NHL ROUNDUP : Only 9,164 See Arbour Tie Coaching Milestone

Al Arbour reached another milestone Monday night, tying the NHL record for number of games coached. But there weren’t too many fans on hand to witness the accomplishment.

Only 9,164 showed up at the Capital Centre in Landover, Md., to see the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals play to a 1-1 tie. It was Washington’s first home game since the NHL strike and by far its smallest home crowd of the season. Washington had been averaging 16,780.

Arbour was behind the bench for his 1,437th game, tying the mark set by Dick Irvin with Chicago, Toronto and Montreal from 1930-56. Arbour, 59, began his coaching career in 1970 and has led the Islanders to four Stanley Cups.

The Islanders managed the tie despite being outshot, 38-15. Islander goalie Mark Fitzpatrick had 29 saves before being forced to leave after the Capital’s Kelly Miller rammed him into the goal post with 1:48 left in regulation.

Boston 6, Hartford 3--Steve Heinze, who played for the U.S. Olympic team, scored twice in a little more than three minutes of the second period as the Bruins broke from a 3-3 tie for a fight-filled victory at Boston.

Seven players were ejected, the result of game misconducts.

New Jersey 5, Pittsburgh 1--Peter Stastny and Valeri Zelepukin scored in a 1:27 span as the Devils defeated the Penguins at East Rutherford, N.J.

Pittsburgh could have clinched third place in the Patrick Division. The victory gave the Devils 87 points and moved them two points ahead of the Penguins into third place.

The Penguins’ Mario Lemieux, who has chronic back problems, left the ice midway through the third period and did not return.

Philadelphia 6, Toronto 2--Only 9,137, by far the smallest crowd of the season, showed up at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Flyers’ smallest crowd of the season had been 16,652 against Quebec on Oct. 17.

Kerry Huffman had a goal and three assists for the Flyers.