NHL Roundup : Whalers’ Liut Is Doubly Sharp--Second Shutout in a Row

In the days before Bobby Orr opened up the game of hockey and long before Wayne Gretzky made it wide open, shutouts were not rare.

Goaltenders prevailed, and it was not unusual for the best to get 10 shutouts a season. In recent seasons, however, five has become a big year.

So when a goalie turns in back-to-back shutouts, it’s news.

Wednesday night, Mike Liut got his second successive shutout, turning aside 24 shots at Hartford, Conn., in the Whalers’ 3-0 victory over the slumping Buffalo Sabres.

Last Friday, St. Louis fired 22 shots at Liut, their former netminder, and couldn’t get one past him. He has sparked the Whalers to three wins in a row, and they have moved into contention in the Adams Division.

Minnesota 5, Chicago 2--The North Stars have their own version of a scoring machine in Dino Ciccarelli, whose hat trick at Bloomington, Minn., led the team to victory over the Blackhawks.

In 20 games this season, Ciccarelli has 24 goals. If Ciccarelli keeps up that pace, he will break Wayne Gretzky’s record of 92 goals in an 80-game season.

Philadelphia 4, Montreal 2--Through two periods at Philadelphia, it was a stirring battle between the division leaders in the Wales Conference.

But just when it appeared that the Canadiens had a chance to break through on a power play to start the final period, Brad McCrimmon ruined it. McCrimmon scored a short-handed goal on a 50-footer at 1:10. Before the Canadiens recovered, the Flyers had two more goals.

Boston 2, Washington 2--Bob Carpenter, one of the first U.S. schoolboy sensations, played in 422 consecutive games for the Capitals until this one at Landover, Md.

Only 23, Carpenter and the club have had a falling out, and the Capitals have said he will not play for them again.

The absence of Carpenter didn’t end the Capitals’ winless streak. Although Alan Haworth scored halfway through the final period to get the team even, the streak reached eight (0-4-4).

Edmonton 4, Winnipeg 3--Wayne Gretzky scored his 21st goal of the season for the game-winner and assisted on two others at Edmonton to move the Oilers ahead of the Jets into first place in the Smythe Division. The Oilers came back after Dale Hawerchuk put the Jets ahead 12 seconds into the game with the first of his two goals.

New York Rangers 4, Quebec 2--Shortly after signing as the new Ranger coach, Tom Webster sat in the press box at New York and must have enjoyed what he saw. Willie Huber, Chris Jensen and Kelly Kisio scored third period goals to rally the Rangers.

New York Islanders 3, Pittsburgh 2--Ken Leiter and Mike Bossy scored 35 seconds apart in the second period at Pittsburgh, and Kelly Hrudey stopped 34 shots to post back-to-back victories over the Penguins.

Toronto 3, Detroit 1--Wendel Clark scored his 13th goal, and goalie Alan Bester was only 7 1/2 minutes short of turning in his third shutout over the Red Wings at Detroit.

New Jersey 5, St. Louis 1--Aaron Broten and Uli Hiemer scored 14 seconds apart in the second period at St. Louis as the improving Devils (11-9-2) rolled to another victory.