NHL ROUNDUP : Lemieux, Coffey Return, but Penguins Fall, 8-0

The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins said their problems would end when they were finally at full strength.

But when Mario Lemieux and Paul Coffey returned to action Tuesday night, the team suffered one of the worst defeats in franchise history.

The hot Washington Capitals, behind the steady goaltending of Don Beaupre, embarrassed the Penguins, 8-0.

Beaupre, making his first start of the season, stopped 26 shots, most of them easy chances.

It was the third loss in a row for the Penguins, who are winless (0-4-1) in their last five games and have opened the season with a 4-5-2 record.

It was the Penguins’ worst home-ice shutout and tied their largest margin of defeat at home. They have the worst home record in the NHL (1-3-2) except for the expansion San Jose Sharks.

The Capitals, off to their best start (9-3-0), broke it open with three goals in eight minutes during the second period, Peter Bondra contributing his ninth goal and an assist.

“The only people who don’t share in this debacle are the ones who didn’t dress,” Penguin Coach Scotty Bowman said. “We are going to have to take steps to correct this. What we have right now isn’t good enough. We’re going to have to address what we’re doing.”

Lemieux missed three games because of back and hip problems. Coffey has a back problem.

To make matters worse, the Penguins lost goaltender Tom Barrasso after eight minutes because of a hand injury.

Beaupre, who led the league with five shutouts last season, was a holdout for three weeks, then went to Baltimore to get in shape.

Quebec 7, Winnipeg 2--Owen Nolan, who scored only three goals through 59 games last season, had his second hat trick of this season.

Nolan’s three goals at Quebec ended the Nordiques’ nine-game winless streak and stunned the Jets, who had won three in a row.

Nolan, who leads the league with 13 goals in 11 games, scored all three in the third period to break open a close game.

Mike Hough and Bryan Fogarty had first-period goals 22 seconds apart for the Nordiques.

New York Rangers 3, Minnesota 2--Doug Weight scored on a breakaway with 7:18 remaining at New York to give the Rangers the victory.

Weight’s goal snapped a 2-2 tie. The Rangers are 4-0-2 in their last six meetings with the North Stars.

New York Islanders 8, San Jose 4--Benoit Hogue, one of six newcomers on the revamped Islanders, scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period at Uniondale, N.Y., and triggered a four-goal burst. It was the Islanders’ first victory in seven games and extended the Sharks’ winless streak to 10 games.

Vancouver 4, New Jersey 3--Geoff Courtnall scored a tie-breaking goal in the second period and another goal in the third at Vancouver.

The victory ended the Devils’ three-game winning streak.