NHL Roundup : Gould’s Two Goals Help Capitals Win and Move Into Tie for First

Bob Gould, generally acclaimed as one of the top defensive forwards in the National Hockey League, was the difference Friday night at Landover, Md., in the clash between the two hottest teams.

The husky right wing, after going 16 games without a goal, scored twice to lead the Washington Capitals to an 8-4 victory over the New York Rangers.

It was the fifth victory in a row for the Capitals and moved them into a tie with Philadelphia for first place in the Patrick Division. The Rangers’ seven-game unbeaten string (6-0-1), their longest in five years, came to an end, and they stayed in the Patrick Division cellar.

A superb defense featured the first four games in the Capitals’ winning streak. Goaltender Clint Malarchuk gave up only six goals in the four games.

Surprisingly, though, this turned out to be a wild offensive affair against two hot goalies. John Vanbiesbrouck of the Rangers had been a stalwart in the nets in all the games during the unbeaten streak.

But, he managed to stop only 18 of 26 shots against a team averaging slightly more than three goals per game.

Gould plays on the checking line with Peter Sundstrom and Kelly Miller.

“Our job is to stop their best scorer,” Gould said. “In this case it was Walt Poddubny, and we stopped him after the first shift when he scored.

“Getting the two goals was fine, but the main thing is that we won a big game.”

The Capitals are 7-1-3 in their last 11 games.

“I knew this would be a tough one,” said Coach Bryan Murray, who appeared to be in danger of being fired a month ago. “The Rangers have an ability to score goals. I was very concerned.”

Gould’s first goal tied the score after Poddubny scored his 26th to give the Rangers an early lead. Then Larry Murphy and Greg Adams scored, and the Capitals maintained a comfortable margin the rest of the way.

Edmonton 4, Winnipeg 4--The Oilers continue to perform surprisingly well on the road without hockey’s best player, Wayne Gretzky.

They rallied from a two-goal deficit at Winnipeg to get a tie, and their record since Gretzky suffered a severe knee strain is 1-1-2.

Mark Messier, who missed three games because of a hip injury, had a goal and an assist. But it was Dave Hannan’s goal late in the second period that tied the score at 4-4.

Goalies Grant Fuhr of the Oilers and Daniel Berthiaume prevailed for the last 28 minutes, stopping 24 shots between them.

Calgary 7, New York Islanders 4--The Flames aren’t too concerned about what the Oilers do. They just keep adding to their lead in the Smythe Division.

Brett Hull had two goals and assisted on two others at Calgary as the Flames scored an easy victory and took a three-point lead over the Oilers.

Pat LaFontaine scored his 28th goal and eighth in the last five games to give the Islanders their only lead in the first minute.

Buffalo 3, Hartford 1--Tom Barrasso turned in another spectacular game in the nets at Buffalo, and the Sabres reached the .500 mark (17-17-7) to begin the second half of the season.

Barrasso stopped 29 shots, 13 of them in the last period.

Mike Ramsey assisted on two Buffalo goals, including the game-winner by Ray Sheppard in the third period.

Chicago 7, Toronto 3--Steve Thomas had his first hat trick in this game at Chicago as the Blackhawks climbed out of the cellar in the Norris Division into a tie for third with the Maple Leafs.