NHL ROUNDUP : Four Teams Force 7th Games

Mario Lemieux refuses to let the Stanley Cup champions fade away.

Lemieux scored twice and figured in all but one goal as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied after giving up four consecutive goals to beat the Washington Capitals, 6-4, Wednesday night at Pittsburgh.

The defending NHL champions forced a Game 7 in their Patrick Division semifinal series. Pittsburgh can become the ninth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing, 3-1, by winning Game 7 on Friday in Landover, Md. But so can Detroit, Vancouver and Buffalo, which have also rallied to force seventh games.

Lemieux had two goals and three assists as the Penguins, who trailed, 4-2, after leading, 2-0, stormed back behind Lemieux’s playmaking and scoring for the game’s final four goals.

The decisive goal was a typical Lemieux dazzler. He skated in from the left circle and deked goaltender Don Beaupre with a succession of moves before somehow directing in the puck from the side of the net, making it 5-4 at 18:19 of the second period.

New Jersey 5, New York Rangers 3--Chris Terreri, the Devils’ goaltender, rebounded from a poor performance in Game 5 and shut down the Rangers at East Rutherford, N.J., setting up a seventh game in the Patrick Division semifinals.

History will be on the Devils’ side when they play Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night: The Rangers are winless in their four previous seventh games in the playoffs.

After Zdeno Ciger had given the Devils a 4-3 lead at 15:43 of the second period, Terreri protected it into the third, when Peter Stastny scored his second goal of the game to sew it up.

Buffalo 9, Boston 3--Pat LaFontaine scored two second-period goals at Buffalo as the Sabres set a club scoring record and forced Game 7 against the Bruins Friday night.

The Sabres had never scored more than seven goals in a playoff game.

Buffalo jumped to a 5-0 lead before the second period was halfway over, chasing starting Boston goalie Andy Moog.

Hartford 2, Montreal 1--Frank Pietrangelo kept the Whalers breathing at Hartford, Conn., then Yvon Corriveau gave them seventh-game life. Corriveau scored 24 seconds into overtime as Hartford staved off elimination.

The Canadiens thoroughly outplayed the Whalers throughout, but Pietrangelo made 42 saves.

Andrew Cassels found Corriveau in front of the net at the start of the overtime, and Corriveau scored his third playoff goal by beating Patrick Roy with a wrist shot. Game 7 is Friday night at Montreal.