NHL Roundup : Bruin Rookie Breaks Stick; His Goal Breaks Back of the Flyers, 5-4

Rookie Kraig Nienhuis knew the blade of his stick was cracked, so he tried to shoot the puck softly.

His 20-foot shot with just 29 seconds remaining Saturday at Boston fooled goaltender Bob Froese and gave the Bruins a 5-4 victory over Philadelphia. It ended a five-game winless streak and put the Bruins back into first place in the Adams Division.

Nienhuis shattered his stick on the shot. The rules say a player will be penalized if he plays with a broken stick.

“It was just a little bit broken, but it was a legal stick until after I shot,” Nienhuis said. “I thought I would just nudge the puck into the net.”

The Bruins’ rookie coach, Butch Goring, is not afraid to use rookies.

The rookies came through. After Brian Propp and Ron Sutter scored earlier in the third period to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead, Randy Burridge, on loan from a Canadian junior team, scored the tying goal, his first in his fourth NHL game. Then, Nienhuis, noted for his defensive play when he helped RPI win the NCAA last spring, won the game with his 11th. Earlier, teen-ager Dave Pasin scored his seventh.

“We’ve had to make liberal use of the rookies because of injuries,” Goring said. “They have really come through for us.”

At the moment, only regulars out with injuries are top scorer Charlie Simmer and top playmaker Ken Linseman. Ace defenseman Ray Bourque returned for this one and his passes set up the tying and winning goals.

The Bruins’ late rally allowed them at 7-0-2 to remain the only team in the league still unbeaten at home. It also gave goalie Pat Riggin, in his second appearance since being traded by Washington, his first win as a Bruin.

New York Rangers 5, New York Islanders 0--Goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck was hardly tested in this game at Uniondale, N.Y. as he earned his second shutout of the season.

In one of their weakest performances of the season, the injury-riddled Islanders had only 17 shots on goal, no more than six in any one 20-minute session.

Ron Greschner, thriving since moving from defense to wing, and Steve Patrick each scored in the first period and the Rangers continued to dominate the rest of the way.

Montreal 4, Calgary 3--Patrick Roy’s spectacular goaltending at Montreal and goals 75 seconds apart in the third period by Mats Naslund and Sergio Momesso enabled the Canadiens to beat the battling Flames.

The Flames outshot the Canadiens, 39-19, but they could only get three past Roy. With the score tied, 2-2, Naslund scored his 15th goal at 3:31 of the third period. The fans had hardly finished cheering when Momesso scored his sixth to clinch the victory.

Washington 3, Quebec 0--The Capitals are more than satisfied with the swap of goaltenders they made recently with Boston.

Pete Peeters, the Capitals’ new netminder, produced the team’s first shutout this season, stopping 31 shots at Landover, Md. Peeters is 2-0 since joining the Capitals.

Gary Sampson scored his first goal of the season and also had an assist as the Capitals, who opened the season by losing their first three games, are 12-3-3 in their last 18 games.

Edmonton 3, New Jersey 2--Raimo Summanen and Mark Napier scored consecutive second period goals at Edmonton to lead the Oilers to victory over the stubborn Devils.

It took several brilliant stops by goalie Andy Moog to keep the Devils from tying the game in the third period.

Toronto 9, Detroit 3--Russ Courtnall, whose older brother, Geoff, scored two goals for Boston earlier in the day, had three goals and two assists at Toronto to lead the Maple Leafs.

Chicago 7, St. Louis 3--The Blues did most of the shooting at St. Louis, 48-35, but it was the Black Hawks doing the scoring. Denis Savard and Ken Yaremchuk scored goals 62 seconds apart for the Hawks to open the game.

Hartford 8, Winnpeg 1--Ron Francis had a hat trick at Hartford to lead the Whalers to an easy victory. In losing to Pittsburgh and the Whalers, two of the weaker teams, the Jets have given up 16 goals.