NHL ROUNDUP : Lemieux Returns, Leads Penguins to 7-4 Victory

Mario Lemieux, returning from a self-imposed one-game rest, had two goals and two assists to lead Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday and extend Pittsburgh’s undefeated streak to 4-0-1.

Lemieux sat out Friday’s game at Buffalo because he didn’t want to risk injuring his back by playing on consecutive nights. “It’s always hard to watch on television, but I think it was the right decision,” said Lemieux, who has a league-leading 31 points in nine games.

Fans in Pittsburgh who hoped to see him play against Flyer center Eric Lindros were disappointed, however, because Lindros had a sore left knee and didn’t play.

The Flyers, who are 0-9-4 at the Civic Arena since Nov. 21, 1990, also played without center Joel Otto, who has a sprained right knee, and lost Brent Fedyk to a sprained left knee in the second period.

Montreal 4, Boston 1--Rookie Saku Koivu had a goal and two assists at Montreal as the Canadiens won for the seventh time in eight games under Coach Mario Tremblay.

Koivu scored a power-play goal on Blaine Lacher in the second period and set up goals from Valeri Bure and Benoit Brunet in the first for Montreal. Brian Savage scored his league-leading 12th goal of the season in the second period for the Canadiens. Patrick Roy gave up only a power-play goal to Steve Leach as the Bruins, who have lost five of their last six games, fell to 3-6-2 and remained last in the Northeast Division.

Washington 3, New York Islanders 2--Forward Peter Bondra scored twice and goaltender Olaf Kolzig stopped 24 shots as the Capitals won at Uniondale, N.Y.

Ken Klee also scored for the Capitals, who have won five straight from the Islanders. Chris Luongo and Alexander Semak scored for the Islanders, who are 2-8-2.

Detroit 5, Dallas 1--Igor Larionov had a goal and an assist and Niklas Lidstrom had three assists at Joe Louis Arena.

With Mike Vernon idled by a sore back, Chris Osgood made his fifth consecutive start in goal for the Red Wings. He improved his career record against the Stars to 6-0-0.

Toronto 3, Edmonton 3--Jason Arnott’s goal with 2:23 left in the third period allowed the Oilers to tie the Maple Leafs at Edmonton.

Arnott fired a quick shot between Toronto goaltender Felix Potvin and the post, extending Edmonton’s unbeaten streak to 3-0-3. The Leafs (5-5-3) earned their second successive tie despite being outshot, 36-21.

San Jose 7, St. Louis 3--Seven players each scored goals to propel the Sharks to their first victory of the season, after seven losses and four ties.

Andrei Nazarov, Owen Nolan and Craig Janney each scored power-play goals to overwhelm the Blues at the San Jose Arena.

Hartford 5, Ottawa 4--Brendan Shanahan scored his first two goals as a member of the Whalers and Geoff Sanderson scored his second goal of the season to help Hartford win on the road.

Vancouver 4, Calgary 4--Ronnie Stern’s goal with 11:03 left in regulation lifted the Flames to the tie at Calgary.

Stern took a pass from Theo Fleury and flicked a shot from the right circle through the pads of Vancouver goalie Kirk McLean.