NHL Roundup : North Star Hopes Brighten With 7-7 Tie

Wayne Presley scored with 2:21 left in regulation Monday night at Bloomington, Minn., to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 7-7 tie with the Minnesota North Stars, who dearly wanted the two points a victory would have given them but will gladly take the one.

The North Stars moved into the final playoff position in the National Hockey League’s Norris Division with 51 points to 50 for Toronto, which lost to Edmonton. Minnesota has three games remaining, and Toronto has two.

With 5:41 left, Dino Ciccarelli’s second goal of the game, 40th of the season and 300th of his career gave the North Stars a 7-6 lead, capping a three-goal third-period rally.

Steve Larmer scored three goals, and Denis Savard had four assists for Chicago.

Edmonton 6, Toronto 4--Wayne Gretzky collected a goal and three assists to lead the Oilers past the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

Gretzky fed Esa Tikkanen for the winning goal with 1:05 left, then scored an empty-net goal with 16 seconds left.

Jari Kurri scored his 39th and 40th goals for Edmonton, and Ed Olczyk had his 40st and 41st for the Maple Leafs.

Calgary 7, St. Louis 2--Joel Otto scored two goals, and the Flames stretched their unbeaten streak to 10 games and moved closer to clinching the NHL’s overall regular-season points title by routing the Blues at Calgary.

The Flames, 8-0-2 in the last 10 games, have 103 points with three games left. Montreal has 98 points.

Calgary set a franchise record with its 47th victory, including 25 at home, another record.

Doug Gilmour scored his 35th goal for St. Louis.