NHL Playoffs Roundup : Surprisingly, Rangers and Whalers Continue to Win

It may take another week to determine which team, the New York Rangers or the Hartford Whalers, qualifies as the Cinderella of this spring’s Stanley Cup competition.

The two surprise winners in the opening round of the playoffs were off to flying starts in the second round Thursday night with victories on the road.

Former King Brian MacLellan scored his second goal of the game on a breakaway 1:16 into overtime at Landover, Md., to give the Rangers a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals in the first game of their best-of-seven series.

Meanwhile, Mike Liut was brilliant in the net at Montreal as the Whalers continued their drive through the province of Quebec with a 4-1 victory over the Canadiens.

For more than half the game against the defensive-minded Capitals, the Rangers were completely outclassed. They trailed, 3-1, and Washington appeared to be in complete command.

The Capitals appeared to be in a position to turn the game into a rout when Tomas Sandstrom of the Rangers went off for hooking with 2:37 left in the second period. Ten seconds later, Mark Osborne went in on a breakaway to score a short-handed goal, and the game turned around.

Halfway through the third period, rookie Mark Ridley scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to tie the game and set up the overtime win.

The Rangers had failed to win their previous 23 overtime games, while the Capitals had played 25 consecutive overtime games without a loss.

Hartford 4, Montreal 1--Mike Liut made one fine save after another until Stewart Gavin and Sylvain Turgeon got the Whaler offense in high gear in the second period.

Each had a goal and an assist in a three-goal outburst. Liut kept the Canadiens off the board until Chris Nilan scored midway through the final period.

In the first round, the Whalers knocked off Quebec, 3-0, two of the wins coming at Quebec.

Maybe the Whalers’ play should not be so surprising, since they finished the regular season as the hot team--15-3-2 in the last 20 games. On the other hand, in the last month, the fading Canadiens were 6-10-1.

The Canadiens, after cutting the lead to 3-1, tried to force the pace, but Gavin scored into an empty net with a minute left, and the rally was over.