NHL ROUNDUP : Islanders Win 9th in Row, Are Alone in First Place

The New York Islanders are making themselves at home anywhere in the NHL these days.

Randy Wood scored three power-play goals at Winnipeg for his first hat trick and the Islanders beat the Jets, 6-4, Friday night for their ninth consecutive victory.

The victory gave the Islanders sole possession of first place in the Patrick Division. In their last 22 games the Islanders are 18-3-1.

It has been an amazing turnaround for a team that played poorly most of last season and was the worst team in the NHL for the first third of this season.

The Islanders, last in the division seven weeks ago, lead New Jersey by two points and are two games above .500.

Washington 6, Buffalo 3--The Capitals have the right Murray at last. Defenseman Kevin Hatcher scored twice at Buffalo and the Capitals won their second in a row under new Coach Terry Murray.

Under Terry’s brother Bryan, the Capitals were in a horrible slump and seemed completely disorganized.

Chicago 5, Vancouver 2--Adam Creighton scored twice on power plays at Chicago to score 25 goals for the first time.

The victory increased the Blackhawks’ lead in the Norris Division to seven points.

Hartford 3, Calgary 3--Ray Ferraro scored a power-play goal with 41 seconds left at Hartford to get the second last-minute tie in a row for the Whalers.

At Boston Wednesday night, there were 17 seconds left in regulation when Kevin Dineen made it a 5-5 tie.