NHL ROUNDUP : Other Lemieux Devil of a Player in Victory

Claude is the virtually unknown Lemieux, but while the famous Mario is trying to come back from injury, Claude is starring for New Jersey.

Claude Lemieux, obtained from Montreal just before the season opened, is a major reason the surprising Devils are making a move in the Patrick Division.

The right wing, better known for his defense and fighting ability, has become an offensive force. He scored twice Sunday night at East Rutherford, N.J., to lead the Devils to a 4-2 victory over Toronto.

Lemieux, whose career-high is 31 goals three years ago, has 15 already. His shooting enabled the Devils to extend their unbeaten string to five games. They moved into second place, two points behind the New York Rangers.

The loss spoiled the Maple Leafs’ bid for a four-game unbeaten trip against Patrick Division foes.

After Toronto scored, Lemieux brought the Devils charging back. They scored four goals before Toronto scored again off Sean Burke with just 1:40 left in the game.

“We wouldn’t be challenging for the lead without the big season Claude’s having,” Devil Coach John Cunniff said.

Mario, no relation to Claude, hopes to join Pittsburgh the middle of next month after missing the first half of the season with a back problem.

New York Islanders 4, Pittsburgh 3--Patrick Flatley completed his hat trick with 31 seconds left in overtime at Pittsburgh.

Flatley took a pass from Brent Sutter behind the net, came out and beat Frank Pietrangelo for his 12th goal. It ended the Penguins’ six-game winning streak.

The Penguins beat the Islanders Saturday night in Uniondale, N.Y.

The Islanders thought they won it at 1:26 on David Volek’s shot that hit the crossbar and dropped down. The Islanders left the ice, but were summoned back when it was ruled no goal.

Chicago 3, Detroit 2--Jimmy Waite, brought up from the minor leagues earlier in the day, stopped 26 shots at Chicago and the Blackhawks beat the hot Red Wings.

The Red Wings had won five of their last six games, but Waite, who had been at Indianapolis, had a 3-0 lead and stopped 15 shots in two periods.

The Red Wings rallied to end the shutout bid at 5:12 of the last period. There final goal came with just one second left.

Buffalo 10, Quebec 3--The Sabres took out the frustrations of a disappointing season on the Nordiques at Buffalo.

Buffalo, expected to battle for the Adams Division title, has not lived up to expectations. This was one of the highlights of the season.

Christian Ruuttu scored two goals, one on a breakaway when the Sabres were short-handed, to lead them to their biggest scoring outburst of the season.

Philadelphia 4, Montreal 4--The Flyers scored four times in the first period at Philadelphia, but goaltender Ron Hextall couldn’t hold the lead.

In fairness to Hextall, it wasn’t his fault. The Canadiens fired 54 shots at him.

Murray Craven scored twice for the Flyers, once on a penalty shot after a Canadien gloved the puck in the crease.

The Canadiens brought in J.C. Bergeron to replace goalie Andre Racicot at the start of the second period. Bergeron stopped 17 shots.

Denis Savard led the Canadiens’ rally, scoring twice. Russ Courtnall, on a breakaway with 4:54 left in regulation, tied the game.

Boston 5, New York Rangers 5--When the Bruins scored twice early in the third period at New York to take a 5-2 lead, it appeared they would win another.

But the Rangers scored three times in a span of six minutes to get the tie.

Two of the goals were on power plays, including the tying one by Darren Turcotte with 2:37 left in regulation. The other two were by Mike Gartner, who has 19 goals.

The Bruins outshot the Rangers, 38-30, but failed on all five power-play opportunities.

Edmonton 4, Vancouver 3--In 11 previous games without their captain, Mark Messier, the Oilers had lost 10.

The Oilers fell behind in the first period in this one at Edmonton, but rallied to win for the second time without the injured center. Messier reinjured his knee Saturday night at Calgary and is out indefinitely.

Esa Tikkanen scored on a power play near the middle of the third period to cap the Oilers’ comeback that put them five points behind the third-place Canucks in the Smythe Division.

Minnesota 5, Hartford 2--Dave Gagner scored three goals and Brian Bellows put in the tie-breaker at Hartford, Conn.

The North Stars fell behind, 2-0, but pulled even on Gagner goals 65 seconds apart in the second period.

On a power play with less than six minutes remaining in regulation, Bellows beat goalie Daryl Reaugh from close range on the left. Gagner clinched the victory and completed his hat trick with 2:22 left.