NHL Roundup : Streaking Oilers Defeat Hartford

A move that management made in late February may be the key to the Edmonton Oilers’ third Stanley Cup in four years.

With Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers in their worst slump in several years, the Oilers sent the team to Phoenix for some rest and relaxation in the warm Arizona sun.

Apparently, it was a stroke of genius. The Oilers, after four days of sunshine, started playing the way they did when they won back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1985.

Before the rest they had lost four in a row and Gretzky had failed to score a point in the previous two games.

Gretzky has led the resurgence and recharged the best offense in hockey history.

In a game with Hartford Sunday night at Edmonton that was billed as a possible preview of the final round of the playoffs, goalie Mike Liut of the Whalers was magnificent.

But Gretzky was Gretzky and he led the Oilers to a 4-1 victory, their sixth in a row since their days in the sun. Gretzky scored his 60th goal and assisted on another. Mark Messier scored twice for the Oilers.

If Liut had been merely ordinary in the nets, it would have been 10-1 or worse. He stopped several breakaways, including two by Gretzky, but he couldn’t handle all the shooters coming in alone and gave up four goals in the second period.

The rally was triggered by Gretzky’s 60th goal. He came in alone and scored off his backhand. It ended a period of more than 105 scoreless minutes for Liut.

In winning six in a row to regain momentum and the best record in the NHL, the Oilers scored 37 goals. Gretzky scored six of them and assisted on 14 others.

Minnesota 4, Chicago 2--Sometimes, it takes a spectacular goaltending performance to bring a team out of a slump.

The North Stars went into Chicago winless in six consecutive games (0-5-1) and in danger of missing the playoffs.

But goalie Don Beaupre came through with the big game and Brian Lawton had a hat trick to end the North Stars’ skid.

The Blackhawks, also in the battle for playoff spots in the wide-open Norris Division, fired 54 shots at the veteran goalie. Beaupre stopped 52 of them, including 25 of 26 in the second period when Steve Larmer scored on a power play after Beaupre had stopped 38 shots in a row.

Lawton scored his first goal a minute after the opening faceoff and scored again in each of the last two periods. The Blackhawks last goal came on their 54th shot with just 19 seconds left in the game.

The victory put the North Stars in third place, a point ahead of Chicago.

Detroit 1, Winnipeg 1--A screen shot by Dave Ellett late in the second period at Winnipeg, prevented goaltender Glen Hanlon from getting a shutout, but the Red Wings weren’t too unhappy to get a point.

Hanlon stopped 33 shots to preserve the tie. Ellett’s goal ended the Jets’ string of 117 scoreless minutes, a team record.

The tie gave the Red Wings three points on a four-game trip into the Northwest and gave them a four-point lead over St. Louis in the Norris Division.

The Wings had only two shots on goal in the second period, but one of them, a 20-foot wrist shot by Adam Oates gave them a 1-0 lead four minutes before Ellett tied it.

Philadelphia 5, New York Rangers 2--The Flyers ended an 0-for-29 power-play slump with three goals in 10 tries at New York to beat the Rangers for only the second time in six games this season.

Dave Poulin, who scored one of the power-play goals, also scored when his team was short-handed. Brian Propp also had two goals for the Flyers.