NHL Roundup : Sabres Helpless Against Powerful Flames, 9-0

Until just recently, the Smythe Division, except for the Edmonton Oilers, was the joke of the National Hockey League.

Nobody laughs anymore. The Smythe is developing into just about the toughest division.

The Calgary Flames may be the best team in the league, but they are only a little stronger than Vancouver, Edmonton and the Kings.

Against teams in the other divisions, though, the Flames are a dominant force.

The Buffalo Sabres, who are leading the Adams Division, played the Flames Saturday night at Calgary. Or, rather, the Flames toyed with them.

Joe Mullen had a hat trick, and Doug Gilmour set up 5 goals as the Flames romped to a 9-0 victory and improved to 8-3-3. They are 7-0-2 at home.

Rick Wamsley faced only 21 shots, most of them from long range, to post the shutout.

Tom Barrasso, rumored to be on the trade block, started in the net for the Sabres. After giving up 5 goals on 32 shots, he was replaced by Daren Puppa. Puppa, the Sabres’ No. 1 goalie, gave up 4 more on just 8 shots.

Vancouver 3, Hartford 2--The Canucks are a surprising team. Petri Skriko scored his 10th goal 34 seconds into overtime at Hartford to push Vancouver over .500 (7-6-2).

The Canucks, who had a better record than only 2 NHL teams last season, were 2-4-2 after 8 games, but suddenly, they have turned into a tough team.

“Until lately, we’ve come up short after getting close,” Coach Bob McCammon said. “Tonight, we knew what we were doing and we won.”

Until Saturday’s win, the Canucks had gone 0-6-3 against the Whalers since March 3, 1985.

New York Islanders 4, Washington 3--Only 10 seconds after the face-off that began overtime at Uniondale, N.Y., Pat LaFontaine fired a shot from the slot, and it went in.

The quick goal gave the teams the usual split of the home-and-home series. Very seldom does a team win games against the same team on consecutive nights.

Halfway through the third period, the Islanders, who lost, 4-2, Friday night, took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Randy Wood. But with only 2:18 remaining in regulation, Washington’s Geoff Courtnall scored on a 20-footer.

LaFontaine’s eighth goal ended it quickly.

St. Louis 5, Quebec 2--Cliff Ronning, playing his first game since being recalled from Peoria, had a goal and an assist at Quebec to spark the Blues.

The Blues ended a 2-game losing streak. The Nordiques, a .500 club on the road this season, are only 2-5 at home.

The Blues built a 3-0 lead in 24 minutes, and goaltender Vincent Riendeau stopped 20 shots to record his first NHL victory in his fifth start.

Montreal 7, Winnipeg 2--The Canadiens, who were off to a poor start this season, have begun to turn it around on home ice.

Guy Carbonneau scored 2 goals and assisted on 2 others against the weak Jets to lead the Canadiens to their third victory in a row.

The spurt has pulled the Canadiens to the .500 mark and into second place in the Adams Division.

Chicago 5, Minnesota 5--Goaltender Jon Casey wandered too far out of the net in the closing minutes at Bloomington, Minn., and it cost the North Stars a victory.

With just under 4 minutes remaing, Dirk Graham took advantage of Casey’s lapse and banged a shot into an open net to get the Blackhawks even.

It was the fifth time in the game the North Stars, who have the worst record in the NHL (2-9-2) had the lead and couldn’t hold it.

Since Jan. 29, the North Stars have won only 5 of 41 games.