Pittsburgh — It would be unrealistic to expect any player to keep up this kind of scoring pace any player except Mario Lemieux, that is.
Lemieux moved into seventh place on the NHL's career scoring list with a five-point night two goals and three assists and the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins beat Tampa Bay, 5-1, Wednesday in a costly loss to the Lightning.
Martin St. Louis, the Lightning's top scorer, broke his right leg crashing into the boards early in the first period and will be out indefinitely.
Lemieux had a hand in every Penguins goal, setting up the first three before scoring the final two. He got his fourth goal in an injury-interrupted season on a wrister from the right circle at 3:34 of the third, then beat backup goalie Kevin Weekes again at 14:17 for the Penguins' third power-play goal.
The 36-year-old Lemieux has 1,594 points on 653 goals and 941 assists, or three more points than Phil Esposito.
Avalanche 4, Oilers 2
Edmonton, Alberta Adam Foote, Chris Drury and Ville Nieminen scored in the first period, leading Colorado over Edmonton.
Devils 3, Panthers 1
Sunrise, Fla. Patrik Elias and Valeri Kamensky scored third-period goals as New Jersey defeated Florida. Elias' power-play goal at 1:07 broke a 1-1 tie. Kamensky sealed the Devils' second victory in seven games with a wrist shot with 8:29 remaining.
Canadiens 5, Capitals 3
Washington Joe Juneau scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:23 left in the third period, leading Montreal over Washington. Juneau skated from left to right in front of the goal, took a backhanded feed from Jan Bulis from high between the circles and backhanded a shot past Olaf Kolzig for his third goal.
Blues 5, Sabres 2
Buffalo, N.Y. Mike Van Ryn scored his first NHL goal to snap a second-period tie, and St. Louis earned its10th straight victory.
Predators 2, Hurricanes 2
Raleigh, N.C. Bates Battaglia scored with 31 seconds left and Ron Francis moved into a tie for second place on the NHL's career assist list as Carolina rallied to tie Nashville.
Rangers 8, Bruins 4
New York Theo Fleury had a goal and three assists, and Jeff Toms scored a career-high three goals and added an assist for New York. Mike York had two goals and three assists for a career-best five points, and Eric Lindros had four assists as the Rangers routed the Northeast Division leaders. Radek Dvorak and Matthew Barnaby also scored for New York.
Red Wings 2, Sharks 2
Detroit Brett Hull scored twice for Detroit, and San Jose had two goals 80 seconds apart as the Red Wings and Sharks tied. The Red Wings had won 10 straight at home.
Canucks 4, Stars 2
Dallas Alex Auld made 20 saves in his first NHL start as Vancouver beat Dallas . Auld, 21, was subbing for Canucks' No. 1 goalie Dan Cloutier, out with a sprained left ankle. Auld was recalled from Manitoba of the AHL on Monday.
Coyotes 4, Blackhawks 1
Chicago Backup goaltender Robert Esche stopped 23 shots as Phoenix beat the Blackhawks, handing Chicago only its fourth loss in 27 games this season at the United Center.
Mighty Ducks 3, Wild 2, OT
Anaheim, Calif. Keith Carney scored with 58 seconds left in overtime, and Anaheim beat Minnesota.
l Summaries on page 7C
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