NHL Roundup : Goring Delivers Winner for Bruins

When Butch Goring joined the New York Islanders late in the 1979-80 season, he turned out to be just what the Islanders needed.

Goring played in the last 12 games of the regular season and the Islanders did not lose one of them. Moreover, with Goring a central figure, they won four consecutive Stanley Cups.

A week ago, the Islanders sent Goring to the Boston Bruins. Goring is now 35, so it is probably too much to expect the crafty little center to do as much for the Bruins. But already, he has paid dividends.

Goring scored the winning goal Tuesday night at East Rutherford, N.J., in a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils. The Bruins, who had been struggling, have won three of their last four.

Goring has been a key factor in each victory. Last Wednesday he scored the winning goal against Toronto and Saturday night he set up the winning goal in a 4-3 win over Detroit.

He also had an assist Tuesday night on Tom Fergus’ goal in the first period that gave Boston a 2-1 lead.

His goal was only his fourth of the season. The Islanders, relying mostly on young players, used him mostly to kill penalties.

“They promised me I would get a chance to play, if I came here,” Goring said. “And, I’m having fun. I just happened to be in the right place for the winning goal.”

The Bruins, losers only once in the last six games, moved into a tie with Quebec for third place, only one point out of second in the tight Adams Division race.

Montreal 2, Quebec 1--Mario Tremblay deflected in a shot by defenseman Rick Green on a power play with eight minutes left at Quebec to end the Canadiens’ winless streak at seven games.

The Canadiens, 4-0-1 in the series this season with their intraprovince rival, stretched their lead over Buffalo in the Adams Division to four points.

The Canadiens dominated the second period, holding Quebec to one shot, but had only a goal by Chris Nilan to show for it. The Nordiques tied the game on Peter Stastny’s 20th goal early in the final period.

Calgary 5, Hartford 2--Colin Patterson broke a 2-2 tie with his 22nd goal of the season two minutes into the third period at Hartford, and when Jim Peplinski and Hakan Loob followed with goals it became a comfortable win.

It was the 1,000th NHL game for the Flames and improved their record to 424-404-172.

Vancouver 6, New York Islanders 5-- Jere Gillis rifled home a 40-footer at 1:54 of overtime to give the Canucks the victory and end their three-game losing streak. Gillis took a drop pass from Patrik Sundstrom just inside the New York blue line and beat Islander goaltender Billy Smith with a low shot on the glove side.