NHL Roundup : Potvin Ties Orr’s Record, but Islanders Lose

Denis Potvin tied a record set by Bobby Orr Saturday night at Uniondale, N.Y., but the New York Islanders’ veteran defenseman didn’t get much satisfaction out of his achievement.

Potvin scored a goal 27 seconds after the opening face-off for his 915th point, tying Orr’s all-time point record for defensemen, but for the second night in a row, Quebec dominated the Islanders, winning, 4-1.

With the Nordiques clinging to a 2-1 lead late in the second period, Potvin inadvertently dragged the rebound of a shot by Peter Stastny into the net. Michel Goulet ended the scoring, getting his second goal of the game (and his fourth in two games) in the third period. The victory enabled Quebec, a 7-3 winner Friday night at Quebec, to take over first place in the Adams Division.

Potvin needs six more goals to break the record for defensemen set by Orr. Orr’s career was cut short by knee problems. Potvin has no illusions that he is better than Orr was.

“The record only proves that with sound knees I lasted longer than Bobby did,” Potvin said. “It is a thrill, but there’s only one Orr.”

What does make Potvin, 32, proud, is that he lived up to his billing as the next best thing to Orr. When he came out of the juniors, he won the Calder Trophy in 1974 as top rookie and was a key man in four consecutive Stanley Cups won by the Islanders.

“It would be so much more enjoyable if we were playing better,” Potvin said. “We seem to be a little disorganized.”

Mike Bossy, who kept reminding Potvin that he (Bossy) was responsible for many of Potvin’s points, expressed the hope he would have a part in the record-tying one. He got his wish, feeding the pass to Potvin for his seventh goal of the season shortly after the opening face off.

Philadelphia 4, New York Rangers 0--The Flyers were in their first slump of the season, so naturally, they were glad to see the Rangers.

In this game at the Spectrum, Brian Propp and Murray Craven each scored two goals and goaltender Bob Froese stopped 23 shots to end the Flyers’ three-game losing streak.

It was the 11th time in a row in the regular season that the Flyers beat the Rangers.

“They always come out and play well against us,” Ranger defenseman Ron Greschner said. “They always get the best of us and we have to start fighting back. They seem to get up for us no matter how they’ve been playing.”

New Jersey 5, Pittsburgh 1--The Penguins needed only to beat the lowly Devils at home to tie the all-time club record for consecutive victories and climb into third place in the Patrick Division.

Instead of winning their sixth in a row, the Penguins were thoroughly outplayed by the Devils. The Penguins trailed only 2-1 midway through the second period, but Greg Adams and Peter McNab scored goals 38 seconds apart to put the Devils in command.

In an unusual pregame ceremony at center ice, Penguin fans Vickie Maola and Drew Tusick were married. They planned on remaining for the game before going on a honeymoon, but after watching the Penguins fall behind, they departed early.

Hartford 7, Boston 2--The line of Ron Francis, Sylvain Turgeon and Kevin Dineen combined for four goals and six assists at Hartford as the Whalers knocked the Bruins out of first place in the Adams Division.

Turgeon had two goals, his linemates each had one.

Edmonton 8, Minnesota 4--The Oilers put Glenn Anderson on a line with Wayne Gretzky for this game at Edmonton. Anderson responded with two goals and four assists----the first six-point game of his career. Gretzky contributed a goal and four assists.

The third man on the line, Jari Kurri had three goals. Anderson leads the Oilers with 20 goals, one more than Gretzky.

Washington 2, Vancouver 1--Gaetan Duchesne scored a short-handed goal with less than two minutes remaining in the second period at Landover, Md. to provide the winning margin. The Capitals are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.

Montreal 6, Toronto 3--Center Bobby Smith scored two goals and assisted on two others at Toronto and the Canadiens ended the Maple Leafs’ three-game winning streak.

Smith’s second goal of the game came in the second period to give Montreal a 4-2 lead.

St. Louis 5, Detroit 4--Mark Hunter’s bad-angle, desperate shot with four seconds remaining at St. Louis, slipped by rookie goalie Mark LaForest to give the Blues the win. Warren Young had a hat trick for the Red Wings.