Ron Hextall

Pete Peeters, a four-time All-Star goaltender, was released by the Philadelphia Flyers. The goalie-rich Flyers, who still have veterans Ron Hextall and Ken Wregget in addition to prospect Dominic Roussel, will buy out the remaining year of Peeters' contract.

Luc Robitaille is: (a) 1987 NHL rookie of the year. (b) the only King rookie of the year in the team's 20-year history. (c) Voted No. 1 rookie over goalie Ron Hextall of Philadelphia and teammate Jimmy Carson. (d) All of the above. The answer is (d), but no one in Los Angeles knows this since the L. A. Times does not give hockey front-page coverage. JONATHAN MILLER Encino

Eric Lindros estimated he has a 50-50 chance of playing in the Philadelphia Flyers' season opener Saturday. The Flyers' captain caught his skate in the pads of goalie Ron Hextall during practice Tuesday, aggravating a groin pull he initially suffered during the World Cup of Hockey. * The NHL maintained its lead as the most expensive ticket in professional team sports, with average prices going up more than 10% this season, according to the Team Marketing Report. The average ticket price is $38.

Garth Snow made 27 saves in his first playoff start and Eric Lindros had a goal and three assists as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-1, on Thursday night at Philadelphia. The victory gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Pat Falloon had two goals and Rod Brind'Amour had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia.

Goaltender Ron Hextall will miss 10 to 14 days because of a groin strain, but he and the Philadelphia Flyers insist his latest injury is nothing to worry about. Hextall, who sat out most of last season with injuries, left the Flyers' 7-4 victory over the New Jersey Devils with 3:06 remaining in the second period Thursday night. He suffered the injury after he did a split on a shot by Devils defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov. "I went across there and felt a little tug," Hextall said.

Defenseman Mark Hardy scored his first goal of the season with 5:22 left to lead the New York Rangers to a 4-2 victory over the slumping Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night. Hardy, the defensive-minded defenseman who scored only one goal in the previous two seasons, slapped Paul Broten's pass past Flyer goaltender Ken Wregget to break a 2-2 tie. Hardy last scored on Oct. 6, 1990. Sergei Nemchinov added a breakaway goal at 18:09.

Mike Ridley's goal snapped a tie 3:27 into the third period Tuesday night and the Washington Capitals defeated Philadelphia, 4-3, at Landover. Md., snapping the Flyers' 7-game winning streak. Ridley picked up the puck in the right corner, skated around Philadelphia defenseman Jay Wells in front of the Flyer goal and slipped it under goalie Ron Hextall for his 23rd goal. The Capitals are unbeaten in their last 6 home games with a 4-0-2 record.

Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ron Hextall, who led his club to three consecutive victories while extending his personal undefeated streak to seven games, was named today as the NHL Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 18. Hextall allowed only one goal in each of the three games as he helped the Flyers return to the .500 mark for the first time since Nov. 9. Other players considered for the award included center Mario Lemieux and goalie Tom Barrasso, both of the Pittsburgh Penguins.