NHL ROUNDUP : Lemieux Returns, Gets Seven Points

Mario Lemieux tied a career high with six assists and then scored a goal Saturday night to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 9-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Daly City, Calif.

Lemieux sat out during a loss last Thursday against the Kings because of a sore left heel.

“I was at 100%,” Lemieux said Saturday night. “My foot didn’t bother me.”

It was Lemieux’s most productive game of the season. The seven points give him 75, tops in the NHL. His goal, on the power play with 5:49 remaining, gives him 31, also tops in the NHL.

“He made a choice--he didn’t play in L.A.,” Shark Coach George Kingston said. “He was fresh and he had a lot of jump. He’s looking at this as one of those nights when he’s going to get a lot of points. He was right.”

Pittsburgh converted five of seven power-play opportunities. Lemieux assisted on four and scored the other. Ron Francis and defenseman Larry Murphy had two goals apiece.

San Jose lost its fifth game in a row.

Ottawa 3, Philadelphia 2--Jamie Baker scored the game-winner in the third period at Ottawa as the Senators won for only the third time this season.

The victory came after a 3-3 tie on Thursday against New Jersey and marked the first time the Senators have gone unbeaten in two consecutive games.

Dave Archibald and Laurie Boschman also scored for Ottawa and Peter Sidorkiewicz was solid in the net as the Senators were outshot by the Flyers, 26-16.

St. Louis 5, Edmonton 1--Brendan Shanahan, Craig Janney and Jeff Brown scored three points apiece for the Blues at Edmonton.

Shanahan, with 12 goals in his last 11 games, had two and added an assist while Janney and Brown added three assists.

Montreal 3, Winnipeg 2--Vincent Damphousse’s second goal of the game, at 2:18 of overtime, gave the Canadiens the victory at Montreal.

Damphousse took a pass in front from Kevin Haller and put the puck past Winnipeg goalie Bob Essensa.

Washington 5, N.Y. Islanders 3--Kelly Miller broke a 3-3 tie with a breakaway goal late in the third period as the Capitals won at Uniondale, N.Y.

Boston 4, New Jersey 2--Adam Oates had a goal and two assists and Russian rookie Gregori Pantaleyev scored his first two NHL goals during the Bruins’ victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

Detroit 9, Tampa Bay 7--Steve Yzerman and Paul Ysebaert scored two goals apiece and the Red Wings had five consecutive third-period goals at Tampa to end a three-game losing streak.

Brian Bradley had three goals and Steve Chiasson four assists for Tampa Bay.

Minnesota 7, Quebec 4--The North Stars set a team record with their seventh consecutive road victory, despite three goals by the Nordiques’ Mats Sundin.

The North Stars, who have won their last five games, got two goals from Dave Gagner as they handed the Nordiques their fourth loss in a row.

Toronto 2, Chicago 2--Dmitri Mironov’s goal with 67 seconds remaining in the third period at Toronto gave the Maple Leafs a tie with the Blackhawks.

With goalie Felix Potvin on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Mironov cruised into the slot, took a pass from behind the net from Mike Krushelnyski and put a low shot past Ed Belfour.