NHL ROUNDUP : Jets Win With Goalie Essensa

For many years the Winnipeg Jets were a high-scoring team that never went anywhere.

New Coach John Paddock decided that the team had to develop a strong defense. He figured it would take a year or two.

The No.1 ingredient in a strong defense is an outstanding goaltender. Paddock has one in Bob Essensa.

Essensa’s work is making the Jets strong defensively in the first two months of Paddock’s reign.

Essensa stopped 36 shots Saturday night at Edmonton to lead the Jets to a 4-0 victory, their fourth in a row. He has won four in a row and improved his record to 8-4-2.

The Jets were one of five NHL teams that failed to make the playoffs last season. The one bright spot was Essensa, who won 19 of the 26 games the Jets won.

The Oilers knew he was good, because he shut them out twice last season.

Winnipeg had only 22 shots against Bill Ranford, but when defenseman Phil Housley scored before the game was three minutes old that was all that was needed.

The Jets (11-8-4) are in third place, only seven points behind leading Vancouver in the Smythe Division.

Washington 3, Hartford 2--The Capitals, after playing Friday night, had tired legs for the first period at Hartford.

But, after spotting the Whalers’ two first period goals, Washington battled back. Dale Hunter scored with 11 seconds left in the second period to break a scoreless tie.

Calle Johansson tied the game, 1-1, early in the third period, and it took a goal by Todd Krygier with 25 seconds left to win it.

The victory gave Washington a 17-5-0 record, the best in the league.

Boston 7, Buffalo 4--Bob Carpenter had two goals and an assist in the first seven minutes at Boston as the Bruins won.

Boston built a 7-0 lead for rookie goalie Matt DelGuidice through two periods.

In winning his first NHL game, DelGuidice had a shutout until Randy Wood spoiled his bid with 2:20 remaining.

New Jersey 5, Philadelphia 5--The Devils scored three goals in 42 seconds in the second period at Philadelphia but had to fight back in the third period to tie.

Claude Lemieux’s second goal of the game and 16th of the season made it 5-5 with 7:34 remaining.

New Jersey trailed, 3-1, before Kevin Todd scored at 4:38 of the second period. At 5:01, Peter Stastny scored his 15th goal, and the Devils took the lead at 5:20 on a goal by Doug Brown.

New York Rangers 3, St. Louis 0--In an impressive performance, Mike Richter stopped 24 shots at St. Louis to earn his first NHL shutout.

Joe Kocur, Jan Erixson and Mike Garter scored for the Rangers, who have won six of their 11 road games.

Richter foiled Brett Hull, the league’s leading scorer, with two sensational glove saves.

Montreal 5, Quebec 3--Denis Savard broke out of a scoring slump with a goal and an assist at Montreal as the Canadiens avenged a defeat of earlier in the week.

Savard had not scored in six games before breaking out with his eighth goal to help the Canadiens build a 4-0 lead.

The Nordiques scored three goals in a row to get within one, but Mike Keane iced the victory with a goal at 17:39 of the last period.

The Canadiens (16-7-2) are tied Washington for the overall lead with 34 points. The Canadiens have played two more games than the Capitals.

Minnesota 2, Detroit 2--The Red Wings were within 24 seconds of having their unbeaten string ended at Bloomington, Minn., but Niklas Lidstrom scored to get the tie.

The Red Wings are 7-0-2 in their last nine games.

Pittsburgh 2, New York Islanders 2--Ron Francis and Bryan Trottier scored in the last five minutes at Pittsburgh to give the Penguins a tie.

Goalie Steve Weeks stopped 34 shots before Francis scored on a rebound with 4:37 remaining. Trottier tied it with 2:45 left in regulation.