Murray Still In Dark Over Firing

NHL

Former Philadelphia Flyers coach Terry Murray ended his four-month silence last week, giving an interview to Damian Cox, columnist for the Toronto Star. Murray said he still doesn’t know why he was fired.

“My wife still sits down and cries sometimes,” Murray told Cox. “It’s been hard on the whole family. But my wife is still not OK. She doesn’t understand why.”

Murray also said his relationship with Eric Lindros was “very good” and that his only regret was his “choking situation” comment during the Stanley Cup finals.

“I wish I hadn’t said it,” Murray said. “But it was accurately quoted. It was put in the proper context, which I appreciated. It should have been kept in the dressing room or my office.”

Saturday’s highlights

The Washington Capitals continued their assault on the NHL’s top goaltenders, beating Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils 4-1 in Landover, Md. The Capitals pounded the Buffalo Sabres and goalie Dominik Hasek 6-2 Friday.

Tommy Salo stopped all 28 shots he faced and Claude Lapointe scored twice as the New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 in Uniondale, N.Y.

Mark Recchi had his third career hat trick to lead the visiting Montreal Canadiens to a 4-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. Recchi has played in 463 straight games.

Jamie McLennan had 27 saves to make Jim Campbell’s tiebreaking goal in the first period hold up as the St. Louis Blues spoiled Dallas’ home opener with a 2-1 victory.

Around the league

The 1984 Edmonton Oilers are the only team to win the Stanley Cup the year after losing in the finals. … The top three goal-scorers in the NHL the last three years are Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr (141), Washington’s Peter Bondra (132) and Philadelphia’s John LeClair (127).