NHL : Whalers’ Confidence Shows in 7-5 Victory Over Rangers

From a shutout to a shootout, the Hartford Whalers once again were too much for the New York Rangers.

The Whalers, who blanked the Rangers, 2-0, on opening day, got into a scoring contest with them Monday night, eventually winning, 7-5.

“We skated well, we pushed the puck and we never let up,” said Paul Ranheim, who had two goals and two assists for the Whalers. “That’s the sign of a team playing with confidence.”

The teams traded goal for goal until the Whalers took over in the last two minutes when Ranheim scored with 2:07 left and Andrew Cassels wrapped things up with an empty-net goal.

“He played very well,” Ranger goaltender Mike Richter said of Ranheim. “He’s a role player known for forechecking and speed. Tonight, he seemed to be everywhere.

“I think people forget his offensive skills. But he didn’t beat us. We beat ourselves.”

The Whalers, whose 4-0 start is the best in the 17-year history of the franchise, got an unexpected offensive explosion this time to beat the Rangers for the second time in 10 days. The Whalers had scored only eight goals in their first three games.

Ranheim broke a 5-5 tie when he skated across the slot and beat Richter with a backhander. Cassels made it 7-5 with 41 seconds left.

In their first meeting, Sean Burke made 37 stops for the shutout. This time, Burke faced a bigger barrage as the Rangers outshot the Whalers, 49-35.

Also scoring for the Whalers were Jocelyn Lemieux, Geoff Sanderson and Nelson Emerson. Sergei Nemchinov, Mark Messier, Adam Graves and Nick Kypreos scored for New York.

NHL Notes

The Toronto Maple Leafs bought out the contract of defenseman Garth Butcher, making the well-traveled defenseman an unrestricted free agent.

Butcher, 32, has also played for Vancouver, St. Louis and Quebec in his 14-year career. The 6-foot, 204-pound defenseman played 45 games for Toronto last season, scoring one goal and getting seven assists.