NHL Roundup : Wilson Has Big Impact for Rangers

Phil Esposito has made more than two dozen trades as general manager of the New York Rangers, but he said the most difficult of all was Monday, when he traded away popular left wing Don Maloney.

The pain was eased somewhat later in the day when the player he received from Hartford, Carey Wilson, set up 3 goals to lead the Rangers to a 5-1 victory over New Jersey at New York.

In explaining the deal that sent 10-year veteran Maloney, center Brian Lawton and defenseman Norm MacIver to the Whalers for Wilson and a fifth-round draft choice in 1990, Esposito said the Rangers had to have a center who could put the puck into the net.

Maloney, 30, holds the Ranger record for most game-winning goals in a season, 9 in 1980-81, and is a favorite of the fans and players.

Tomas Sandstrom scored twice for the Rangers, who scored 3 times in the first 12 1/2 minutes, and each time Wilson set it up.

“Imagine, he didn’t get here until noon,” Sandstrom said. “He played as though he had been here awhile. He was great off the faceoff; that surprised me. I don’t think he lost one all day. It’s going to be fun to play with him.”

In 4 seasons at Calgary, Wilson, a 6-foot 2-inch forward, established himself as an outstanding center. Just about a year ago, he was traded to Hartford.

“It felt good to come in and contribute to a win,” Wilson said. It’s tough to get the first one over with. So far so good.”

The Devils, who had won 3 straight, avoided a shutout when Anders Carlsson beat John Vanbiesbrouck halfway through the second quarter.

“I’m just thankful we didn’t have a letdown,” Coach Michel Bergeron said. “I was afraid 9 or 10 of them would be upset over losing their friends because of the trade. I was proud of the way they played.”

Pittsburgh 4, Hartford 3--No Patrick Division team is closing in on the Penguins, who continue to win.

Rob Brown scored on a rebound off a shot by Mario Lemieux halfway through the overtime at Hartford to enable the Penguins to extend their unbeaten streak to 8 games.

Lemieux’s 37th goal put the Penguins ahead early in the last period, but Ron Francis scored his 13th with 5:52 left in regulation to send it into overtime.

Tom Barrasso, who is 10-3-3 since becoming a Penguin, stopped 37 shots.

“Barrasso keeps us in the games until we find a way to win,” said Pittsburgh Coach Gene Ubriaco, celebrating his 51st birthday. “He was awesome. He had to be because we were in a sort of a fog.”

Calgary 3, Vancouver 2--The Flames seemed in danger of losing their third straight in this game at Vancouver.

But Joe Nieuwendyk saved them. The high-scoring young center tied the game on a power play with 8:28 left in regulation, then scored his 24th goal at 3:04 of overtime to win it.

The victory put the Flames 4 points ahead of the Kings in the Smythe Division.

In their 2 previous games, the Flames were trounced by the Kings, 7-3, and the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1.

The loss dropped the Canucks (14-19-3) 20 points behind the Flames.

Buffalo 2, Boston 1--Defenseman Phil Housley scored both goals at Buffalo to enable the Sabres to stretch their unbeaten streak to 5 games.

Housley knocked in the rebound of a missed shot by Ray Sheppard with about 15 minutes left in the third period.

Housley’s first goal tied the score late in the first period. He took a pass from Scott Arniel and went in alone on goaltender Andy Moog.

Moog kept the Bulls from turning it into a rout. He had 26 saves.

New York Islanders 4, Toronto 3--In the battle of two slump-ridden teams at Toronto, newly acquired defenseman Reed Larson gave the Islanders their second road victory of the season.

It was a fluke score with 2:51 left in regulation. Larson was trailing the play and a rebound deflected off his skate past goalie Ken Wregget.

In the previous 20 games, the teams had managed only two victories between them.

St. Louis 4, Chicago 1--Tony McKegney scored twice in the second period at Chicago and teammate Brian Benning had 2 assists in the same period as the Blues broke the game open with 3 goals.

The Blackhawks are 3-13 in their last 16 games. Steve Thomas’s 19th goal tied the game, 1-1, in the second period. But shortly thereafter, Cliff Ronning and McKegney scored 32 seconds apart.

Minnesota 5, Winnipeg 1--Neal Broten had a goal and 2 assists at Bloomington, Minn., to end the North Stars 2-game losing streak.

The Jets are winless in 5 games.