NHL Roundup : Flames Now Get Show Off the Road

The Calgary Flames didn’t let the return of Wayne Gretzky spoil a glorious ending to one of the toughest trips in National Hockey League history.

Gretzky, who missed three games with an eye injury, scored his 35th goal Sunday night at Edmonton, but the Flames, on third-period goals by Joel Otto and Jim Peplinski, beat the Stanley Cup champions, 3-2.

The victory, in their 11th consecutive road game, enabled the Flames to increase their lead in the Smythe Division to three points over the Oilers.

When the Flames turned their home arena, the Saddledome, over to the Winter Olympics after playing New Jersey Feb. 1, they had a five-point lead over the Oilers.

They opened the trip with a 9-0 humiliation at Winnipeg, and two nights later were drubbed at Detroit. Instead of falling apart, the Flames fought back to play .500 hockey and maintain most of their lead.

The victory over the Oilers gave them a 5-5-1 record. Having survived the ordeal, the Flames now have the benefit of the schedule the rest of the way. There are 16 games left in the regular season, and the Flames will have 10 of them at home.

Gretzky, who has missed 16 games this season with injuries that will probably cost him the scoring title, was hit in the eye by a stick in a game with Pittsburgh Feb. 19 and suffered a corneal abrasion.

He appeared to be in good form on his return. On a power play in the middle of the second period, Gretzky beat goaltender Mike Vernon to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.

But Otto, who scored the first Calgary goal in the first period, tied the score at 6:33 of the final period when he beat goaltender Grant Fuhr on the short side.

Peplinski, who just returned from playing with the Canadian Olympic team, put the Flames ahead at 9:15 with his 16th goal of the season.

With 81 points, the Flames have the best record in the league.

New Jersey 8, Minnesota 6--One of the more interesting battles remaining in the regular season is the fight for the final playoff spot in the Patrick Division.

It is a three-team affair among the Devils, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh. For the moment, at least, the Devils are in fourth place.

Pat Verbeek had four goals at East Rutherford, N.J., and Kirk Muller had three, along with two assists, as the Devils took over the final playoff position with 61 points. Verbeek has a club-record 36 goals.

The Devils are one point ahead of the Rangers and two ahead of the Penguins. However, the Rangers may be in the best position. They have 17 games to play, the Devils have 15 and Pittsburgh has 16.

Chicago 7, Pittsburgh 3--Dan Quinn had a hat trick at Chicago, but the Penguins couldn’t match the Blackhawks’ firepower and dropped into last place in the Patrick Division.

Rick Vaive recorded his ninth career hat trick to lead the Blackhawks, who pulled within four points of second-place St. Louis in the tightening Norris Division race.

It was the sixth loss in a row for the Penguins, who may have the scoring champion and not make the playoffs. Mario Lemieux had two assists to run his point total to 125.

Vaive has 37 goals this season and 349 in his career. He completed his three-goal game halfway through the final period.

Quinn, who has 26 goals this season, had a goal in the first period and two more in the second period.

Buffalo 5, Winnipeg 3--In just his second National Hockey League game, Benoit Hogue made his first goal and it was the big one at Buffalo.

With the score tied, 3-3, in the middle of the final period, Hogue took a pass from Dave Andreychuk and blasted a shot past goaltender Steve Penney to give Buffalo the lead. Mike Ramsey added an extra goal into an empty net with 37 seconds remaining.

As the Sabres stretched their third-place margin in the Adams Division to eight points, goaltender Tom Barrasso stopped 32 shots, including 13 in the last period.