Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Defensive Style Produces Parity

From Wire Reports

Around the NHL

The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers are looking a little ragged this season. The Ottawa Senators are actually looking respectable.

Dallas and Hartford, both left out of the playoffs last season, are flirting with their division leads. And the Edmonton Oilers are enjoying a resurgence after missing the playoffs for four consecutive years.

Parity has struck the NHL.

Even though the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers are generally considered the class of the league, they have plenty of worthy challengers.

The Panthers don’t have big names like Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr or Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, but they do have a balanced scoring attack and a ferocious defensive system that has generated a lot of success.

Last season, the no-name Panthers made the Stanley Cup finals, and now many teams are copying their tight-checking style.

“There is a lot of balance,” says Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall, whose team is 0-3 against the New York Islanders. “Teams that are supposed to be on the top are struggling right now.”

The Penguins and Rangers, who met in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, will tell you there are no easy touches any more - particularly with the amount of good goaltending around and a talent base continually stocked with good European players.

“I don’t think the goaltending has ever been better,” Hextall says. “The backups are doing a good job, too. You look at a guy like (Mark) Fitzpatrick in Florida. He’s a great goaltender. Glenn Healy in New York, and we have Garth Snow.”

Gillies honored

The New York Islanders retired their fifth jersey number, raising Clark Gillies’ No. 9 jersey to the rafters of Nassau Coliseum. He played 12 seasons for New York and two for the Buffalo Sabres, ending his career with 319 goals and 398 assists.

On the ice

Darrin Shannon scored at 2:03 of overtime as Phoenix rallied from a 2-0 deficit Saturday to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in East Rutherford, N.J. … Theoren Fleury scored with 1:48 left in the second period, giving the last-place Calgary Flames a 1-1 tie with the Boston Bruins.

Tommy Salo stopped 24 shots to earn his second career shutout as the New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals 2-0 in Uniondale, N.Y. … Wayne Gretzky scored his 54th career goal in Toronto, and Glenn Healy had 24 saves as the surging New York Rangers completed a sweep of back-to-back games against the Maple Leafs with a 4-0 victory.