Lindros Penalty Helps Rangers Top Flyers

Goals by Alexander Karpovtsev and Brian Leetch as Eric Lindros served a four-minute penalty in the second period gave the Rangers a 3-2 victory over the Flyers at New York on Monday night.

The loss prevented Philadelphia from moving ahead of the idle New Jersey Devils for the top playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Montreal 2, New York Islanders 1--Benoit Brunet flipped a backhand shot off an Islander defenseman with 3:10 left to give the host Canadiens a tighter grip on a playoff spot.

Hartford 4, Buffalo 2--Geoff Sanderson scored the tiebreaking goal and added another as the Whalers completed a four-goal comeback at Hartford, Conn.

Sanderson’s third-period goals capped a surge that began in the second period for Hartford.

Dallas 2, Phoenix 2--Dallas Drake and Joe Nieuwendyk exchanged second-period goals for the visiting Stars, and the Coyotes moved into a fourth-place tie in the Western Conference with the Mighty Ducks.

Vancouver 3, San Jose 2--Markus Naslund and Sergei Nemchinov had third-period goals, and Kirk McLean stopped 24 shots as the visiting Canucks kept their slim playoff hopes alive.