September 21, 1949: England 0-2 Ireland

September 21, 1949: The Republic of Ireland soccer team defeats England 2-0 at Goodison Park in Liverpool, the home ground of Everton Football Club. As a result, Ireland become the 1st non-United Kingdom team to defeat England on English soil.

Cornelius "Con" Martin of Birmingham team Aston Villa, and Peter Farrell of Everton (thus playing on his home pitch), scored the goals. Davy Walsh, a forward whose best years were with Belfast team Linfield, Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion, and Aston Villa (where he was a teammate of Martin), was the last survivor from this team, living until 2016.

Things would get worse for England over the next few years: In 1950, they participated in the World Cup for the 1st time, and were humiliated by the U.S. team; followed by shreddings at the hands of the "Magnificent Magyars" of Hungary in 1953 and 1954, and poor performances in the 1954, 1958 and 1962 World Cups. It would take until 1966 for them to redeem themselves.

Ireland, however, were unable to follow up on this triumph. They didn’t make the World Cup until 1990 (reaching the Quarterfinals), doing so again in 1994 and 2002, but not since.

*

September 21, 1949 was a Wednesday. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Artis Gilmore was born.

And these baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 10-9 at Yankee Stadium. The White Sox scored 3 runs in the 8th inning and 3 more in the 9th, to come from behind to win. Rocky Krsnich and Gus Zernial hit home runs for the Pale Hose. Joe DiMaggio did not play.

* A doubleheader was split at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The New York Giants lost the opener to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4. Sheldon "Available" Jones should not have been so available, as he walked Danny Litwhiler with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Giants won the nightcap, 5-2. The game was called due to rain after 7 innings.

* A doubleheader was split at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The St. Louis Cardinals won the opener, 1-0. Max Lanier pitched a 5-hit shutout, outpitching Don Newcombe. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the nightcap, 5-0. Elwin "Preacher" Roe pitched a 2-hit shutout, while Harry Brecheen didn't get out of the 4th inning. Duke Snider hit a home run. Over the 2 games, Jackie Robinson went 0-for-6 with 2 walks, while tan Musial went 1-for-7.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams and Al Zarilla hit home runs for the Red Sox. Ellis Kinder won his 22nd game of the season.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Senators beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Dick Welk pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Boston Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ralph Kiner hit 2 home runs for the Bucs, but it wasn't enough.

* And a doubleheader was split at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 1st game, 3-1. The Chicago Cubs won the 2nd game, 9-6.

July 23, 1966: Eusébio vs. North Korea

July 23, 1966: Coming off perhaps the greatest upset in World Cup history, North Korea faces Portugal, and the man who might be, for the moment, the greatest soccer player in the world.

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira was born on January 25, 1942, in Lourenço Marques, in Mozambique, on the east coast of southern Africa, then a colony of Portugal. In 1975, after the Carnation Revolution overthrew Portugal's fascist government, the overseas empire was broken up, and Mozambique gained its independence. Lourenço Marques was the capital, and its name was changed to Maputo.

By the age of 18, Sport Lisboa e Benfica, the Lisbon-based soccer team that was, then as now, the most successful, the most loved, and the most hated sports team in Portugal, signed him. Benfica won Portugal's Primeira Liga and the European Cup (the precursor tournament to today's UEFA Champions League) in 1961, but Eusébio played only 1 senior game that season. But in 1961-62, the season in which he turned 20, he became a world "football" superstar, leading them to win the Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup) and a repeat of the European Cup, scoring 5 goals in the tournament, including 2 goals in the Final against Real Madrid. 

(Infamously, Benfica have not won a European Final since, losing the European Cup/Champions League Final in 1963, '65, '68, '88 and '90; and the 2014 UEFA Europa League Final.)

With Eusébio, Benfica won the Premeira Liga 11 times between 1961 and 1975, and the Taça de Portugal 5 times between 1962 and 1972. In other words, they "did The Double" twice, in 1964 and '72. He scored 638 goals in 614 official matches for Benfica. In 1965, he was awarded the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) for world player of the year. He became known as O Rei (The King), the Black Pearl and the Black Panther. I don't know how Portuguese natives generally treated black people on the soil of the empire's seat, but he remained beloved in Portugal throughout his life. (Brazil's Pelé was also nicknamed O Rei and the Black Pearl.)

