NHL Roundup : Secord’s Four Goals in Row Help Blackhawks Tighten ‘the Great Race’

One of the great races in sports is taking place in the Norris Division of the National Hockey League. Although no team in the division is playing better than .500 hockey, the competition is so keen that a team can go from last to first, or vice versa, almost overnight.

When Al Secord scored four consecutive goals--two just 10 seconds apart--in the second period at Chicago Wednesday night, leading the Blackhawks to a 6-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, he helped to further tighten the race.

Toronto and Detroit are tied at the top with 39 points. Chicago and St. Louis are tied for third with 38 points. The trailer is Minnesota, with 36 points.

The Maple Leafs, who had beaten the Blackhawks nine times in a row, went into the second period holding a 2-1 lead.

But Secord, with his 19th goal of the season, tied the game just 31 seconds into the period. Fewer than nine minutes later, he had turned it completely around.

At 3:36, Secord fired from just nine feet away to beat Alan Bester. Ten seconds later he made it 3-1 and, at 8:55 he scored on a 55-footer to make it 5-2 in favor of the Blackhawks.

Toronto rallied to score twice before the period ended and kept the pressure on in the third period. But Chicago’s Denis Savard scored into an empty net with 38 seconds left to seal the win.

St. Louis 6, Hartford 3--Bernie Federko, better known as one of the best playmaking centers in the league, reached a scoring plateau with his 300th goal in this game at St. Louis.

Federko also had three assists, and the Blues, with Mark Hunter and Doug Wickenheiser each scoring twice.

Federko, who has spent his 11 seasons with the Blues, extended his scoring streak to nine games. During the streak he has 3 goals and 12 assists.

It was a costly defeat for the Whalers, who are tied for first place in the Adams Division, because left wing Paul Lawless tore a ligament in his knee in the first period. The extent of the injury will be determined today in Hartford.

Vancouver 3, Montreal 2--There are times when goaltender Richard Brodeur plays so well that nobody can beat the lowly Canucks.

Five years ago, Brodeur carried the club all the way to the Stanley Cup final round before losing.

In this game at Montreal, Brodeur, now a 34-year-old veteran, brought back memories of 1982, and when rookie David Bruce scored halfway through the overtime, the Canucks had a victory.

The Canadiens fired 46 shots at Brodeur, 32 in the first two periods, but only two of them went into the net. Many of Brodeur’s saves were sensational, including stops on point-blank blasts in overtime by Brian Skrudland and Claude Lemieux.

Steve Tambellini of the Canucks knocked in a rebound with 3:06 left in regulation to force the overtime.

Philadelphia 6, New York Rangers 3--The Flyers’ sensational rookie goalie, Ron Hextall, extended his scoreless streak to 135 minutes in this game at New York, then had to hang on to win his league-leading 23rd game.

Rick Tocchet’s short-handed goal with five seconds left in the second period gave Hextall a 4-0 lead. Hextall, who shut out New Jersey Tuesday night, lost his bid for a second shutout in a row when Tony McKegney scored at 6:52 of the last period.

The Rangers scored twice more and, with almost four minutes left, had two chances to tie. But two empty-net goals in the last 30 seconds made it look one-sided.

Pittsburgh 5, Washington 2--Bob Errey, Randy Hillier and John Chabot scored within a four-minute span in the first period at Pittsburgh to start a string of five consecutive Penguin goals.

The Penguins scored the five goals on just 17 shots against goalie Bob Mason. “Mason was dreadful,” Coach Bryan Murray of the Capitals said.

Buffalo 4, Winnipeg 2--Scott Arniel and Adam Creighton scored just 43 seconds apart in the middle of the third period at Winnipeg to lead the improved Sabres to victory.

Goaltender Tom Barrasso stopped 21 shots, including the Jets’ last 10 as the Sabres improved their record since Ted Sator took over as coach to 4-2-1. Under their other two coaches this season, the Sabres were 7-22-4.