NHL ROUNDUP : Walter’s First Goal Puts Montreal in First Place

Ryan Walter scored his first goal of the season with 21 seconds remaining in the game to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Hartford Whalers Monday night at Montreal.

Walter tipped a point shot by Peter Svoboda past goaltender Mike Liut, and the Canadiens broke a two-game losing streak and regained first place in the Adams Division.

Injury-plagued Montreal, which has won only twice in its last six games, moved a point ahead of Buffalo, although the Sabres have two games in hand.

Hartford’s Ray Ferraro scored early in the third period to get the Whalers even at 2-2.

Scott Young had a first-period goal for Hartford, and Stephane Richer and Jocelyn Lemieux scored in the second period for Montreal.

The defeat left the Whalers in the Adams Division basement, tied with Quebec with seven points.

New York Rangers 5, Vancouver 3--John Vanbiesbrouck made 31 saves and the Rangers continued their domination of the Canucks with a victory at New York.

The Rangers, whose 7-1-1 record is best in the National Hockey League and represents their best start since 1983-84, are 58-17-5 against Vancouver since the Canucks entered the league in 1970. The Canucks lost for the seventh time in their last eight visits to Madison Square Garden and are 7-31-3 in New York.

Vanbiesbrouck improved his career record against the Canucks to 11-1-0, including 6-0 at Madison Square Garden.

John Ogrodnick assisted on a first-period goal by Carey Wilson and scored in the third period to give New York a 4-1 lead.

New Jersey 5, Toronto 4--The Devils got 12 points from the line of Brendan Shanahan, John MacLean and Patrik Sundstrom while getting past the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

Shanahan extended his scoring streak to five games with two goals and two assists. MacLean had two goals and three assists to extend his scoring streak to three games, and Sundstrom had a goal and two assists.

The Devils also set a franchise record with their fourth consecutive road victory.

The game degenerated into a brawl with 2:46 left in the second period, resulting in the ejection of four players--including both starting goaltenders, Sean Burke of New Jersey and Toronto’s Mark Laforest.

Referee Terry Gregson sent the teams to their dressing rooms for a 15-minute intermission. He handed out 116 penalty minutes and the 2:46 was played after the second intermission, making the third period nearly 23 minutes long.

Calgary 3, Washington 3--Theoren Fleury scored a power-play goal on a two-man advantage in the third period and the Flames salvaged a tie with the Capitals at Calgary.

Alan May, Mike Ridley and Michal Pivonka scored for Washington, which last won at Calgary on Feb. 22, 1987.

Joe Nieuwendyk and Jonas Bergqvist added goals for Calgary, which is 3-0-1 at home and leads the Smythe Division with a 5-2-3 record.