Theodore thrust into tough spot

Jocelyn Thibault was out with the flu, but playing behind the Montreal Canadiens’ defense probably made Jose Theodore’s stomach turn, too. The 20-year-old rookie goaltender, promoted to the Canadiens following the release of backup Pat Jablonski, was pressed into service almost immediately after Thibault, Montreal’s No. 1 netminder, became ill. Theodore got his baptism by fire, facing 41 shots in a 2-2 tie with the Florida Panthers Feb. 3. He was selected the game’s first star. Two nights later, a combination of poor defensive zone coverage and mistakes by Theodore resulted in a 63 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Theodore faced 34 shots from a lineup that was without Mario Lemieux. Tomas Vokoun, another 20-year-old rookie promoted from the Fredericton Canadiens of the American League, got his first NHL start Feb. 6 against the…

Gretzky chips in with guts, assists during goal slump

Even as his goal-less streak threatened to become the longest of his pro career, Wayne Gretzky continued to do stunning things for the New York Rangers. The Great One contributed four assists to lead the Rangers to a very important 5-2 win over the Hartford Whalers Feb. 5. The win was huge for several reasons: The Rangers had been handing away points to teams below them in the standings (all nine of their losses since Nov. 23 had been to teams with records below .500); they’d been awful at home; and 11 of their next 13 games were scheduled on the road. Gretzky’s performance against Hartford was also notable because of altercations he had with defenseman Kevin Haller that almost erupted into a fight. Haller, a longtime foe of Rangers’ captain Mark Messier,…

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

Transactions include player moves from Jan. 31 to Feb. 7. Rosters and injuries are as of Feb. 7. Players in roster are listed in sequence of latest line combinations and defense pairings (i.e. first center plays on line with first left winger and first right winger). ANAHEIM TRANSACTIONS Feb. 3: Craig Reichert, RW, recalled from Baltimore (AHL). Frank Banham, RW, assigned to Baltimore. Feb. 5: Dan Trebil, D. recalled from Baltimore. ROSTER C–Steve Rucchin, Jari Kurri, Sean Pronger, J.F. Jomphe. LW–Paul Kariya, Brian Bellows, Garry Valk, Warren Rychel, Ken Baumgartner. RW–Teemu Selanne, Joe Sacco, Peter LeBoutillier, Craig Reichert. LD–Bobby Dollas, Darren Van Impe, Nikolai Tsulygin. RD–Dmitri Mironov, Jason Marshall, Dan Trebil. G–Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtal-enkov. INJURIES Shawn Antoski, LW, bilateral hernia surgery, indefinite, Ted Drury, C, broken right wrist, late-February. David Karpa, D, broken right hand, late-February.…