NHL ROUNDUP : Kontos Strikes Twice to Put Lightning Into Tie for First

The expansion Tampa Bay Lightning climbed into a first-place tie in the Norris Division Wednesday night as Chris Kontos scored twice in a 6-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Tampa.

The Lightning improved to 8-8-2, good for 18 points and a share of the division lead with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have played three fewer games. Tampa Bay has won three in a row and is on a 4-0-1 streak.

Detroit fell to 8-8-0 after its fourth loss in a row on the road.

Kontos, the one-time King who never had more than eight goals in a season, scored his 17th and 18th in Tampa Bay’s 18th game, leaving him behind only Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux, who has 22 goals.

Calgary 4, Hartford 3--The Flames slipped past the Kings to regain first place in the Smythe Division with the victory at Hartford. Sergei Makarov scored the tying and winning goals as Calgary overcame a three-goal deficit, extending the Whalers’ winless streak to eight games.

Calgary defenseman Al MacInnis was carried off the ice on a stretcher after suffering a dislocated hip.

Montreal 8, New Jersey 3--The Canadiens won their eighth in a row and extended their unbeaten streak to 12 as former Devil captain Kirk Muller scored twice at East Rutherford, N.J.

The 11-0-1 streak is the Canadiens’ longest since the 1987-88 season.

Buffalo 7, Boston 2--Dave Andreychuk scored two of the Sabres’ five power-play goals in a rout of the Bruins at Buffalo.

Andreychuk had his eighth and ninth power-play goals of the season as Buffalo scored on five of nine opportunities to stop Boston goalie Andy Moog’s unbeaten streak at eight games.

Washington 7, N.Y. Rangers 4--Goaltender Jim Hrivnak redeemed himself after a near-disastrous first period, leading the Capitals to victory at New York.

Hrivnak, who came into the game as the NHL’s leader in goals-against and save percentage, gave up four goals on the Rangers’ first six shots and was sent to the bench for a short spell.

Quebec 7, Ottawa 3--The Senators’ miseries continued when Andrei Kovalenko scored three times for the Nordiques, who extended the first-year expansion team’s winless streak to 15 games, at Ottawa.