NHL ROUNDUP : Rangers, Whalers Keep Pace in Wild, Wild East

A day later, the Rangers held on: to the game--a 5-4 victory over the Washington Capitals in New York--and to a chance to avoid the embarrassment of failing to make the playoffs as the defending Stanley Cup champion.

On Sunday, New York had blown a two-goal lead in Boston, but on Monday, the Rangers won, though they kept things in suspense.

“Every game has momentum swings,” Ranger captain Mark Messier said. “All that matters is we got five and they got four, and we got two points.”

That’s important because the Hartford Whalers also got two points with a 4-3 victory at Montreal. With 43 points apiece, New York and Hartford are tied for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers scored three times in the first seven minutes, chasing rookie goaltender Jim Carey.

As usual, they didn’t make it easy on themselves, despite taking leads of 3-0 and 5-1.

New York, which is 9-12 in one-goal games, won when goaltender Mike Richter made the saves that counted--on shots by Michal Pivonka and Peter Bondra from close in during the final two minutes.

Hartford 4, Montreal 3--The Whalers won on Geoff Sanderson’s second goal of the final period and gave Montreal only its fourth loss at home all season.

Hartford also dropped the Canadiens to 10th place in the Eastern Conference and put them in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in 25 years.

Florida 5, Ottawa 1--Scott Mellanby’s goal 31 seconds into the second period snapped a tie and led the visiting Panthers to a victory that kept them within two points of New York and Hartford.

Buffalo 3, Tampa Bay 1--Alexander Mogilny’s power-play goal with 15:04 remaining in St. Petersburg, Fla., broke a 1-1 tie as Buffalo retained its hold on the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings, a point ahead of Hartford and New York. The Lightning are six points out of a playoff spot with only four games remaining.

New York Islanders 5, Boston 3--At Uniondale, N.Y., the Bruins lost for the first time in five games. Mathieu Schneider’s first goal as an Islander made it 4-2 and Chris Marinucci’s first NHL goal gave New York a 5-2 lead.

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NHL Notes

Kirk Maltby of the Edmonton Oilers was arrested two weeks ago for allegedly punching a college student in the mouth outside an Edmonton nightclub. The incident happened March 30 and the charge wasn’t made public until Monday.