Gretzky’s Wife Suffers Injury; Rangers Lose

Goalie Chris Terreri stopped 31 shots as the Chicago Blackhawks parlayed a second-period goal by Eric Daze into a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in a game delayed by an injury to Wayne Gretzky’s wife.

Janet Gretzky was injured when struck in the head by Plexiglas from the rink’s sideboards late in the third period. She appeared to have been knocked unconscious, but she apparently regained consciousness as she was being carried out of the arena.

Wayne Gretzky, visibly shaken, skated over to check on his wife during the 10-minute delay.

She was treated at Roosevelt Hospital for a mild concussion and a cut on her lip that might require stitches. She was to stay overnight in the hospital and was expected to be released this morning.

Another woman sitting near her appeared to be injured as well. There was no word on her injuries.

Pittsburgh 5, San Jose 2--Ed Olczyk scored the go-ahead goal with 13:02 to play and Andreas Johansson and Rob Brown added insurance goals in the final minute at San Jose as the Penguins remained unbeaten (4-0-1) on their eight-game trip.

Montreal 3, Florida 0--Jocelyn Thibault stopped 26 shots to record his sixth career shutout, leading the Canadiens to their first home victory of the season.

Martin Rucinsky scored a goal and added an assist, and Saku Koivu and Patrice Brisebois also scored for Montreal, which won in its fifth try at home.

Ottawa 6, Toronto 2--Shawn McEachern scored three goals and linemate Alexei Yashin added two as the Senators defeated the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

Carolina 4, St. Louis 3--The Hurricanes, off to the franchise’s worst start at 1-7-2, beat the hottest team in hockey, getting two second-period goals 48 seconds apart in the second period from Kevin Haller and Nelson Emerson at Greensboro, N.C.

Buffalo 4, Calgary 1--Brian Holzinger scored two power-play goals to lead the Sabres at Buffalo, N.Y. Buffalo goaltender Dominik Hasek, last season’s NHL most valuable player, stopped 17 shots in his first victory since Oct. 9.

Colorado 4, Washington 3--Wade Belak got his first NHL goal by converting Adam Deadmarsh’s cross-crease pass with 72 seconds left, lifting Colorado to victory at Denver.

NHL Notes

The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired defenseman Tuomas Gronman from the Chicago Blackhawks for center Greg Johnson. . . . The Phoenix Coyotes signed Teppo Numminen to a new three-year contract, keeping the defenseman under contract through the 1999-2000 season. Financial terms were not disclosed. . . . Washington Capital center Adam Oates, born in Weston, Ontario, has applied for U.S. citizenship, a move that could give him dual citizenship and make him eligible to play for the U.S. in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. . . . The Dallas Stars placed right wing Jere Lehtinen on injured reserve because of a separated left shoulder.