Chicago Triumphs In Opener
Joe Murphy scored 9:04 into overtime Sunday night as the Chicago Blackhawks overcame two correct but unfavorable officiating calls to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 in their Western Conference semifinal opener in Chicago.
With Vancouver’s Russ Courtnall in the penalty box for tripping, Denis Savard fed behind the net to Bernie Nicholls, who passed in front to Murphy. After taking a slash from Geoff Courtnall, Murphy wristed the puck past goalie Kirk McLean, low to the glove side.
Murphy has scored in five consecutive games, including three winning goals. He’ll try to extend his streak Tuesday night in Game 2 at the United Center.
The Blackhawks, 4-0 during the season against the Canucks, won even though they had a first-period goal disallowed and Vancouver was awarded a controversial goal in the following period.
The game was scoreless until Trevor Linden’s goal with 18.1 seconds left in the second period.
Vancouver 0 1 0 0 - 1
Chicago 0 0 1 1 - 2
First Period-None.
Second Period-1, Vancouver, Linden 2 (Bure, G.Courtnall), 19:41.
Third Period-2, Chicago, Savard 3 (Amonte), 10:02.
Overtime-3, Chicago, Murphy 6 (Nicholls, Savard), 9:04 (pp).
Shots on goal-Vancouver 12-6-7-2-27. Chicago 4-11-12-3-30.Power-play opp.-Vancouver 0 of 4; Chicago 1 of 3.Goalies-Vancouver, McLean 4-4 (30 shots28 saves). Chicago, Belfour 5-3 (27-26).A-18,532 (20,500).
Red Wings 6, Sharks 0
Detroit
Detroit, venting a year’s worth of frustration, got its revenge with the Redwings’ third straight shutout of the San Jose at Joe Louis Arena this season.
The Red Wings, upset in the first round of the NHL playoffs a year ago by the upstart Sharks, had three power-play goals and a short-handed goal to take a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
It was the first playoff shutout for Detroit goalie Mike Vernon since May 2, 1989, when he defeated Chicago 1-0. Vernon also shut out San Jose 3-0 on April 13 this season.
Dino Ciccarelli, Paul Coffey, Doug Brown, Ray Shepperd, Sergei Fedorov and Kris Draper scored for the Red Wings, bringing an octopus barrage from the stands. The slimy sea creature became a staple of Detroit playoff hockey back when the NHL was a six-team league and it took eight victories to win the Stanley Cup championship.
San Jose 0 0 0 - 0
Detroit 0 2 4 - 6
First period-None.
Second period-1, Detroit, Ciccarelli 5 (Yzerman, Coffey), 9:56 (pp). 2, Detroit, Coffey 2 (Lidstrom, Fedorov) 15:33 (pp).
Third period-3, Detroit, Brown 1 (Fedorov, Kozlov), 4:01. 4, Detroit, Sheppard 2 (Kozlov, Fedorov), 10:08 (pp). 5, Detroit, Fedorov 1 (Brown, Kozlov), 15:07. 6, Detroit, Draper 2, 19:00.
Shots on goal-San Jose 7-4-4-15. Detroit 8-17-8-33.Power-play opp.-San Jose 0 of 4; Detroit 3 of 4.Goalies-San Jose, Flaherty 2-1 (33 shots-27 saves). Detroit, Vernon 5-1 (15-15).A-19,875 (19,875).
Flyers 5, Rangers 4
Philadelphia
Eric Desjardins scored the winner 7:03 into overtime, his second goal of the game, as Philadelphia beat New York in the opener of their playoff series.
Desjardins, whose other goal in the third period put the Flyers ahead 4-3, beat Rangers goaltender Mike Richter with a 30-foot shot through a screen.
The Flyers’ other three goals were scored by John LeClair, his first career playoff hat trick, while Pat Verbeek scored twice for the Rangers.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series is tonight.
Verbeek’s second goal of the game, which came with 19.1 seconds left in the third period, sent the game into overtime. Amid a tangle of players in front of Flyers goalie Ron Hextall, he shoveled a short backhander into the top corner.
Trailing 3-1, the Flyers came back to take the lead with the game’s first three even-strength goals.
Desjardins put Philadelphia ahead 4-3 at 15:11 of the third period after Richter’s clearing pass along the boards was stopped by Mikael Renberg. He passed to a streaking Desjardins, whose 25-foot shot beat Richter between the pads.
LeClair tied the game at 12:50 of the third period. Eric Lindros controlled a loose puck behind the Rangers’ net, then slid a behind-theback pass to a charging LeClair, who snapped a short shot past Richter.
N.Y. Rangers 2 1 1 0 - 4
Philadelphia 0 2 2 1 - 5
First Period-1, New York, Leetch 3 (Messier), 3:08 (pp). 2, New York, Nedved 3 (Zubov, Leetch), 19:45.
Second Period-3, Philadelphia, LeClair 3 (Renberg, Desjardins), 2:57 (pp). 4, New York, Verbeek 3 (Messier), 15:17 (pp). 5, Philadelpohia, LeClair 4, 16:52.
Third Period-6, Philadelphia, LeClair 5 (Lindros, Svoboda), 12:50. 7, Philadelphia, Desjardins 2 (Renberg), 15:11. 8, New York, Verbeek 4, 19:40.
Overtime-9, Philadelphia, Desjardins 3 (MacTavish), 7:03.
Shots on goal-New York 8-7-9-2-26. Philadelphia 8-12-3-7-30.Power-play opp.-New York 3 of 5; Philadelphia 1 of 7.Goalies-New York, Richter 2-3 (30 shots-25 saves). Philadelphia, Hextall 5-1 (26-22).A-17,380 (17,380).
xxxx NHL PLAYOFFS Today’s games N.Y. Rangers at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) New Jersey at Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)