In 1966, Portugal qualified for the World Cup, and were placed in Group 3 with another of their former colonies, Brazil, the 2-time defending Champions; and 2 Eastern Bloc nations, Hungary and Bulgaria. On July 13, at Old Trafford, home ground of Manchester United, they beat Hungary, 3-1, with José Augusto, Eusébio's Benfica teammate, scoring 2 goals. On July 16, also at Old Trafford, they beat Bulgaria, 3-0, with Eusébio scoring. And on July 19, at Goodison Park in Liverpool, home of Everton F.C., they beat Brazil, 3-1, with Eusébio scoring twice.

Portugal and the Soviet Union were the only countries, out of the 16 to qualify, who got through the Group Stage 3-0. However, some bad fouls by Portuguese and Bulgarian defenders left Pelé injured, and so it was Hungary that joined Portugal in advancing to the knockout stage from Group 3.

The Quarterfinal was set for July 23, at Goodison: Portugal vs. North Korea. No one expected North Korea, coming off its epic upset of Italy in the last game of the Group Stage, to pull off a 2nd huge upset within 5 days. But Pak Seung-zin scored in the 1st minute, before many people had even gotten to their seats. Li Dong-woon scored in the 22nd, and Yang Seung-kook scored in the 25th. Portugal had only allowed 2 goals in the entire Group Stage, 270 minutes plus stoppage time. Now, in 25 minutes, they had allowed 3.

Eusébio to the rescue. He scored in the 27th. In the 43rd, Portugal were rightly awarded a penalty, and Eusébio took it, closing his team to within 3-2. In the 56th he hit a screamer that tied the game. The North Koreans decided to follow the Bulgarians' path, and foul the opposing star like crazy. In the 59th, a tackle worthy of an immediate dismissal -- yellow and red cards hadn't come into use yet -- injured Eusébio's knee. He took the penalty, anyway, and gave Portugal a 4-3 lead, completing the comeback. Somehow, he finished the game, and José Augusto capped the performance with a goal in the 80th. Portugal 5, North Korea 3 -- 3-0 to North Korea in the 1st 25 minutes, 5-0 to Portugal thereafter.

North Korea's fairy tale was over. Portugal's lasted just 1 more game. In the Semifinal, at Wembley Stadium in London, Bobby Charlton of Manchester United scored 2 goals for England. Portugal were awarded a penalty in the 82nd minute, and Eusébio took it, but they couldn't find an equalizer. West Germany beat the Soviet Union in the other Semifinal, and England won the Final, 4-2 after extra time.

Eusébio continued to be one of the world's best players for a few more years. In 1975, 33 years old, he did what so many aging soccer players were doing, and would do, and continue to do today: He came to North America to make a lot of money. He played in the original North American Soccer League.

In 1975, he played for the Boston Minutemen. In 1976, he played for Toronto Metros-Croatia (a merger of the Toronto Metros and Toronto Croatia), and they won the NASL title. In 1977, he played for the Las Vegas Quicksilvers. But he was 35, and dealing with constant pain and medical treatment on his knees. He scored only 2 goals. 

In 1978, he signed with the New Jersey Americans of the American Soccer League, who played their home games at Memorial Stadium in New Brunswick, Middlesex County. As a native of East Brunswick, I've seen many sporting events at that complex: Football, soccer, baseball. But I didn't know Eusébio played at Memorial Stadium until 2011 -- 33 years later. In 1979, he played with the Buffalo Stallions of the Major Indoor Soccer League, and then he retired, to work for Portugal's national team.

Eusébio died on January 5, 2014. He was just short of turning 72. The outpouring of memories of other legends of the sport showed that he was still held in very high esteem, all over the world.

