Gretzky Gets Tip of the Hat for Heads-Up Effort

PHILADELPHIA — Wayne Gretzky insisted luck alone explained why he scored three times in the New York Rangers’ 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, which tied the Eastern Conference finals at one game each.

If that’s the case, said Ranger captain Mark Messier, “his luck has been great for 20 years.”

In truth, there was as much intelligence as good fortune behind Gretzky’s efforts and those of his Ranger teammates.

The Rangers used their heads to exploit the Flyers’ weaknesses, pressuring Philadelphia’s erratic defense in scoring three times on their first four shots and five times in 10 before goalie Garth Snow was replaced by Ron Hextall. And they pounded center Eric Lindros at every opportunity, holding him scoreless and limiting him to one shot as they seized control of a game they felt compelled to win before the series shifts to New York on Tuesday.

But while Snow’s gaffes, Messier’s two assists and defenseman Dallas Eakins’ pounding of Lindros were vital in the Rangers’ reversal of their series-opening loss, Gretzky made the biggest difference Sunday.

“He’s tremendous,” Adam Graves said of Gretzky, who extended his NHL record with his 10th playoff hat trick and second this spring. “Look in the dictionary under the words ‘smart hockey player’ and you’ll see a picture of him.”

Said Ranger Coach Colin Campbell: “He just seems to do it continually. Just when we need something, he comes through, or Mark comes through. That’s what leadership is about, especially this time of year.”

When the Flyers, playing before a home-record crowd of 20,106 at the CoreStates Center, took an early lead on John LeClair’s deflection of a point shot by Eric Desjardins, Gretzky helped the Rangers recover. After Doug Lidster tied the score on a shot from the point after Mike Eastwood won a faceoff, Gretzky put them ahead, 2-1, at 7:35. The chance arose when a dump-in by Esa Tikkanen took a crazy hop off the glass and bounced into the slot, where Gretzky stopped the puck with his right skate, nudged it onto his stick and back-handed it past Snow.

He padded the Rangers’ lead to 3-1 at 9:34, after Snow foolishly left his net to play the puck. Gretzky corralled it and threw it in front, where it bounced off the skate of Flyer defenseman Karl Dykhuis and into the net. And even after the Flyers tied the game in the second period, on a redirection by Paul Coffey at 6:45 and a long shot by Rod Brind’Amour at 7:34, Gretzky wrested control of the game again at 9:30, taking a pass from Messier and stepping inside the defense for a 40-foot blast that flew past Snow’s glove for a 4-3 Ranger lead.

Gretzky also played an uncredited but crucial role in the Rangers’ fifth goal, serving as a decoy on a two-on-one break that Messier completed with a short shot from the right side at 13:45. All this while playing right wing, a move Campbell made to keep Messier, Gretzky and Esa Tikkanen together as much as possible.

“I’m no Gordie Howe over there,” Gretzky said. “I just tried to be in position. The only thing Mark and I talked about was regrouping and getting some speed going so I wouldn’t get the puck standing still and I wouldn’t get run into the boards.”

The Flyers cut their deficit to one goal at 15:11, when Shjon Podein finished off a give-and-go with Joel Otto, but Ranger goalie Mike Richter preserved the lead through a contentious third period.

The loss was a bitter disappointment for the Flyers, who hoped to play another tight, defensive game and manufacture goals with their superior size. Instead, they allowed the Rangers to dictate an offensive style and embarrass Snow in the process. Flyer Coach Terry Murray said he will probably turn Tuesday to Hextall, who replaced Snow after Messier’s goal and stopped all 12 shots he faced.

“We saw them coming out a little harder and we opened it up a little too much,” Podein said. “In a playoff game, you think if you score four goals you should win. We sagged defensively as a team. It was kind of a wasted effort. . . . We have to go back to playing a simple, defensive, grinding style of hockey game and not try to put on a show.”