NHL ROUNDUP : Penguins Equal NHL Record With 15th Victory in a Row

The Pittsburgh Penguins tied the NHL record of 15 consecutive victories Wednesday night, getting a goal from Ulf Samuelsson at 2:11 of overtime to defeat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3, at Pittsburgh.

Rick Tocchet scored three goals for the Penguins, who equaled a record run by the 1981-82 New York Islanders, whose streak was stopped by the Penguins.

Pittsburgh will go for its 16th win in a row Friday night against the New York Rangers.

The Penguins, presented the President’s Trophy earlier in the night for compiling the NHL’s best regular-season record, haven’t lost since March 5, when they were defeated by the Rangers, 3-1, at New York.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions didn’t look like they would get No. 15 until Samuelsson scored the winner.

Just after goaltender Tom Barrasso turned away several shots, Larry Murphy skated into the Canadiens’ zone and fed Samuelsson at the top of the slot, where he beat Patrick Roy with a slap shot for his fifth goal.

Tocchet also assisted on the goal, giving him four points. Mario Lemieux’s 11-game goal-scoring streak ended, but he ran his scoring streak to 15 games by assisting on Tocchet’s first two goals.

Hartford 6, Ottawa 1--Michael Nylander scored three goals at Ottawa as the Whalers handed the Senators their 14th consecutive loss.

Ottawa’s losing streak is three short of the NHL record. The expansion Senators (9-67-4) have four games remaining and are in a race with the San Jose Sharks for the most losses in league history. The record was 67, set by Washington in 1974-75, but San Jose has already lost 68.

New Jersey 5, N.Y. Rangers 2--Valeri Zelepukin scored two goals and set up another during a four-goal second period at East Rutherford, N.J., as the Devils deflated the Rangers’ playoffs hopes.

The win moved the Devils into third place in the Patrick Division, two points ahead of the New York Islanders and five in front of the Rangers, who are on the verge of going from President’s Cup winner to a non-playoff team in a year.

Vancouver 5, Edmonton 4--Geoff Courtnall scored his 29th goal of the season at 1 minute 33 seconds into overtime at Vancouver. The victory gave the Canucks a five-point lead over second-place Calgary in the Smythe Division.