NHL ROUNDUP : With Lift From Turcotte, Rangers Beat Red Wings, 6-1

With the injury to veteran Carey Wilson, Darren Turcotte has found a place in the limelight.

Turcotte, 21, scored his 11th goal and added an assist Monday night at New York to lead the Rangers to a 6-1 victory over Detroit.

The loss stretched the Red Wings’ winless string to eight games (0-5-3).

Turcotte, who showed promise in 20 games late last season, was being brought along slowly until Wilson suffered ligament damage in his left knee last week.

The Rangers put Turcotte at center on a line with Tony Granato and Troy Mallette. Besides being an offensive force, this line is playing the best opponent line in most games.

Turcotte thinks he is fortunate to be playing at all. He had mononucleosis during the summer and reported to training camp weak and 15 pounds underweight. He has regained the weight and is again skating at full speed.

The Rangers (10-3-3) lead the Patrick Division by nine points.

St. Louis 3, Montreal 3--The Blues dominated most of the game at Montreal, only to miss the victory when Russ Courtnall scored two fluke goals in the last 8 1/2 minutes.

Both of Courtnall’s shots hit the skates of Blues’ players and caromed into the net.

Toronto 2, Minnesota 1--The Maple Leafs, who had been giving up 5.2 goals per game, tightened their defense at Toronto and won for the seventh time in 16 games.

Calgary 5, Edmonton 1--Doug Gilmour scored twice at Calgary as the Flames avenged a Friday night loss to the Oilers.

The margin might have been wider, but Oiler goaltender Grant Fuhr stopped 30 shots, including three breakaways.