Pierre Larouche

Despite yielding eight goals, the Rangers did not leave the Spectrum last night demoralized. "They (the Flyers) basically won one period of the first six," said defenseman Pat Price, who was in a grumpy mood all night. "They came out full bore, like we knew they would. By the third period, that takes its toll. " Nothing the Flyers did in the penalty-littered, three-hour-and-10-minute game surprised the Rangers. "We all know how Philadelphia plays, and that's fine," said Phil Esposito, the Rangers' general manager and acting coach.

The more things change - and since Phil Esposito became the general manager here, the Rangers certainly have - the more they stay the same. Pierre Larouche, their sometimes brilliant scorer, was benched last night. This was nothing new to Larouche's checkered 12-year career, although some record had to be established by the fact that Tom Webster was the third Rangers coach this season to sit him down. Among the many reasons why Esposito fired Ted Sator was his unwillingness to endure Larouche's poor defensive habits.

Among those who never believed it could happen were the New York Rangers themselves. The main man who made it happen was no exception. "Before the series? No, I wasn't sure," said James Patrick, the NHL's next great defenseman. "But after the fourth game, I wouldn't have been surprised. And then after the first period tonight, we knew it was very possible. " Patrick and the Rangers kept their doubts well-disguised. The fourth-place team in the Patrick Division was a confident, synchronized bunch in the 5-2 win that eliminated the Flyers last night.

If they've been watching this series on cable television, Flyers coach Mike Keenan and Washington Capitals coach Bryan Murray must be weeping. You see, the New York Rangers team that showed up for the first two games of this Stanley Cup semifinal series against the Montreal Canadiens hardly looks like the same squad that eliminated the Flyers and Caps. The Rangers, trailing 2-0 in the best-of-seven Wales Conference finals, will try to regroup as the scene shifts to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 tonight and Game 4 on Wednesday night.

New York Rangers center Pierre Larouche, the only player in National Hockey League history to score 50 or more goals for two different teams, retired yesterday after 14 NHL seasons because of an injured back. Rangers general manager Phil Esposito said the 32-year-old Larouche would remain in the organization as a special assistant. During his 812-game career with Pittsburgh, Montreal, Hartford and New York, Larouche accumulated 395 goals and 427 assists for 822 points during that span.

The New York Rangers pulled out all the stops to beat the Washington Capitals. Naturally, they left it to John Vanbiesbrouck to make most of them. "I've never seen him look that sharp," Rangers veteran Don Maloney said after Vanbiesbrouck's stellar goaltending helped the Rangers defeat the Capitals, 2-1, last night and move into the semifinal round. "I said to myself, 'Forget it, they're not going to get the puck in the net,' " Maloney said. "We just seem to get confidence from him and build on it. " Playing "out of my mind," Vanbiesbrouck said, he made 27 saves in the brilliant defensive struggle, allowing just a third-period score by Bobby Carpenter.

They call it the Big Apple, and after listening to the thunderous ovation awarded the New York Rangers last night at Madison Square Garden, you realize why every other city in North America is small potatoes. No, the Rangers didn't finally win another Stanley Cup - not yet, anyway. But it sure sounded like it. And the way the crowd roared after the Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals, 2-1, to capture the Patrick Division championship, four games to two, it makes you shudder to think what would happen if the Rangers actually do go all the way. There is talk of wrecking the Garden and building another nearby.

Maybe you expected that the New York Rangers would beat the Flyers in the first game of their Stanley Cup playoff series, but you couldn't have expected the way they did it. The Flyers not only lost the game, they were shut out, 3-0, by goalie John Vanbiesbrouck last night at the Spectrum. It was the first time they had been shut out at home in a playoff game since Cesare Maniago of Minnesota beat them, 3-0, in 1973. They were basically beaten in a 27-second span of the second period, when Pierre Larouche and Ron Duguay scored for the Rangers.

How does a team with the third-worst defensive record in the NHL show up at the Spectrum and suddenly shut out the team with the league's second-highest point total over 80 regular-season games? The Rangers did it by somehow managing their best defensive performance of the season. Talk about good timing . . . From goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck on through the defense to the forwards, the Rangers hung a big zero around the necks of the Flyers in their Stanley Cup playoff opener.

