NHL Roundup : Penguins Are Carried by Lemieux

Mario Lemieux is pulling rapidly away from ailing Wayne Gretzky in the scoring race and seems determined to drag his Pittsburgh Penguins into the playoffs.

The big center scored on a penalty shot in the second period at Uniondale, N.Y., and added two assists to help the Penguins to a 6-4 victory over the New York Islanders.

It was the second win in a row after a 10-game winless streak for the Penguins and moved them within two points of the New Jersey Netsand the final playoff spot in the Patrick Division.

When Gretzky went out with his knee injury on Dec. 30, he held a 13-point lead in his bid to win a record eighth consecutive scoring title. Lemieux has been brilliant since Gretzky was hurt. In 10 games, he has 15 goals and 11 assists. He leads with 98 points to 86 for Gretzky.

The Penguins, who had won only one of their previous 13 games at Nassau Coliseum, held a 4-3 lead with 6:22 left in the second period, when Lemieux skated in on goaltender Kelly Hrudey on a breakaway. The Islanders’ Ken Leiter made a diving tackle that knocked Lemieux into the Islanders’ net and took Hrudey with him.

On the penalty shot, Hrudey never had a chance against the leading goal scorer. Lemieux skated in close, faked a shot to the right corner and slipped the puck between Hrudey’s pads for his 46th goal.

“I was thinking high, but he (Hrudey) didn’t give me room, so I put it low,” Lemieux said.

Calgary 7, Vancouver 5--Hakan Loob had his second hat trick of the season and added an assist at Calgary to help the Flames pull into a tie for first place with Edmonton in the Smythe Division.

Flame rookie Joe Nieuwendyk scored his 33rd goal, his 19th on a power play, when he knocked in the rebound of a shot by Loob in the first period.

Loob scored his first goal at 7:16, scored again early in the second period with his team short-handed, then completed the big night at 5:18 of the final period with his 28th goal of the season.

Edmonton 4, Quebec 4--Without Gretzky, the Oilers have been hanging tough.

This game at Quebec was the 10th the Oilers have played since Gretzky tore ligaments in his knee in the last minute of a 6-0 win over Philadelphia Dec. 30.

When Kelly Buchberger scored his first NHL with 3:47 remaining in regulation, it gave the Oilers a tie and a 4-2-4 record without their talented center.

Craig Simpson scored his 30th goal, tying him for the club lead with the ailing Gretzky.

Washington 6, New Jersey 4--Mike Gartner and Michal Pivonka each scored twice as the Capitals maintained their superiority over the Devils at Landover, Md.

The Capitals, who moved into a tie for second place with the New York Islanders, are 18-0-1 at the Capital Centre against the Devils. It is the only NHL arena in which the Devils have not won in since moving to New Jersey.

Winnipeg 3, St. Louis 0--At Winnipeg, Andrew McBain had a goal and an assist, and Daniel Berthiaume stopped 23 shots to give the Jets only their third win in the last 11 games.

Jet captain Dale Hawerchuk, named to the All-Star team, assisted on two of the goals.

Hartford 6, Minnesota 3--Paul MacDermid scored twice at Bloomington, Minn. A snowstorm in the area held attendance to 4,637, although 9,581 tickets were sold.