Week 9 & Week 10 Recap

Ray Neufeld knows the way to try and beat Buffalo is to
beat up Mike Ramsey

Week 9: Hartford 4 at Buffalo 4 - Down 2-1 in the 3rd Ray Neufeld knocked out Mike Ramsey in a fight, severely weakening the Sabres defence, enabling the Whalers to tally 3 in the 3rd. Real Cloutier would score late to salvage the draw for 1st place Buffalo

Week 9: Quebec 0 at Cleveland 3 - No Stastny's = No problem for the Barons. Despite strong goaltending by Clint Malarchuk (17 saves on 19 shots) and Louis Sleigher knocking Dennis Maruk out of the game in a 2nd period fight; Cleveland easily handles Quebec to tighten the race for the 4th and final playoff spot in the division.

Week 9: Boston 0 at Montreal 3 - The Bruins were giving the MAN controller fits, outscoring the Flyers and Nordiques 14-4 in the first 2 games of a 3 game road trip. However the defensively strong Habs caught a break as the three Bruins on the bench for this one were Rick Middleton, Barry Pederson and Ray Bourque. The remaining good - but not great - Bruins lineup was no match for the stingy Canadiens.

Week 10: Hartford 1 at Boston 6 -  Doug Sulliman opened the scoring for the visitors in the inaugural Battle of New England - but it was all Bruins the rest of the way. Mike Milbury knocked Ray Neufeld out of the game, and Terry O'Reilly later took on Neufeld's replacement Torrie Robertson, as the game got chippy in the 3rd.

Week 10: Montreal 3 at Cleveland 6: Even the stingy Habs couldn't corral the speedy Dennis Maruk, who scored 4 goals on an astounding 12 shots as the Barons move into 4th place in the Adams Division.

Week 10: Buffalo 5 at Quebec 3:  Winless in their previous 3, the 1st place Sabres stop the bleeding with a 4-goal 1st on route to an easy win at struggling Quebec. The Nords are 0-3 and have been outscored 16-5 against divisional foes.

Bobby Clarke's K.O of Mel Bridgman
wasn't enough for Philly

 Week 9: Philadelphia 2 at New Jersey 4:  A familiar theme in Week 9 was the trailing team knocking out the other team's top player. It worked for the Whalers in Buffalo as they fought back for a draw; but it was too late for the Nordiques in Cleveland and for the Flyers here in New Jersey - as Bobby Clarke takes Mel Bridman out of the game in a fight. Bridgman factored into all 4 goals for the Devils who vault ahead of the Flyers into playoff positioning in the Patrick.

Week 9: Washington 5 at NY Islanders 7: The Capitals had been lethal on the road under CPU control,. but Al Jensen had no answer for Bryan Trottier and Bob Nystrom in this one, as each had a 5 point night. The Isles added an empty netter after Jensen surrendered 6 goals on 16 shots.

Week 9: Pittsburgh 6 at NY Rangers 3:  The Penguins just keep on surprising folks as they take over 1st place in the Patrick Division with a convincing victory at MSG. This was the game heading into the Patrick' slate that figured to favour the home-side; but Dave Hannan and Doug Shedden gave fits to the Ranger defensive pair of Reijo Ruotsalainen and Scot Kleinendorst.

Week 10: NY Rangers 4 at New Jersey 4: The 5th place Rangers jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but couldn't jump ahead of the Devils in the standings, as New Jersey rallies for the draw. Steve Weeks robbed Joe Cirella in the final moments to preserve the point for New York.

Week 10: NY Islanders 4 at Philadelphia 2: The physical defensive tandem of Glen Cochrane and Frank Bathe, managed to allow 2 early goals to light-weight Mats Hallin; as the Islanders jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Billy Smith stopped 14 of 16 shots; including several big stops in a scoreless 3rd period.

Week 10: Washington 3 at Pittsburgh 3: A battle for 1st place in the Patrick Division results in the status quo, as the Penguins maintain their 1-point advantage thanks to Andre St. Laurent's marker with 4 seconds remaining. This was a tight-checking game that was only 1-1 after 2 periods.

Week 9: Atlanta 4 at Chicago 5 - In a matchup of the only two winless teams remaining, the Hawks rally from 3-1 down to keep the Firebirds pointless on the season. Steve Larmer scored his usual hat trick, and Tim Higgins potted the winner with 45 seconds left.

