Louis 5 - Steve Thomas scored his second goal of the game with 3:07 remaining to boost the Islanders into the tie.

At Pittsburgh 6, New York Rangers 2 - Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux had two goals and two assists for his first four-point game in 10 months. Lemieux, who has played in just 13 of the Penguins' 68 games because of back problems, had just his second multiple-goal game of the season.

At Hartford 2, Dallas 2 - Andy Moog of the Stars stopped a point-blank try by Andrew Cassels at 2:10 of overtime, and Jeff Reese of the Whalers stopped Neal Broten twice from inside the right circle, stifling a two-on-one rush with Mike McPhee.

Quebec 4, at Washington 3 - Mats Sundin's power-play goal midway through the third period broke a 3-3 tie and helped the Nordiques extend their unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2).

At Calgary 2, San Jose 0 - Mike Vernon made 16 saves for his second shutout of the season, and German Titov and Gary Roberts each scored a goal to lift the Flames.

At Toronto 3, Winnipeg 1 - Dave Andreychuk set a Toronto club record for a left wing with his 49th goal as the Maple Leafs won their third in a row. Andreychuk put a short wrist shot into the top left corner of the Jets' net at 12:15 of the second period to break the season benchmark set by Frank Mahovlich in 1960-61.

Buffalo 5, at Los Angeles 3 - The Kings' Wayne Gretzky was held scoreless for the fourth consecutive game in his chase toward Gordie Howe's NHL goal-scoring mark of 801. Buffalo's Brad May and Alexander Mogilny scored early in the third period to lead the Sabres.

Note

-- A man doing a handstand on the front row of the upper tier at New Jersey's Meadowlands Arena fell about 20 feet to the level below, injuring himself and two others during the Devils' game with Boston. All three were taken to a hospital, where they were listed in stable condition. All the injured were described as being in their 20s.