NHL Roundup : Flyers Fight Way Past Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins were in a fighting mood Thursday night but they still couldn’t win at the Philadelphia Spectrum.

Pelle Ecklund scored twice to lead the Flyers to a 4-3 victory in a penalty-filled game that extended the Penguins’ winless record at the Specturm to 42 games.

In the last 15 seasons, the Penguins have an 0-39-3 record on the road against the Flyers.

A 10-minute brawl involving all but the goalies erupted in the second period when Tim Kerr of the Flyers and Randy Cunneyworth of the Penguins collided against the boards.

After order was restored, 7 players were ejected, 138 minutes of penalties were given and the game was delayed 20 minutes. There were 281 minutes in penalties in the game, topped this season only by 292 in an Oct. 30 game between the Penguins and the New York Rangers.

Penguin star Mario Lemieux, who was injured in the Oct. 30 fracas, scored his 26th goal with his team short-handed and 59 seconds left.

“I think the fight probably turned the game around,” Flyer Coach Paul Holmgren said. “We’re the kind of team that’s not going to back down. We played a good, solid checking game and weren’t afraid to get involved. We didn’t get into it, but we wouldn’t back down, either.”

Penguin Coach Gene Ubriaco said the officials should have allowed a waved-off goal halfway through the final period.

“(Rob) Brown said the puck hit him in the stomach and went into the net,” Ubriaco said. It was ruled that it was knocked in illegally by the referee.

Montreal 5, St. Louis 1--Mike Keane scored on the Canadiens’ first shot at St. Louis to spoil goaltender Greg Millen’s shutout string.

Millen had 3 consecutive shutouts and more than 184 scoreless minutes before Keane scored just 3:22 after the opening faceoff.

The Canadiens went on to extend their unbeaten streak to 7 (5-0-2) and increase their lead in the Adams Division to 10 points.

Hartford 5, New York Rangers 4--The Whalers spotted the Rangers a 2-0 lead at Hartford, Conn., then turned on their new-found offense to pull out their second straight victory.

Kevin Dineen, Carey Wilson and Tom Martin scored in the third period for the Whalers, who scored 9 goals against Buffalo Tuesday night.

Buffalo 4, Boston 2--Mark Napier was hot at Boston and enabled the Sabres to end a 3-game losing streak.

Napier scored his fifth goal and set up 2 others.

Calgary 5, Edmonton 3--There seems to be no way to stop the Flames, especially at home.

Defenseman Brad McCrimmon’s power-play goal midway through the third period was the decisive play as the Flames (21-4-4), extended their unbeaten string to 13 games (11-0-2).

The Flames are unbeaten in 16 games at home (13-0-3) and have the best overall record.

The Oilers, 0-3 against the Flames this season, pulled even, 3-3, on Jimmy Carson’s 23rd goal 2 minutes into the final period.