NHL ROUNDUP : Fleury’s Unusual Hat Trick Sparks Flames, 8-4

Theoren Fleury had an unusual hat trick and the Calgary Flames continued their pursuit of the Kings Saturday night.

After an unbeaten streak of 16 games at home, the Flames proved they could win on the road, too, with an 8-4 rout of the St. Louis Blues.

The three goals, all with his team short-handed, gave the 5-foot-6 center five in the last two games and 44 for his second season. He had 31 last season.

The Flames, still one point behind the Kings, have won six in a row and are on a 12-1-2 streak.

Brett Hull scored his 76th goal for the Blues, who lost for only the third time in the last 15 games (9-3-3).

The Blues have 90 points, only two more than the Kings and Chicago. Calgary and Boston each have 87 points.

With 10 games left, Hull needs 16 goals to tie Wayne Gretzky’s league record.

The defeat ended the Blues’ 9-0-1 streak at home.

Pittsburgh 5, Hartford 2--Mario Lemieux scored the first of three Penguin goals in the first period at Hartford and the Penguins kept their hopes alive in the Patrick Division.

Mark Recchi and Kevin Stevens scored 22 seconds apart in the third period to wrap up the scoring and move the Penguins to within six points of the New York Rangers.

The Penguins have a game in hand and will play the Rangers twice.

Tom Barrasso, who has given up only five goals in his past three starts, stopped 25 shots for the Penguins.

New York Islanders 6, New York Rangers 4--The Rangers dominate the Patrick Division, but not the last-place Islanders.

Derek King scored on a breakaway late in the second period at Uniondale, N.Y., to break a tie and lead the Islanders to another victory. The Islanders are 4-1-1 against the Rangers.

Pat LaFontaine led the Islanders with two goals and an assist. He has 39 goals.

Boston 2, Toronto 0--The Bruins, upset by the Maple Leafs Tuesday night, scored on a goal by Cam Neely 43 seconds after the opening faceoff at Boston.

That was all goalie Andy Moog needed. He stopped 19 shots for his 13th career shutout.

Minnesota 6, Detroit 2--Ulf Dahlen had three goals and two assists to enable the North Stars to extend their unbeaten home streak to 10 games.

The streak has given the North Stars a firm grip on the final playoff spot in the Norris Division. The Stars lead Toronto by 12 points with 11 games left.

Montreal 4, Vancouver 2--Russ Courtnall scored two goals and John LeClair scored in his first NHL game to lead the Canadiens at Montreal.

The Forum crowd gave LeClair, a University of Vermont star who joined the Canadiens earlier in the week, a rousing ovation when he scored in the third period.

The Canucks, winless in their past five games, still trail Winnipeg by one point in the bid for the final Smythe Division playoff spot.