Week 11 Recap

Adams Division:

Bourque and the Bruins Bury the Barons

Cleveland 3 at Boston 8: Consecutive 3-goal victories over Quebec and Montreal had the 4th place Barons feeling mighty good about themselves - but they were humbled this week in the Boston Garden. The Bruins led 5-1 after the 2nd, but Cleveland cut into the lead with two quick ones by the speedy Dennis Maruk early in the 3rd. Undaunted; the Bruins reasserted their dominance scoring 3 beautiful goals to blow away the Barons

Quebec 4 at Hartford 2: The Whalers' Ray Neufeld knocked Louis Sleigher out of the game in a 2nd period fight, but not before Sleigher staked the Nords to a 2-0 lead, converting on brilliant feeds from Marian Stastny and goalie Clint Malarchuk. Quebec sealed the game late in the 3rd, when Blake Wesley bodychecked Blaine Stoughton out of a scoring opportunity and skated the other way, eventually firing home the game clincher. The Nordiques regain possession of the 4th and final playoff spot in the division from the Barons with the victory. The Whalers are 0-5 under MAN control at the Hartford Civic Centre this season.

Buffalo 3 at Montreal 3: Skating without Gilbert Perrault, the Sabres manage to come out flying once again in La Belle Provence. Buffalo had a 2-0 lead 27 seconds in, but the Habs defence would tighten back to normal the rest of the way. John Chabot potted the lone goal in the 3rd period to tie the game for Montreal. Tom Barrasso stopped 13 of 16 shots for the visitors. The Sabres will host the Bruins next week with 1st place in the Adams on the line. The winner will avoid 3rd place Montreal in the 1st round.

Patrick Division:

New Jersey 3 at NY Islanders 4:  The Devils suffer their first defeat under CPU control; dropping a tough one on the Island. Ken Morrow sprung Anders Kallur on a breakaway with a brilliant feed for the go-ahead goal midway through the 3rd. Morrow would later lay out Brent Ashton in the slot; keeping him from firing a potential game tying shot. The Islanders did control the play in this one; limiting the Devils to only 0:43 of attack zone. Chico Resch stopped 15 of 19 shots for the visitors.

Glen Cochrane won the fight; but the Penguins
win the  Battle of Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh 5 at Philadelphia 3: The inaugural Battle of Pennsylvania was a match of 1st and worst in the Patrick Division -- who would guess it'd be Pittsburgh in 1st and Phlly in last? Dave Hannan continued to give the MAN controller fits with his 2nd consecutive road hat trick. Glen Cochrane would win a couple fights with Pat Boutette; but that was all the fight Philly had in this one. A convincing win for the Penguins, despite only connecting on 14 of 30 passes.

NY Rangers 3 at Washington 3: Capitals' Doug Jarvis went 12-0 in faceoffs against Robbie Ftorek; but his biggest contribution was a game-tying goal, as the Capitals rally to tie the Rangers. It's a familiar result for New York, as this is their 6th tie of the season, and it's enough to move them into 4th place heading into the final week.

Norris Division:

Winless Atlanta couldn't battle back from this crushing goal

St. Louis 2 at Atlanta 1: The 0-10 Firebirds didn't figure to be in good position for their first points of the year against 1st place St. Louis, but they'd put up a pretty good fight in this one. They dominanted the play in the 1st period - as evidenced by the Blues only attempting 1 pass in the period. However the meagre Atlanta attack couldn't find the back of the net until midway through the 3rd - on a surprising Ed Kea breakaway.
Larry Patey scored with 1 second left in the 2nd to give the Blues a 2-0 lead - a crusher of a goal for the low flying Firebirds.

Toronto 2 at Detroit 4: Danny Gare set the tone in this one, knocking Rick Vaive out of the 1st period with a vicious bodycheck, and then hammering home 2 goals past Mike Palmateer. The Leafs would manage to tie the game at 2 apiece midway through the 2nd. - but barely crossed center ice the rest of the way as the Red Wings secure 3rd place in the Norris Division with the win. The Leafs still clinch the 4th and final playoff spot in the Norris Division thanks to the Black Hawks loss in Minnesota.

Chicago 3 at Minnesota 4: The Hawks have been a much better team in the 2nd half of the season, and they gave the North Stars fits early in this one, leading 3-1 after the 1st - courtesy 2 goals by Steve Larmer and another by Steve Ludzik on a nifty feed from Darryl Sutter. Minnesota would clamp down though the rest of the way, finally taking the lead on another last minute Keith Acton breakaway goal.

Smythe Division:

Winnipeg 2 at Edmonton 5: Home and cooled atop the Smythe Division, the Jets were slowed down a bit by the Oilers, who secure 2nd place in the division with the victory. It took 3:09 of attack zone before the Oilers finally found the twine late in the 2nd on a Pat Hughes goal. They'd start converting from then on out, as Hughes would add another in the 3rd and Paul Coffey would follow with a pair late to seal the win for Edmonton. The Oilers are undefeated at home under MAN control; but winless on the road under CPU control.

Double-digits reached for 1st time as Flames torch Kings

Calgary 14 at Los Angeles 2: No this is not a mis-print. The Flames top the previous high for goals in a game by 6 as they score 14 consecutive goals after actually falling behind 2-0. A nightmare for the light-weight Kings, as the Flames took possession off most of the draws and quickly found a path to the empty net. Doug Risebrough and Lanny McDonald scored 5 goals each for the visitors. The opposite of their Alberta rivals; the Flames are tough on the road under CPU control but are winless at the Saddledome under MAN control. Both the Jets and Oilers want to avoid the charging Flames in the 1st round.... and yes the MAN controller did try in this game......

Colorado 2 at Vancouver 2:  As goal differential is the first tiebreaker for division standing, the romp the Kings suffered has really opened the door in the final week for both the Rockies and Canucks. Especially Vancouver who can now vault ahead of the Kings with a win versus them at Pacific Coliseum in Week 12. Whether that earns them a playoff spot would depend on the Rockies result in Denver versus the Oilers. John van Boxmeer tied this game midway through the 3rd for Colorado, and Doug Favell held on to the pivotal point, robbing Moe Lemay in tight in the game's waning moments.


Only 1 Week to Go -- Updated Standings Here