Stanley Cup Finals : Gretzky, Inspired by Bird, Leads Oilers to a 4-2 Win

The Wayne Gretzky that has been missing in action for five games showed up Sunday night for the first game of the Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers.

The Great One’s slump, his sluggish play and his moody reaction to the mounting pressure during the playoffs was beginning to cause some concern. And after getting only two assists in the Oilers’ five-game series against Detroit, Gretzky even began doubting himself.

Thanks to some Bird-watching before the game, Gretzky regained his confidence and led the Oilers to a 4-2 win over the Flyers in this best-of-seven series before a sellout crowd of 17,502 in the Northlands Coliseum.

Credit Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics with an off-ice assist. Gretzky spent Sunday afternoon watching Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series between the Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Like Gretzky, Bird was a star who was not producing points.

“I’ve had pressure for a lot of years, and when we are not winning, people start saying ‘What’s wrong?’ and start pointing fingers,” Gretzky said. “Today I was watching the Boston Celtics and when they started losing, Larry Bird took over. He said, ‘Start passing to me.’ That gave me a very big lift. It made me very confident.”

Gretzky was nearly giddy after scoring the game’s first goal. It was his first goal since April 27, and his arm-pumping, tap-dancing reaction to the goal was just a glimpse at what he was experiencing inside.

“When I scored, I was really over-excited,” Gretzky said, almost embarrassed at his enthusiasm. “There was no question that I was happy. It was a big goal for the team at that point in the game.”

It came when the game was barely four minutes old.

Previous series openers in these playoffs have not gone well for the Oilers. They lost badly to the Kings in Game 1 in the first round, they won in overtime to Winnipeg and they lost Game 1 to Detroit.

Gretzky’s goal Sunday night was vintage Gretzky. He started out from his favorite command post--behind the Flyer net. He squirted out and had his angled shot poked away by Philadelphia goaltender Ron Hextall. But after the puck bounced through a crowd in front of the net, Gretzky picked it up and punched it in to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.

His excited reaction was as animated as it was rare.

The Flyers tied it on Brian Propp’s goal at 16:08 in the second period. With excellent goaltending from Hextall and Edmonton’s Grant Fuhr, it appeared that the game might sit there.

Surprisingly, the Flyers were not able to do to Gretzky’s line what the Red Wings had--clutch and grab in the neutral zone and knock them off the puck coming into the attacking zone.

Edmonton’s connect-the-dot passing and criss-crossing skating lanes left the Flyers with five players flat-footed in front of their own net.

“They come in and it’s pass, pass, pass,” Hextall said. “It’s a little tricky.

The Flyers tried to remain patient on defense, but that strategy didn’t work too well, since Edmonton’s defenseman Paul Coffey repeatedly trailed into the Philadelphia zone behind the Oiler forwards and unloaded on Hextall.

“When Wayne and I are out there together, we know each other so well,” Coffey said. “He knows when I’ll be coming up and I knew when I can break in. We play off each other very well.”

Edmonton’s Glenn Anderson scored 48 seconds into the third period to make it 2-1, and then Coffey’s goal at 7:09, on a pass from Gretzky behind the net, gave the Oilers a 3-1 lead.

“We knew they could score in bunches, and they did,” Flyer center Peter Zezel said.

For Coffey, it was the most emphatic sign yet that his injuries--first to his lower back and then to his shoulder--are no longer a factor.

Coffey, a two-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman, had missed 21 games of the regular season and four games of the playoffs because of injuries. After getting 97 points in the regular season, Coffey has been slumping with only five points in 10 playoff games.

“I know in my mind that I have been playing strong, defensive hockey,” Coffey said.

Coffey has been criticized for not scoring more goals when he plays defensively and for not paying attention to his defense when he does scored goals.

Both he and Gretzky appear to have come to terms with the sniping. Slumped on a bench in the Edmonton locker room after the game, Coffey waved a hand around the room. “If I can please the 20 guys (reporters) in this locker room, then I’m satisfied.”

Less satisfied were the Flyers. After Jarri Kurri scored to give Edmonton a 4-1 lead, Philadelphia’s Rick Tocchet redirected Marsh’s slap shot to make it 4-2 at 10:18.

But with the return of Gretzky and Coffey, and the Oilers’ free-skating across the blue line, the Flyers were finished.

“They are a very smart hockey club,” Philadelphia defenseman Brad McCrimmon said. “We’re going to have to go back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong, and come up with something.”

Stanley Cup Notes

Wayne Gretzky’s rejuvenated attitude was matched by newly-soothed feet. He’s been bothered with a painful double toenail, an odd but debilitating condition that will require surgery in the offseason. Sunday he wore new skates, one size larger. “That was the trick,” said Edmonton defenseman Paul Coffey, who did the same thing. . . . Edmonton goaltender Grant Fuhr, who made 29 saves, said: “It was a fairly easy night.” . . . Mark Messier had two assists for Edmonton as did Pelle Eklund for Philadelphia. . . . Gretky’s assist game him 200 playoff-points, the most ever by any player.