At 1 1/2 Feet Per Goal, Francis Does the Trick

Ron Francis got his first hat trick in more than two years by practically standing still.

Francis scored three times on rebounds, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Islanders, 5-1, Monday night at Pittsburgh.

How much ground did Francis have to cover for his goals?

“About 4 1/2 feet,” he said. “But it was a good 4 1/2 feet.”

Francis got his 11th career hat trick. His only other one in the regular season since joining Pittsburgh on March 4, 1991 was on Nov. 10, 1995 at San Jose.

Dallas 2, Detroit 2--The Red Wings and Stars remained tied atop the Central Division, with an NHL-best 56 points, and both extended season-best undefeated streaks at Detroit.

Vyacheslav Kozlov and Tomas Holmstrom scored for Detroit. Former Red Wing forward Bob Errey and Sergei Zubov scored for Dallas.

Tampa Bay 2, San Jose 1--Backup goaltender Derek Wilkinson stopped 29 shots and Dino Ciccarelli scored a rare Tampa Bay power-play goal as the Lightning defeated the Sharks at Tampa Fla.

Ciccarelli notched the game-winner, his 594th career goal, with 16:30 left.

Wilkinson stopped Patrick Marleau’s point-blank drive and a mid-air redirected shot by Jeff Friesen.

New Jersey 3, Buffalo 1--The Devils scored on two of their first three shots en route to a victory over the Sabres at Buffalo, N.Y., for their eighth win in 11 games.

Randy McKay scored 49 seconds into the game and Bill Guerin scored on a breakaway less than two minutes later as the Devils won their third consecutive over the Sabres this season.

Washington 4, St. Louis 2--Adam Oates had a goal and an assist during a four-goal first period and the Capitals defeated the Blues, playing their first game without the injured Brett Hull at Washington.

Dale Hunter, Andrew Brunette and Richard Zednick also scored during the first for the Capitals, who were 1-5-4 in their previous 10 games and had been outscored, 31-19.

Colorado 1, Montreal 1--Patrick Roy stopped 31 shots as the Avalanche tied the Canadiens at Denver for their 12th stalemate of the season.

Jocelyn Thibault stopped 25 shots for the Avalanche.

Mark Recchi, who played in his 502nd consecutive game, scored his 18th goal of the season for Montreal.

Phoenix 5, Calgary 3--Bob Corkum and Keith Tkachuk each scored twice to lift the Coyotes to a victory at Calgary.

Brad Isbister also scored for the Coyotes, who won their fourth consecutive road game.

Cory Stillman, Theoren Fleury and German Titov scored for Calgary.