*

July 23, 1966 was a Saturday. The other World Cup Quarterfinals were also played that day. England beat Argentina, 1-0 at Wembley. West Germany beat Uruguay, 4-0 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire. And the Soviets beat Hungary, 2-1 at Roker Park in Sunderland, in the North-East.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle hit a grand slam, and the Yankees chased Angel starting pitcher Marcelino Lopez after 3 innings. But it wasn't enough, as Al Downing and Pedro Ramos couldn't hold the lead.

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Sandy Koufax went the distance for the win.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk, but Frank Robinson went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs.

* The Washington Senators beat the Kansas City Athletics, 8-1 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.)

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline did not play.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bob Gibson pitched a 6-hit shutout, outpitching Robin Roberts, in his final season. Lou Brock hit a home run. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Jim Bunning pitched a 3-hit shutout, the hits all singles, by Willie Mays, Hal Lanier, and, oddly, the opposing starting pitcher, Bobby Bolin.

* And the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds were rained out at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. Both games went 10 innings. The Reds won the opener, 4-3. Vada Pinson scored on a wild pitch by Dick Kelley. The Braves won the nightcap, 5-4. Joe Torre hit 2 home runs in the 2nd game, including the winner in the top of the 10th. Hank Aaron went 1-for-7 with a home run in the 2nd game, 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Pete Rose went 1-for-10.

May 5, 1928: Dixie Dean Scores 60 Goals In a Season

May 5, 1928: Everton Football Club play Arsenal Football to a 3-3 draw at Goodison Park in Liverpool. Everton's biggest star, forward William Ralph Dean Jr., known as "Dixie" Dean, scores all their goals -- his 58th, 59th and 60th of the Football League Division One season. This remains, far and away, a record for English soccer's top division.

The preceding Saturday, April 28, Dean had scored 4 goals in Everton's 5-3 win away to Lancashire team Burnley. Huddersfield Town defeated Portsmouth, 4-1 at Leeds Road in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. As a result, Everton clinched the League title.

They finished 2 points ahead of Huddersfield, 53 to 51, with 2 points for a win at the time. In fact, Everton had clinched the League title on May 2, despite not being scheduled, when Huddersfield, in a makeup game, lost to Aston Villa, 3-0 at Villa Park in Birmingham.

Had Huddersfield won that game, Everton would have needed at least a draw against Arsenal to take the League title. With a draw, the title would have been decided on goal ratio. In which case, having Dean would have been more key than he already was, in this, Everton's 50th Anniversary season, having been founded in 1878.

Born on January 22, 1907, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, across the River Mersey from Liverpool, William Jr. had been taken to a game by William Sr. in the team’s last title season, 1915, and made him a fan for life. His nickname was unfortunate: Some people thought his dark complexion made him look like a black man of the American South, and so he was nicknamed "Dixie."

Dixie Dean was a lifelong resident of that city. He and his contemporary, American baseball pitcher Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean, almost certainly never knew of each other. It is also unlikely that Dean knew much about another baseball star, George Herman "Babe" Ruth, who, the previous September 30, completed a record-setting season of 60 home runs.

Dixie Dean helped Everton win the League title again in 1932, and the FA Cup in 1933. Oddly, he was not selected for the England team that beat World Cup winners Italy, 3-2 at Arsenal's home, Highbury, in 1934. His Everton teammate, right half Cliff Britton, was selected. And, since a dispute with FIFA meant that none of Britain's "Home Nations" competed in the World Cup until 1950, Dean never played in the World Cup. Nor was he, or any other Everton player, included in the 1935 match in which England defeated Nazi Germany at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane.

Dean died on March 1, 1980, of a heart attack, in the stands at Goodison Park, while watching Everton play their arch-rivals, Liverpool Football Club. He was 73 years old. A statue of him now stands outside the stadium. His total of 60 goals in one season remains the record for the top division in any of the Home Nations: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, or (no longer part of the United Kingdom) the Republic of Ireland

Bill Shankly, who starred for Preston North End in the 1930s before coaching Liverpool F.C. to glory in the 1960s and '70s, said of Dixie Dean, "He belongs to the company of the supremely great, like Beethoven, Shakespeare and Rembrandt." As much as any British athlete of the decade, he made "The Roaring Twenties" roar, but he was timeless.

