NHL Roundup : Penguins’ Flying Start Continues With 7-3 Win

Mario Lemieux scored three goals and assisted on two others Friday night at Buffalo to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins, an early surprise, to a 7-3 victory over the Sabres.

It was the fifth win without a defeat for the Penguins, and their on-ice leader, Lemieux, is acting as if he has ambitions of challenging Wayne Gretzky for the scoring championship.

In helping the Penguins get off to their best start in 20 National Hockey League seasons, Lemieux, a third-year center, has 8 goals and 12 points.

A year ago, the Penguins did not win for the fifth time until their 16th game. Last season, the Penguins finished with 76 points, missing the playoffs by two points in the league’s toughest division, the Patrick. The Penguins had a better record than three of the teams that did qualify for postseason play.

The Sabres, who are winless in five games this season, scored first on Gil Perreault’s third goal of the season and played the Penguins on even terms for 25 minutes.

But John Chabot put the Penguins ahead to stay, 3-2, at 6:17 of the second period. Before the period ended, Lemieux set up Craig Simpson for a goal, then scored on a backhand shot between his legs, and the Penguins were rolling.

The line of Lemieux, Simpson and former King Terry Ruskowski accounted for 12 points.

“I really believe we are maturing as a team,” Ruskowski said. “Last year, we played with a lot of rookies, and they experienced many disappointing losses. Maybe it’s a situation where the youngsters are developing.

“It just may be the beginning of something good. We have learned that we don’t have to die because we fall behind. In four of our five victories, we have come from behind. That’s a good sign.”

Toronto 3, New Jersey 2--An 87-second flurry early in the second period at East Rutherford, N.J., enabled the unbeaten Maple Leafs to end the Devils’ three-game winning streak.

The Devils took a 1-0 lead into the second period, but Russ Courtnall began the rally at 3:24 with a tying goal. Twenty-eight seconds later, Bill Root put the Leafs ahead.

Barely a minute later, Mike Allison scored on a 2-on-1 break while his team was a man short, ending the Devils’ hopes of winning four in a row for the first time.

The Maple Leafs (2-0-2) kept their grip on first place in the Norris Division.

Edmonton 4, Detroit 3--For the second game in a row, Wayne Gretzky assisted on all of his team’s goals in this game at Edmonton.

Gretzky, who had five assists in a 5-2 win over Quebec Wednesday night, enabled wing Jari Kurri to get a hat trick. Gretzky also passed to Steve Smith for the first Oiler score.