Among Gretzky’s Records, Latest One Took Some Help

For all the records set by Wayne Gretzky, this was one that required help.

The New York Rangers’ Gretzky set up goals by Alexei Kovalev and Brian Noonan in the second period of a 3-0 victory in Buffalo and improved his NHL assists record to 1,801.

“Any time you get to those kinds of numbers, it’s pretty exciting,” Gretzky said. “It shows what kind of players I was fortunate enough to play with in my career.”

Gordie Howe is second in assists with 1,049 in 26 seasons.

Gretzky’s 1,800th assist was a beauty.

Skating on the right wing on a two-on-two break with Kovalev, Gretzky sent a pass between Buffalo defenseman Richard Smehlik and Alexei Zhitnik onto the stick of Kovalev, who beat Dominik Hasek to put New York ahead, 2-0.

OTHER GAMES

Jeremy Roenick scored for the first time in nearly a month for Phoenix, which beat Ottawa, 4-2, in Kanata, Canada. . . . Andy Moog stopped 24 shots for his 340th victory to lead host Dallas over Vancouver, 2-1. . . . Kevin Miller had a goal and two assists for Chicago, which ended a four-game losing streak by beating the host St. Louis, 4-1. . . . Tomas Sandstrom scored two goals and rookie goaltender Patrick Lalime stopped 20 shots for Pittsburgh in a 4-0 win in San Jose.