NHL Roundup : Flames Get a Rude Awakening From Revived Whalers, 4-1

The Hartford Whalers usually spend the first quarter of the season stumbling around trying to find the opposing net.

They also usually straighten out and qualify for postseason play.

Last season, the Whalers won only 6 of their first 20 games, and Coach Jack Evans was fired in early February. He was replaced by Larry Pleau, who guided the Whalers into the playoffs.

With Pleau at the helm, Hartford began poorly again this season, going 7-12-1. Moreover, an injury sidelined Mike Liut, one of the National Hockey League’s best goalies. It would not have been surprising if the Whalers had folded.

Instead, they have accomplished a complete turnaround.

The Whalers reached a peak Saturday night at Hartford, Conn., when they defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-1, behind another fine performance by their backup goalie, rookie Peter Sidorkiewicz.

The Flames, probably the best team in the league, went into the game with a 21-4-4 record and were working on a 13-game unbeaten string. They had won 7 in a row on the road.

But the revived Whalers outplayed the Flames throughout and pulled away on third-period power-play goals by Scott Young and Kevin Dineen.

Since their poor start, the Whalers are 6-2, all with Sidorkiewicz in the net. They have won 3 in a row and moved into third place in the Adams Division.

The Flames ruined the rookie’s bid for his second shutout in 3 games when Jamie Macoun scored 7 minutes into the final period to cut the lead to 2-1. Earlier, Sidorkiewicz had stopped breakaways by Gary Roberts and Hakan Loob.

“We started to play well even before we started winning,” Pleau said. “But when Liut was hurt, everyone turned it up a little to help the rookie goalie. I just hope we don’t let down.”

Washington 0, Montreal 0--Until Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull opened up the offensive game, scoreless ties were a fairly common occurrence in the NHL. But now the league doesn’t average even one a season.

At Montreal, Washington’s Pete Peeters stopped 30 shots and Patrick Roy 19 for the first scoreless tie at the Forum in almost 20 years.

The tie extended Montreal’s unbeaten string to 8 games (5-0-3). The Canadiens are unbeaten in their last 10 at home (8-0-2) and lead the Adams Division by 10 points.

Pittsburgh 4, New Jersey 4--Mario Lemieux scored goals 29 seconds apart in the middle of the final period to keep the Penguins from losing at home.

John MacLean scored his seventh goal in 3 games to give the Devils a 4-2 lead before Lemieux tied it.

New York Rangers 1, Boston 1--The United States hockey team didn’t even win a bronze medal in the Winter Olympics at Calgary, but two of its players are doing very well for the Rangers.

One of them, Tony Granato, scored a short-handed goal in the first period at Boston to give the Rangers the tie as John Vanbiesbrouck stopped 32 shots.

After the game, the Rangers learned that veteran Guy Lafleur had broken a bone in his left foot and probably will be out 2 weeks.

Philadelphia 6, Chicago 4--Derrick Smith scored 3 goals for the first time in his career and played a major role at Philadelphia in the Black Hawks’ ninth defeat in a row.

Smith scored 2 of his goals in a 5-goal second period that spoiled the return to Philadelphia of the Flyers’ former coach, Mike Keenan.

Under Keenan, who took the Flyers to the Stanley Cup final twice in four seasons, the Blackhawks are 6-19-4 this season, tied with the New York Islanders for the worst record in the NHL.

Detroit 8, Toronto 2--Steve Yzerman scored his 29th goal and set up 3 others at Toronto as the Red Wings overwhelmed the hapless Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs, by losing back-to-back games to the Red Wings, stretched their losing streak to 6 games.

Gerard Gallant of the Red Wings had 2 goals in each game.

St. Louis 3, Minnesota 1--Goaltender Vincent Riendeau stopped 30 shots at Bloomington, Minn., to cool off the North Stars.

The Blues’ other goalie, Greg Millen, had shut out the North Stars Tuesday night.

Winnipeg 7, Edmonton 6--Dave Ellett scored his second goal with 3:18 left at Edmonton to give the Jets the victory.

The Oilers, trailing, 6-4, had taken the first 12 shots in the last period and tied the score on goals by Jimmy Carson and Jari Kurri.