Week 9: Detroit 4 at Minnesota 5 - Injury replacement Ted Nolan scored his 1st career goal, and Murray Craven scored 2 in the 2nd as the Wings took a 4-2 lead into the 3rd. However the high-powered home-side responded, eventually winning it on a late Keith Acton breakaway.

Week 9: St. Louis 5 at Toronto 4 - The Blues are a perfect 5-0 under CPU control, with only 1 road game remaining at lowly Atlanta. They were strong in the 1st, actually posting a 0:43-0:37 attack zone advantage on MAN controlled Toronto; but trailed 2-1 as Rick Heinz failed to stop both shots he faced. St.Louis would not lead until Blake Dunlop converted on a brilliant Jorgen Pettersson feed with 28 seconds to go.

Week 10: Toronto 3 at Atlanta 1 - An absolute bloodbath at the Omni as this game had 4 fights and 3

Flying fists ignite an otherwise dejected Firebirds' crowd

injuries. 2 of the injuries were to Greg Terrion, but he was still able to score twice for victorius Toronto. Willi Plett couldn't find the net on several glorious opportunities, but he did connect on several punches, as he took on Gary Nylund once and Jim Korn twice. The only goal by listless Atlanta came courtesy a Mike Palmateer pass off a defenceman's skate. This one was ugly on many levels.

Week 10: Detroit 4 at Chicago 4 - The Black Hawks are showing life in the 2nd half of the season, as another Steve Larmer hat trick enables them to draw with Detroit. The Red Wings clinched a playoff spot with the point. Larmer had a chance for a 4th goal to prevail late, but he was stoned in tight by Corrado Micalef. The Wings 4 goals in only 0:47 of attack zone shows they capitalized on all their chances in this one.

Week 10: Minnesota 6 at St. Louis 6 - The battle for 1st place in the Norris Division did not disappoint as the North Stars score twice late to salvage a tie. Neal Broten came off the bench as the extra attacker and fed Dino Ciccarelli to make it 6-5, and Steve Payne would outmuscle Andre Dore to tie it with 11 seconds left for Minnesota. The Blues led 3-1, 4-2 and 6-4 but could just not put away the talented visitors. St. Louis does however maintain 1st place in the division.

Week 9: Colorado 3 at Calgary 3 - For some reason Lanny McDonald and Paul Reinhart are just not clicking under MAN control as the Flames continue to struggle at the Saddledome. The Rockies defence of Bill Baker and John van Boxmeer clogged up the middle all game and Wilf Paiemant tallied a pair of goals - and a pair of fight victories over Jamie Macoun and Doug Risebrough.

Week 9: Vancouver 2 at Edmonton 8 - All three games on the Smythe slate looked like potential routs for the home team, but this is the only one that materialized. Harold Snepsts did score an end-to-end goal to start the scoring, but that was the lone highlight for the Canucks. The Oilers Pat Hughes scored 3 and fired 8 shots at Richard Brodeur.

Week 9: Los Angeles 4 at Winnipeg 5 - The 1st place Jets struggled with a Kings lineup that was depleted by the absence of Bernie Nicholls. Steve Christoff scored 3 for L.A., but goaltending let them down in the end as Gary Laskoski allowed 8 goals on 13 shots. None of those to Dale Hawerchuk surprisingly, who was held to a lone assist in this one.

Boschman wins a fight - and the game for Winnipeg

Week 10: Winnipeg 4 at Colorado 3 - Another difficult game for the Jets against a division lesser-lite but they manage to get the 2 points again. Yvon Vautour staked the Rockies to a 2-0 advantage with a pair of 1st period goals. The 2nd wasn't nearly as kind to Vautour, as he lost a fight to Laurie Boschman. Boschman would follow that up with the go-ahead goal as the Jets rally to clinch 1st place in the Smythe Division.


Week 10: Edmonton 3 at Los Angeles 4 - The Oilers continue to lose close ones away from Northlands Coliseum. Bernie Nicholls made his presence felt as always with a hat trick, as the Kings led 4-0 and held on for the pivotal 2 points.

Week 10: Calgary 4 at Vancouver 3 - Unlike their Alberta rival, the Flames are proving to be a much stronger team on the road under CPU control. Rejean Lemelin stoned Rick Lanz late as the Flames move into playoff position in the Smythe.

See Updated Standings Here - Only 2 Weeks to go in the Regular Season