NHL ROUNDUP : Coffey Sticks Around to Score Winning Goal

Paul Coffey escaped a high-sticking call and scored the game-winning goal Thursday night at Pittsburgh, giving the Penguins a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Coffey’s teammate, Mario Lemieux, broke his team record by extending his point-scoring streak to 29 games, longest in the NHL this season, with two assists.

Coffey slapped in Mark Recchi’s pass from the top of the left faceoff circle for his 15th goal. The shot went in off a goal post to give Pittsburgh its third win in four games and drop Vancouver’s road record to 4-14-2.

The Canucks argued that Coffey never should have been around to score the winning goal. Rob Brown got a major penalty and a game misconduct for high-sticking Canuck captain Paul Reinhart.

The Canucks contended it was Coffey’s stick, not Brown’s, that caught Reinhart in the chin, opening a cut that required nine stitches to close.

Coffey pleaded not guilty, although he acknowledged the contact with Reinhart.

“It wasn’t even that much of a hit,” Coffey said. “It was just a collision. I didn’t put anything into it. I hit him with my shoulder and his own stick came up and caught him.”

Detroit 4, Quebec 1--Gerard Gallant’s power-play goal 59 seconds into the third period snapped a tie and sparked a three-goal spurt for the Red Wings at Detroit. Shawn Burr increased the lead to 3-1 and Jimmy Carson added a power-play goal with 5:28 remaining.

Boston 4, Winnipeg 2--Ray Bourque’s 45-foot goal with 1:41 remaining helped the Bruins to victory at Boston. Bob Gould, Craig Janney and Bob Sweeney had the other goals for the Bruins.

St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 4--Gino Cavallini scored with 2:16 left in overtime to give the Blues the victory. Cavallini converted from the right faceoff circle off a three-on-two break, off a pass by Paul MacLean. St. Louis scored all its previous goals in the third period after Philadelphia took a 2-0 lead.

Minnesota 8, New York Rangers 2--Brian Bellows scored three goals and Dave Gagner added two as the North Stars handed the Rangers their fifth consecutive road defeat.