NHL ROUNDUP : Lemieux Braces Himself for Stretch Run at Scoring Record

The brace apparently is just what the doctor ordered for Mario Lemieux.

The high-scoring center extended his scoring streak to 44 games with his 43rd goal in the first period Thursday night at Pittsburgh, then went on to lead the Penguins to a 7-5 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Lemieux later added four assists as the Penguins scored five of the last six goals to come from two goals down to climb into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Patrick Division with the Capitals and Philadelphia.

The scoring star has had back-to-back five-point games since donning the brace that protects his aching back. After the season he will have surgery, but for now, he’s in pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s record of 51 games in a row.

The streak began Oct. 31 against Gretzky and the Kings. Saturday night he’ll get a chance to extend it to 45 against the Kings.

New York Islanders 5, Philadelphia 5--The Islanders scored twice in the last five minutes of regulation at Philadelphia to get the Islanders the tie.

Early in the season, when they were struggling to get out of the cellar, the Islanders were losing games in the final seconds.

After New York was outplayed for most of this one, Hubie McDonough scored to put the Islanders close and Doug Crossman sent it into overtime with only 77 seconds left.

Glenn Healy of the Islanders had to stop seven shots in overtime to preserve the tie.

Boston 5, Quebec 1--Shortly after the Bruins learned that Randy Burridge would be out six weeks with a knee injury, their newest player, Peter Douris, gave them a fast start at Boston.

Douris, brought up from the minors last weekend, scored 38 seconds after the opening faceoff to send the Nordiques on the way to their 10th consecutive defeat.

The Bruins have a 34-18-5 record, best in the NHL.

Chicago 8, Detroit 6--Dirk Graham had a hat trick at Detroit and Steve Thomas had two goals to lead the Blackhawks to victory.

In a wild second period, it seemed whenever the two teams weren’t fighting, they were scoring. There were nine goals and 11 penalties.