Hextall Bloodied In Fight With Potvin
Some said Ron Hextall had mellowed. But after duking it out with Toronto goaltender Felix Potvin, Hextall may have re-established himself as the NHL’s most cantankerous goalie.
Monday, the day after he and Potvin squared off at the end of the Maple Leafs’ game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Hextall was getting ribbed by his teammates and friends, one of whom suggested he should start carrying mace.
“Yeah, maybe I can stick it in my side pocket and use it if I need it,” Hextall said.
Hextall’s stick and feistiness have been all he’s needed throughout his 10-year NHL career.
Sunday’s Hextall-Potvin slugfest came at the end of the Flyers’ 3-1 victory, after a staged bout between each team’s respective enforcer: Toronto’s Tie Domi and Philadelphia’s Scott Daniels.
While Domi was pummeling Daniels, the Flyers’ Dan Lacroix smashed the Leafs’ Larry Murphy. When Potvin started over toward that flareup, Hextall sprinted from his net, throwing his glove and stick away at center ice.
The two goalies ripped off each other’s masks and traded perhaps a dozen punches apiece. If blood separates the winner from the loser, Hextall, leaking from a cut over his left eye, did not get the decision.
Monday’s highlights
Donald Audette scored two goals, including the winner with 58.7 seconds remaining in overtime, to give Buffalo a 3-2 win over visiting Florida.
The Sabres (7-8-1) snapped a two-game losing streak. Florida’s two-game winning streak was snapped.
Joe Sakic, the NHL’s leading scorer, had two goals in a five-goal burst as Colorado, 8-0-2 in its last 10, beat the Islanders 6-2 in New York.
Markus Naslund’s tie-breaking goal in the third period gave Vancouver a 3-2 victory over the Rangers.
The crowd at New York’s Madison Square Garden jeered the Rangers, chanting “Re-fund,” as the team fell to a 6-9-4 record.
Saku Koivu’s power-play goal 3:37 into overtime gave Montreal a 3-2 victory over visiting Edmonton.
Greg Adams scored the go-ahead goal on a power play late in the second period and Dallas held on to beat the Mighty Ducks 3-2 in Anaheim.
Jack Evans dies
Jack “Tex” Evans, the last man to coach Hartford to a first-place division finish, has died. He was 68.