NHL Roundup : Canucks Beat Flames; Jets Can Thwart Kings

The Vancouver Canucks, by defeating the Calgary Flames, 4-2, at Vancouver Sunday night, moved into third place in the NHL’s Smythe Division, four points ahead of the fifth-place Kings.

Now in fourth place, three points ahead of the Kings, are the Winnipeg Jets, who play the Kings at the Forum tonight in what is now a very important game for Los Angeles. Both teams have three games remaining, while Vancouver has four.

Only four of the five teams in the division qualify for the playoffs, and suddenly the Kings’ chances don’t look especially good.

Going into the weekend, the Kings and Canucks were tied for fourth with 53 points. But then the Canucks beat the Kings, 2-1, in overtime Friday night, the Kings lost to Quebec, 5-3, Saturday night, and now the Canucks have won again to increase their point total to 57.

Against the Flames, Cam Neely scored two power-play goals, including the game-winner at 8:52 of the second period.

Boston 5, Buffalo 3--Barry Pederson scored twice and Randy Burridge added a goal and three assists as the Bruins followed Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Sabres at Boston with this win at Buffalo.

The victory moved the Bruins into a tie for second place in the Adams Division with idle Montreal. The Sabres remained tied with Hartford for fourth place in the division going into the final week of the regular season. The Whalers have four games left, the Sabres three.

Clues as to why the Bruins beat the Sabres twice in two days can be found along the boards and in front of the net.

“I think we won most of the battles in the corners and the trenches,” Bruin Coach Butch Goring said. “We worked hard and we asked the guys to make all the sacrifices that were necessary to win this game, and they did. They were willing to throw the body and go to the corner and take all the hits that were necessary to make the good plays.”

Toronto 5, Chicago 4--Miroslav Frycer completed a hat trick at 2:02 of overtime as the Maple Leafs won at Chicago.

Chicago’s Darryl Sutter sent the game into overtime by putting his own rebound past Toronto goalie Ken Wreggert with 1:28 left in regulation.

Wreggert stopped 49 shots as the Maple Leafs won the season series from the Blackhawks, 6-2.