NHL ROUNDUP : Hull Continues to Prove His Worth to Blues, 8-3

The St. Louis Blues mortgaged their future when they paid high-scoring Brett Hull $7 million for a four-year contract this summer.

There are early indications this season they did not make a mistake.

Hull, son of former great Bobby Hull, scored 72 goals to lead the National Hockey League last season and he is off to a great start in a bid to improve on that.

Hull scored three goals and assisted on another Wednesday night at Toronto to lead the Blues to an 8-3 victory over the Maple Leafs.

The Blues improved their record to 5-3-1 and Hull, who scored twice in the first period, scored again on a power play in the third period to become the first player in the NHL to score 10 goals.

The Blues are unbeaten in their past four games. The Maple Leafs are 1-8-1, the worst record in the league.

Hull scored on his first two shots and the Blues connected on four of their first five.

The Blues were reluctant to give Hull, 25, such a big contract, but felt forced to do it.

“We had to accept the risk of mortgaging our future,� General Manager Ron Caron said. “But we realized that other teams were ready to pay Brett that money. We decided we didn’t want him playing for another team.�

Hull’s third goal gave the Blues an 8-1 lead before the middle of the last period.

“It’s embarrassing the way we played,� Toronto Coach Doug Carpenter said.

Minnesota 3, Hartford 0--Jon Casey and Dave Gagner dominated this game at Bloomington, Minn.

Casey stopped 33 shots to earn his fifth NHL shutout, and Gagner provided the offense, scoring both goals.

Only 4,626 fans were on hand for the North Stars’ second victory in 10 games.

Gagner’s second goal of the game came with 12 seconds remaining in the second period and was the 100th of his career.

Montreal 8, New York Islanders 2--Stephan Lebeau had a goal and three assists at Montreal to lead the Canadiens.

The Islanders (2-7-0) lost their fourth in a row. Tuesday night at home they were trounced by New Jersey, 8-1.

Goaltender Patrick Roy held the Islanders scoreless for 45 minutes and won his sixth game.

Winnipeg 3, Edmonton 1--Phil Housley and Paul Fenton scored 12 seconds apart in the middle of the second period at Winnipeg to lead the Jets.

With the defeat, the injury-riddled Stanley Cup champions fell into last place in the Smythe Division with a 2-4-2 record.

The Oilers spoiled Stephane Beauregard’s shutout when Petr Klima scored with 21 seconds remaining.