Lemieux Reaches Another Milestone

As usual, it was Mario Lemieux who got the rebuilding Pittsburgh Penguins going -- this time with his history-making 1,700th point. As usual, it was the other team that had the big finish.

Lemieux became the sixth player in NHL history with 1,700 points with an assist that started a four-goal run by the Penguins, but the New York Islanders scored twice in the third period for a 4-4 tie Wednesday night at Pittsburgh.

“I thought we were going to win the way we played the first two periods,” said Lemieux, who scored in his seventh consecutive game. “It’s disappointing.”

With the Islanders ahead, 2-0, late in the first period, Lemieux took Konstantin Koltsov’s pass along the right wing boards, slipped the puck between the legs of defenseman Janne Niinimaa, then made a backhanded pass to the slot to Dick Tarnstrom, who scored his second goal of the season.

Lemieux joins Wayne Gretzky (2,857), Gordie Howe (1,850), Mark Messier (1,847), Marcel Dionne (1,771) and Carolina Hurricane captain Ron Francis (1,760) on the 1,700-point list. Only Gretzky reached the mark faster than Lemieux. Lemieux got his 1,700th point in his 887th game; Gretzky got his in his 711th game.

Dallas 4, Calgary 3 -- Jason Arnott scored 17 seconds into overtime and Bill Guerin had three goals as the Stars rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit to win at Dallas.

Calgary led, 3-1, when Guerin scored his second goal of the game on a power-play rebound with 10:32 left in regulation.

Guerin tied it with 8:35 remaining in regulation on a wrist shot from the left circle. It was his sixth goal of the season and completed his first hat trick for the Stars and the fourth of his career.

Seconds after the overtime faceoff, Dallas’ Brenden Morrow got to the net from the left side, where his shot was stopped by Calgary goaltender Dany Sabourin, who was making his NHL debut. But Arnott was set up in the slot and knocked the rebound past Sabourin, who had 24 saves.

St. Louis 6, Detroit 5 -- Doug Weight had the second three-goal game of his career and Dallas Drake collected five assists for the Blues at Detroit.

Detroit’s Brett Hull scored with 1:10 remaining, the 718th goal of his career. That put him alone in fourth place on the all-time goal scoring list. He had been tied with Phil Esposito. Only Gretzky (894), Howe (801) and Dionne (731) have more goals.

Philadelphia 5, Florida 1 -- Michal Handzus and Joni Pitkanen each had a goal and an assist and Robert Esche stopped 21 shots at Philadelphia.

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Point Men

Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux became the sixth player in NHL history to reach the 1,700-point mark. A look at the players:

*--* Player Points Wayne Gretzky 2,857 Gordie Howe 1,850 Mark Messier 1,846 Marcel Dionne 1,771 Ron Francis 1,760* Mario Lemieux 1,700* *active players

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