NHL ROUNDUP : Two Big Wins Give Jets Confidence

The Winnipeg Jets enter the new year with a lot of confidence after victories over two of their Smythe Division rivals.

Doug Smail scored the winning goal at 9:32 of the third period Sunday at Winnipeg as the Jets followed an 2-1 overtime victory over the Calgary Flames two nights earlier with a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

“It was a big win for us in Calgary and it would have been a shame to come back here and lose to another team that we’re chasing,” said defenseman Dave Ellett, who scored in the second period. “It was a big confidence builder.”

Dale Hawerchuk also scored for the Jets, who won their third straight to climb to within three points of the third-place Kings.

Edmonton was outshot, 31-27, and showed the effects of having to play two games in less than 24 hours.

The Oilers beat Montreal, 6-2, just 18 hours earlier in Edmonton.

Pittsburgh 5, New York Rangers 4--Mario Lemieux and Mark Recchi scored 20 seconds apart late in the third period at Madison Square Garden to extend the Rangers’ winless streak to 11 games.

Lemieux tied the game at 14:10 with a 10-foot wrist shot past Bob Froese. Recchi tapped in Dan Quinn’s pass at 14:30, extending the Rangers’ winless skein to 0-8-3, their longest since 1965.

The Penguins capitalized on a Ranger mistake for the tying goal. New York failed to place a man in the penalty box when Kris King received a major for slashing at 8:42. The Rangers were unable to get a stoppage of play after the penalty expired and were still a skater short when Lemieux scored.

New York Islanders 4, Buffalo 2--Pat LaFontaine scored three times, extending his goal-scoring streak to seven games, to lead the Islanders at Buffalo.

LaFontaine, who took over the league lead with 33 goals, has 12 goals in his last seven games, during which the Islanders are 6-1.

Detroit 6, New Jersey 4--Rick Zombo, Marc Habscheid and Lee Norwood had goals during a 2:19 span as the Red Wings scored five times in the third period at Detroit.

Detroit, which was 1-19-2 when trailing after two periods, scored four goals within a 7 1/2-minute span early in the third period to overcome a pair of two-goal deficits and snap a four-game winless streak.

Minnesota 2, St. Louis 1--Dave Gagner stole the puck from Rob Brind’Amour and beat goaltender Vincent Riendeau 1:14 into overtime at Bloomington, Minn.

The North Stars, who were 2-11-2 in December, snapped winless streaks of six games overall and five at home. Since it had the NHL’s best record (15-8-1) on Nov. 24, Minnesota is 3-12-2.

Brett Hull of the Blues sent the game into overtime with 8:21 left in regulation with his 33rd goal.

Philadelphia 2, Vancouver 2--The tie at Vancouver gave the Flyers sole possession of first place in the Patrick Division, one point ahead of New Jersey and Washington.