NHL Roundup : Gretzky’s Slump in Scoring Isn’t Slowing Oilers Very Much

The Edmonton Oilers are becoming so good they can win without Coach Glen Sather and without goals from Wayne Gretzky.

Sather, suffering from the flu, sat in the press box Friday night at Bloomington, Minn., and Gretzky, for the fourth time in the last five games, failed to score a goal as the Oilers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3.

Gretzky, who is in a mild slump, assisted on two goals and has 151 points. It is the fifth consecutive season in which the scoring star has exceeded 151 points.

Until the Gretzky era, only one player, Phil Esposito in the 1970-71 season, had scored 150 points.

In the last five games, Gretzky has only one goal and seven assists. Until the last five games the Oilers’ center was on a scoring pace that would have broken his record of 212 points in a season.

Willy Lindstrom, the right wing on the Oilers’ fourth line, had two goals in the third period.

“We stopped Gretzky from scoring a goal,” said the North Stars’ Keith Acton, who spent most of the night pushing Gretzky around, “and their fourth line scores two goals. That’s the way it is, hockey’s a team sport.”

The Oilers have lost only once in their last 10 games. They lost Wednesday night at Winnipeg when Sather was too sick to attend.

Vancouver 5, Winnipeg 5--Thomas Gradin is the Canucks’ second-leading scorer and one of their few top-notch players, but he cost the Smythe Division’s worst club a victory in this game at Winnipeg.

The Canucks, on third-period goals by Stan Smyl and Petri Skriko, held a 5-3 lead with just over two minutes remaining. Then, Gradin was hit with a major penalty for striking Dale Hawerchuk in the face with his stick.

While Gradin was in the penalty box, defenseman Randy Carlyle and Hawerchuk scored to give the Jets the tie. Carlyle scored with 32 seconds left in regulation and just 14 seconds later, Hawerchuk scored his second goal of the game and his 36th of the season to send the game into overtime.

A player does not return to the ice after a goal when he is serving a major penalty.