NHL Roundup : Whalers Keep Their Playoff Hopes Alive With 5-1 Win

Sylvain Turgeon scored twice, and goaltender Mike Liut stopped 24 shots Wednesday night at Hartford to lead the Whalers to a 5-1 victory over Buffalo and keep their flickering playoff hopes alive.

The fourth victory in their last 18 games and second in a row moved the Whalers within six points of the Sabres in the battle for fourth place in the Adams Division. It won’t mean much, though, unless the Whalers can repeat the performance Friday night at Buffalo.

There was satisfaction for Liut. Ever since the Whalers started their skid six weeks ago, Hartford fans have placed much of the blame on Liut. He has heard boos throughout most games.

His last two performances have taken some of the anger out of the fans. Sunday, he stopped 24 shots in a 4-1 win over Boston. In this game, Liut lost his shutout midway through the second period when Gilles Hamel scored on a power play.

Turgeon’s two goals gave him 39 for the season and enabled the Whalers to win their 30th, tying the club’s high in victories set last season. Turgeon is one goal away from his career high.

Kevin Dineen, just recently returned from the disabled list, put the Whalers ahead for good with his 20th goal midway through the first period.

“We have started to play better,” Coach Jack Evans said. “But, unless we can beat them Friday night, we are in trouble. We have to go out and play our best.”

Winnipeg 4, New York Rangers 1--The Rangers, another team trying desperately to earn a playoff spot, had the misfortune to run into a team that had just undergone a coaching change.

The Jets scored three power-play goals on the same major penalty to Reijo Routsalainen in the first period at Winnipeg to give General Manager John Ferguson a victory in his debut as coach. Ferguson replace Barry Long on Tuesday.

Brian Mullen, Ray Neufeld and Dale Hawerchuk all scored within 81 seconds of each other after Routsalainen was sent off for drawing blood when he slashed a Jet player.

The Rangers are five points behind Pittsburgh in the battle for the last playoff spot in the Patrick Division.

Detroit 8, Chicago 3--Petr Klima collected his first career hat trick in this game at Chicago as the Red Wings turned on the Blackhawks, who had beaten them five times in a row this season.

The Red Wings scored five goals in the second period after spotting Chicago a 2-0 lead.

Minnesota 5, Toronto 3--Brian Bellows had a goal and two assists at Bloomington, Minn. and goalie Don Beaupre stopped 32 shots to win his 10th in a row.

The North Stars, 11-3-1 since the All-Star break, fired 45 shots at Toronto’s Ken Wregget and moved into second place in the Norris Division.