NHL Roundup : Sabre Rookie Makes Oilers Shoot Blanks

It could be that goaltender Daren Puppa will never improve on his first game in the National Hockey League.

Puppa, who played last season for Rensselaer Poly, stopped 37 shots Friday night at Edmonton to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-0 victory over the two-time Stanley Cup champion Oilers.

In handing the Oilers their first shutout at home in five years, the big 20-year-old goalie stopped three breakaways by the immortal Wayne Gretzky. It was the first time this season that Gretzky had failed to get a point.

Lindy Ruff gave the 6-3 Puppa the only goal he needed just 61 seconds after the opening faceoff. Gilles Hamel finally took the pressure off with a goal in the final minute.

Puppa, the top-rated goalie in U. S. college hockey last season, had a fairly easy time for two periods. But in the final 20 minutes, the Oilers fired 19 shots at him and couldn’t score.

Twice in the final minutes, Gretzky, the best offensive player in history, went in on breakaways, and Puppa stopped the shots. He also stopped Paul Coffey on a breakaway.

Washington 5, New York Islanders 3--The Capitals were concerned about how well they would play without their defensive stalwart, Rod Langway. Langway suffered a knee injury Oct. 23 that will keep him out for three weeks.

The Capitals really didn’t need to worry. With Doug Jarvis making a spectacular diving shot to break a 1-1 tie late in the second period at Landover, Md., the Capitals extended their unbeaten string without Langway to four games.

Since opening the season with three defeats, the Capitals are 5-1-2.

--DAN HAFNER