NHL ROUNDUP : Stevens’ Hat Trick Lifts Penguins

Kevin Stevens scored three goals to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-3 victory over the Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

The Penguins, improving their home record to 19-3-3 and opening a 16-point lead over the second-place Capitals in the Patrick Division, overcame a 2-0 deficit by scoring three goals in 29 seconds late in the first period.

Larry Murphy, who also had two assists and became only the eighth NHL defenseman to reach 800 points, started the Penguin rally with a goal at 17:42.

Stevens assisted on Murphy’s goal and then scored his 37th and 38th of the season to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead at 18:11.

Stevens scored into an empty net late in the game, giving him his third hat trick of the season.

N.Y. Islanders 8, New Jersey 2--Benoit Hogue had two goals and two assists as the Islanders extended their unbeaten streak to five games, at Uniondale, N.Y.

Islander goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick faced only six shots after the first period.

New York, 4-0-1 in its last five games, is 42-5-8 at home against the Devils since the franchise has been based in New Jersey.

Minnesota 2, Toronto 1--Tommy Sjodin and Ulf Dahlen scored goals at Toronto as the North Stars extended their unbeaten streak to six games.

North Star goaltender Darcy Wakaluk, who stopped 29 shots, saw his shutout bid end when Jamie Macoun scored for the Maple Leafs at 11:49 of the third period.

Detroit 9, Calgary 1--Steve Yzerman led the Red Wings at Calgary with three goals and an assist as they extended the Flames’ winless streak to a team-record-tying 11 games.

Sergei Fedorov added a goal and three assists.

Goaltender Mike Vernon of the Flames, who signed a three-year, $3.2-million contract Monday, was chased after the second period. He gave up eight goals in 21 shots.

Calgary’s Robert Reichel spoiled Tim Cheveldae’s shutout bid with a goal at 13:36 of the third period.

Quebec 4, Boston 4--Owen Nolan’s second goal of the game, at 14:54 of the third period, enabled the Nordiques to tie at Quebec.

Nolan, who has 25 goals, scored both of his goals on the power play, a category in which the Nordiques lead the league. The tying goal came only 18 seconds after Boston’s Grigori Panteleyev was sent off for hooking Curtis Leschyshyn.

Buffalo 4, Philadelphia 3--Bob Sweeney’s goal with 2:37 to play in overtime capped the Sabres’ comeback at Philadelphia.

Sweeney took a pass from Wayne Presley at the left side of the net and chipped the puck past goaltender Dominic Roussel.

Dave Andreychuk’s second goal of the game, with 35 seconds remaining in the third period, lifted Buffalo to a 3-3 tie.

St. Louis 5, Ottawa 1--Brett Hull had two goals and two assists at St. Louis as the Blues kept the expansion Senators winless on the road.

Brendan Shanahan and Craig Janney each had a goal and three assists for St. Louis, which handed Ottawa its eighth consecutive defeat. The Hull-Shanahan-Janney line finished with four goals and eight assists.

The Senators are in danger of supplanting the then-expansion Washington Capitals as the worst team in NHL history. They are 4-45-3, 0-25 on the road. The Capitals were 8-67-5 in 1974-75.