NHL Roundup : Five-Point Game Ends Slump for Lemieux

Mario Lemieux ended his first slump of the season with a five-point performance Tuesday night at Pittsburgh and carried the Penguins to a 7-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

Lemieux scored three goals and added two assists, although he was playing without linemate Rob Brown, the Penguins’ No. 2 scorer, who is out for a month with a shoulder separation.

Lemieux’s slump, in which he scored just nine points in seven games, hurt his chances of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s National Hockey League records of 92 goals and 215 points.

But with injuries riddling his team, the 23-year-old Lemieux knew it was up to him to keep the Penguins in first place in the Patrick Division.

Lemieux snapped out of his skid at a perfect time. With the New York Rangers losing, the Penguins increased their lead to three points.

The three goals gave him a league-leading 61 goals and the five points increased his total to 153. The Penguins have 23 games remaining, and Lemieux needs 32 goals and 63 points to erase Gretzky’s marks.

It was the 10th time this season that Lemieux has had five or more points.

Philadelphia 3, New York Rangers 1--When goaltender Ron Hextall has a big game, the Flyers are as good as any team in the league.

Hextall was brilliant at Philadelphia and the Flyers ended a three-game losing streak. He stopped 33 shots and had a shutout until Ulf Dahlen scored on a power play with 7:37 remaining.

Al Secord, obtained from Toronto Feb. 7, scored his first goal for the Flyers.

The Rangers, leading the Patrick Division two weeks ago, are 1-5 in their last six games.

Washington 5, St. Louis 3--Mike Gartner picked an appropriate time to extend his goal-scoring streak to nine games in this battle at St. Louis.

With the score tied, 3-3, and 2:36 left in regulation, Gartner took a pass from Mike Ridley right in front of the goal and jammed the puck into the net.

The Capitals, who had lost three in a row at home, are unbeaten in their last eight road games (4-0-4). They pulled into a tie with the Rangers for second place in the Patrick Division.

Chicago 4, Minnesota 2--Wayne Presley scored the tiebreaker with less than three minutes remaining at Minneapolis to give the Blackhawks a hard-earned victory.

It may have been a costly win. Denis Savard, the Blackhawks’ best player, was kicked in the back of his right ankle. Savard was out for three weeks last month with an injury to that ankle.

Savard was hurt six minutes after the opening faceoff.

New York Islanders 5, Edmonton 3--David Volek stole an errant pass and fired a 35-foot shot into the net with less than seven minutes to play at Uniondale, N.Y., to break a 3-3 tie.

The Oilers, playing their fourth road game in six nights, were without injured forwards Jari Kurri, Mark Messier and Esa Tikkanen.

Vancouver 5, Boston 2-- Steve Bozek’s two goals and Kirk McLean’s goaltending carried the Canucks to their third straight victory.

McLean, who made 26 saves, lost his shutout at 13:29 of the final period when Ray Bourque scored to cut Vancouver’s lead to 2-1. Bourque’s goal was the first of four in a 1:40 span in a hectic finish.