Stanley Cup Playoffs : Islanders Stay Alive With 2-1 Win Over Flyers

After spending most of the season in the minors, Randy Wood was in the right place at the right time for the New York Islanders Tuesday night at Philadelphia.

Wood, who was called up late in the regular season from Springfield of the American Hockey League, was credited with the winning goal during a scramble in front of the net at 3:27 of the third period as the Islanders escaped with a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers to stay alive in the NHL playoffs.

The loss was Philadelphia’s second to New York in three games at the Spectrum in the series. The Islanders dropped both games played at Nassau Coliseum. The Flyers, leading the best-of-seven Patrick Division final series 3-2, still need only one victory to advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals. The teams head back to New York for Game 6 Thursday night.

“I saw the puck going back to Ken Morrow, and I was just going to the net for a screen to tie up the goalie,” Wood said. “I was so concerned about the goalie that I wasn’t concentrating on where the puck was.

“I felt a lot of sticks hitting me. It could have been the puck. I wound up lying on top of (Ron) Hextall. I was surprised to look up to see the puck in the net.”

The Islanders were behind 3-1 to Washington in the first round before rallying to win in seven games.

“The greatest team I’ve seen with their backs to the wall is the New York Islanders,” Philadelphia defenseman Mark Howe said. “All the guys saw it in the last series they played against Washington. They’re all aware of it. The Islanders just came charging--they all played extremely well.”

The Islanders broke a 1-1 tie with the help of some hard work by Bryan Trottier. Trottier outhustled Flyer defenseman Brad Marsh for the puck and flipped it to Morrow, who shot from above the right faceoff circle. The puck glanced into the net off Wood for his first goal of the playoffs and the second in his brief NHL career.

Montreal 3, Quebec 2--Ryan Walter scored his second goal of the game with 2:39 left in the third period as the Canadiens beat the Nordiques at Montreal to take a 3-2 lead in their series.

The Canadiens will look to wrap up the series in Game 6 Thursday night at Quebec.

Before Walter’s game-winner, both the Canadiens and the Nordiques had goals disallowed by referee Kerry Fraser. The Montreal victory was the first by a team on home ice during the Adams Division finals.

Guy Carbonneau set up the winning goal when he raced down the ice past Anton Stastny and defenseman Steven Finn before passing the puck to Walter, who beat goalie Clint Malarchuk with a 25-foot slap shot from the left face-off circle.

Fourteen seconds before the goal, referee Kerry Fraser had negated a goal scored by Quebec’s Alain Cote. Fraser ruled he had blown his whistle during the play to call minor penalties on the Canadiens’ Mats Naslund and Quebec’s Paul Gillis.

Quebec had tied the score at 2-2 just 38 seconds into the third period on a goal by Gillis. Goalie Brian Hayward juggled a high slap shot from the point by Jeff Brown. The puck dribbled through the goalie’s legs and Gillis nudged it into the net.