NHL Roundup : Potvin Gets 1,000th Point as Islanders and Sabres Tie

Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders became the first defenseman in NHL history to score 1,000 points when he got two goals in a 6-6 tie with the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night at Uniondale, N.Y.

Potvin reached the milestone with 17 seconds left to tie the score on his second goal of the game. It came after Bryan Trottier won a faceoff deep in Buffalo territory, got the puck back to Mikko Makela, who fired a shot from 50 feet that hit Potvin high on the arm, then hopped past goalie Jacques Cloutier and hit the right goalpost before trickling into the net.

Potvin, the 34-year-old captain, was mobbed by his teammates. Because rules forbid players not involved in the play to come on the ice, he skated to the Islander bench, where he was given the puck. He shook hands as a Nassau Coliseum crowd of 15,302 gave him a standing ovation.

The scoreboard lit up with messages of congratulations, and fans demanded he come back out on the ice. Potvin, who already holds the career scoring records for defenseman for goals, assists and points, waved his helmet and stick to the crowd and skated out to take a bow.

Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 3--Mario Lemieux scored his 54th goal at 1:26 of overtime at Pittsburgh to give the Penguins the win and prevent the Red Wings from clinching the Norris Division title. Even a tie would have assured Detroit of finishing in first place for the first time since the 1964-65 season.

Pittsburgh’s Dan Quinn scored a short-handed goal at 5:21 of the third period to force the overtime.

Hartford 5, New York Rangers 3--The Whalers bombed two Ranger goalies for a season-high 46 shots at Hartford, Conn., to clinch the Adams Division crown for the first time since coming to the NHL from the World Hockey Assn. in 1979.

Sylvain Turgeon scored twice, and Ron Francis had three assists to lead the Whalers. Kevin Dineen, John Anderson and Paul MacDermid also scored.

Quebec 8, New Jersey 4--Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny scored two goals apiece, and Anton Stastny added four assists to lead the Nordiques at Quebec City, Canada.

The Nordiques scored on 7 of their first 15 shots against goaltender Craig Billington, including a goal by Goulet 15 seconds into the game.

Washington 3, Philadelphia 2--Larry Murphy’s goal at 3:19 of overtime, his second score of the game, gave the Capitals the come-from-behind win at Landover, Md., and stretched their unbeaten streak to eight at 7-0-1.

Toronto 3, Chicago 1--The Maple Leafs, who spent most of the season in fifth place in the Norris Division, secured third place and a spot in the playoffs with the win at Toronto as goalie Wendel Clark scored his 37th goal. The slumping Blackhawks are winless in their last seven games (0-5-2) and are 1-8-4 in their last 13.

Montreal 3, Boston 1--The Canadiens won their eighth straight game and clinched second place in the Adams Division as veteran defenseman Larry Robinson scored his 13th goal of the season with 3:08 left in regulation to snap a 1-1 tie at Montreal. Ryan Walter scored his 23rd goal less than two minutes later over a sliding Doug Keans.

St. Louis 4, Minnesota 1--Mark Hunter had a goal and two assists, and Bruce Bell and Rob Ramage each added two assists at St. Louis, putting the North Stars in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1978-79 with one game to go.