Fedorov Quiet, but Five Goals Speak Volumes

After his first five-goal performance in the NHL, Detroit’s Sergei Fedorov remembered something he learned long ago.

“In Russia, my coach would always say, ‘What you did tonight is part of history. Let’s go out and practice in the morning,’ ” said Fedorov, who led the Red Wings to a 5-4 overtime victory over Washington at Detroit on Thursday night. “I don’t want to spoil it by talking all about it.”

Fedorov, who had a previous high of four goals in a 4-4 tie with the Kings on Feb. 12, 1995, is the NHL’s first five-goal scorer since Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux did it March 26 against St. Louis.

After scoring twice in the third period to draw Detroit into a 4-4 tie, Fedorov took a pass from Vladimir Konstantinov and wristed it past Capital goalie Jim Carey at 2:39 of overtime.

Fedorov has 12 goals in 11 games after managing only five in his first 25.

Buffalo 5, Hartford 1--The Sabres scored on their first shot and got goals from five players in the victory at Buffalo, N.Y. The Sabres, 5-0-1 in their last six games, took a three-point lead on Hartford and Pittsburgh in the Northeast Division.

Buffalo had only five shots against Whaler starter Jason Muzzatti but three went in, forcing Hartford Coach Paul Maurice to pull the goalie 15:24 into the first period for Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

OTHER GAMES

Andrei Nazarov scored 15 seconds into the game, bettering the San Jose mark held by Ray Whitney--who scored 16 seconds into the game against Chicago on Jan. 30, 1995--and the Sharks pummeled Vancouver, 6-1 at San Jose. . . . Martin Straka and Dave Lowry scored in a 3 1/2-minute span of the third period to give Florida a 3-3 tie with Tampa Bay before an overflow crowd of 20,150 at the 19,500-seat Ice Palace in Tampa, Fla. . . . Mario Lemieux capped a three-goal rally in the third period with his 24th of the season and Pittsburgh forged a 3-3 tie with Montreal at Pittsburgh.

Chicago rallied from a three-goal deficit to go ahead but squandered the lead in the third period as St. Louis used Brett Hull’s goal with 10:32 left in regulation to gain a 4-4 tie at Chicago. . . . Alexi Yashin scored his team-leading 14th and 15th goals and added an assist, and Ottawa ended Wayne Gretzky’s 12-game point streak and the Rangers’ five-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory against New York in Kanata, Ontario. . . . The New York Islanders scored four times in the final period, including Zigmund Palffy’s go-ahead goal at 6:03, in a 4-1 victory against New Jersey at Uniondale, N.Y.

NHL Notes

The Colorado Avalanche said injured center Peter Forsberg is expected to return to the lineup Saturday night against the Kings. . . . Darcy Regier was fired as New York Islander assistant general manager.