NHL Roundup : With Hextall in Nets, Flyers Trip Penguins, 6-4

When Ron Hextall reported to training camp with the Philadelphia Flyers last summer, he was the No. 3 goaltender on a team that usually is inclined to keep only two during the season.

Hextall not only made the team, he continues to be a sensation.

The 22-year-old rookie stopped 29 shots Saturday night at Pittsburgh and became the league’s first 20-game winner when the Flyers beat the Penguins, 6-4.

Ilkka Sinisalo had three assists, two of them 20 seconds apart in the first period, and Tim Kerr scored his 27th goal of the season in the second period to help Hextall improve his record to 20-6-2.

The Penguins, who have been fading after the fastest start in their history, lost more than the game--they lost their ace, Mario Lemieux.

Lemieux, the No. 2 scorer in the league, scored his 27th goal in the second period, but he was sent crashing into the boards by the Flyers’ Ron Sutter early in the third period. He injured his right knee. It is not known how long he will be out.

“I had this injury once before,” Lemieux said, “and I didn’t feel it until the day after. I don’t know how bad it is. I’ll find out after the doctors look at it.”

Hextall started out behind Bob Froese, who won 31 games for the Flyers last season, and veteran Glenn Resch. Hextall won the starting job in camp and has shown no signs of relinquishing it. Froese was so upset he demanded to be traded. A deal was worked out this week with the New York Rangers.

Resch plays only when the rookie needs a rest, which is not often.

“It’s nice to keep winning,” Hextall said, “but most of the credit should go to my teammates. They make a goaltender’s life a happy one.”

The Flyers had only six shots in the second period, but four of them eluded goaltender Gilles Meloche. The Flyers had only 18 shots in the entire game.

Calgary 5, Vancouver 3--With defensemen Paul Reinhart and Al MacInnis scoring on the Flames’ first two shots of the game at Vancouver, Calgary won its fourth in a row to move to within five points of the Oilers.

It was the third loss in a row for the Canucks, who outshot the winners, 44-19, but were thwarted by goalie Mike Vernon.

Quebec 4, Minnesota 1--Michel Goulet scored a goal and assisted on two others at Bloomington, Minn., to lead the Nordiques to victory.

Clint Malarchuk stopped 26 shots and had a shutout until Scott Bjugstad scored with 5:41 left. It was Bjugstad’s first goal in 21 games.

Toronto 5, Buffalo 4--Steve Thomas scored with just five seconds remaining at Toronto, and the Sabres lost for the 22nd time in 33 games.

Mike Ramsey’s slapshot from the point with just four seconds remaining in regulation enabled the Sabres to get into the overtime game.

New York Islanders 5, New York Rangers 2--Brent Suttter scored three goals and assisted on another at Uniondale, N.Y., to lead the Islanders.

The Rangers won one of the two earlier meetings between the teams this season and the other was tied.

Chicago 6, Boston 2--In one of their best road performances of the season, the Blackhawks breezed at Boston.

Curt Fraser had two goals and an assist, and Wayne Presley also had two goals. Bob Sauve made 33 saves to gain the victory.

Washington 5, St. Louis 3--Defenseman Larry Murphy put on an offensive show at Landover, Md., and the Capitals ended a four-game losing streak.

Murphy had a goal and three assists as the Capitals won only their fourth in the last 19 games.

Montreal 5, New Jersey 2--Mats Naslund shook a scoring slump by getting a goal and two assists at Montreal to help the Canadiens end the Devils’ three-game winning streak.

The goal was only the fourth in the last 25 games for Naslund, the Canadiens’ leading scorer last season. He had 43 goals and 110 points. He has 11 goals this season.

Detroit 2, Hartford 2--The goaltenders, Greg Stefan of the Red Wings and Mike Liut of Hartford, took command of the last 33 minutes at Detroit.

Doug Sheddon scored for Detroit to tie the score, 2-2, with eight minutes left in the second period. There were 29 more shots in the game, 17 by Detroit, but no scoring.