NHL Roundup : Yzerman Leads Detroit Past Chicago, 5-0

In some circumstances, being rated third-best is not such a great achievement, but in the National Hockey League it’s quite an accomplishment.

The player rated behind Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux is one to be respected.

Steve Yzerman has earned the honor and he is leading the Detroit Red Wings to new respect in the Norris Division.

Yzerman, on his way to shattering all the Red Wings’ offensive records, had a short-handed goal and an assist Saturday at Detroit to lead the Red Wings to a 5-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks, unbeaten in their previous five games had moved into second place and were getting into a position to challenge the Wings. Instead of pulling to within nine points, the Blackhawks fell to 13 points. With only 16 games remaining, Detroit is in a good position.

Already this season Yzerman, 24, has set club records for a season in goals and points. He needs three assists to break Marcel Dionne’s record of 74. The goal was his 58th and he has 130 points.

The center from British Columbia has received praise from one of the best, veteran center Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders.

“I’m not taking anything away from Wayne or Mario, but Steve has to be a strong candidate for MVP,” Trottier said after one of Yzerman’s dazzling performances. “He is having a tremendous season.”

All along Detroit Coach Jacques Demers has been praising Yzerman.

“I know how Glen Sather (Edmonton coach) felt all those years coaching Gretzky,” he said. “I feel the same way about Steve. He does everything for us. I don’t know if he can get any better.”

Yzerman scored in the second period, 11 seconds after teammate Rick Zombo was sent off the ice for roughing. Detroit’s Shawn Burr, 54 seconds after Yzerman scored, made it two short-handed goals on the same penalty.

Glen Hanlon stopped 27 shots to earn the first shutout for the Wings this season. Hanlon has not given up a goal in more than 100 minutes. Before that, though, he gave up seven goals against Pittsburgh in two periods.

New York Islanders 5, Pittsburgh 5--If the Penguins don’t win the hotly-contested Patrick Division, they can probably blame their last two fold ups.

On Thursday at Detroit, they built a 6-0 lead in the opening 26 minutes and had to settle for a tie.

In this game at Uniondale, N.Y., they held a 5-2 lead with fewer than 14 minutes remaining.

Mario Lemieux’s second goal of the game and 64th of the season had given the Penguins their big lead.

David Volek began the rally for the Islanders, last-place team in the Patrick Division, when he scored his 21st at 6:37. At 11:08 Derek King cut the lead to a goal. There was only 2:03 left in regulation when Randy Wood scored to send it into overtime. The Islanders had the only two shots on goal in the overtime.

Paul Coffey had four assists for the Penguins and has a club-record 86. Randy Carlyle set the mark in 1980-81 with 83.

New York Rangers 7, Quebec 2--Darren Turcotte and Carey Wilson each scored twice at Quebec to boost the Rangers back into first place in the Patrick Division.

The Rangers have 72 points, Pittsburgh 71 and Washington 70.

With their third victory in the last four games the Rangers appear to have ended their slump.

Guy Lafleur, who played junior hockey in Quebec, assisted on both goals by the rookie Turcotte. It was his first appearance in Quebec since he came out of retirement.

Boston 9, Hartford 1--Back in good health, the Bruins are beginning to resemble the team that made it to the final round of the Stanley Cup last spring.

In this game at Hartford, Randy Burridge and Glen Wesley each scored twice as the Bruins, winning their fourth in a row, humiliated the Whalers.

The Whalers enjoyed only the first 35 seconds when they took the lead on John Anderson’s tip-in.

Montreal 6, Buffalo 1--The Canadiens seem to delight in knocking off teams that are going well.

The Sabres had won five in a row, but they were no match for the Adams Division leaders at Montreal.

Stephane Richer and Russ Courtnall each scored twice to lead the Canadiens to an easy victory.

Edmonton 5, St. Louis 3--Craig Simpson had a hat trick at Edmonton and the Oilers handed the slumping Blues their seventh consecutive defeat.

The third victory in a row enabled the Oilers to move ahead of the Kings into second place in the Smythe Division.

Toronto 4, Minnesota 2--Although they are next-to-last overall in the NHL, the Maple Leafs are making a bid to earn a playoff spot.

With this victory at Bloomington, Minn., the Leafs are only three points behind the North Stars and St. Louis in the battle for the last playoff berth in the weak Norris Division.

Vincent Damphousse’s goal with three minutes left in the second period broke a 2-2 tie.