Stanley Cup Playoffs : Richer’s Goals Stand Up Behind Canadiens’ Defense

Stephane Richer scored his fifth and sixth playoff goals in the first period Thursday night to lift Montreal to a 2-1 victory over the Whalers at Hartford, Conn., sending the Canadiens into the Adams Division finals.

Montreal, playing without injured Mats Naslund and Bob Gainey, defeated the Whalers in the opening-round series, 4-2.

“We just had to make sure we played better defense,” Richer said. “It was a challenge for us to take the lead and forecheck to protect it.”

The Whalers played their final game of 1987-88 with the same problem that plagued them throughout the season--a lethargic offense. They managed just 20 shots, only 9 at even strength.

Brian Hayward was sharp in goal for the second straight game for Montreal, stopping 19 shots. Richard Brodeur, subbing for injured Mike Liut, rejected 23 shots for the Whalers.

Brodeur was lifted in favor of a sixth attacker with 1:17 left in the game, but the Whalers could not get the tying goal. Hayward foiled two strong bids by Sylvain Turgeon and another by Ron Francis in the final 30 seconds.

Ron Ferraro scored the only goal for the Whalers with 1:03 left in the second period.

Boston 5, Buffalo 2--First-period goals by Bob Sweeney, Bob Joyce and Willi Plett and two goals by Ken Linseman helped the Bruins clinch the Adams Division series at Buffalo, N.Y., 4 games to 2.

It was the first time that the Bruins had advanced past the first round of the playoffs in five seasons. They will meet Montreal, which won the regular-season division title, in the Adams finals beginning Monday.

Detroit 5, Toronto 3--Shawn Burr and Darren Veitch scored third-period goals to clinch the win at Toronto and give the Norris Division series to the Red Wings in six games.

Detroit, which finished first in the division in the regular season, will face the second-place St. Louis Blues beginning Tuesday.

Mel Bridgman, Bob Probert and Dave Barr also scored for Detroit. Al Iafrate, Tom Fergus and Todd Gill had goals for Toronto.

New Jersey 6, New York Islanders 5--The Devils won their first playoff series as Patrik Sundstrom scored two goals and added an assist at East Rutherford, N.J.

By taking the Patrick Division semifinals in six games before a roaring, sellout crowd of 19,096 at the Brendan Byrne Arena, the Devils advanced to the division finals starting next Monday against the winner of the Washington-Philadelphia series.

The Devils dominated for the first two periods and seemed to have the game well in hand with a 6-1 lead early in the final period. But the Islanders came back with four goals in a 5:02 span midway through the third period to make it close. They had a chance to tie on a power play with 4:48 left, but the Devils killed off their fifth penalty of the night and preserved the victory.

Washington 7, Philadelphia 2--The Capitals put themselves in position to become only the fifth team in NHL history to win a seven-game series after trailing, 3-1, as Dave Christian, Bengt Gustafsson and Kevin Hatcher scored in a 2:52 span early in the second period to key the win in Game 6 at Philadelphia.

The teams will play again Saturday night at Landover, Md.

The Capitals scored four power-play goals and one while shorthanded.