Without Lindros, Flyers Can’t Back Up Talk, Lose to Rangers

The Philadelphia Flyers talked of targeting the New York Ranger stars. They should have kept an eye on some Ranger lesser lights.

Pat Flatley scored twice and Darren Langdon, Adam Graves and Niklas Sundstrom each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who recorded a second consecutive victory over the Flyers, 6-3, on Thursday night at Philadelphia.

“What’s important for a team like us is we’ve relied on our top guys to do it,” Ranger Coach Colin Campbell said. “Now, we’re getting contributions from a lot of players.”

The Flyers played without captain Eric Lindros, sitting out the first game of a two-game suspension for high-sticking incidents Monday night.

Lindros complained after Monday’s game that he was being targeted by the Rangers, and suggested the Flyers might do the same to Rangers Wayne Gretzky and Brian Leetch.

“We knew what to expect. We knew they’d come out early, but we knew we had to be patient and smart,” Gretzky said.

The Rangers jumped to an early 2-0 lead after Flyer goalie Ron Hextall let in two soft goals in the first period. The Flyers, forced into a catch-up mode, never recovered.

St. Louis 5, Toronto 1--Harry York had two goals and an assist, and surprise starter Jon Casey made 16 saves as the Blues rolled to the victory at St. Louis.

Stephane Matteau added a goal and an assist for the Blues. Joe Murphy and Scott Pellerin also scored, and Igor Kravchuk and Pierre Turgeon each had two assists.

Casey had not appeared in a game since Feb. 23 against Calgary. Grant Fuhr, who shut out Chicago, 1-0, on Wednesday night, had played in 17 consecutive and 72 overall.

Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 3--Dino Ciccarelli bounced the puck off the goal post in the third period to give the Lightning the victory at Tampa, Fla., and keep it in the playoff race.

Ciccarelli took a pass from Igor Ulanov and blasted the puck from the right circle, clanging it off the post and into the net at 15:04 of the third.

Tampa Bay tied the score, 3-3, when Rob Zamuner one-timed the puck from the slot at 2:57 of the third.

Tampa Bay moved within one point of Hartford and Ottawa for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff berth. Each team has two games left.

Washington 3, Montreal 2--The Capitals kept their slim playoff hopes alive, defeating the Canadiens at Landover, Md., for a four-game sweep of the season series.

Bill Ranford had 21 saves for the Capitals, who trail Hartford and Ottawa by two points in the battle for the East’s final playoff spot.

Steve Konowalchuk, Adam Oates and Joe Juneau had goals for Washington, which took a 3-1 lead into the final period and held on to end a five-game winless streak (0-4-1).

The Capitals went 4-0 against the Canadiens for the first time, outscoring them, 11-4.

Buffalo 5, Boston 1--Miroslav Satan scored two goals and Dominik Hasek recorded his 37th victory as the Sabres won the Northeast Division title at Boston.

Satan got his first goal with 52 seconds left in the first period when he slammed a rebound off the skate of Boston defenseman Don Sweeney into the net.

His second goal of the game, and 25th of the season, capped a Buffalo scoring spree of three goals in 85 seconds in the second period.

Hasek (37-19-10) stopped 27 shots, including a penalty shot in the third period by Jason Allison. The Sabres broke a five-game winless streak on the road.