Stanley Cup Roundup : Toronto Ends Blues’ Season on Sour Note, 4-0

Third-year goaltender Ken Wregget capped a fine series with his second career shutout as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-0, Thursday night at Toronto to advance to the Norris Division finals against Detroit next Monday.

Wregget, whose other shutout came against the Blues in the division championship series last season, has allowed two goals in the last three games, all Maple Leaf victories.

Seldom-used wing Brad Smith scored the only goal that Wregget would need at 2:55 of the opening period. He took a pass from Wendel Clark at center ice, went in alone and beat Greg Millen. Bill Root, Russ Courtnall and Peter Ihnacak also scored for the Maple Leafs, while the defense limited St. Louis to 19 shots on goal, only four of which came in the third period.

“We carried right over from the other night in St. Louis (a 2-1 Maple Leaf win) and scored the first goal,” Toronto Coach John Brophy said. “And then Wregget made some big saves early. This team showed great determination and shut them down.”

Said Wregget: “I got great support from my teammates. They hardly gave them (the Blues) a first shot, and there were no second shots at all.”

Toronto finished fourth in the Norris Division during the regular season with 70 points, edging Minnesota for the last playoff berth by virtue of more victories. The Blues won the division title on the last night of the season, beating Detroit but were unable to cope with Toronto’s persistent checking in the last three games.

Philadelphia 5, New York Rangers 0--Rookie Ron Hextall, the league’s winningest goaltender, posted his second shutout of the playoffs, stopping 34 shots as the Flyers eliminated the Rangers in the Patrick Division semifinals at New York.

Hextall, who won 37 games during the season and led the NHL with 66 appearances, was rarely tested in adding this shutout to a 3-0 victory in Game 3, also at Madison Square Garden. His most difficult moment came on a 5-on-3 Ranger power play midway through the second period.

By then, the Flyers led, 3-0, on goals by Derrick Smith and defensemen Doug Crossman and Brad Marsh--a trio that had only 22 goals during the regular season.

The Flyers had lost three of their last four first-round playoff meetings with the Rangers, including a five-game series last year. When the Flyers did beat New York, with a sweep in 1985, they reached the Stanley Cup final before losing to Edmonton.

Winnipeg 6, Calgary 1--Doug Smail scored two goals as the Jets eliminated the Flames in six games of the Smythe Division semifinals at Winnipeg with four straight goals in the first period. It was also the Jets’ 10th win in 14 games this season against Calgary, which reached the Stanley Cup finals last season.

Dale Hawerchuk and Brian Mullen scored power-play goals as the Jets advanced to meet the Edmonton Oilers in the division finals beginning Tuesday at Edmonton. Gilles Hamel and Ron Wilson scored the other Winnipeg goals.

Winnipeg goaltender Daniel Berthiaume had another outstanding game, making key first-period saves against Calgary’s Mike Bullard and Peplinski. Berthiaume finished the game with 34 saves.

Calgary goalie Mike Vernon, who led the Flames through the playoffs last season, was chased near the end of the first period after stopping only 7 of 11 shots. He was replaced by veteran Rejean Lemelin.

Quebec 5, Hartford 4--Peter Stastny scored his second goal of the game at 6:05 of overtime to help the Nordiques complete a comeback from a three-goal deficit and win the Adams Division semifinals in six games at Quebec City. It marked the fourth straight season that the Adams champion from the regular season was eliminated in the first round.

Center Dale Hunter set up Stastny for a breakaway, and Stastny faked goaltender Mike Liut to the right, sending the puck through Liut’s pads.

Quebec was trailing by three goals midway through the second period but fought back to win their fourth straight game in the series. The Nordiques advanced to the division finals against the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens.

New York Islanders 5, Washington 4--Pat LaFontaine scored two goals and set up Mikko Makela’s breakaway score for another to lift the Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y., and force a decisive seventh game in the Patrick Division semifinals Saturday at Landover, Md..

The Islanders, who have knocked the Capitals out in four of the past five postseasons, are 19-7 all-time in games in which they’ve faced elimination.

The Islanders used two separate scoring spurts to win at home for the first time since March 21. They had not won a playoff game at home since 1985.