NHL ROUNDUP : Todd Trade Pays Off as Oilers Beat Whalers

Kevin Todd made an immediate impression on his new Edmonton teammates Friday night, scoring on his second shift to lead the Oilers to a 3-1 victory over the Hartford Whalers at Edmonton.

Todd, along with Zdeno Ciger, was obtained Wednesday from the New Jersey Devils for center Bernie Nicholls.

Playing on a line with Scott Mellanby and Craig Simpson, Todd injected a much-needed spark into the sputtering Oilers.

Todd’s goal came at 3:13 of the first period when his rising shot from the blue line hit Whaler defenseman Randy Ladouceur in the knee, deflecting high behind goaltender Sean Burke.

The Oilers built a 2-0 lead early in the second period on a goal by defenseman Brad Werenka.

Detroit 6, San Jose 3--All-Star Steve Chiasson’s third-period goal broke a 3-3 tie and led the Red Wings to a comeback victory over the Sharks at Detroit.

Detroit is 4-0-1 against the Sharks since San Jose joined the NHL last season. The Red Wings have won five of their last seven games, and the Sharks are on a 1-21-1 skid.

Chiasson’s goal came after he took a pass from Mike Sillinger in front of goaltender Jeff Hackett. Hackett stopped Chiasson’s first shot, but Chiasson spun around, controlled the rebound, and scored his 10th goal at 3:14.

Jimmy Carson made it 5-3 at 10:46, scoring Detroit’s third power-play goal. Steve Yzerman finished the scoring with a breakaway goal at 17:14.

Vancouver 4, Buffalo 1--Pavel Bure scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, leading the Canucks past the Sabres at Vancouver.

The Canucks won their fifth consecutive game at home and improved to 14-0-2 in their last 16 home games.

Bure scored his 39th and 40th goals of the season and added two assists. He moved to within one of NHL goal-scoring leader Alexander Mogilny of Buffalo, who did not score.

Vancouver goalie Kirk McLean made 27 saves.