NHL Roundup : Gretzky Finally Gets a Goal; Oilers Win

Wayne Gretzky finally scored a goal and the Edmonton Oilers fought off a rally by the Buffalo Sabres for a 7-5 victory Sunday night at Edmonton.

The goal was Gretzky’s 39th of the season and his first in 10 games--the longest scoreless streak of his career. He added two assists to move ahead of Johnny Bucyk for seventh place on the all-time list with 814. Gordie Howe holds the record with 1,049.

Edmonton blew a 3-0 first-period lead, but Steve Smith scored a power-play goal at 18:42 of the third period to snap a 5-5 tie. Jari Kurri’s 44th goal, into an empty net, closed out the scoring.

The Sabres trailed, 4-1, entering the final period, but they scored four times to tie the game in an attempt to beat the Oilers for the third straight time.

Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff, Dave Andreychuk and Mike Foligno all scored in a span of 2:47 midway through the final period to tie it, 4-4. Edmonton’s Mark Messier untied it, but Foligno scored again to make it 5-5.

New York Rangers 3, Detroit 1--Mike Ridley had a goal and an assist as the Rangers stretched their winning streak to four games by beating the Red Wings at New York.

Ridley assisted on a first-period goal by Pierre Larouche and scored a tie-breaking goal at 4:15 of the second period as the Rangers beat the Red Wings for the second time in three nights and won their fifth game in the last six. The victory left them one point behind Pittsburgh in the race for the final Patrick Division playoff berth.

Larouche and Ridley both missed on penalty shots against Detroit goalie Corrado Micalef.

There were 178 minutes in penalties, including 94 during a second-period brawl that resulted in five players being ejected. Another was throw out after a third-period fight.

It also marked the return of Detroit Coach Brad Park, who was suspended for six games for sending his team onto the ice to fight at Toronto on Jan. 13.

Chicago 4, St. Louis 2--Steve Larmer’s power-play goal midway through the final period assured the Black Hawks’ victory over the Blues at Chicago.

Larmer, with five goals and nine points in his last five games, helped the Black Hawks move eight points ahead of St. Louis in the Norris division.

Eddie Olczyk scored twice in the first period to give Chicago the lead after Bernie Federko scored in the opening minutes for St. Louis.

Chicago center Denis Savard, who assisted on Larmer’s goal, also assisted on Al Secord’s second-period score to make it 3-1. But 27 seconds later, right wing Dave Barr poked in a five-footer to pull St. Louis within a goal.

Bob Sauve replaced Murray Bannerman in goal for the Black Hawks at the 16:10 mark of the final period after Bannerman, who injured his hand stopping a puck in the second period, re-injured it stopping another St. Louis shot.

Quebec 6, Calgary 3--Dale Hunter scored twice in a four-goal second period and the Nordiques snapped the Flames’ five-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten streak at home with a victory at Calgary.

After a scoreless first period, Hunter gave Quebec a 1-0 advantage at 3:32 of the second when he banged his own rebound past goalie Rejean Lemelin. Brent Ashton drove a 30-foot slapshot under Lemelin’s glove 54 seconds later.

John Anderson made it 3-0 at 16:46 with a 30-foot wrist shot, and Hunter scored his second goal of the night 42 seconds later when he fired a 40-foot wrist shot between Lemelin’s pads.

Pittsburgh 5, New Jersey 5--Dave Pichette scored on a 45-foot shot with 55 seconds left, when the Devils had a two-man advantage, to get a tie with the Penguins at East Rutherford, N.J.

The goal offset a big rally by the Penguins, who overcame 3-0 and 4-2 deficits by scoring three times in a 3:37 stretch of the third period.

Despite the tie, the Devils’ winless streak against Patrick Division opponents was extended to 0-12-1.

Mario Lemieux started Pittsburgh’s comeback with his 34th goal at 13:30. Thirty-one seconds later, Willy Lindstrom made a 45-foot slapshot to tie the score. The Penguins took their only lead of the game at 17:07, when Mike Bullard scored a power-play goal.

Boston 5, Minnesota 3--Barry Pederson scored two goals and assisted on a third as the Bruins snapped a five-game losing streak by knocking off the North Stars at Minneapolis.

The victory was only the eighth in 29 road games for the Bruins.

Ray Bourque had a goal and two assists for Boston, which knocked Minnesota starting goalie Jon Casey out of the game by taking a 4-1 lead in the first 21:14.

Pederson pushed a rebound of Bourque’s shot past Casey at 4:00, but Minnesota’s Scott Bjugstad tied the game, 1-1, with his 31st goal of the season on a power-play at 6:28.

Bourque sent a 50-foot shot past Casey through a screen at 13:06 to break the tie, and Kraig Nienhuis made it 3-1 at 16:49 of the first period.

Louis Sleigher beat Casey from a sharp angle at 1:14 of the second period, forcing Minnesota Coach Lorne Henning to pull the rookie in favor of Don Beaupre. Pederson put the Bruins’ first shot at Beaupre into the net at 1:51 of the period.

Minnesota’s Brian Bellows set a club record by scoring a point in his 18th straight game when he scored with 30 seconds left in the second period.

Toronto 4, Vancouver 4--Peter Ihnacak scored at 12:19 of the third period to give the Maple Leafs a tie with the Canucks at Toronto.

Vancouver had a 4-2 lead, but Brad Smith and Ihnacak scored within two minutes midway through the third period to force overtime.