NHL Roundup : Lemieux Shoots Down Flames, 6-1

When Wayne Gretzky accumulated 92 goals and 212 points in the 1981-82 season, many thought it was the ultimate in National Hockey League offense.

Gretzky improved his point total to 215 in 1985-86, and nobody has come close to bettering it.

But this may be the season that the Gretzky records fall.

Mario Lemieux had 2 goals and 3 assists to continue his sizzling start and lead the Penguins to a 6-1 victory over the Calgary Flames Tuesday night at Pittsburgh.

Lemieux, who has helped the Penguins post a 6-2 record, best in the Patrick Division, has 15 goals and 31 points in just 8 games. Projected over a season, Lemieux would have 150 goals and 310 points. Although he is not likely to keep up that pace, the scoring records are definitely within reach.

Pittsburgh goalie Steve Guenette, 22, is 4-0-0 this season and has yielded only 9 goals for a 2.25 goals-against average.

Although the Flames, who played 2 tough overtime games during the weekend, appeared listless, they still fired 44 shots at the young goalie. Joe Nieuwendyk scored their only goal in the first minute of the second period.

Toronto 4, New York Islanders 3--The Maple Leafs have been one of the surprises of the start of the hockey season. And they continued the trend in the second period of the game in Uniondale, N.Y.

Held to 4 shots in the 20 minutes by the New York defense, the Maple Leafs scored on all 4 of them to improve their record to 7-3-1. They now lead the Norris Division by 8 points.

Ed Olczyk scored 2 of the goals. In the first and third periods, goalie Kelly Hrudey stopped 14 shots.

The Islanders had 13 shots in the second period and scored on 3 of them. But in the third period, they couldn’t get 1 of 13 shots past Ken Wregget.

Chicago 7, Quebec 4--Denis Savard had a goal and 3 assists at Quebec to lead the struggling Blackhawks to only their second victory in 10 games this season.

The Blackhawks, who had lost 5 in a row, jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first period and held off repeated rallies by the Nordiques.

Buffalo 7, New Jersey 4--The Sabres converted 4 of 7 power plays and limited the Devils to 2 goals in 9 power-play tries for the victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Sabres’ biggest goal with a man advantage was scored late in the second period. Dave Andreychuk deflected a shot by Ray Sheppard from the point to break a 3-3 tie.

Boston 1, Montreal 1--In this game at Boston, the defenses were brilliant. Brian Hayward stopped 32 shots for the Canadiens, and Reggie Lemelin stopped 23 for the Bruins.

The biggest save of the night was by Lemelin with less than a minute remaining in overtime. He stopped Bobby Smith from point blank at the side of the crease.

Washington 4, Vancouver 3--Mike Ridley scored a power-play goal at 2:55 of overtime, lifting the Capitals over the Canucks at Vancouver.

With Harold Snepsts in the penalty box for cross-checking Mike Gartner, Ridley lifted a loose puck high over goalie Steve Weeks for the winner.