NHL Roundup : Ashton’s Offense a Bonus

The Quebec Nordiques were looking for defense when they traded Tony McKegney and Bo Berglund to the Minnesota North Stars for Brad Maxwell and Brent Ashton.

They got it, and more.

Ashton scored his 19th and 20th goals Sunday at Hartford, Conn., to help the Nordiques to a 10-4 victory over the Hartford Whalers, moving Quebec within six points of Adams Division leader Buffalo.

Sixteen of Ashton’s goals have come in his 25 games with Quebec.

“It was a big trade for us,” Coach Michel Bergeron said. “Maxwell was the guy we wanted but Ashton has turned out to be a bonus because we didn’t think he was that good.

“He’s a solid, two-way player. He kills penalties, plays on the power play and has been impressive.”

Ashton was surprised when Minnesota traded him.

“It was a shock at first but I was happy to go to a team who wanted me,” he said. “Things have gone well for me and I hope they keep up.”

Anton Stastny, Michel Goulet and Alain Cote also added two goals each for the Nordiques Sunday as they kept the Whalers winless for eight straight games.

Hartford is 0-7-1 in its last eight games and 1-12-2 in its last 15. The Whalers have not won since Jan. 26 when they beat Boston 3-2.

Goalie Richard Sevigny remained unbeaten against Hartford, raising his career record against the Whalers to 10-0-2.

Toronto 3, Montreal 2--Rick Vaive slammed in a 40-foot slapshot 3:38 into overtime at Toronto to lift the Maple Leafs to their second victory over the Canadiens in two days.

Toronto defeated the Canadiens at Montreal Saturday night, 6-2.

Vaive took a pass from Dan Daoust and rifled a shot from the top of the circle past Montreal goalie Steve Penney for his second goal of the game and 27th of the season. Mike McPhee’s goal for Montreal midway through the second period forced overtime.

Both goaltenders came up with big saves to preserve the tie in the third period. Penney stopped Toronto’s Greg Terrion on a breakaway, and gloved Bob McGill’s point-blank shot with 17 seconds remaining in regulation. Toronto’s Tim Berhnhardt stopped Mats Naslund on a breakaway with four minutes remaining.

Alfie Turcotte fed a centering pass to the slot where McPhee deflected in it at 8:21 of the second period. Vaive opened the scoring at 14:42 after slapping a long backboard rebound past Penney.

Toronto took a 2-0 lead on John Anderson’s power-play goal at 19:10. Mario Tremblay’s power-play goal at 3:42 of the second period made it 2-1.

Philadelphia 3, N.Y. Rangers 2--Derrick Smith’s goal at 9:01 of the final period at Philadelphia turned out to be the game-winner as the Flyers stretched the Rangers’ winless streak to 0-6-1.

Ron Sutter won a face-off, passed to Smith, who scored on a 30-footer over the outstretched arm of Rangers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck.

The Flyers, who have three victories and two ties in their last six games, climbed to within seven points of Patrick Division-leader Washington, and Philadelphia has three games in hand.

The defeat also was the 29th of the season for the Rangers, equaling the number they lost all last season.

Philadelphia goalie Pelle Lindbergh stopped 32 shots to earn his 24th victory of the season, best in the NHL.

Vancouver 5, Winnipeg 3--Goaltender Richard Brodeur stopped 51 shots and Tomas Gradin scored the game-winner at 12:46 of the third period at Winnipeg as the Canucks prevented the Jets from moving into second place in the Smythe Division.

With the score tied, 3-3, and Winnipeg dominating play, Vancouver took advantage of sloppy play at the Jets blue line to break in on goalie Brian Hayward. With Hayward sprawled on the ice after making the save on Pat Sundstrom, Gradin lifted the puck to the top left-hand corner of the net.

Mark Kirton scored into an empty net with 13 seconds left to seal the victory.

Brodeur was spectacular, particularly in the second period, stopping all 18 shots he faced. Winnipeg had 54 shots on goal for the game, tying a team record.

Chicago 4, Boston 3--Tom Lysiak scored at 9:25 of the final period to lift the Black Hawks past the Bruins for the second time in 24 hours. Chicago won, 6-5, Saturday in Boston.

The Black Hawks won their third straight game since General Manager Bob Pulford took over as coach after firing Orval Tessier, and moved to within seven points of first-place St. Louis in the Norris Division.

Lysiak’s game-winner came after Boston’s Morris Lukowich tied the score just :34 into the final period on a rebound.