NHL Roundup : Gartner’s 2 Goals Lead Capitals to 4-1 Win Over Sabres

Mike Gartner scored twice and assisted on another goal Friday night at Buffalo to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-1 victory over the Sabres.

Gartner, a right wing who became a 50-goal scorer last season, his sixth in the National Hockey League, has been the key to the Capitals’ surge after a poor start.

The Capitals lost their first three games and were trailing Toronto, 5-4, Wednesday night when Gartner scored with four seconds left to send the game into overtime and enable the Capitals to win their first game.

In winning their second in a row and ending the Sabres’ three-game winning streak, the Capitals had to beat the league’s hot goalie.

Tom Barrasso made three point-blank saves early and extended his scoreless streak to 112 minutes before Gaetan Duchesne scored halfway through the first period.

Then Gartner took over. His second goal in the third period came when he was helping to kill a penalty.

Washington goalie Pat Riggin also made some excellent saves. He lost his shutout with less than five minutes remaining when Mike Foligno tapped in a rebound from just outside the crease.

“We really aren’t doing that badly,” Gartner said of the Capitals’ 2-3 record. “Remember, we’ve played four of our games on the road.”

Edmonton 3, Boston 2--The Oilers are acting as though they plan on winning a third consecutive Stanley Cup.

In this game at Edmonton, Wayne Gretzky set up two goals, and the Oilers knocked the Bruins out of the unbeaten ranks.

Only the Oilers (4-0) and Quebec (5-0) remain unbeaten in the NHL.

The Bruins outshot the Oilers, 38-30, but Gretzky assisted on power-play goals by Jari Kurri in the first period and by Mark Messier in the second.