NHL Roundup : Lemieux Has a Big Game as Penguins Win

Mario Lemieux set a Pittsburgh team record with 8 points, and Rob Brown scored 3 goals as the Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues, 9-2, Saturday night at Pittsburgh.

Lemieux took it in stride.

“There were a lot of power-play goals and a lot of loose pucks tonight,” Lemieux said. “I was just fortunate to put a couple in.

“It was a great game but probably tomorrow I’ll forget about it and just concentrate on the game coming up.”

Lemieux scored twice and had 6 assists to raise his season point total to 15. He set up all of Brown’s goals. The National Hockey League record for assists in a single game is 7, accomplished 4 times.

Lemieux previously had three 6-point games and shared that record with five others in Pittsburgh’s 22 seasons.

Lemieux came within 2 points of Darryl Sittler’s NHL record for most points in a game. Sittler had 6 goals and 4 assists for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 7, 1976.

Lemieux’s last 6-point game was Feb. 13, 1988, when he had a goal and 5 assists against the Kings.

Lemieux said his last 8-point game came while playing for Laval in the Quebec Major Junior League. He had 3 goals and 3 assists in last season’s NHL all-star game.

Washington 8, New Jersey 5--Dave Christian scored 3 goals, and Michal Pivonka added 2 goals to help the Capitals beat the Devils at Landover, Md.

Four players were ejected and eight misconducts were given by referee Dan Marouelli as the teams combined for 169 minutes in penalties. It was the first meeting between the teams since the Devils eliminated the Capitals in last spring’s Patrick Division finals.

N.Y. Islanders 2, Montreal 1--David Volek, the Czechoslovakian rookie right wing, scored at 5 minutes and 9 seconds of the third period as the Islanders won their home opener.

Montreal, which beat New Jersey, 7-3, Friday night, played its fourth consecutive road game against an opponent playing a home-opener. The Canadiens have lost three.

Volek took a pass across the crease from Pat LaFontaine and poked it into the open net. The Islanders have won 13 of their last 17 home openers. Goaltender Kelly Hrudey (2-1-0) stopped 36 of 37 shots.

Detroit 5, Toronto 3--Dave Barr scored on a rebound to snap a third-period tie, and the Red Wings rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit to beat the Maple Leafs at Toronto for their first victory of the season.

Detroit, which opened the season with two losses and two ties, trailed 3-1 before goals by Adam Graves and Miroslav Frycer 27 seconds apart early in the third period tied it, 3-3.

Barr scored at 8:50, his second goal of the game, after Maples Leafs goalie Al Bester stopped a shot by Rick Zombo but allowed a rebound. Steve Yzerman scored into an empty net with 20 seconds remaining.

Minnesota 5, Boston 1--Dave Gagner scored twice and assisted on 2 more goals, leading the North Stars to victory over the Bruins at Bloomington, Minn.

Goalie Jon Casey made 35 saves for Minnesota, which had been 0-4 under new Coach Pierre Page and was the only NHL team without a victory or tie.

The North Stars, the league’s worst team last season, hadn’t won since March 23, hadn’t won at home since March 12 and had only won 3 of their last 28 games dating back to Jan. 28. They never won by 4 or more goals all last year.

The Bruins (3-2), Stanley Cup finalists last season, last lost to Minnesota on Dec. 22, 1983, and at Met Center on Oct. 15, 1980.

Hartford 7, Chicago 5--Hartford’s Ron Francis scored 2 goals and had 2 assists in the Whalers’ win over the Black Hawks at Hartford, Conn.

Whaler defenseman Ulf Samuelsson added a goal and 3 assists.

The Whalers took the lead for good in the second period by scoring on 4 of their first 5 shots in the period.

Paul MacDermid, Ray Ferraro, Carey Wilson and Francis also scored in the second period for Hartford with Ferraro’s power-play tally at 8:52 putting the Whalers ahead to stay.