Sabres

In a rare show of honesty that will surely be condemned by his coaching brethren, Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock was frank about winger Brett Hull's groin strain and again declared Hull a doubtful participant tonight in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. However, he said Hull is expected to return during the series. It's the second successive injury Hitchcock has discussed, violating hockey's unwritten rule of being vague or deceptive about such matters. He said center Mike Modano would play in Game 3 after a wrist injury that some reports said was severe enough to end Modano's season, and Modano did play in the 2-1 victory over Buffalo that gave Dallas a 2-1 series lead.

Ryan Walter and Pierre Mondou each scored in the final minute of regulation play Monday night, helping the Montreal Canadiens battle the Quebec Nordiques to a 4-4 tie at Montreal. The Canadiens had been outplayed and were trailing, 4-2, but Montreal got a power-play advantage and took out goaltender Steve Penney for an extra skater, setting the stage for Walter's 11th goal of the season at 19:11 of the third period.

The Calgary Flames' goal in their long home stand is to regain first place in the Smythe Division. They took a step in that direction Friday night when Theoren Fleury scored his 27th goal to lead an 8-2 romp over the Washington Capitals. The Flames stretched their unbeaten string at Calgary to eight games (7-0-1) and moved to within three points of the Kings. Before going on the road again, the Flames will have four more home games.

When 51-goal scorer Tim Kerr went out with a knee injury March 8 in a game against Washington, the Philadelphia Flyers thought they had lost their offensive punch. The injury has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. In the absence of their scoring leader, the other Flyers have stepped up the pace on offense.

Wayne Gretzky became the youngest player to score 400 goals in National Hockey League history Sunday at Buffalo, but it took two third-period goals by Mark Messier to give the Edmonton Oilers a 5-4 victory and end the Sabres' 10-game unbeaten streak. The Sabres, losing for only the second time at home this season, took a 4-3 lead early in the final period on Dave Andreychuk's 20th goal. But halfway through the period Messier tied the score.

They're calling them the Buffalo Sators now, a mocking tribute to the Sabres' new coach, Ted Sator. A month ago, after being fired by the New York Rangers, Sator was asked where he thought he would be working next. "Hmm, is there a hockey team in hell?" he mused. Buffalo is as close as the NHL gets, but with a marked temperature inversion. Sator inherits a crummy team (8-23-5), an old team, a slow team, a team that cannot score.

Four seasons ago, when the Winnipeg Jets had the worst record in National Hockey League history, some people said unkindly that the team hailed from Lose-ipeg. That joke is heard no more. In fact, under former King defenseman Barry Long, the Jets have become a respected team. Only Edmonton had not recognized the Jets' respectability. At long last, the Jets have cleared that hurdle, too. Wednesday night at Winnipeg, with Perry Turnbull scoring twice, the Jets beat the Stanley Cup champions, 6-2.

Wayne Gretzky let the Winnipeg Jets know he is still boss of the Smythe Division. In an early showdown for division honors, the smooth-skating star of the Edmonton Oilers had a hat trick in less than 22 minutes Wednesday night at Winnipeg and led the Oilers to a 7-4 victory. Gretzky, in scoring three goals or more in a game for the 40th time, enabled the Oilers to increase their lead to five points over the Jets.

Peter Stastny scored his 29th goal with 11 seconds left in overtime and the Quebec Nordiques spoiled a Boston Bruin rally with a 4-3 victory Sunday at Boston. Stastny, set up by Mark Kumpel and Alain Cote, circled the Boston net and poked the puck past goalie Pat Riggin at the corner. Quebec ran its record to 4-0-1 against Boston this season and handed the Bruins their third loss in four days.

Mario Lemieux didn't have much success against the Florida Panthers in last season's playoffs. He was better Tuesday night, scoring the last two goals of the game to lead the Penguins to a 4-2 victory at Pittsburgh. Lemieux scored his 40th goal to break a tie with 6:27 left in the third period, then added an empty-netter to end a four-game losing streak for the Penguins. Last spring, Lemieux had only one goal in seven games as the Penguins fell to the Panthers in the Eastern Conference finals.