NHL Roundup : Oilers Defeat Sabres in Overtime

The Edmonton Oilers proved once again Sunday that they are learning to win without Wayne Gretzky.

The Oilers defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 5-4, at Buffalo, N.Y., on an overtime goal by Esa Tikkanen, his 13th of the season.

Edmonton (11-5-2) moved ahead of the Kings and into second place in the Smythe Division of the National Hockey League.

“(Keith) Acton worked the puck loose along the boards and I screamed to him,” Tikkanen said, describing the winning goal at 3 minutes and 25 seconds into overtime. “He heard me and I had an open shot. It was a lucky goal.”

The Sabres might have won the game in regulation had they not been caught with only four skaters on the ice in the first period, giving the Oilers an advantage to score a short-handed goal, which gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead.

The Sabres’ Jeff Parker was serving a 5-minute fighting penalty and a 2-minute instigating infraction. Normally, a team puts an extra player in the box with the penalized player so he can skate out after the first penalty ends. Buffalo failed to do so, and the mistake cost them when Reed Larson scored his second goal of the season off a pass from Jari Kurri.

Detroit 5, New York Rangers 3--Steve Yzerman scored 1 goal and had 2 assists to help the Red Wings win at New York--their fourth straight victory. Yzerman has 7 goals and 8 assists in Detroit’s last 5 games, and 16 goals this season.

Dave Barr broke the 3-3 tie for Detroit with 6:44 remaining in the third period when he slapped in the rebound of a shot from the point by Gerard Gallant, to give the Red Wings their second victory in Madison Square Garden in the last 11 games. Greg Stefan made 36 saves in goal for Detroit.

Quebec 5, Chicago 5--Rookie Joe Sakic’s second power-play goal of the game, with 20 seconds remaining in regulation, gave the Nordiques a 5-5 tie with the Blackhawks at Chicago. The game was marked by six power-play goals, with each team scoring three.

Quebec was limited to 11 shots in the first two periods, including four in the middle period. Steve Thomas scored his 11th goal of the season on a Chicago power play in the first period.

Winnipeg 7, Montreal 3--Andrew McBain scored 2 of Winnipeg’s 3 second-period power-play goals as the Jets beat the Canadiens at Winnipeg.

Dale Hawerchuk also scored as the Jets broke open a 1-1 game with 5 goals in the second period.

Pittsburgh 4, Vancouver 2--Mario Lemieux, the NHL’s scoring leader, figured in all 4 goals and Paul Coffey scored twice to lead the Penguins at Vancouver.

With 3 assists and a goal, Lemieux ran his league-leading points total to 47, 10 more than Bernie Nicholls of the Kings. Coffey scored twice in the second period.