NHL ROUNDUP : Flyers’ Trade Pays Off With Division Title

The trade that brought John LeClair, Eric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne from Montreal to Philadelphia turned the Flyers from an also-ran into a playoff team.

LeClair took it a step further Saturday, scoring 54 seconds into overtime in a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils to make the Flyers a division winner for the first time since the 1986-87 season.

In addition to the Atlantic Division title, the Flyers won their ninth consecutive game and their 23rd (23-7-4) since the trade that sent Mark Recchi and a draft choice to Montreal on Feb. 9.

“This a very significant step,” Flyer Coach Terry Murray said. “The players who have worked hard all year deserve something good out of this. The fans back in Philly treated us great all year. At 3-7, things were not pretty. They kept cheering and giving us hope that things would turn around and they did.”

Flyer players downplayed the team’s first title since winning the old Patrick Division crown.

“It’s a small step,” said captain Eric Lindros, who scored his 26th goal.

The Devils forced the Flyers to wait an extra minute for their first title since winning in the former Patrick Division, by getting third-period goals from Stephane Richer and Scott Niedermayer to tie the score at 3-3.

Florida 4, Quebec 2--Scott Mellanby scored the winning goal and assisted on two others as the resurrected Panthers pulled within two points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference at Miami.

Florida scored three goals in the first period, chasing goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who lost only his second decision this season.

Montreal 3, Tampa Bay 1--Mark Recchi scored two goals and set up one for Pierre Turgeon as the Canadiens’ third consecutive victory moved them into a tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with the idle Hartford Whalers and New York Rangers.

Paul Ysebaert scored for the Lightning, who saw their playoff hopes fade as they ended a two-game winning streak.

Vancouver 6, Edmonton 1--Russ Courtnall recorded the fourth hat trick of his career and Pavel Bure added four assists as the Canucks moved into fifth place in the Western Conference at Vancouver.

Courtnall, who also added an assist, scored two short-handed goals and Trevor Linden added a pair of power-play goals for the Canucks.

Vancouver’s Kirk McLean stopped 36 shots, including all 19 in the third period.

Washington 2, Pittsburgh 1--Peter Bondra scored his 30th goal and Calle Johansson had two assists as the Capitals won at Pittsburgh.

Rookie goaltender Jim Carey improved to 16-6-2 with his second win in as many nights.

Dallas 6, Toronto 4--Rookie Todd Harvey had his first hat trick and Trent Klatt scored the go-ahead goal with 11:58 to play as the Stars maintained their hold on the seventh spot in the Western Conference at Dallas.

Klatt’s goal was his first in 17 games as the Stars beat the Maple Leafs for the first time in five meetings this season.

Ottawa 3, N.Y Islanders 2--Alexei Yashin had a goal and an assist as Ottawa won for only the fifth time this season in beating the Islanders in Uniondale, N.Y.

Don Beaupre stopped 24 shots for Ottawa and had to withstand a last-minute flurry when he stopped four shots, including one by Scott Lachance at the buzzer.

Dave McLlwain and Alexander Daigle also scored for the Senators.