NHL ROUNDUP : Lemieux Can’t Save Penguins

Even the return of Mario Lemieux wasn’t enough to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins into the NHL playoffs.

Lemieux, who missed 21 games with a herniated disk in his back, returned to action Saturday night with a goal and an assist, but the Penguins lost to visiting Buffalo, 3-2, when the Sabres’ Uwe Krupp scored one minute into overtime.

The final Patrick Division playoff spot went to the New York Islanders, who beat Philadelphia, 6-2, and finished a point ahead of the Penguins, 73-72. Pittsburgh needed a tie to make the play-offs.

The loss kept the Penguins out of the playoffs for the seventh time in the last eight years.

“I felt all right,” Lemieux said. “I didn’t have the speed. It’s tough for everybody, not only for myself.”

Originally slated for only power-play duty, Lemieux wound up playing semi-regularly. He took five shifts in the third period and was on the ice when Krupp scored the game-winner.

New York Islanders 6, Philadelphia 2--The Islanders earned a berth in the playoffs in their final regular-season game at Uniondale, N.Y., behind two goals and two assists from Brent Sutter.

The Islanders’ victory kept Philadelphia out of the playoffs for the first time since the 1971-72 season. The Flyers have a 30-39-10 record, the most defeats in the team’s history, and 70 points.

Minnesota 6, St. Louis 3--Brian Bellows’ 55th goal broke a third-period tie at St. Louis as the North Stars spoiled a record-setting performance by the Blues’ Brett Hull.

Hull scored twice to give him 72 goals, an NHL record for a right wing. Edmonton’s Jari Kurri had 71 in 1984-85.

Boston 2, Montreal 2--Bobby Smith scored at 14:10 of the third period at Montreal to give the Canadiens the tie.

The Bruins (46-25-8), reached the 100-point mark for the 13th time in their 66-year history.

Toronto 6, Chicago 4--Ed Olczyk had a goal and two assists at Toronto as the Maple Leafs finished 38-38-4.

It was Toronto’s first .500 season since 1978-79.

Hartford 3, Quebec 2--Ray Ferraro broke a tie at 1:43 of the third period with his 25th goal, and the Whalers assured the Nordiques their worst home record in history.

Quebec finished 8-26-6 at the Colisee despite Joe Sakic’s 38th goal. Sakic, 20, is the youngest NHL player to score 100 points in a season and the first player to do so with a last-place team.

New Jersey 5, Detroit 1--Patrik Sundstrom scored two goals and Alexei Kasatonov had three assists at East Rutherford, N.J..

The victory was New Jersey’s fifth in a row. The Devils tied the club record set in 1987-88 for most points in a season with 82.

Washington 2, New York Rangers 1--Dino Ciccarelli scored his 39th goal for the game-winner and goaltender Mike Liut stopped 13 shots in the third period to preserve the victory at Landover, Md.