NHL PLAYOFFS : Capitals Shove Penguins to the Brink, 7-2

The hockey world is in turmoil. The defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins are on the verge of elimination in the opening round of the playoffs. Two division winners are in the same situation and the other two are struggling to stay even.

Dino Ciccarelli scored four times Saturday night at Pittsburgh to lead the Washington Capitals to a 7-2 romp over the Penguins and a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Capitals, who came out firing in Game 4, can win the opening round with a victory Monday night on home ice.

All four division winners are playing the fourth-place team in their division. Yet, Vancouver and Detroit, division champions in the Campbell Conference, are both trailing, 3-1. The New York Rangers and Montreal, division champions in the Wales Conference, are tied, 2-2. The Capitals’ one-sided victory merely continued their domination of the defending champions this season. They hold an 8-3 margin counting the regular season and appear to be in good position to wrap it up at Landover, Md., where they are 5-1.

The Penguins were hoping the return to form of much-injured Mario Lemieux would signal a turnabout in the series. The scoring champion had three goals and three assists Thursday night, when the Penguins won, 6-4.

But the Capitals shut the big center down Saturday night until they already had a 4-0 lead.

They also sent goaltender Tom Barrasso, the star of last spring’s Stanley Cup, off the ice a 3-0 loser after pelting him with 19 shots in the first 20 minutes.

Ken Wregget replaced Barrasso at the start of the second period and stopped all five shots he faced in the period. But Ciccarelli scored the first of his three last-period goals at 1:35 and the rout was on.

Don Beaupre continued to sparkle in the net for the Capitals. He stopped 31 of 33 shots.

New York Rangers 3, New Jersey 0--The Rangers needed a lift at East Rutherford, N.J., and goaltender Mike Richter provided it.

Richter, who had a sub-par performance and lost Game 3 when the Devils took a 2-1 lead in the series, was sensational.

He stopped 33 shots and had to be brilliant, because until Jan Erixon scored four minutes into the final period to give him a lead, he was under extreme pressure.

A defeat in this game would have been a severe blow to the Rangers’ hopes of winning their first Stanley Cup in 52 years.

After Erixon broke the scoreless tie, taking a pass from Mark Messier and beating Greg Terreri from 15 feet, Paul Broten gave Richter some breathing room four minutes later. Time was running out when Mike Gartner completed the scoring into an empty net.

Hartford 3, Montreal 1--Yvon Corriveau scored a goal and assisted on the other two as the Whalers won back-to-back games at Hartford for the first time in 3 1/2 months to even their series with the Canadiens at two apiece.

The Canadiens, the earliest division winner to clinch, finished 28 points ahead of the Whalers during the regular season.

But the Whalers put up a stout defense in front of goaltender Frank Pietrangelo and he faced only 12 shots in the first two periods. Before Kirk Muller spoiled his shutout bid at 7:28 of the final period, Corriveau and Randy Cunneyworth had given him a 2-0 lead.

The Canadiens, trying desperately for the tying goal, put heavy pressure on Pietrangelo, who couldn’t relax until Murray Craven scored into an empty net with 19 seconds left.

Boston 5, Buffalo 4--Ted Donato scored at 2:05 of overtime and the Bruins, by winning the last two games at Buffalo, have taken a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Sabres carried the battle to the Bruins, but they went into the final period, trailing, 4-3.

Wayne Presley tied the game in the first minute of the period. Most of the period the puck was in Boston’s end of the ice. The Sabres had a 13-4 shooting edge.

But it was Donato who got the puck in front of the net and shoveled it in for the win.