Bill Torrey called Taylor, saying he was interested in 26 y/o C Marty Dallman. Taylor had no plans for Dallman and acknowledged he was on the block; Torry offered LW Sean LeBrun, 19, and Taylor accepted the NYI offer.
On Feb 22, the diverging New York teams made another deal. NYI’s All-Star representative RW Pat Flatley, 25 (11-39-50 and +11 in 60GP) and a 7th round pick in 1989 were sent to the NYR. In exchange, NYI will receive rookie C Darren Turcotte, 20 (10-20-30 and +9 in 40GP) and LW Don Maloney, 30 (2-3-5 and -6 in 31GP). Turcotte was clearly the crown jewel for the Islanders, with Maloney likely being a salary dump (he is out for 1-2 months with a calf laceration).
Game 61 - 8-5 L @ CGY
The Leafs’ 6-game winning streak is snapped by the Flames, despite Toronto outshooting Calgary 35-26. Calary led 3-1 after 1, but Toronto took a 4-3 lead just 8 minutes into the 2nd. Unfortunately the 3rd period was the all-Calgary show, with three straight goals. Toronto didn’t play very well overall, especially their defense (aside from Zarley Zalapski’s 1G 2A and +2 night). Ed Belfour was downright awful, allowing 7 goals on 35 shots; Mike Veron was good enough for Calgary, stopping 30 of 35.
NHL News:
- MIN RW Scott Bjugstad went 3-2-5 in their 7-3 W over CHI
- MTL RW Claude Lemieux went 1-4-5 in their 6-2 W over WPG
On Feb 23, the NY Rangers continued to load up on veterans. They acquired C Barry Pederson, 27 from VAN (5-16-21 in 42GP, even +/-) for the 7th round pick they acquired from the Islanders in the Flatley trade the day before. The Rangers were clearly banking on Pederson returning to his point-per-game form from the last three seasons.
Game 62 - 4-3 W @ VAN
Toronto outshot Vancouver 41-28 and had much better showings across the board. Freddy Olausson had 3A and was +2, to go along with a stellar defensive presence and an amazing 11 shots on goal. Petri Skriko (2-1-3) and Stan Smyl (1-2-3) did their best, but Toronto was simply too much. Wregget had 26 saves, while Steve Weeks tried his best (stopping 37 of 41).
Shortly afterwards, NYR and VAN matched up again on a trade. The Rangers acquired G Steve Weeks, 30 (17-24-1, 4.68, .891) to be their backup. The price was steep, as they gave up 2nd-leading scorer LW Brian Mullen (21-49-70 and -7 in 60GP).
Game 63 - 8-1 L @ MIN
In a word, woof. Don Beaupre stonewalled Toronto with 29 saves on 30 shots. Ed Belfour was chased from the net midway through the 3rd after giving up 8 goals on 36 shots. Bob Brooke, Neal Broten, Norm Maciver and Ken Leiter all had 3 points each for Minnesota. NO ONE on the Leafs played a strong game, and their entire blueline was chewed out by a livid Coach Taylor after the game.
NHL News:
- D Chris Chelios went 3-2-5 for MTL in their 9-2 thumping of VAN
- C Joe Nieuwendyk had an unreal 4-2-6 effort for CGY in an embarrassing 10-0 shutout of WPG