The Flyers had seen Bob Froese play like this before, but until yesterday the goalie had always been observed from their own rear-view mirror and never in a uniform other than their own. That's because Froese had always been theirs until they traded him to the New York Rangers on Dec. 18 for defenseman Kjell Samuelsson and a second-round draft pick in 1989. But "Frosty" returned to the Spectrum yesterday, and, in a splendid duel with Ron Hextall, the rookie goalie who the Flyers felt made Froese expendable, he iced his former teammates, 3-1. Murray Craven was the only Flyer able to find a crevice in Froese, with his 15th goal of the season in the second period.

New York Rangers center Pierre Larouche, the only player in National Hockey League history to score 50 or more goals for two different teams, retired yesterday after 14 NHL seasons because of an injured back. Rangers general manager Phil Esposito said the 32-year-old Larouche would remain in the organization as a special assistant. During his 812-game career with Pittsburgh, Montreal, Hartford and New York, Larouche accumulated 395 goals and 427 assists for 822 points during that span.

Lane MacDonald looked across the faceoff circle and smiled. Pierre Larouche shook his head. "Now I know I'm getting old," Larouche, the New York Rangers' veteran center, said. This was Sept. 19, when the U.S. Olympic hockey team, with MacDonald at left wing, met the Rangers in an exhibition game at Lake Placid, N.Y. The Rangers won, 6-5, but all Larouche will remember is lining up against the son of a former NHL teammate. It is the kind of moment every man and woman in the "thirtysomething" generation dreads.

The Flyers know exactly what to expect when they take the ice at Madison Square Garden tonight. They know that they won't be able to hear a single note of the national anthem because of the crowd, and they know that obscene banners will be unfurled from the upper balcony. But most of all, they know that the New York Rangers will come at them like kamikazes. After all, the Flyers can eliminate the Rangers with a victory in Game 6 of their best-of-seven series tonight at Madison Square Garden (Channel 57, 8:35)

Despite yielding eight goals, the Rangers did not leave the Spectrum last night demoralized. "They (the Flyers) basically won one period of the first six," said defenseman Pat Price, who was in a grumpy mood all night. "They came out full bore, like we knew they would. By the third period, that takes its toll. " Nothing the Flyers did in the penalty-littered, three-hour-and-10-minute game surprised the Rangers. "We all know how Philadelphia plays, and that's fine," said Phil Esposito, the Rangers' general manager and acting coach.

Maybe you expected that the New York Rangers would beat the Flyers in the first game of their Stanley Cup playoff series, but you couldn't have expected the way they did it. The Flyers not only lost the game, they were shut out, 3-0, by goalie John Vanbiesbrouck last night at the Spectrum. It was the first time they had been shut out at home in a playoff game since Cesare Maniago of Minnesota beat them, 3-0, in 1973. They were basically beaten in a 27-second span of the second period, when Pierre Larouche and Ron Duguay scored for the Rangers.

There really is nothing spooky about it. Yet. It is understood that hockey is played in a small, crowded area, where the puck will change directions often and land in places that at times can make or break entire seasons. For instance, the difference between the three posts the Flyers hit and the three goals - two by Pierre Larouche - the Rangers scored in their 3-0 victory last night at the Spectrum was not completely in skill. And nothing you could attribute to more than just dumb luck was the difference between one team getting ahead and the other falling behind.

How does a team with the third-worst defensive record in the NHL show up at the Spectrum and suddenly shut out the team with the league's second-highest point total over 80 regular-season games? The Rangers did it by somehow managing their best defensive performance of the season. Talk about good timing . . . From goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck on through the defense to the forwards, the Rangers hung a big zero around the necks of the Flyers in their Stanley Cup playoff opener.

The Flyers had seen Bob Froese play like this before, but until yesterday the goalie had always been observed from their own rear-view mirror and never in a uniform other than their own. That's because Froese had always been theirs until they traded him to the New York Rangers on Dec. 18 for defenseman Kjell Samuelsson and a second-round draft pick in 1989. But "Frosty" returned to the Spectrum yesterday, and, in a splendid duel with Ron Hextall, the rookie goalie who the Flyers felt made Froese expendable, he iced his former teammates, 3-1. Murray Craven was the only Flyer able to find a crevice in Froese, with his 15th goal of the season in the second period.

The more things change - and since Phil Esposito became the general manager here, the Rangers certainly have - the more they stay the same. Pierre Larouche, their sometimes brilliant scorer, was benched last night. This was nothing new to Larouche's checkered 12-year career, although some record had to be established by the fact that Tom Webster was the third Rangers coach this season to sit him down. Among the many reasons why Esposito fired Ted Sator was his unwillingness to endure Larouche's poor defensive habits.