NHL Roundup : Ferraro Leads Confident Whalers

Ray Ferraro scored three goals, including the game-winner with 4:14 to play at East Rutherford, N.J., and the Hartford Whalers strengthened their lead in the Adams Division with a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

The Whalers lead the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens by two points, have two games in hand and are talking championship.

“Last spring, when the Canadiens had to go overtime in the seventh game to beat us, we grew up,” said Ferraro, who was getting his first taste of playoff action last season. “We found out what playoff hockey was all about.

“The Canadiens had been there before, and most of us were just learning. We are a better team now and we want a chance to prove it.”

As a rookie center last season Ferraro, 22, had 30 goals in 76 regular-season games and three more in the playoffs. The hat trick gave him 19 goals this season.

The Devils jumped in front, 2-0, in the first period, but the Whalers pulled even midway through the second period, and Ferraro’s first goal gave them a 3-2 lead.

Andy Brickley scored on a power play with 7:48 left to tie the game. Then, Ferraro broke the tie and added an empty-net score. Paul Lawless, in only his second game since returning after missing 18 games because of an injury, concluded the scoring with 20 seconds left.

“We’ve had good goaltending, have played well on defense and have been scoring an adequate number of goals,” Coach Jack Evans said. “And even when we don’t put the puck into the net we have been playing well. To win this tough division, we must keep playing that way.”

Detroit 5, Winnipeg 2--When Jacques Demers took over as coach of the Red Wings last summer, he quickly realized that he had a potential star in 23-year-old center Gerard Gallant.

“I expect him to get 30 to 35 goals,” Demers said of the youngster who scored 20 in 1985-86, his first full season.

Gallant has already reached the plateau his coach set for him. He scored his 30th to trigger a four-goal second period at Detroit that enabled the Red Wings to hold their one-point lead in the Norris Division race.

Less than four minutes after he tied the score at 1-1, Gallant set up Darren Veitch for the tiebreaker, and the Wings were never headed.

The Wings, who lost to the Rangers Tuesday night, have played on consecutive nights 18 times this season. They are 12-5-1 in the second game.

Edmonton 9, Toronto 2--If the Soviet team couldn’t handle Wayne Gretzky, how could anyone expect the Maple Leafs to do it. They didn’t.

Gretzky scored his 53rd goal of the season in the first period at Edmonton, then assisted on four goals in the second as the Oilers breezed to victory.

The Leafs were 4-1-1 in the six games before this one. They played the Oilers even for nearly 10 minutes before Gretzky broke loose.

In 59 games this season, Gretzky, stepping up the pace toward a fourth consecutive 200-point season, has 94 assists and 147 points.

It’s not too surprising, then, that the Oilers have a 38-16-5 record, the best in the league. They lead the Smythe Division by 13 points.

Minnesota 7, Vancouver 3--Scott Bjugstad’s first goal in almost three months triggered a five-goal outburst at Bloomington, Minn. that carried the North Stars to victory.

The Canucks, who have the worst record in the league, jumped in front, 2-0, in the first 10 minutes. But Bjugstad scored his fourth goal of the season, but his first since Dec. 20. The North Stars, who remained one point behind Detroit, really started to go after the defensive center scored.

Dino Ciccarelli scored twice for the North Stars, his first being the fifth in the rally that built a 5-2 lead. Ciccarelli has 43 goals.

Buffalo 4, Boston 3--The Sabres broke a scoreless tie with three goals in just over three minutes early in the third period and held on to hand the Bruins their fourth loss in a row.

Dave Andreychuk’s 17th goal broke up the scoreless battle 34 seconds into the final period. John Tucker and Mike Foligno soon made it a 3-0 game. The Bruins rallied with two quick goals before Phil Housley clinched the win for the Sabres.

Montreal 1, New York Islanders 1--The solid goaltending of Kelly Hrudey kept the Islanders from losing at Montreal, but the tie extended their winless streak to five games (0-3-2).

Hrudey stopped 34 shots, including 15 in the third period. He gave up a goal to Sergio Momesso halfway through the second period.

The Islanders, who have been in a long scoring slump, scored on Mikko Makela’s power-play goal in the first period.

The tie dropped the Canadiens two points behind Hartford in the Adams Division.