NHL Roundup : Probert Helps Red Wings Up Lead

Bob Probert scored his first NHL hat trick, and it wasn’t even the highlight of his New Year’s Eve.

“It’s a great feeling to get three goals, but it’s even better to be in first place by three points,” Probert said after the Detroit Red Wings’ 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues Thursday night at Detroit.

The win was Detroit’s second in two nights over St. Louis and gave the Red Wings a three-point lead over the second-place Blues in the Norris Division.

Detroit is 17-16-4, while St. Louis, which has lost only three of its last 12 games, fell to 15-17-5.

“We were a determined team these last two nights,” Detroit Coach Jacques Demers said. “We could have been in trouble after losing four straight and we didn’t want to fall back into mediocrity. Winning last night gave us confidence.”

Steve Yzerman added a goal and three assists for Detroit.

The Red Wings held a 3-0 lead after first-period goals by Tim Higgins, Probert and Yzerman.

Yzerman has at least one point in his last 18 games, breaking the club record of 17 set by Alex Delvecchio during the 1964-65 season. Yzerman has 13 goals and 23 assists during his streak.

An unassisted goal by Petr Klima at the 27-second mark of the third period, and Probert’s third of the game, at 2:39, boosted Detroit’s lead to 7-0.

The Blues’ Brian Benning spoiled goalie Greg Stefan’s shutout bid with a power-play goal at 7:48, and Perry Turnbull closed out the scoring for St. Louis at 14:51. Stefan made 25 saves.

Calgary 5, Philadelphia 4--A power-play goal by Calgary defenseman Gary Suter with only eight seconds left in the third period, Suter’s second of the game, gave the Flames a victory over the Flyers at Calgary.

On the winning goal, Suter moved in from the blue line and blasted a waist-high shot by goalie Mark Laforest from about 20 feet.

An Olympic Saddledome sellout crowd of 19,626 saw Calgary move back into first place in the Smythe Division, one point ahead of the idle Edmonton Oilers.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, fell into a tie with the New York Islanders for the Patrick Division lead.

Other scorers for the Flames, who are 17-4-2 in their last 23 games, were Joe Nieuwendyk, Joe Mullen and Mike Bullard.

For the Flyers, Pelle Eklund scored twice and Rick Tocchet and Scott Mellanby had one apiece.

Flames goalie Mike Vernon made 31 saves, while Laforest wound up with 20.

The Flyers had tied the game at 4-4 with two goals earlier in the third period.

Boston 2, Buffalo 0--The Bruins shut out the Sabres for the second time in just over a week with this victory at Buffalo. The Bruins beat the Sabres, 9-0, on Dec. 22 at Boston.

Boston Coach Terry O’Reilly was happy his team limited Buffalo to just 17 shots on goal.

“The Sabres had some golden opportunities in the second period, but Reggie (Rejean Lemelin) came up with the big saves. He was on the money,” O’Reilly said. “Then we tightened up. I thought we played a very intense and disciplined third period.”

Lemelin was also in goal when the Bruins shut out the Sabres Dec. 22.

Geoff Courtnall and Cam Neely scored Boston’s goals, both coming in the first period.

Boston held a 21-17 shot advantage. The victory kept Boston undefeated against Buffalo at 2-0-1 this season.

The loss left Buffalo in last place in the Adams Division at 13-17-7.

Chicago 4, Minnesota 1--Denis Savard scored twice, and Bob Mason maintained his unbeaten goaltending record against Minnesota as the Blackhawks won at Bloomington, Minn.

The victory lifted Chicago past the North Stars out of the Norris Division basement and into a tie for third place with idle Toronto. The Blackhawks had lost their previous three games, including a 6-4 decision to Minnesota Wednesday night.

Savard also had an assist, helping Mason improve his career record to 7-0-1 against the North Stars. Mason, a native of International Falls, Minn., and a former Minnesota-Duluth star, stopped 34 shots as the Blackhawks gained only their fifth road victory.

New York Rangers 6, Quebec 1--James Patrick scored two goals in a four-goal burst in the second period as the Rangers beat the Nordiques at New York.

The game was Michel Bergeron’s first against his former team since leaving Quebec after last season to coach in New York.

For the Rangers and goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, it extended their current unbeaten streak to four games--3-0-1. The loss broke a three-game winning streak for the Nordiques.