Gretzky’s Hat Trick Thwarts Panthers

NHL playoffs

Wayne Gretzky’s natural hat trick his league-best ninth in the playoffs - led the New York Rangers to a 3-2 playoff victory over the visiting Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

The win gives the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference first-round series, pushing the defending Eastern Conference champions to the brink of elimination.

The series returns to Miami for Game 5 on Friday night.

Gretzky scored three times in a span of 6:23 in the second period for his 58th career hat trick, but first with New York.

Rangers 3, Panthers 2

Florida 1 0 1 - 2 N.Y. Rangers 0 3 0 - 3

First period-1, Florida, Niedermayer 2 (Murphy), 13:23 (pp).

Second period-2, New York, Gretzky 2 (Leetch), 3:07 (pp). 3, New York, Gretzky 3 (Robitaille, Sundstrom), 6:46. 4, New York, Gretzky 4 (Sundstrom, Karpovtsev), 9:30.

Third period-5, Florida, Nemirovsky 1 (Laus), 1:40.

Shots on goal-Florida 8-5-10-23. New York 8-8-12-28.Power-play opp.-Florida 1 of 4; New York 1 of 6.Goalies-Florida, Vanbiesbrouck 1-3 (28 shots-25 saves). New York, Richter 3-1 (23-21).A-18,200 (18,200).

Penguins 4, Flyers 1 Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh refused to lose what might have been Mario Lemieux’s last game, scoring two short-handed goals in the first period to beat Philadelphia and stay alive.

Lemieux made for a dramatic finish by scoring on a breakaway with 1:04 remaining.

Philadelphia 1 0 0 - 1 Pittsburgh 3 0 1 - 4

First period-1, Pittsburgh, Moran 1 (Dziedzic, Hicks), 1:09. 2, Philadelphia, Podein 1 (Niinimaa, Svoboda), 1:45. 3, Pittsburgh, Olczyk 1, 13:22 (sh). 4, Pittsburgh, Nedved 1, 18:28 (sh).

Second period-None.

Third period-5, Pittsburgh, Lemieux 2 (Moran), 18:56.

Shots on goal-Philadelphia 16-10-12-38. Pittsburgh 12-9-4-25.Power-play opp.-Philadelphia 0 of 7; Pittsburgh 0 of 4.Goalies-Philadelphia, Snow 3-1 (25 shots-21 saves). Pittsburgh, Wregget 1-3 (38-37).A-17,355 (17,181).

Senators 1, Sabres 0 (OT) Kanata, Ontario

Daniel Alfredsson ended more than 62 minutes of scoreless hockey when he beat Buffalo goaltender Steve Shields in overtime to give the Ottawa a 1-0 and tie their Eastern Conference firstround playoff series at 2-2.

Buffalo 0 0 0 0 - 0 Ottawa 0 0 0 1 - 1

First period-None.

Second period-None.

Third period-None.

Overtime-1, Ottawa, Alfredsson 3 (Chorske), 2:34.

Shots on goal-Buffalo 5-6-5-1-17. Ottawa 11-14-8-3-36.Power-play opp.-Buffalo 0 of 2; Ottawa 0 of 3.Goalies-Buffalo, Shields 1-1 (36 shots-35 saves). Ottawa, Tugnutt 2-2 (17-17).A-18,500 (18,500).

Comings and goings

Right-winger Bill Guerin of the New Jersey Devils is expected to be out of action for about five days after fracturing the second toe on his right foot. Guerin suffered the hairline while blocking a shot by Montreal’s Dave Manson in the second period of the Devils’ 6-4 triumph on Tuesday night.

The Boston Bruins signed defenseman Jonathan Aitken, the team’s 1996 first-round draft pick, to a three-year entry-level contract.