NHL Roundup : Montreal, Detroit Advance to Second Playoff Round

Under the new format for the Stanley Cup, the champion could play as many as 28 postseason games. It would make it the longest second season in any sport.

The defending champion Montreal Canadiens are looking for a shorter route to what would be their 23rd championship.

Bobby Smith and Mike McPhee scored goals 30 seconds apart in the second period at Boston Sunday to rally the Canadiens from behind for a 4-2 victory. It gave the Canadiens a 4-0 sweep of the opening round series, continued their tradition against the Bruins and cut three games off the long, long road to the championship.

It may be sometime before the Canadiens, who finished second in the Adams Division during the regular season, find out who they play in the division final. It will be either Hartford or Quebec, who are tied, 2-2, with at least two more games to play.

Before this season the first round was only a best-of-five series. However, a couple of upsets led to the change. Now, a team must win four best-of-seven series to win it all.

Beating the Bruins in playoffs has been child’s play for the Canadiens. Last spring the Canadiens swept the Bruins, 3-0. Four times in a row they have beaten the Bruins in the first round. Since 1943, the Canadiens have beaten the Bruins in all 18 playoff series between them.

Lately, of course, the Canadiens have been beating everyone. They won their last nine games in the regular season.

“I’m not going to pick the game apart,” rookie Coach Terry O’Reilly of the Bruins said. “We got beat by a team that’s better than us at this point.”

Defenseman Larry Robinson, who has played on six Montreal championship teams, sounded a warning to his teammates.

“Each series we have to get better,” he said. “If we continue to play at the same level, it’s not going to be enough.”

Detroit 3, Chicago 1--The surprising Red Wings were the only other team to sweep in the first round.

Greg Stefan stopped 46 shots and Mel Bridgman and David Barr scored second-period goals to give the Wings their fourth in a row in this game at Chicago.

Stefan, who gave up 17 goals in three playoff losses to the Blackhawks two years ago, won three of the games.

He was absolutely brilliant in this one, especially in the final period when Chicago rallied resolutely. He stopped six shots from point-blank range during one power play opportunity.

Winnipeg 4, Calgary 3--Dale Hawerchuk’s power-play goal 69 seconds into the last period at Winnipeg broke a tie and enabled the surprising Jets to take a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Flames, largely because they can beat Edmonton, were one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. They must win three in a row just to reach the second round.

Quebec 4, Hartford 1--Michel Goulet has brought the Nordiques charging back into the playoffs.

Held scoreless in the first two games of the best-of-seven series at Hartford, Goulet has scored five in the two games at Quebec and the series is tied, 2-2.

Goulet scored twice Saturday night and had the hat trick in this one. Goulet began his big game by setting up a goal by defenseman Jeff Brown before the game was five minutes old.

After Dana Murzyn tied it midway through the first period, Goulet took charge. He scored a goal in each period, two of them on power plays.

The fifth game will be played Tuesday night at Hartford.

New York Rangers 6, Philadelphia 3--Saturday night at New York, the fired-up Rangers made an early run at Flyer goalie Ron Hextall, but the rookie stood his ground and they soon became frustrated Rangers.

In this game, the Rangers tried the same tactics and they worked. Tomas Sandstrom, Jeff Jackson and George McPhee scored in the first 10 1/2 minutes and the Rangers went on to tie the series at two games apiece.

Bob Froese, who lost the No. 1 goaltender job to Hextall last fall, and demanded to be traded, faced his old mates for the first time in the playoffs. He stopped 25 shots to gain the victory.

Toronto 2, St. Louis 1--Ken Wregget stood tall in the nets at Toronto and when Dan Daoust tapped in a rebound early in the third period to break a 1-1 tie, the Maple Leafs had evened the series at two apiece.

Wregget made 28 saves. He was at his best in the closing minutes when the Blues made a desperate effort to tie the game. His last save was his best. Gino Cavallini, from point blank, appeared to have the game tied with a minute left. Amazingly, Wregget gloved the smash and it was on to St. Louis for Game 5.

Washington 4, New York Islanders 1--Rookie goalie Bob Mason has given the Capitals two brilliant performances, but he’s done it against a team missing about one-third of its offense.

Mason stopped 25 shots at Uniondale, N.Y., and Mike Gartner scored twice to give the Capitals a 3-1 edge in the series with the crippled Islanders.

Mike Bossy, the best scoring machine in hockey until Wayne Gretzky came along, missed his second game in a row because of knee and back injuries. Brent Sutter, another star, was also missing with a bruised leg.