Sabres Gain Ground On First-Place Pens

The Buffalo Sabres dominated Pittsburgh for two periods and hung on after Jaromir Jagr’s goal in the third en route to a 3-1 win over the Penguins on Wednesday night at Buffalo, N.Y.

Rob Ray and Mike Peca scored in the first period before Richard Smehlik’s empty-net goal with 27.7 seconds left put the game away as the Sabres pulled within two points of the Penguins in the Northeast Division.

The Sabres avoided their first three-game losing streak this season while handing the Penguins their first road loss in eight games.

Roy back on ice

Claude Lemieux and Scott Young each scored two goals, and the Colorado Avalanche welcomed back goalie Patrick Roy from a hand injury with a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Denver.

Roy, who had missed the previous two games with a sprained right thumb suffered against Pittsburgh last Thursday, had 29 saves.

Dallas’ Andy Moog registered his 346th career win, tops among active goaltenders and sixth on the all-time list, in the Stars’ 3-1 win over visiting Anaheim.

At Landover, Md., Ron Hextall stopped 29 shots as the Philadelphia Flyers extended their unbeaten road streak to 12 games by defeating the slumping Washington Capitals 2-1.

Bourque focuses on ‘98 Olympics

Ray Bourque may never win a Stanley Cup, so the Boston Bruins defenseman is setting his sights on an Olympic gold medal.

Bourque, who hasn’t played against international competition since the 1987 Canada Cup series, hopes he’s still good enough to be considered when Canada selects its team for the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan.

“If they feel that I’d be able to help the team possibly win a gold, it would be a thrill to play for Canada in the Olympics,” he said.

Bourque, 36, is in his 18th season with the Bruins and said he doesn’t expect to play in the NHL past the 1998-99 season. He may have seen his best chances to win a Stanley Cup pass him by in 1988 and 1990 when the Bruins lost in the finals.

Notes

Tampa Bay goaltender Daren Puppa practiced with the team for the first time since having back surgery in November and hopes to play within two weeks. … Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Karl Dykhuis will miss four to eight weeks with a separated shoulder, the second blow to the Flyers’ defense in two weeks. Dykhuis was injured in the third period of the Flyers’ 4-1 win over Phoenix on Tuesday when he missed a check and crashed into the boards behind the net.