Gretzky Injured as Blues Win

A controversial hit cut short Wayne Gretzky’s return to Edmonton in a St. Louis jersey, but failed to knock the wind out of the Blues.

The recently acquired Gretzky left his second game with the Blues at 6:33 of the second period Sunday after taking an elbow to the head from former Oiler teammate Kelly Buchberger. Gretzky, a former King and Oiler, hit the ice hard. He was helped off by teammates, and doctors said he suffered a minor concussion.

Despite the loss of their star, the Blues went on to a 4-3 victory.

Buchberger--the Oilers’ current captain, a position once held by Gretzky--defended his actions and said it was not a dirty play.

“We’re fighting for a playoff spot and we have to take the body on anybody. I didn’t mean for him to get hurt but we have to play the game like every game is our last.”

Goals by Al MacInnis and Rob Pearson kept the Blues ahead, 2-0, until midway through the second period, when Luke Richardson, Jason Arnott and Zdeno Ciger scored three goals for the Oilers in the late second and early third.

But the Blues regained their momentum at 9:44 of the third when Brett Hull tied the score, 3-3, by snapping in a shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle.

Less than a minute later, defenseman Igor Kravchuk scored the game-winner on a pass from Mike Hudson.

Colorado 4, Toronto 0--Patrick Roy earned his 30th career shutout as the Avalanche handed the Maple Leafs their eighth loss in a row.

Roy, earning his second shutout of the season and his first in 26 games with Colorado, had 26 saves at Denver.

Joe Sakic, Adam Deadmarsh, Troy Murray and Chris Simon had goals for Colorado, which won its sixth consecutive home game and has lost only once in its last 16 home games (10-1-5). Sakic added an assist, and Peter Forsberg had two assists.

Slumping Toronto is 3-16-3 in its last 22 games, during which it has scored only 49 goals. The Leafs, already without the injured Dave Gagner, did not have the services of leading scorer Mats Sundin, who was suffering from flu and 104-degree temperature.

Detroit 6, Chicago 2--Vladimir Konstantinov had a goal and two assists at Chicago as the Red Wings tied a club record with their 47th victory.

Steve Yzerman added a goal and an assist as Detroit (47-12-4) won for the ninth time in 11 games and matched the club mark for victories set in the 1992-93 season.

The Red Wings, 10-1-1 in the last 12 meetings with Chicago, jumped to a 3-0 lead. Then after the Blackhawks scored two quick goals, Detroit responded with two more second-period scores to build the lead back to three.

Mike Vernon made 29 saves for Detroit. Jeff Hackett, 0-7 against the Red Wings in his career, stopped 30 shots as Chicago lost for the fifth time in six games.

Vancouver 3, Buffalo 0--Cliff Ronning scored two goals and Alexander Mogilny had a goal and an assist in his first return to Buffalo since his off-season trade.

Kirk McLean stopped 32 shots to record his 18th career shutout and first of the season.

Winnipeg 7, New York Islanders 5--Keith Tkachuk’s 39th goal of the season started a three-goal outburst at Uniondale, N.Y., to lead the Jets to their fifth consecutive victory.

Igor Korolev and Mike Stapleton also scored in the third period as Winnipeg overcame a 5-4 deficit and moved into sixth place in the Western Conference, passing Calgary and Toronto.

Washington 3, Philadelphia 0--Jim Carey stopped 27 shots at Landover, Md., and posted his second shutout in as many days.

Carey’s shutout was his league-leading sixth this season, the 10th of his career. Carey, who beat Boston, 2-0, on Saturday, set a team record, topping Don Beaupre’s five shutouts during the 1990-91 season.

Sergei Gonchar, Steve Konowalchuk and Kevin Kaminski scored for the Capitals.

Calgary 5, San Jose 1--Theoren Fleury scored two goals for the Flames at San Jose.

Fleury scored his 35th goal of the season on a 15-footer only 53 seconds into the game.

Fleury’s second goal came with 15:48 left in the game on a shot from the right circle. The score came 15 seconds into a power play and gave the Flames a 3-1 lead.