Stanley Cup Playoff Roundup : Hextall and Flyers Fall to the Ranger Jinx, 3-0

Rookie Ron Hextall led National Hockey League goaltenders in almost every department, including victories (37) and percentage of saves (.902). But as far as Philadelphia Flyer fans are concerned, he has yet to prove himself.

They were still feeling that way Wednesday night when the usual sellout crowd of 17,222 at the Spectrum watched Hextall and the Flyers lose the Stanley Cup playoff opener to the New York Rangers, 3-0.

Until a goaltender leads the Flyers to a Stanley Cup, he’s still on trial to Philadelphia hockey fans.

Pierre Larouche and Ron Duguay scored goals 27 seconds apart early in the second period and, with John Vanbiesbrouck stopping 27 shots, it was a typical Ranger-Flyer postseason game.

In three of the last four years, the Rangers have beaten the Flyers in the opening round of Stanley Cup competition, after the Flyers had a finished with a much better regular-season record.

In previous seasons, the opening-round series was best-of-five. It is now a best-of-seven. At the start of the season, the Flyers made a big decision. They replaced Bob Froese, who had a big 1985-86 season, with the untried, 22-year-old Hextall. Froese demanded a trade and wound up with the Rangers.

It is anticipated that he will be in the nets tonight at the Spectrum for the second game.

But he can’t possibly improve on Vanbiesbrouck’s performance. Always a tough performer in postseason play, Vanbiesbrouck had a so-so season, posting a goals-against record of 3.64.

“John played unbelievably,” an elated Phil Esposito said after his first playoff victory as a coach. “He had a couple of breaks with the goalposts, but as my brother (former goalie Tony Esposito) used to say, ‘I’d rather be lucky than good.’ ”

The Flyers limited the Rangers to just five shots in the first period, but after Larouche and Duguay scored, the Rangers took charge.

Montreal 6, Boston 2--In view of their past playoff performances against each other, it was not at all surprising that the defending champion Canadiens opened with an easy victory.

The Canadiens have beaten the Bruins in the last 17 times, since 1944, that these teams have met in Stanley Cup play.

Veteran defenseman Larry Robinson opened the scoring at Montreal on a power play to ignite a four-goal first-period outburst that gave the Canadiens a running start. It was the 100th playoff point for the 35-year-old star.

Mats Naslund had a goal and two assists.

Hartford 3, Quebec 2--The players took just enough time off from fighting to score five goals at Hartford.

Paul MacDermid put an end to the bitter opening-round game when he tipped in a shot by Randy Ladouceur at 2:20 of overtime.

There were 56 penalties called for a total of 145 minutes.

The Nordiques, who built a 2-0 lead, thought they had won the game when John Ogrodnick scored as time ran out. But referee Ron Hoggarth ruled time had run out. Quebec Coach Michel Bergeron filed a protest.

Winnipeg 4, Calgary 2--The Jets dominate the Flames the way the Flames dominate the Edmonton Oilers.

With Dale Hawerchuk scoring a pair of goals at Calgary, the Jets jumped in front in the Smythe Division semifinal series.

During the regular season the Jets beat the Flames, who finished in second place, six of the eight times they played.

The Jets outplayed the Flames just the way they did during the regular season, especially after falling behind, 2-1.

Hawerchuk scored the tying goal in the second period and just a minute later, defenseman Mario Marois put the Jets ahead with a 55-foot blast.

Washington 4, New York Islanders 3--Mike Gartner scored 15 seconds after the opening faceoff at Landover, Md., to trigger a three-goal opening period outburst and the Capitals barely lasted.

The Capitals, who were 4-0-2 against the Islanders this season, scored on three of their first eight shots against Kelly Hrudey.

The Islanders battled back in the final period on goals by Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, but fell one short.

St. Louis 3, Toronto 1--Rob Ramage scored the first of two power-play goals for the Blues at St. Louis and Greg Millen turned in a steady game in the nets, turning aside 28 shots.

The Blues had a 3-0 lead before Rick Vaive ended Millen’s shutout hopes late in the second period.

Detroit 3, Chicago 1--Petr Klima and Darren Veitch scored first period goals at Detroit to lead the Red Wings to victory.

Detroit goalie Greg Stefan had a scoreless string of 111 minutes against the Blackhawks ended when defenseman Bob Murray scored halfway through the final period.