NHL ROUNDUP : Flames Beat Jets, Lead Smythe

The Calgary Flames, keyed by Sergei Makarov’s two goals, jumped to a 6-1 lead and held on to beat the Winnipeg Jets, 7-5, Wednesday night at Winnipeg to take over top spot in the Smythe Division, one point ahead of the Kings.

It was the Flames’ seventh victory in 10 games.

Makarov scored twice in the first period to give the Flames an early lead they never relinquished. Calgary, which has only lost once on the road, scored three consecutive goals in the second period to take command with a five-goal margin.

Eddie Olcyzk, Winnipeg’s leading goal scorer last season, broke out of an early-season slump with his second, third and fourth goals in the third period.

Vancouver 4, Washington 3--Cliff Ronning had a goal and two assists at Vancouver as the Canucks ended a four-game winless streak.

The Canucks broke open a 2-1 game as Trevor Linden and Geoff Courtnall scored power-play goals 47 seconds apart in the third period.

New Jersey 4, Hartford 3--Randy McKay, who was supposed to add muscle to the Devils, is also giving them scoring punch. McKay took a pass from Scott Stevens and fired a wrist shot past Frank Pietrangelo 48 seconds into overtime to give the Devils a victory at Hartford.

The Whalers are 1-4 at home.

“I knew he was going to give it to me,” McKay said. “He pulled the defenseman out perfectly and I had lots of room. I just jumped around and wrapped around.”

McKay, who went to the Devils last season with Dave Barr as compensation for Detroit’s signing of Troy Crowder, leads the Devils with four even-strength goals.

“The role he had with Detroit was as a tough guy. Last year (former coach Tom McVie) gave him a chance and he got 17 goals. This year he’s coming out and showing he’s not just a one-dimensional player,” said John MacLean, who scored his first two goals since the 1990-91 season.

Detroit 4, San Jose 3--It’s becoming all-too familiar for San Jose Coach George Kingston. Once again, this time at Detroit, the Sharks played hard, held their own for long stretches and lost again. The losing streak of the Sharks reached nine games as Nicklas Lidstrom’s power-play goal at 13:47 of the third period broke a tie and lifted the Red Wings.

“The NHL knew what it was doing,” Kingston said. “This is the way they wanted an expansion team to be. We just have to do the best we can.”

The Sharks are 1-9-0 after 10 games again this season. Last season they didn’t earn their second victory until their 17th game.

Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 3--Brian Bellows scored two goals at Montreal as the Canadiens stretched their unbeaten string to six games with a victory over the Lightning.

Patrice Brisebois and Eric Desjardins also scored for the Canadians, who moved one point ahead of Boston for the Adams Division lead.

“For the last five or six years, I go on scoring streaks and dry periods,” said Bellows, 28, a former 50-goal scorer obtained in an off-season trade with Minnesota.

Buffalo 4, Toronto 4--Doug Bodger scored with 46 seconds left in regulation to give the Sabres a tie with the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

The Buffalo defensman drifted in from the blue line to take a pass out of a corner from Dave Andreychuk and lift a shot inside the post and behind goaltender Felix Potvin.

The Sabres had a chance to win in overtime when Toronto center Doug Gilmour was assessed a strange double-minor penalty. Referee Denis Morel called it attempted spearing. Randy Moller was the purported victim. But the Sabres were unable to get another shot past Potvin.

Edmonton 5, Minnesota 2--Craig MacTavish scored twice in the Oilers’ four-goal third period at Edmonton. Dave Manson and Vladamir Vujtek also scored in the third for the Oilers, who snapped a four-game losing streak before 12,614, their smallest home crowd since they joined the NHL in 1979.

Oiler goalie Bill Ranford, who came into the game allowing an average of 5.08 goals a game, made 24 saves.