NHL Roundup : Olympian’s First Goal Is Winner for Islanders

The Patrick Division is generally regarded as the best division in the National Hockey League. So, it is only fitting that the Patrick is providing most of the excitement in the last week of the regular season.

There is a three-team battle for first place and another three-team battle for its final playoff spot.

Jeff Norton, who a month ago was playing for the U.S. Olympic team, knows about that excitement.

Norton, a 22-year-old defenseman for the New York Islanders, probably won’t forget his first NHL goal.

He scored it halfway through the third period Tuesday night at Uniondale, N.Y., to break a 3-3 tie and lead the Islanders to a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

With the Washington Capitals tying the Detroit Red Wings, the Islanders took a two-point lead over the Capitals and a five-point lead over the Flyers in the hot battle for the division title.

There are only three games remaining for each team, so the Flyers are all but eliminated.

For two periods, the Flyers, thanks to some uncanny goaltending by backup Mark LaForest, appeared to be back in the race. They held a 3-2 lead and LaForest, getting the call in the nets because of a minor injury to Ron Hextall, had completely frustrated the Islanders.

Early in the final period, the complexion changed. Dale Henry knocked in a rebound at 1:24 to tie the game.

With 11 minutes left in the game, a second penalty in less than a minute left the Flyers two men short for 82 seconds. When the second penalty was called on Kjell Samuelsson, Flyer Coach Larry Keenan angrily banged a hockey stick against the boards.

The Flyers killed off the two-man disadvantage, but before Samuelsson returned, Norton banged a 40-footer that went between LaForest’s pads for the game-winner.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more than that, a game-winning goal against the Flyers,” Norton, who played at Michigan, said. “I saw some space in the net and shot as hard as I could.”

It was only the 12th pro game for Norton, and when Pat LaFontaine scored his 46th a few minutes later, the Islanders extended their unbeaten string to six (5-0-1) games.

New Jersey 4, Pittsburgh 0--Another Olympian, goalie Sean Burke of Canada, helped tighten the battle for the fourth playoff spot in the Patrick. In his 10th NHL game, Burke stopped 25 shots for his first shutout and improved his record to 7-1.

The victory gave the Devils, with three games left, 76 points, one behind the Penguins and the New York Rangers. Two of the three will be eliminated by Sunday night.

Kirk Muller had a goal and two assists to spark the Devils.

Washington 2, Detroit 2--The Capitals needed a power-play goal by Dale Hunter early in the third period at Landover, Md., to get a tie and stay in the race for the Patrick title.

However, the Capitals must win at Uniondale, N.Y., against the Islanders Thursday night to have a chance.

Buffalo 3, Quebec 1--The Nordiques couldn’t hold onto an early lead at Quebec and became the second team eliminated from the playoffs. Vancouver was first.

Mark Napier had two goals for the Sabres, and goalie Darren Puppa stopped 46 shots.

Winnipeg 3, Vancouver 2--Brad Jones scored his second goal of the season at 17:47 of the third period to lift the Jets past the Canucks at Vancouver, ending a 10-game winless streak.