NHL Roundup : Hunter Comes Through for Calgary in 7-2 Win

The Calgary Flames expected big things from Mark Hunter when they acquired him in a preseason trade, but the veteran wing had not lived up to expectations--until Thursday night.

Hunter broke a season-long slump with 4 goals at Boston, powering the Flames over the Bruins, 7-2, for their 30th win of the season.

“I think it’s been 15 games without a goal,” said Hunter, who was a 32-goal scorer with the St. Louis Blues last season. He had scored just 7 in 36 games this season with Calgary.

“It was one of those nights when the puck was bouncing for me, and they kept going in.”

The Bruins completed a string of 4 games without suspended coach Terry O’Reilly and went 1-2-1 in that span.

Hartford 6, Montreal 4--Rookie Jody Hull’s power-play goal midway through the third period capped a 4-goal flurry in a 5:43 span as the Whalers overcame a 4-goal deficit to defeat the Canadiens at Hartford, Conn.

The win marked the first time in their 10-year National Hockey League history that the Whalers had won a game after trailing by 4 goals.

Hartford, which ended a 3-game losing streak, beat Montreal for the first time in 6 games this season.

New York Rangers 5, St. Louis 0--Bob Froese recorded his first shutout in 3 seasons as the Rangers beat the Blues at St. Louis to take undisputed possession of first place in the Patrick Division.

One of the Rangers’ goals was scored by Tony Granato, who has 9 goals and 5 assists in his last 5 games.

Froese, who led the NHL with 5 shutouts in 1985-86 while with the Philadelphia Flyers but hadn’t posted any since, recorded his 13th career shutout.

Quebec 5, New Jersey 4--Ken McRae scored his first 2 goals of the season, and the Nordiques got 3 goals in the second period to beat the slumping Devils at East Rutherford, N.J.

The victory was the Nordiques’ second in 3 nights over the Devils, losers of 4 of their last 5 games.

McRae, who was called up Jan. 16 from Halifax of the American Hockey League, took a pass from Marc Fortier and flipped the puck over Devil goaltender Bob Sauve’s glove at 13:38 of the second period to break a 2-2 tie.

Toronto 3, Minnesota 3--Daniel Marois scored with 1:20 remaining in regulation as the Maple Leafs tied the North Stars at Toronto.