NHL ROUNDUP : Islanders Put Devils on the Spot

The final pieces of the 1993 Stanley Cup playoff puzzle fell into place as the New York Islanders defeated the New Jersey Devils, 8-4, Friday night at Uniondale, N.Y.

By losing, the Devils will have first crack at dethroning the two-time champion Pittsburgh Penguins. The Islanders, meanwhile, will play the Washington Capitals in the first round starting Sunday.

The Islanders had to win the game to clinch third place in the Patrick Division, and did so before 15,287 fans.

Pierre Turgeon scored three goals for the fourth time this season, extending his point streak to 14 games, and teammate Steve Thomas added two goals for New York.

Turgeon scored his first on an unassisted goal at 4:11 of the first period. Thomas scored on a power play 1:47 later, and Ray Ferraro scored at 18:16 to give the Islanders a 3-0 lead.

Scott Niedermayer cut into that lead 41 seconds into the second period, but the Islanders answered that with goals by Brian Mullen and Thomas.

“I haven’t seen our hockey club play like that for 83 games,” New Jersey Coach Herb Brooks said. “What went wrong, who knows? We saved our worst game for the last.”

Said defenseman Ken Daneyko: “Our team has done things the hard way all season. It looks like we’ll have to do it the hard way in the playoffs, too.”

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Washington 4, N.Y. Rangers 2--Kevin Hatcher’s 34th goal broke a 1-1 tie midway through the second period and the Capitals won at Landover, Md.

Mike Ridley, Keith Jones and Sylvain Cote also scored as Washington tuned up for the playoffs.

Adam Graves and Mike Gartner scored for the Rangers in what was expected to be Ron Smith’s last game as Ranger Coach. Smith is expected to be replaced by Mike Keenan today.

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Philadelphia 5, Hartford 4--Dimitri Yushkevich scored 1:25 into overtime at Hartford and the Flyers finished the season with an eight-game winning streak.

Playoffs at a Glance

CAMBELL CONFERENCE

Smythe Division

* Kings vs. Calgary

* Winnipeg vs. Vancouver

Norris Division

* Chicago vs. St. Louis

* Detroit vs. Toronto

WALES CONFERENCE

Patrick Division

* Pittsburgh vs. New Jersey

* Washington vs. N.Y. Islanders

Adams Division

* Boston vs. Buffalo

* Quebec vs. Montreal

All series are best of seven.