NHL Roundup : Maple Leafs Defeat Capitals, 3-1

When 85-year-old Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, hired young Gord Stellick as general manager last summer it was a cause for ridicule.

Among other things, it was said Ballard hired Stellick, 31, because he was young enough to still be around when the Leafs finally become a winner again.

Toronto, once a power in the National Hockey League, hasn’t finished higher than third since Stellick was in kindergarten. Last season, the Maple Leafs won only 21 of 80 games and earned only 52 points.

The rest of the general managers immediately tried to make deals with Stellick, who joined the Leafs when he was still in high school and worked his way up in the organization. He is by far the youngest GM.

“They offered fourth liners for our best players,” he said. “They thought I was a dumb kid.”

But the “dumb kid” and third-year coach John Brophy seem to have the Leafs headed in the right direction.

The Leafs, with Allan Bester stopping 35 shots in his first start, beat the Washington Capitals, 3-1, Friday night at Landover, Md., to move into first place in the Norris Division.

Gary Leeman and Daniel Marois, two of the Leafs’ most wanted, scored first-period goals, and Bester stopped shots mostly from long range until Bob Gould ruined his shutout with 3:08 to play.

Detroit 8, St. Louis 8--The Red Wings, one of the better defensive teams in the league a year ago, had a 7-3 lead 4 minutes into the last period at Detroit and lost it.

The Blues scored 5 goals in a row, taking an 8-7 lead with 64 seconds remaining on a goal by Gino Cavallini.

In desperation, the Wings pulled goaltender Glen Hanlon, with 44 seconds left. There were still 30 seconds left in regulation when Paul MacLean knocked in a rebound to tie it again. Calgary 6, Edmonton 1--Hakan Loob scored twice and Doug Gilmour added three assists as the Flames handed the Oilers their second straight loss before a record crowd of 20,002 in Calgary.

The Oilers, who lost to Vancouver at home Wednesday night, were routed in their first road game. In their last two games, they have been outscored, 12-3.

Winnipeg 4, Vancouver 3--Laurie Boschman scored near the middle of overtime at Winnipeg to give the Jets their first victory in their fourth game of the season.

At a time when everybody else has been scoring goals in bunches, the Jets had only 7 goals in the first 3 games, 2 of which they lost.

Buffalo 5, Quebec 4--The Sabres, off to a slow start a year ago, moved into a tie for first in the Adams Division with this victory at Quebec.

Pierre Turgeon scored his first two goals to lead Sabres, who built a 4-1 lead.

Montreal 7, New Jersey 3--Claude Lemieux, benched for poor play in a recent game at Montreal, had a hat trick at East Rutherford, N.J., to lead the Canadiens to their second victory in 4 games.