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Hartford Hat Trick Helps Lift Whalers Past Boston 6-3

Associated Press

Around the NHL

Hartford Whalers’ center Kent Manderville had several reasons to savor his first career hat trick.

“I guess the motivation for me is staying in the lineup, but also the motivation is to get to the playoffs,” Manderville said after the Whalers’ 6-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night at Harford, Conn. “It’s a fun time of year to play.”

The Whalers have not made the playoffs since 1992, but are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

The 25-year-old center has split the season between Hartford and Springfield of the American League. The Whalers signed him as a free agent Oct. 1.

The three goals were just the 14th, 15th, and 16th of Manderville’s 202-game career.

Canadiens’ Koivu out

Montreal Canadiens center Saku Koivu will miss at least two weeks with a sprained left shoulder, the latest in a long list of injuries that have plagued the team this season.

Koivu, one of the team’s top forwards with 14 goals and 33 assists in 43 games, was injured in Monday’s 2-2 tie with Pittsburgh when he fell over Penguins goalie Ken Wregget after being checked.

Also on the ice

At New York, Mark Messier’s power-play goal in the third period gave the Rangers a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals and moved him into a tie for 10th place with Mike Bossy on the NHL goal-scoring list with 573.

At Denver, Ron Stern scored his second goal of the game with less than 3 minutes left, and the Calgary Flames beat Colorado 3-2 for their first road victory against the Avalanche franchise in five years.

Ed Ward dug the puck out of the boards and fed Stern in the slot. Stern beat Patrick Roy over his shoulder. It was Stern’s first two-goal game of the year.

At Phoenix, Stu Barnes’ second goal of the game - with 48.2 seconds remaining - gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 5-5 tie with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Darrin Shannon had given Phoenix a 5-4 lead with 9:34 remaining when he redirected a Teppo Numminen shot past Pittsburgh goaltender Ken Wregget for his second goal of the game.

Dallas Drake, Craig Janney and Keith Tkachuk also scored for Phoenix as the Coyotes opened a one-point lead over St. Louis for the Western Conference’s fifth playoff spot.