NHL Roundup : Gretzky Lends Assistance as Oilers Are Back on Top

Wayne Gretzky has his passing game back in order, and the Edmonton Oilers are looking good again.

Gretzky set up second-period goals by Glenn Anderson and Esa Tikkanen Friday night at Pittsburgh to lead the Oilers to a 4-2 victory over the Penguins.

Their third win in the last four games enabled the Oilers to regain first place in the Smythe Division. For the first time since they were eliminated from the playoffs last spring by the Calgary Flames, the Oilers are starting to dominate their opponents again.

The win over the improved Penguins comes just two nights after the Oilers smashed the New York Islanders, 7-1. In both games, the brilliant goaltending of Andy Moog has been a decisive factor. He stopped 33 shots Wednesday night and came back to get 28 more saves against the Penguins.

It was a 1-1 game when Anderson scored the first of his two goals at 17:04 of the second period. Two minutes later, Gretzky found Tikkanen open and fired the puck to him for another goal.

When Gretzky set up Anderson for an empty-net score in the closing seconds, it increased his point total to 64 points in 27 games.

“We haven’t been playing badly,” Gretzky said. “It’s just that the league is much stronger than it’s ever been. This is as close to parity as I can remember. I think you could easily say that 10 or 11 teams have a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup. It was hard to say that in past years.”

Among the teams Gretzky cited as showing big improvement were Pittsburgh, Toronto and Winnipeg.

“Even teams like the Kings, (New Jersey) Devils and (Detroit) Red Wings, have shown considerable improvement,” Gretzky said. “There are no longer any easy marks.”

St. Louis 6, Buffalo 5--Right wing Greg Paslawski scored a goal and assisted on three others at Buffalo as the Blues handed the Sabres another defeat. The Sabres have the worst record in the league (5-17-3).

While Paslawski dominated on offense for the Blues most of the night, it was Bernie Federko who scored the decisive goal, his fifth, at 11:44 of the third period.

Detroit 3, Montreal 3--Adam Oates scored his second goal of the game early in the third period at Detroit as the Red Wings tied the defending Stanley Cup champions.

New York Rangers 6, Winnipeg 3--Walt Poddubny scored three goals, and goalie Doug Soetaert made 37 saves at Winnipeg, Canada, to give Tom Webster his first win as Ranger coach. He was 0-1-2 in his first three games.

Poddubny scored twice in the first period, and the Rangers built their lead to 6-1 before the Jets rallied in the third period. The Rangers appeared to be tiring in the last period, when the Jets outshot them, 15-3. But Soetaert yielded only two more goals.

New York Islanders 4, Vancouver 3--Right wing Mikko Makela scored two goals and set up the game-winner by defenseman Denis Potvin in the third period at Vancouver, Canada, as the Islanders beat the Canucks for their first win in four games.

Potvin converted a goalmouth pass from Makela at 15:20 of the third period to break a 3-3 tie. Potvin got behind Canuck center Barry Pederson to deflect the hard pass from the corner just two seconds after a Vancouver penalty expired.