HOCKEY : STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS : Sutter’s Goal Gives Islanders a 4-3 Victory

Brent Sutter’s power-play goal 59 seconds into the second overtime Monday night gave the New York Islanders a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers and new life in the Patrick Division semifinal series.

The victory continued the Islanders’ success in overtime playoff games. They are 25-7 in overtime games, 6-0 against the Rangers and 12-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. The trail the Rangers in the best-of-seven series, 2-1.

Sutter’s goal came with the Rangers skating a player short because of a major penalty for boarding to Troy Mallette, who smashed defenseman Jeff Norton into the boards with eight seconds left in the first overtime. Norton left the ice with a concussion.

The Islanders were playing without top scorer Pat LaFontaine, who sustained a concussion in Game 1 when he was checked by James Patrick.

The Islanders controlled the puck at the start of the second overtime and Sutter tipped Jeff Finley’s pass from the left circle past goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, completing a rally from a 3-1 deficit.

Montreal 2, Buffalo 1--Brian Skrudland scored 12:35 into overtime at Montreal to give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead in their Adams Division semifinal series.

Skrudland took a pass from Shayne Corson at the right corner of the net and jammed the puck past goalie Daren Puppa for the winning goal.

The Canadiens tied the game midway through the second period when Uwe Krupp sent a blind pass through the middle that was intercepted by Stephane Richer, who broke in alone to score.

The Sabres opened the scoring at 7:15 when Phil Housley scored during a power play.

Hartford 5, Boston 3--Dave Babych scored the tie-breaking goal 36 seconds into the third period and Pat Verbeek had two goals at Hartford to give the Whalers a 2-1 lead in the Adams Division semifinal series.

Hartford’s Brad Shaw added a goal and three assists.

Babych snapped a 2-2 tie when he took a pass from Shaw, skated into the right circle and beat goalie Andy Moog with a slap shot.

Verbeek took a pass from Shaw and slipped the puck under Moog to make the score 4-2.

The Bruins, playing without defenseman Ray Bourque, who suffered a hip-pointer in Game 2, narrowed the score to 4-3 when Randy Burridge tipped Jim Wiemer’s between-the-legs pass past goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz.

But the Whalers held on and Kevin Dineen scored an empty-net goal with 18 seconds left.

Center Craig Janney returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sprained shoulder and contributed two assists.

New Jersey 2, Washington 1--Ken Daneyko and Brendan Shanahan scored goals at Landover, Md., to give the Devils a 2-1 lead in their Patrick Division semifinal series.

Daneyko scored 4:51 into the first period and the Devils spent the rest of the game protecting the lead, taking only 10 shots. They held the Capitals to 21 shots and killed seven of Washington’s eight power plays.

The Devils held the Capitals without a shot after being penalized for having too many men on the ice with 2:39 left in the third period. Washington did not pull goalie Mike Liut until 35 seconds remained and was unable to get a shot.

Chris Terreri made 20 saves to win his second game since replacing Sean Burke.

Dino Ciccarelli scored Washington’s goal with 2:14 left in the second period. Ciccarelli has scored six of Washington’s 11 goals in the series.