*

May 5, 1928 was a Saturday. This was also the day that the famed West Indies cricket team debuted. I have a separate entry for that event.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-0 at Yankee Stadium. George Pipgras pitched a 7-hit shutout. Babe Ruth went 0-for-3 with 2 walks. Lou Gehrig went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* The New York Giants lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 11-3 at Redland Field (later renamed Crosley Field) in Cincinnati. Mel Ott went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Brooklyn Robins (as the Dodgers were known while Wilbert Robinson managed them) beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Watson Clark outpitched future Hall-of-Famer Jesse Haines. Del Bissonette and Harry Riconda hit home runs.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Ty Cobb, playing for the A's against his former team, went 2-for-5. Tris Speaker, also wrapping up his career with the A's, went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Washington Senators beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-5 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 6-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Paul Waner went 1-for-4. Lloyd Waner went 3-for-4. For the Braves, Rogers Hornsby went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Although it was the 1st Saturday in May, which is the traditional date of the running of the Kentucky Derby, that was not yet traditional. In 1928, the Derby was run on May 19, and Reigh Count won it. His son, Count Fleet, won the Triple Crown in 1943.

April 29, 1939: Everton: Lucky But Unlucky Again

April 29, 1939: Everton Football Club, the "blue club" in Liverpool, clinch the Football League First Division championship, defeating Birmingham team Aston Villa, 3-0 at their home ground, Goodison Park.

Known as the "Toffees," due to a pair of toffee shops near their original ground, in the Everton neighborhood of the north side of Liverpool, they got off to a fast start that season, winning their 1st 6 games. From January 14 to April 15, 1939, they won 12 games, drew 3, and lost only 1, to Birmingham-area team Wolverhampton Wanderers. "Wolves" also knocked them out of the FA Cup, in the Quarterfinal.

Everton lost again on April 22, away to South London team Charlton Athletic, but clinched the title at home on April 29. They put the game early, with Stan Bentham, Torry Gillick and Billy Cook all scoring in the 1st half-hour. Everton had won the title with a game to spare, and ended up beating Wolves by 4 points, at a time when a win was 2 points. Defending Champions Arsenal, of North London, were 5th, 12 points back.

The same day, the FA Cup Final was held, at the original Wembley Stadium in London. Wolves lost to South Coast club Portsmouth, who won with a pair of goals late in the first half, by John Anderson and Cliff Parker.

Stan Cullis, Wolves' Number 5 in that game, would later manage them to 3 League titles and 2 FA Cups between 1949 and 1960. Portsmouth would win the Football League in 1949 and '50, but would not win the Cup again for 69 years after this game -- and when they did, it was through moves by manager Harry Redknapp that bankrupted the club and nearly drove them out of business, damage from which they are still recovering.

This would be the last FA Cup Final until 1946, as the 1939-40 season was suspended shortly after its start due to World War II. Everton had also won the title in 1914-15, the last season before League competition was suspended for the duration of World War I. Throw in the fact that Everton won the League in 1985, right before the Heysel ban, and in 1987, during it, and they might be the unluckiest club in English football history.

*

April 29, 1939 was a Saturday, as the FA Cup Final always is. Elsewhere in English football, Arsenal went to the East Midlands, and beat Derby County, 2-1 at The Baseball Ground in Derby. Derbyshire was one of the few places in England where baseball was popular, and while that didn't last long, and neither did the stadium's shape as a baseball-ready ground, the name lasted until it was replaced in 1997.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Ken Chase outpitched Lefty Gomez. Joe DiMaggio singled and scored in the 1st inning, then left the game with an injury. Lou Gehrig drew a walk in the 2nd inning, and singled in the 4th. But his batting average fell to .167. These would be his last times reaching base in the major leagues. He went 0-for-4 the next day, took himself out of the lineup, and never played again.

