NHL PLAYOFFS : “Canadiens” Are the Key as Flyers Top Rangers

Hockey’s trade of the year paid big dividends for the Philadelphia Flyers during the regular season. Now, it’s paid off in the playoffs.

Eric Desjardins and John LeClair, obtained in a Feb. 9 trade with the Montreal Canadiens, scored all five Flyer goals as Philadelphia came back to beat the New York Rangers, 5-4, in overtime Sunday in the first game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

“Now we are on the Flyers,” Desjardins said when he was asked about the five goals scored by “the Canadiens.”

“Two guys from the Flyers got those goals.”

Desjardins scored Philadelphia’s final two goals, including the winner 7:03 into the overtime as the Flyers came back from a 3-1 deficit, then recovered from a goal by New York’s Pat Verbeek that sent the game into overtime with 19.1 seconds left in the third.

“We almost coughed it up there at the end of the game, but in between the third and the overtime, everybody was pretty determined,” said LeClair, who scored his first career playoff hat trick. “We came out real fresh.”

Desjardins’ game-winner came after Craig MacTavish won a faceoff in the Rangers’ end. The puck came back to Desjardins at the right point. Desjardins moved into the faceoff circle, then lifted a shot over screened goalie Mike Richter.

Ranger Coach Colin Campbell said it wasn’t long into the overtime before he realized his team was in trouble.

“It was just a matter of time before they scored in the overtime the way we were going,” he said. “I thought it was a flurry, but they kept it up for the whole 6-7 minutes.”

Detroit 6, San Jose 0--The Red Wings, venting a year’s worth of frustration, got their revenge by shutting out the Sharks for the third time in a row this season at Joe Louis Arena.

Detroit, upset in the first round of the playoffs a year ago by San Jose, had three power-play goals and a short-handed goal to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

Detroit outshot the Sharks, 33-15. It was the Red Wings’ biggest shutout victory in a playoff game since an 8-0 victory over Toronto in 1988.

Dino Ciccarelli, Paul Coffey, Doug Brown, Ray Shepperd, Sergei Fedorov and Kris Draper scored for the Red Wings, bringing an octopus barrage down from the stands. The creature became a staple of Detroit playoff hockey when the NHL was a six-team league and it took eight victories to win the Stanley Cup championship.

“If you look at the score, you’d think it was an easy win, but Mike Vernon won the game with those big saves in the first period,” said Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman. “If they score the first goal, it is a whole different game. You need playoff goaltending, and we got that in the first period.”

A year ago, the Sharks beat the Red Wings in seven games in the first round. But the Sharks have yet to score in Detroit in 1995. During the abbreviated season, the Red Wings were 4-0 against the Sharks, outscoring San Jose 19-4 and outshooting them 145-67. Two of those games, both in Detroit, were shutouts.

“I thought Detroit was the best team in the Western Conference last year, but they are a better team this year,” Shark Coach Kevin Constantine said. “They are more complete than before.”

NHL Notes

Denver, which is trying to lure the Quebec Nordiques to the Mile High City, will get an expansion franchise, The Denver Post reported. The newspaper quoted NHL sources as saying Denver and Atlanta will be awarded expansion franchises at league meetings in July.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets’ proposed move to Minneapolis fell apart Sunday and the team, for now, is staying right where it is.

The deal collapsed because current owner Barry Shenkarow may have to repay more than $11.7 million to the citizens of Manitoba if the team moves.

However, Richard Burke and Steven Gluckstern said they will continue trying to buy the Jets if it turns out the team can be moved.

The Jets confirmed the deal has been suspended and the team plans to stay in Winnipeg, The Canadian Press reported.

Shenkarow and five other team directors said the “overwhelming response” in Winnipeg convinced them to keep the team in the Manitoba capital.