Richter Makes Sudden Impact

For as long as he lives, goalie Mike Richter will remember he denied a penalty shot in his first regular-season National Hockey League start and won the game.

He might not remember the score or who took the shot. But he will remember the emotion. For the record, the shooter was Kevin Dineen; Richter and the New York Rangers beat the Hartford Whalers, 7-3, at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.

The Rangers are 5-1-1, 3-0-1 at home and have three goalies with wins. John Vanbiesbrouck is 3-1-1. Bob Froese and Richter each are 1-0. “It’s really exciting to get that first win over,” said Richter, 23, a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. “You try not to think about it while the game’s going on. But all of a sudden it’s over, you’re happy, you’re relieved and you want to savor it.”

The Rangers were ahead, 4-2, with 4:30 left in the second period when defenseman David Shaw tripped Dineen on a breakaway, and referee Bill McCreary called for a penalty shot.

“It was an exciting moment,” Richter said. “The crowd was great. They got on their feet and cheered. That can’t make it easy for him.” Richter said before he skated to center ice that Dineen “asked me where I was weak. I just clammed up.”

Dineen skated down the slot. Richter came out about 20 feet and backed up as Dineen took a forehand wrist shot that missed high and outside the right post.

“I didn’t know what he was going to do,” Dineen said. “I just was thinking shot before I went. He did come out so far I should have deked him. Instead, he gave me a little top corner ... so I decided to shoot.”

Richter said, “He went upstairs. Fortunately, there wasn’t an awful lot there. He just missed.”

As often happens after a missed penalty shot, the Whalers sagged and the Rangers surged. Ulf Dahlen got his second goal of the game and sixth of the season at 17:37 to make it 5-2.

Hartford’s Ron Francis scored 45 seconds into the third, but Rangers rookie Troy Mallette got his first Garden goal at 2:07, and Tomas Sandstrom scored at 9:20 to make it 7-3. Talking about the penalty shot, Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch said, “It was a big part of the turning point.”

Richter had not played since a Sept. 30 preseason game and said he was nervous all day. “I was excited and looking forward to it,” he said. “I really wanted the game to get going.”

He yielded a goal to Pat Verbeek on a rebound 3:50 into the game. But the Rangers got successive first-period goals by John Ogrodnick, Darren Turcotte, Dahlen and Kelly Kisio to pull ahead, 4-1. The Whalers’ Sylvain Cote scored at 18:03 on a shot that caromed in off the stick of defenseman Randy Moller.

“I came in after the period and said, ‘Sorry about that,’ ” Moller said. “I’m glad it wasn’t the third period.”

At 4:30 of the second, Rangers defenseman Ron Greschner made a glove save on a backhand flip shot by Hartford’s Jody Hull with Richter out of position. “I came over and thanked him,” Richter said of Greschner. “He’s an old guy, but he’s still got a good glove hand.”

Richter got another favor at the end of the game when Chris Nilan gave him the souvenir puck.

The Rangers’ line of Carey Wilson, Dahlen and Sandstrom combined for three goals, five assists. Wilson extended his goal-less streak to seven games but had an assist, six shots and a plus-3 rating. “Sooner or later,” Sandstrom said, “he’s going to get one.”

Coach Roger Neilson said he will decide Friday on his goalie for Saturday’s game in Philadelphia. Talking about Richter, he said, “I think the team was really happy for him. He’s really an eager kid, great in practice. He’s always challenging guys. I think everybody wanted him to play well ... He did a real good job.”