NHL ROUNDUP : Lemieux Scores 3, Including No. 500

Mario Lemieux added a hat trick and a milestone to his already-impressive list of accomplishments. Along the way, he led the Pittsbugh Penguins to a victory too.

Lemieux capped off the 32nd three-goal game of his career with his 500th goal as the Penguins beat the New York Islanders, 7-5, Thursday night at Uniondale, N.Y.

Lemieux, the 20th to reach 500 goals, did it in his 605th game--faster than anyone in NHL history except Wayne Gretzky. He scored once in the first period, then twice in the third as the Penguins rallied after falling behind, 4-3.

Lemieux tied the score 19 seconds into the final period, won a draw to set up Tomas Sandstrom for the go-ahead goal at 10:36 and hit the milestone with a shot from the slot past Tommy Soderstrom with 2:48 remaining to cap the scoring.

“I didn’t feel very good in the first two periods,” said Lemieux, who sat out last season to recover from back problems and Hodgkin’s disease. “That quick goal got us going and the ice seemed to open up after that.”

Surprisingly, Lemieux’s milestone was never announced to the crowd of 8,384.

“I was waiting for it,” Lemieux said of the announcement. “I was surprised they didn’t announce it. It was OK, though; I knew I got it.”

Washington 4, Boston 2--Jim Carey made 31 saves and Keith Jones had three assists to send the Bruins to their first loss in their new home, the FleetCenter.

New York Rangers 4, Tampa Bay 4--Mark Messier scored with 53 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Rangers a tie with the Lightning at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Toronto 2, Chicago 1--Benoit Hogue and Todd Gill scored first-period power-play goals to lead the Maple Leafs at Chicago.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Fast Company

Mario Lemieux became the second-fastest player in NHL history to reach 500 goals. The fastest:

Player / Games

Wayne Gretzky: 575

Mario Lemieux: 605

Mike Bossy: 647

Phil Esposito: 803

Jari Kurri: 833

Bobby Hull: 861

Maurice Richard: 863

Marcel Dionne: 887

Note: Gretzky holds the career record for goals scored with 815.