NHL Roundup : Jets Enjoy Every Goal in 9-3 Rout of Edmonton

It didn’t exactly make up for what happened in the playoffs last spring, but the Jets’ 9-3 rout of the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night at Winnipeg was a source of immense satisfaction.

Last season, the Oilers, on their way to their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, swept aside the Jets in four games in the second round of the playoffs. The score in the final game was 8-3, and Wayne Gretzky had three goals and four assists.

The Jets shut down the potent Oiler offense this time and held Gretzky without a goal. He did have an assist.

Left wing Perry Turnbull led the Jets’ attack that sent goaltender Andy Moog to the showers early in the third period. Turnbull had three goals and an assist. His third goal of the game at 1:53 of the last period made it a 7-3 game and brought Grant Fuhr into the game as a replacement for Moog.

It was the first loss in six games for the champions and left Quebec (7-0-0) the only unbeaten team in the National Hockey League. It may have been a costly one for the Oilers. Star defenseman Paul Coffey had to leave in the first period because of a shoulder injury and did not return.

“Remember,” Jet Coach Barry Long said, “we had a young team last year. We had six of them score 30 or more goals. Even though we were swept in the playoffs, it took outstanding play by Gretzky and Coffey to beat us. And, remember, we didn’t have our best player, Dale Hawerchuk for the series.”

Hawerchuk suffered a cracked rib in the third game of the first-round series. He is healthy once again. A 53-goal scorer last season, the young center had two assists Wednesday night.

Vancouver 5, Detroit 0--Richard Brodeur has had some rough times since 1982, when he earned the nickname “King Richard” and led the Canucks into the final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Injuries and ineffectiveness combined to make for three poor seasons. He reached a low last season when he was sent to the minors for a brief period.

Now, it appears that Brodeur, 33, is approaching his form of 1982. In this game at Detroit, Brodeur stopped 29 shots to earn just his second shutout since 1982. His performance gave the Canucks a 4-2-2 record and put them into a tie with Edmonton for first place in the Smythe Division.

Brodeur has worked every minute of all eight games, giving up 24 goals for a 3.00 goals-against average.

Cam Neely provided the offensive punch with two goals and two assists to help drop the Red Wings to 0-6-1. They are the NHL’s only winless team.

New York Rangers 5, New Jersey 1--Mark Osborne had a goal and two assists at New York to lead the Rangers to their third win in seven games.

Goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck gave up a goal to Doug Sulliman on a power play 71 seconds after the opening faceoff, then stopped the next 31 New Jersey shots.

Montreal 5, Buffalo 4--Bob Gainey, one of the few players remaining from the Canadien teams that used to dominate the NHL, scored a short-handed goal at 6:27 of the third period at Buffalo.

The goal came shortly after the Sabres had wiped out a three-goal deficit with three goals in the first four minutes of the last period. Gainey broke the 4-4 tie with a blast between the pads of goalie Tom Barrasso.

Pittsburgh 5, Toronto 4--Jim McGeough scored with 92 seconds left in regulation at Toronto to climax a comeback by the Penguins.

Midway through the second period, the Penguins trailed, 4-1, but Mario Lemieux sparked the comeback with two goals.

St. Louis 4, Minnesota 4--Ron Flockhart knocked in a rebound with just over six minutes left at St. Louis to give the Blues the tie. Flockhart’s first goal of the season came after a breakaway by Tony McKegney gave the North Stars a 4-3 lead.

Chicago 9, Hartford 2--Goaltender Bob Sauve is getting the Black Hawks out of an early season slump. In this game at Chicago, his second since the Black Hawks obtained him in a trade with Buffalo, he turned aside 36 shots, and the Black Hawks won their second game.

The Black Hawks are 2-0 with Sauve. Without him, they are 0-4-1.

Rick Paterson scored the first Chicago goal and added a short-handed goal in the last period.

Calgary 4, Washington 2--Steve Bozek’s goal with 2:44 remaining at Calgary was the highlight of a three-goal outburst that brought the Flames from behind and ended their three-game losing streak. Bozek scored the tie-breaker on a deflection of a shot by Jamie Macoun.