Stanley Cup Roundup : Kurri, Gretzky Team Up to Put Oilers 1-Up, 3-1

Although they didn’t say much about it, the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers were a little upset about being given little chance to repeat as champions.

“We felt that we were champions until somebody knocked us off,” said Jari Kurri after hearing that the Calgary Flames were favored to win the Cup this season.

Kurri and his incomparable teammate, Wayne Gretzky, let the Flames and everyone else interested know the Oilers won’t give up without a fight.

Kurri scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:37 remaining at Calgary, Canada, Tuesday night, then set up Gretzky for another as the Oilers won, 3-1, in the opening game of their best-of-seven second-round playoff series.

The Oilers drew first blood in the hard-fought battle of Alberta province.

It was a 1-1 game with goaltenders Grant Fuhr of the Oilers and Mike Vernon of the Flames dominating play.

Suddenly, after 50 minutes of tight defensive hockey, Gretzky and Kurri opened it up. First, Gretzky came in on a breakaway, Vernon just tipping his shot enough so that it bounced off the post. A few seconds later, Kurri got the puck just outside the blue line. He stopped 35 feet short of the net and fired a blistering shot into the upper left-hand corner to break the tie.

With the Flames desperately trying to tie it, Kurri and Gretzky broke loose again. This time Kurri fed Gretzky, and it was Gretzky who put the final touch on the victory.

Most of the game the defenses prevailed. The first two goals came on power plays but, for the entire night, Calgary, which scored 10 goals against the Kings when it had a man advantage, were only 1 for 9; the Oilers 1 for 5.

Mark Messier gave the Oilers the lead at 11:49 of the first period when Esa Tikkanen’s slap shot from the point hit his skate and caromed into the net.

The lead lasted barely two minutes before Brad McCrimmon scored on a 35-foot blast through traffic that Fuhr didn’t see.

The Flames outshot the Oilers, 27-19, but were frustrated by Fuhr.

“We let our patience down, and it cost us,” Coach Terry Crisp of the Flames said.

Detroit 5, St. Louis 4--In the first round of the playoffs, Shawn Burr played poorly, but the Red Wings survived.

He started off the second-round series considerably better. In fact, he broke a 4-4 tie at 6:09 of the final period at Detroit with his second goal of the game.

“The other centers, Adam Gates and John Chabot, played well against Toronto, but Shawn Burr didn’t,” Burr said. “I don’t want to make excuses, but I wasn’t feeling well until the last two games with Toronto. I’m a defensive player, and I was minus-two in a couple of games.

“When I’m not getting the breakaways, I’m not in the game.”

Mark Hunter’s second goal of the game got the Blues even shortly before Burr’s breakaway put the game on ice.

The second game of the best-of-seven series will be played Thursday night, also at Detroit.