NHL Roundup : Oiler Quickly Earns Spot in Record Book

Edmonton Oilers left wing Esa Tikkanen had set a National Hockey League record and didn’t even know it.

“I didn’t realize it until you guys mentioned it,” Tikkanen told reporters after the Oilers’ 6-2 victory Saturday night over the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

Tikkanen scored 2 short-handed goals within 12 seconds midway through the first period, breaking the previous record of 2 short-handed goals in 25 seconds, set by Pat Hughes of the Oilers in 1983.

Tikkanen has 4 short-handed goals in his last 3 games and 6 this season.

“It’s nice to get another Finn in the record book,” said Edmonton teammate Jari Kurri, who holds the NHL record for most goals in one season by a right wing, 71. “That’s great for him.”

Tikkanen added an even-strength goal, Kurri had 1 goal and 4 assists, and Craig Simpson and Greg Adams also scored for Edmonton. Grant Fuhr was the winning goaltender.

Craig Laughlin and Dave Reid scored for Toronto after the Oilers had taken a 5-0 lead.

“The two short-handed goals took us right out of it,” Toronto Coach John Brophy said. “Edmonton came out freewheeling and did pretty much what they wanted to do.”

The Maple Leafs lost their fifth consecutive game and relinquished first place in the Norris Division, which they had held for a month. Detroit moved ahead by 1 point after beating Philadelphia, 5-4.

With teammate Kevin McClelland sitting out an interference penalty, Tikkanen scored on his own rebound 10:44 into the game, then took a pass from Kurri to finish off a 2-on-1 break at 10:56.

New Jersey 6, Washington 3--John MacLean broke a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal late in the second period, and Jim Korn added 2 goals as the Devils won for only the second time in 23 regular-season games at the Capital Centre.

Sean Burke, the hero of New Jersey’s victory over the Capitals in last spring’s Patrick Division finals, stopped 38 shots for the Devils.

Hartford 3, Minnesota 1--Ulf Samuelsson scored 1 goal and assisted on another, leading the Whalers to the victory at Bloomington, Minn.

Samuelsson, who leads Whaler defensemen with 10 points, scored with 5:41 left in the second period to break a 1-1 tie.

The North Stars are 2-11-3 this season, the worst record in the NHL.

St. Louis 4, Quebec 3--Gino Cavallini scored 2 goals to lead the Blues to the victory over the slumping Nordiques at St. Louis.

Vincent Riendeau, the Blues’ rookie goaltender, earned his second victory--and second against Quebec--as the Nordiques lost for the ninth time in their last 11 games.

With the victory, the Blues moved into a second-place tie with Toronto in the Norris Division, a point behind Detroit.

Calgary 2, Boston 1--Jiri Hrdina scored his 11th goal of the season with 39 seconds left in the second period to give the Flames the victory at Boston.

The Flames have the best record in the NHL with 25 points, 3 more than the Bruins.

Mike Vernon stopped 36 shots in the Calgary net, and the Flames fired 26 shots at Bruin goalie Reggie Lemelin.

Detroit 5, Philadelphia 4--Steve Yzerman scored 3 goals, and Gerard Gallant had 4 assists as the Red Wings defeated the Flyers at Philadelphia.

The win was Detroit’s third in a row. The Flyers, who lost their third straight, are 4-10 after a 4-0 start.

Yzerman’s third goal gave the Red Wings a 5-2 lead and proved to be the game-winner.

Buffalo 3, New York Islanders 0--Sabre goaltender Daren Puppa extended his unbeaten streak to 8 games as he shut out the Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y.

Puppa, who won the Sabres’ starting goaltending job from their longtime No. 1 goalie, Tom Barrasso, turned aside 34 shots in recording the second shutout of his career.

Earlier in the day, the Sabres traded Barrasso and a 1990 third-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Doug Bodger and minor league left wing Darrin Shannon.