* The New York Giants lost to the Boston Bees, 8-1 at National League Park in Boston. This was during the short-lived "rebrand" of the Boston Braves and Braves Field. "Milkman" Jim Turner outpitched "Prince" Hal Schumacher. Max West went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Mel Ott went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0 at Ebbets Field. Whitlow Wyatt pitched a 7-hit shutout, defeating Hugh Mulcahy, who lost so many games pitching for the Phils that it became his nickname: Hugh "Losing Pitcher" Mulcahy. Dolph Camilli went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 3-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Lefty Grove started against his former team, but it would be Jack Wilson who was the winning pitcher. Jimmie Foxx, another ex-Athletic, went 1-for-3 with a walk. Rookie Ted Williams went 1-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Harry Craft hit a home run for the Reds. For the Pirates, Paul Waner went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, and his brother Lloyd Waner went 1-for-5.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-1 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Bob Feller outpitched Lynwood "Schoolboy" Rowe. Julius "Moose" Solters went 2-for-6 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Hank Greenberg went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Lon Warneke, a 3-time 20-game winner for the Cubs, came within 2 baserunners of a perfect game: He hit Billy Herman with a pitch in the 4th inning, and allowed a single by Stan Hack in the 7th.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 9-8 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

February 21, 1988: John Barnes vs. the Banana

February 21, 1988: An FA Cup 5th Round match is played at Goodison Park, home of Everton Football Club. It is a "Merseyside Derby," as Everton are playing Liverpool Football Club, whose home stadium, Anfield, is just one mile away, across Stanley Park.

This had previously been called a "friendly rivalry." But a very ugly moment happened in this game.

John Barnes was born in 1963 in Kingston, Jamaica. His father was an officer in the newly-formed Jamaican Army (independence had been gained the year before John was born), and in 1976, the British Commonwealth called Colonel Ken Barnes to London, where John finished his education and turned professional in soccer, which his father had played at the semi-pro level.

The midfielder helped Hertfordshire club Watford rise to 2nd place in the Football League in 1983, and to the FA Cup Final in 1984, where they lost to Everton. He was soon snatched up by the bigger Merseyside club, Liverpool F.C. He helped them win the League in 1988 and 1990, the FA Cup in 1989 and 1992, and the League Cup in 1995. He also played for England in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, and later managed the Jamaica national team to the 2008 Caribbean Cup.

He is famous for 2 things. At a point when Liverpool were embracing the rise of black players in the British Isles, Everton were not, and their fans were proud of the club's all-white status. That is no longer the case: Everton would have been relegated long ago if not for many fine black players, including New Jersey native goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Liverpool had won the League title in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1986. Everton had won it in 1985 and 1987. Everton, as stated, had won the FA Cup in 1984. In 1986, for the 1st time, the Final was a Merseyside Derby, and Liverpool won it, giving them what remains their only League and Cup "Double."

In 1988, the teams were drawn together for the 5th Round of the FA Cup, at Goodison Park. Liverpool won, 1-0, as Ray Houghton scored in the 76th minute, on an assist from Barnes.

Liverpool had embraced racial diversity. So had North London teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, and Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion. Everton had not, and, when faced with opponents who had, resorted to racist chants, which I won't include here.

During this game, Everton fans threw bananas onto the pitch (the field), an overt suggestion that black people are apes. One landed near Barnes as he prepared for a throw-in. Noble in the face of darkness, Barnes backheeled it off the pitch, and a picture of it became one of the iconic photos of English football. He later said, "If I had collected all the bananas that were thrown on the pitch, I'd be able to open a corner shop."

Having won the game, Liverpool advanced to the FA Cup Final, losing to Wimbledon in one of the all-time FA Cup shocks.

*

February 21, 1988 was a Sunday.  This was also the day that televangelist Jimmy Swaggart publicly confessed to his sex scandal. I have a separate entry for that event.

All the other games in that round of the FA Cup were played the day before. Baseball and American-style football were out of season. 

There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls, 113-111 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. 

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings, 130-112, at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 120-115 in overtime at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 117-112 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 117-110 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. This would prove to be a preview of the next two NBA Finals.

And there were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 6-4 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders beat the Hartford Whalers, 7-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-5 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Blackhawks and the Calgary Flames played to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena. Kevin Lowe scored the game-winner with 1:45 left in overtime.