NHL Playoffs Roundup : North Stars Extend Timely Winning Streak, 8-5

The Minnesota North Stars had the worst record of the 16 teams that qualified for postseason play, but they are having a ball in the playoffs.

They spotted the Chicago Black Hawks a 3-0 lead Thursday night at Chicago, then stormed back for an 8-5 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series.

In the first round, the North Stars, who won only 25 of 80 games during the regular season, beat Norris Division champion St. Louis, three games to none. They now have won four games in a row for the first time in more than a year.

It appeared that the Black Hawks, who swept Detroit easily in three games, would be the team to win four in a row. And against Minnesota goalie Gilles Meloche, who stopped 111 of 116 shots in the series with the Blues, Chicago scored three times within the first six minutes.

There was no quitting in the North Stars, though. Less than two minutes after Tom Lysiak beat Meloche at 5:42 to make it 3-0, the North Stars had cut the lead to one. There were five goals in the first 7 1/2 minutes before the goaltenders settled down.

The North Stars also scored the next four goals, overwhelming the Black Hawk defense in the second period. They had a 6-3 lead before the Black Hawks again broke through on Meloche. But by that time, there was only 5:49 left in the game.

Although Meloche gave up as many goals in this game as he did in the three with St. Louis, he had his moments of brilliance against the high-scoring Hawks. The Black Hawks, who scored 23 goals in the three games with Detroit, fired 47 shots at Meloche. They took 16 alone in the second period but didn’t score.

Minnesota’s Tony McKegney, who scored an empty net-goal in the final five seconds, got the North Stars even early in the second period when he stole the puck and went in alone to beat Chicago goalie Murray Bannerman. Four minutes later, Neal Broten duplicated McKegney’s feat, and the North Stars were in front to stay.

Edmonton 4, Winnipeg 2--The Jets, playing without their captain and leading scorer, Dale Hawerchuk, fought the defending Stanley Cup champions virtually on even terms at Edmonton, only to lose the series opener on a fluke goal.

Hawerchuk is suffering from cracked ribs. He has been given a flak jacket by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League and may try to play Saturday in the second game of the best-of-seven series.

It was a 2-2 battle early in the third period, although the Oilers had several more shots on goal, when Edmonton defenseman Paul Coffey fired a shot from the point. The shot hit teammate Dave Semenko in the leg and caromed past startled Winnipeg goaltender Marc Behrend for the tiebreaking goal.

Perennial scoring champion Wayne Gretzky, who failed to score a goal in the Oilers’ sweep of the Kings, finally scored--into an empty net with 24 seconds left. He also assisted on a goal by Jari Kurri in the first period.

Quebec 2, Montreal 1 (OT)--The Nordiques, who beat the Canadiens only once in eight tries during the regular season, drew first blood in the “Battle of Quebec.”

Rookie Mark Kumpel scored his first playoff goal at 12:23 of overtime at Montreal in the bitterly fought opener between the Adams Division finalists.

“It’s been a long, hard season,” Kumpel said. “And the playoffs are even tougher. But this is just the start. It’s a seven-game series, and we have only one victory.”

The game was highlighted by outstanding goaltending. Steve Penney stopped 26 Quebec shots, while Mario Gosselin stopped 18 by Montreal. With 10 seconds left in regulation, Gosselin just got his glove in the way of a shot from close range by rookie Serge Boisvert that would have broken the tie and given Montreal the win.

Philadelphia 3, New York Islanders 0--His first playoff shutout was a breeze for Flyer goalie Pelle Lindbergh. In the opener of the series between the Patrick Division rivals at Philadelphia, Lindbergh faced only 22 shots.

The Islanders, after their grueling opening round series with Washington, rested veteran goaltender Billy Smith. Young Kelly Hrudey stopped 35 Flyer shots but was overwhelmed by a superiority in numbers.

“It was probably one of the best games for our defense,” Lindbergh said. “It is nice to have the shutout, but the important thing is to win. My teammates made it easy for me.”