Ron Hextall

It's rather a shame that goaltender Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers wasn't around a dozen or so seasons ago. The Flyers, who in those days were two-time Stanley Cup champions and known as the Broad Street Bullies, would have loved Hextall and vice versa. The feisty second-year goaltender would have fit right in with Dave Schultz, Bobby Clarke and other Bullies.

Ron Hextall scored the first legitimate goal by a goaltender in National Hockey League history Tuesday night at Philadelphia in the Flyers' 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. With the Flyers holding a 4-2 lead and time running out, the Bruins removed their goaltender for a sixth attacker. Hextall, often criticized for coming too far out of the crease, retrieved the puck near the right faceoff circle. He shot the puck down the ice and into the empty net.

The Philadelphia Flyers have signed goaltender Ron Hextall to a new multi-year contract. Terms of the agreement were not released by the team Tuesday. Hextall, 23, is struggling in his second National Hockey League season after winning the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie last season and recognitions as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup finals, which the Flyers lost to the Edmonton Oilers. He has a 2-7-2 record with a 3.

Did Ron Hextall win the Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup MVP) only because he's white? MARK S. SCOTT Seal Beach

A pre-game scuffle, some shoving at the end of periods, Ron Hextall's vicious chop to the legs of Oiler Kent Nilsson--these were all the byproducts of the bile and frustration the Philadelphia Flyers felt as they watched the disciplined Edmonton Oilers outskate and outshoot them, again Sunday night and take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup finals. The Oilers' 4-1 playoff victory in front of a sellout crowd was a dramatic fall from grace for the Flyers.

The Philadelphia Flyers were outshot, 39-18, by the Montreal Canadiens Friday night--but because of goaltender Ron Hextall, they were not outscored. "He was the game's outstanding player and won the game for us," Flyer Coach Mike Keenan said after Hextall's spectacular 36-save effort and Brian Propp's goal with 3:09 left gave the Flyers a 4-3 victory in Game 3 of their NHL semifinal playoff series.