Practice Pays Off For Flyers

Three days of rigorous workouts during a scheduling break paid off for the Philadelphia Flyers.

After a 2-2 tie with San Jose last Saturday, Flyer Coach Terry Murray put his team through a mini-training camp to shake them out of their early-season doldrums.

Playing at home Thursday night, the Flyers erupted for a season-high seven goals, including four in the final period, and beat Pittsburgh, 7-3.

Dale Hawerchuk scored three goals as the Flyers kept the Penguins the NHL’s only winless team on the road.

“I think the three or four days of good practice really showed it could help the club,” Hawerchuk said. “The big thing is that we got going offensively.”

Edmonton 3, New York 2--Goalie Curtis Joseph made 23 saves as the Oilers ended a four-game home losing streak to the Rangers.

Joseph made two spectacular saves in the second period, robbing Wayne Gretzky on a breakaway, and blocking a point-blank shot from Brian Leetch.

St. Louis 4, Phoenix 3--Brett Hull scored with 6.3 seconds remaining in regulation and rookie Harry York scored his second goal of the game 57 seconds into overtime as the Blues won in St. Louis.

Montreal 6, Boston 2--Mark Recchi’s three goals led the Canadiens to a rare road victory.

The win was only the second on the road this season for Montreal and broke a four-game road losing streak.

Buffalo 6, Toronto 3--Derek Plante and Matthew Barnaby had two goals apiece to help the Sabres win in Buffalo.

Detroit 6, San Jose 1--Steve Yzerman had a goal and two assists to become Detroit’s second all-time leading scorer as the Red Wings won in San Jose.

Vancouver 2, Chicago 1--Pavel Bure scored the tying goal in regulation and Chris Joseph scored the winner in overtime to give the Canucks a victory at home.