Another Salo Shutout Has Oilers Looking Slick

Riding Tommy Salo’s hot goaltending, the Edmonton Oilers are on a roll they’ve not experienced since the days of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Grant Fuhr.

Salo stopped 28 shots for his second consecutive shutout as the Oilers won their seventh consecutive game, 4-0, over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night at Buffalo, N.Y. It’s Edmonton’s longest win streak since March 1987--when Gretzky, Messier and Fuhr led the high-flying Oilers to seven in a row.

“It’s nice to be up there with that record. They won five Stanley Cups, so it’s nice to be up there,” said Salo, who recorded his seventh shutout of the season and third in seven games. “We have something going now.”

Edmonton moved into a tie for seventh place in the Western Conference standings with the idle Phoenix Coyotes and moved five points ahead of the Kings.

Todd Marchant, Tom Poti and Georges Laraque scored 12 minutes apart as the Oilers built a 3-0 second-period lead. Laraque also scored in the third period, while Rem Murray had three assists.

Salo, coming off Wednesday’s 4-0 victory over Toronto, has given up seven goals in his last seven starts, and upped his shutout streak to 149 minutes 58 seconds.

Washington 5, New York Rangers 3--Peter Bondra’s third hat trick of the season, including back-to-back goals 26 seconds apart in the third period, broke open a tight game at Washington.

Former Mighty Duck goalie Guy Hebert, who faced the Capitals in his last game for Anaheim nearly a month ago, had 28 saves in his Ranger debut.

Columbus 7, Florida 6--Robert Kron scored on a short-handed breakaway 43 seconds into overtime at Sunrise, Fla., as the Panthers’ winless streak reached nine games (0-5-2-2). The Blue Jackets have won four of their last five.

Minnesota 4, New York Islanders 1--Derek Gustafson stopped 22 shots in his NHL debut, nearly getting a shutout at Uniondale, N.Y. Gustafson, called up from Cleveland of the International Hockey League on Thursday, lost his bid when Jason Blake scored with 1:57 left on a tip-in.

Around the League

After months of saying he wouldn’t play for any team other than the Toronto Maple Leafs, Eric Lindros is now willing to talk to other NHL clubs, his lawyer said. Family lawyer Gordon Kirke said the Philadelphia Flyer center is contacting teams that have expressed interest in him. Calls by The Associated Press to the Flyers were not immediately returned. Kirke said Carl Lindros, Eric’s father and agent, contacted the Blues to tell them that Eric would accept a trade to St. Louis. Blues spokesman Jeff Trammel confirmed that General Manager Larry Pleau has been in contact with the Lindros family and the Flyers. He did not elaborate, however. . . . San Jose Shark defenseman Bard Stuart was suspended two games by the league for a cross-check on Florida forward Len Barrie on March 7. . . . Sergei Fedorov, the Detroit Red Wings’ leading goal scorer, still is recovering from a broken nose and probably won’t play tonight against the St. Louis Blues. . . . The Dallas Stars have put right wing Jamie Langenbrunner and center Joe Nieuwendyk on the injured reserve list because of an abdominal strain and a groin injury, respectively. . . . The Nashville Predators traded defenseman Drake Berehowsky to the Vancouver Canucks for a second-round draft pick.