Week 6 - Canucks at Firebirds

This weeks' feature matchup takes us to the sunbelt as the Vancouver Canucks (1-3-1) take on the Atlanta Firebirds (0-5-0). The Firebirds are coming off a fight-filled 5-3 defeat in Edmonton, while the Canucks are undefeated in two following an 0-3 start. Atlanta blew a 2-goal lead last week and would find themselves up 2 again versus Vancouver - could they slow down Thomas Gradin enough to hang on to their elusive first victory? Video below...


Out of Town Scoreboard:

Washington 4 at Boston 5 - The Bruins lived up to their preseason promise by peppering Al Jensen with 19 shots and 5 goals in the opening two frames. The previously undefeated Capitals would prove resilient in the 3rd, scoring 3 times and holding the Bruins to just 1 shot, but the comeback would fall short.

NY Rangers 2 at Cleveland 2 - The Barons rebounded from last week's shellacking, skating to a 2-2 tie with the Rangers. The Barons lost 8-1 to the Capitals last week, but have allowed only 5 goals into their empty net in their 3 other games at Richfield Coliseum. Mark Pavelich scored the equalizer for the Rangers midway through the 3rd, while goalie Steve Weeks and defencemen Tom Laidlaw and Scot Kleiendorst kept the Barons' Dennis Maruk off the score sheet.

Pittsburgh 2 at Montreal 4 - For the second week in a row the Canadiens open up a 4-0 lead at the Forum versus a Pennsylvania squad. Any hopes of a Penguins comeback were put to rest by Guy Carbonneau early in the 3rd when his open-ice check knocked Rick Kehoe out of the game with an injury. The loss snapped the Penguins 4-game winning streak.

Glen Cochrane knocks out Ray Neufeld

Hartford 1 at Philadelphia 1  - The Cooperall Cup saw as many fights as goals - a familiar sight for the Spectrum crowd. Ron Sutter and Ray Neufeld exchanged goals midway through the 1st, and that was all either team could muster. Greg Millen stopped 17 of 18 shots, while the Whalers forwards were knocked down - and in Neufeld's case - knocked out by the slow but bruising defensive tandem of Glen Cochrane and Frank Bathe. The loss of Neufeld crippled a Whaler' attack already weakened by the absence of Blaine Stoughton in tonight's lineup. Bobby Clarke would also square off against injury replacement Paul MacDermid late in the 3rd, much to the delight of the blood-thirsty crowd in Philadelphia.

Quebec 6 at NY Islanders 3  - The Nordiques scored 3 in the 1st and 3 in the 3rd, but may have struck the biggest blow in the scoreless 2nd when Blake Wesley punched Bob Nystrom out for the game. The 6 goals allowed against a Quebec lineup that was missing Anton Stastny should not sit well with the Islanders. Anton's brother Marian and Bo Berglund each netted hat trick's for the visitors.

Buffalo 4 at New Jersey 3 - The 6-0 Sabres gutted out their 4th consecutive 1-goal victory. Defencemen Phil Housley erased a 2-1 deficit with two early 3rd period goals and Sean McKenna's insurance marker proved to be enough for Tom Barrasso to secure another win for league leading Buffalo.

Colorado 2 at Chicago 2 - The Black Hawks dominate the Rockies but can only earn a 2-2 tie thanks to a lack of finish around the net. With Steve Larmer on the bench, the Hawks' failed to capitalize on several golden opportunities, including Tim Higgins ringing one off the cross bar in the final seconds with Doug Favell down and out in the Rockies' goal.

Edmonton 5 at St. Louis 5  - No shortage of finishers in this exciting tilt as the Blues opened up a quick 3-0 lead in the game's opening minute. An undeterred Ken Linseman would lead the Oilers back, as the visitors would eventually hold a 5-4 advantage late in the 3rd before Joe Mullen's 4th of the game earned a point for Norris leading' St. Louis.

Minnesota 3 at Winnipeg 3 - The Jets elect to start Thomas Steen at Center and Dale Hawerchuk on Left Wing. Perhaps they should've reconsidered as Hawerchuk took awhile to adjust to the flanker position, ringing a remarkable 4 shots off the post in the 1st period alone. Bengt Lundholm would later hit 2 posts of his own. So the Jets put 9 past Don Beaupre, but only 3 of which would bulge the twine - which was just enough to even the score with their regional rivals from Minnesota.

Toronto 5 at Calgary 4  - The winless Flames are firmly establishing themselves as the league's major disappointment in Season 1. Calgary fell behind 5-2 early in the 3rd, and that was a hole that proved to be too deep to dig out of with Lanny McDonald out of the lineup. Mike Palmateer stoned Richard Kromm on a breakaway late to secure the win for the Leafs.

Detroit 4 at Los Angeles 3 - One-man team Bernie Nicholls scored with 18 seconds left to tie it, but the Kings defence couldn't hold off the visitors, as Danny Gare scored with 4 seconds left to push the Red Wings into a 1st place tie in the Norris with the Blues. The Kings were only successful on 13 of their 32 attempted passes in the game.

Feature Game - Vancouver Canucks (1-3-1) at Atlanta Firebirds (0-5-0)