NHL Roundup : Lemieux Has New Goals, Leads Penguins Past Blackhawks, 6-5

A late season slump cost Mario Lemieux his chance to break a couple of Wayne Gretzky’s records, but he came out of his skid with a brilliant performance.

Lemieux’s goal now is to get a Patrick Division championship. Lemieux scored three goals and assisted on the other three Sunday at Chicago to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-5 victory over the Blackhawks. It was only the Penguins’ third win in the last 13 games.

The Penguins, who moved to within a single point of division-leading Washington, needed Lemieux at his best. The Blackhawks stormed the Pittsburgh net, firing 62 shots, more than one a minute, at goaltender Tom Barrasso.

A month or so ago, Lemieux was on a pace that would have broken Gretzky’s records for goals (92) and points (215) in a season. Both were considered impossible to break. Perhaps they are.

With 10 games to play, Lemieux has 70 goals and 179 points. It is unlikely he will score 22 more goals. He’s a longshot to get 36 points, too.

Lemieux did tie a Gretzky record that figured to last a long time. One of his goals was his 12th when his team was short-handed.

In the previous three games Lemieux had only two points. Lemieux said it was just a matter of time “before I got back on track. But you have to build up to it. I was a little bit tired the last few games. But I guess today, I got my offense back.”

The Penguins, with 35 victories and 77 points, are certain to post their best record and get Lemieux into the playoffs for the first time in his fifth NHL season. But winning the division would make it sweeter.

In addition to Washington with 78 points, the New York Rangers are in the race. They have 76 points, all with 10 games remaining. The Rangers and Pittsburgh each have six at home, whereas Washington has five. However, the Capitals play the two weak clubs--New Jersey and the Islanders--twice apiece.

The Blackhawks’ hopes to make the playoffs in the Norris Division were damaged by the setback.

Minnesota 5, St. Louis 3--The North Stars picked up a big dividend on their recent trade with Washington in this game at Bloomington, Minn.

Mike Gartner, acquired from the Capitals, set up the tie-breaking goal by Don Barber, then scored himself to assure the victory.

With the win, the North Stars pulled to within a point of the Blues in the battle for second place in the Norris Division.

Philadelphia 3, Hartford 3--Rick Tocchet scored his second goal of the game at Hartford with just 3:18 left in regulation to give the Flyers a hard-earned tie.

An ill-timed clearing pass by Hartford’s Ray Ferraro was picked off by Tocchet and he fired in his 39th goal of the season. The tie dropped Hartford four points behind Buffalo in the battle for third place in the Adams Division.

The Flyers are within five points of the New York Rangers in the Patrick Division battle for third.

Winnipeg 9, Toronto 7--Frederick Olausson scored one of his two goals in a three-goal burst in nine minutes in the first period at Winnipeg.

In one of the wildest games of the year, the Maple Leafs, trailing 6-1, rallied to make a battle of it. The Jets hung on to end a five-game losing streak.

Buffalo 3, Boston 2--The Sabres would like to finish second in the Adams Division and earn home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

It just doesn’t figure to make much difference. They have dominated the team they will play in the first round--Boston--posting a 5-0-3 record against the Bruins.

The Sabres trail the Bruins by four points with 10 games left.

They won this game at Buffalo when Dave Andreychuk scored his second goal of the game early in the last period to break a 2-2 tie.