NHL Roundup : Lemieux Is <i> Magnifique </i> as Penguins Beat the Jets, 8-1

The Pittsburgh Penguins don’t win many games. When they do, it’s almost always because Mario Lemieux turns in a magnificent performance.

Lemieux scored a goal and assisted on four others Friday night at Pittsburgh to lead the Penguins to a surprisingly easy 8-1 victory over Winnipeg.

It was only the sixth victory in 20 games for the lowly Penguins. But every time Pittsburgh has won, it seems that Lemieux, with 34 points this season, has been largely responsible for it.

This time, in a game interrupted by a bench-clearing brawl at the end of the second period, Lemieux wasted no time putting the Penguins in charge.

Coach Bob Berry put rookie Bob Errey, just up from the minors, on a line with Lemieux, and the center set Errey up for two goals before the game was two minutes old. Near the end of the opening period, Lemieux scored his 13th goal, and the Penguins led, 3-0.

The Jets, obviously stunned by the turn of events, lost their cool in the second period. When Ray Neufield of the Jets slashed Norm Schmidt in the face, tempers flared. At the end of the period, Neufield and Doug Bodger squared off, and both benches emptied.

The Penguins, who had a 5-1 lead at the time, wound up getting a season-high 46 shots on goal. Goalie Roberto Romano of the Penguins faced only 28.

Buffalo 7, Quebec 5--Gilbert Perreault had a hat trick in the final five minutes at Buffalo to bring the Sabres from behind to a victory that put them in first place in the Adams Division.

Two minutes into the final period, Wilf Paiement scored to give the Nordiques a 5-4 lead. Perreault, who now has 491 goals in his career, scored first at 15:04. He broke the tie at 17:24 with a goal on which Buffalo’s goaltender, Tom Barrasso, drew an assist. The center completed his hat trick with a short-handed goal at 19:08.

New Jersey 6, Vancouver 5--Doug Sulliman scored with 7:19 remaining at Vancouver to give the Devils the victory. Bob Lorimer scored twice for the Devils.