NHL Roundup : Penguins’ Lemieux Third Player to Score 150 Points

Mario Lemieux had a goal and two assists Wednesday night to become the third player in National Hockey League history to score 150 points in a season, sparking the Penguins to a 7-1 rout of the Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh.

The Penguins, who moved within a point of the fourth-place New York Rangers in the battlefor the final playoff spot in the Patrick Division, improved to 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. Washington is 2-4-1 in its last seven outings.

Lemieux’s goal, his 61st, put him 16 points ahead of Wayne Gretzky of Edmonton in the scoring race. Gretzky has topped the 150-point plateau seven times, and Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins did it once.

Rookie goaltender Steve Guenette, 6-0-0 at the Civic Arena and 7-3-0 in his last 10 starts for the Penguins, lost his shutout on Greg Adams’ 15th goal of the season.

Pittsburgh, with 102 power-play goals, became the third team in history to score more than 100 power-play goals in a season. All three teams have done it this season--Winnipeg has 106 and the New York Rangers 104.

Montreal 4, Quebec 1--Shayne Corson and Gilles Thibaudeau scored in the first seven minutes of the game, and Brian Hayward provided solid goaltending at Montreal as the Canadiens extended their unbeaten string to 15.

The Canadiens, who have yielded only 27 goals while going 13-0-2, completed their eight games against the Nordiques by winning six straight. Hayward, who has won his last eight appearances, has all six victories against Quebec and is 13-3 in his career against the Nordiques.

Minnesota 5, Chicago 4--The victory at Chicago, only the third in the last 15 games for Minnesota (3-9-3), lifted the North Stars into a fourth-place tie with idle Toronto for the final playoff spot in the Norris Division.

Chicago, in third place in the Norris, has lost three straight.