NHL Roundup : Islanders End Flyers’ Winning Streak at 13, 8-6

Mike Bossy and his New York Islander teammates made the most of a second chance.

Bossy scored two goals and assisted on three others Tuesday night at Uniondale, N.Y., to lead the Islanders to an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The defeat ended the Flyers’ winning streak at 13 and preserved the Islanders NHL record of 15 consecutive victories set in 1982.

On Sunday at Philadelphia, the Islanders had the Flyers in trouble. Nearing the middle of the final period the Islanders held a 4-2 lead. But the Flyers rallied to tie in regulation and win in overtime on a goal by Murray Craven.

Bossy was the leading scorer on the 1981-82 team that went on to win the third of four consecutive Stanley Cups. Preserving that record was foremost in his mind.

“We are proud of that record and didn’t want to see it surpassed,” Bossy told United Press International. “We had a great chance to beat them Sunday and let it slip away. We were even more determined tonight.

“I rank winning the 15 in a row right behind those Stanley Cup championships. It took a heck of an effort and we came up with it.”

The Flyers, who lost No. 2 goalie Bob Froese with an injury the day after Pelle Lindbergh’s death, called up inexperienced Darren Jensen from the minors.

Jensen won three games in a row, giving up nine goals. But he was no match for the Islanders in his fourth start.

After Ed Hospodar scored his first goal of the season to put the Flyers in front, the Islanders scored the next five goals. Bossy scored the third goal of the first period to make it 3-1 and then assisted on all three New York goals in the second period.

The Flyers trailed, 6-2, in the second period, but rallied once again. They scored three times in a row on power plays to cut the lead to 6-5. Bossy’s 40-foot blast near the middle of the final period was his 12th and restored the two-goal margin.

The line of Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Greg Gilbert accounted for 13 points. Gilbert, just brought back from the minors, had a goal and two assists.

After Bossy’s goal, the Flyers made one more run when Hospodar, with his team short-handed, scored again with 2:29 remaining. Trottier, with his second goal of the game, knocked the puck into an empty net with only 11 seconds left to end the Flyers’ hopes of shooting for the record.

It was a wide-open game and a rough one. The Flyers’ Dave Brown drew a major for hitting Pat LaFontaine across the mouth with his stick.

Buffalo 2, Hartford 0--Ever since Wayne Gretzky showed the NHL what the game was all about, there have been hardly any scoreless ties. This one at Hartford came close.

With just 69 seconds remaining, Paul Cyr picked up a loose puck at center ice, went in on a breakaway and beat goalie Mike Liut with a backhander. Mike Foligno completed the scoring into an empty net with five seconds left.

Until Cyr scored his third goal of the season, Liut had been brilliant. He had stopped 33 shots, many of them difficult ones. In picking up his second shutout of the season, Tom Barrasso faced only 23 shots.

Edmonton 5, Quebec 4--Glenn Anderson scored the tying goal at Quebec with six minutes remaining, then climaxed the Oilers’ comeback by scoring the winning goal with just 21 seconds left.

The Nordiques had dominated the game and held a 4-1 lead early in the third period before Gretzky ignited a four-goal outburst with his 14th goal at 7:31. He also assisted on Anderson’s tying score.

Washington 4, Pittsburgh 3--Goaltender Pete Peeters, in his first start for the Capitals, registered the victory at Landover, Md., as the Capitals extended their unbeaten string against the Penguins to 15 games (14-0-1).

In a second period fight between Bob Carpenter of the Capitals and Mario Lemieux, referee Terry Gregson cited both teams for failure to clear the area. It means an automatic $1,000 fine for each team.

Mike Gartner scored twice for the Capitals.

Vancouver 7, Detroit 5--Petri Skriko completed a hat trick with a short-handed goal midway through the second period at Detroit, and the Canucks went on to end a three-game losing streak.

Skriko, a second-year pro from Finland, has 13 goals this season. He had 21 in 72 games last season. His third goal gave the Canucks a 6-2 lead and they held off the Red Wings’ belated rally.

Minnesota 3, Calgary 3--Dino Ciccarelli came out of his scoring slump at an opportune moment. Ciccarelli scored his first goal of the season with 7:23 left in regulation at Calgary to get the North Stars a tie.

Ciccarelli, who scored 55 goals in the 1981-82 season, had played in 11 games without scoring.

The Flames had a shot a minute into the five-minute overtime but didn’t score.