NHL Roundup : Kerr Scores Four Goals; Flyers Win

Tim Kerr scored four goals, three on power plays, and assisted on the other score Wednesday night at Philadelphia to lead the Flyers to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The defeat extended the Blackhawks’ winless streak to seven games (0-4-3) and came about because they could not move the 6-3, 225-pound Kerr from in front of the net.

Of course, nobody has been able to move the husky Flyer center consistently. Kerr is not much of a skater, and he doesn’t handle the puck or pass well. All he does is score.

What he does better than any other player in the National Hockey League is plant himself in front of the net on power plays and keep knocking the puck into the goal.

Last season, Kerr scored 58 goals and a record 35 of them were made when the Flyers had a man advantage.

The Blackhawks scored on a goal by Mark Lavorre in the first minute, but thereafter, the game belonged to Kerr and the Flyers’ rookie goalie, Ron Hextall.

Kerr tied the score on a power play halfway through the first period and then broke the tie on another power play midway in the second period. Hextall stopped the last 23 Chicago shots.

Bob Pulford, coach of the Blackhawks, said his players made the mistake of leaving Kerr open too often.

“He gets his shot away so quickly,” Pulford said. “He’s got such a great shot and we didn’t cover him.”

The Flyers’ record is 13-4-2, the best in the league. However, the Flyers hold only a two-point lead over the surprising Pittsburgh Penguins in the Patrick Division.

Montreal 3, Boston 1--The Canadiens shrugged off a series of brawls in the second period at Boston and went on to win their fifth game in a row.

The fights began after Claude Lemieux and Larry Robinson had given the Canadiens a 2-1 lead.

A real donnybrook broke out with 4:51 left in the period, and referee Andy Hellemond sent both teams to the dressing room and added the remaining time onto the last period.

Altogether, he called 164 minutes in penalties, and eight players were ejected. Two fights started with 5:16 left in the period and four more 25 seconds later to trigger a free-for-all.

Pittsburgh 5, Calgary 2--Mario Lemieux scored his 20th goal of the season early in the third period, and the Penguins scored their first victory in Calgary.

The Flames had won eight in a row at home and had not lost a home game to the Penguins since they were based in Atlanta.

Lemieux joined Dino Ciccarelli as the only 20-goal scorers.

New York Islanders 6, Toronto 4--Mike Bossy scored his sixth goal in four games, but the Islanders needed to score three times in 69 seconds at Uniondale, N.Y., to beat the Maple Leafs.

The Leafs led, 4-2, when Pat LaFontine scored at 16:06 to start the quick winning spurt. Duane Sutter scored 39 seconds later, then Mikko Makela put the Islanders ahead at 17:15.