European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 20, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday april 20, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 25 Hawks claim opener by the associated press Chicago a the Chicago Black Hawks finally figured out How to get off to a winning Start in the Stanley cup playoffs. Brian Noonan scored twice As Chicago won its playoff opener for the first time in seven years by beating the St. Louis blues 3-1 on saturday night in the opener of the teams Norris division semifinal series. The Blackhawk also shut Down Brett Hull the nil Leader with 70 goals. De Belfour made 33 saves As Chicago won its nil playoffs opening game for the first time since 1985, when the Blackhawk swept Detroit in the first round. Noonan who had Only four goals after dec. 29, tied the game 1-1 and changed the momentum when he beat Curtis Joseph at 15 08 of the second period. Noonan took a pass from Mike Hudson behind defens Eman Paul Cavallini and beat Joseph High to the stick Side. Prior to the goal the Blackhawk had been out shot 21-18 but they out shot the blues 16-6 Over the next 20 minutes and put the game out of reach. Jocelyn Lemieux knocked in a rebound with 36 seconds left in the second period to give Chicago a 2-1 Lead. Steve Smiths slap shot from the Blue line missed the left Post by inches but the rebound came Back into the crease. Curtis Joseph sprawled to Stop Chris Chelios shot but  control the rebound and Lemieux fought off a Check and put Chicago ahead. Noonan a second goal came on the Power play just 30 seconds into the third period. Dave Christian gave St. Louis a 1-0 Lead 3 24 into the game working a give and go with defens Eman Rick Zombo before beating Belfour from 15 feet. Game 2 in the Best-of-7 series is monday at Chicago stadium. In other games saturday North stars 4, red wings 3 Detroit a Brian Bellows snapped a tie with 6 15 left in regulation and Minnesota which shocked the nil by knights Blackhawk  Chris Chelios blankets blues storing Ace Brett Hull As goalie de Belfour covers a Loose puck saturday. Advancing to the Stanley cup finals a year ago beat Detroit in the first game of their Norris division semifinal series. Bellows the North stars second leading scorer with 75 Points during the regular season took a pass inside the Blue line from Jim Johnson and fired a Long shot from the right boards. Sergei Fedorov scored two goals for Detroit which hosts game 2 on monday night. Detroit trailed 2-1 late in the second period before goals by Fedorov and Steve Yzerman put the red wings ahead 3-2. Defens Eman Jim Johnson tied it Early in the third period. Jets 3, canucks 2 Vancouver British Columbia red Olczyk a breakaway goal Early in the third period broke a tie and gave Winnipeg a Victory Over Vancouver in their smythe division semifinal opener. Evgeny Davydov who joined the jets after helping the Commonwealth of Independent states win the olympic Gold medal tied the game during a Power play 18 seconds into the final period before Olczyk beat Kirk Mclean on a breakaway at 3 15. Vancouver a Igor Larionov and Winnipeg Fredrik Olausson scored 1 40 apart Midway through the first period. Rookie Pavel Bure scored late in the second to put Vancouver ahead. Oilers 3, Kings 1 Inglewood Calif. A defens Eman Brian Glynn scored twice As injury depleted Edmonton Defeated los Angeles in the opening game of their smythe division semifinal series. Edmonton gave the Kings who finished second in the smythe with a 35-3114 record Little room to Man Euver All night. The oilers 21st in the league in penalty killing killed off All nine los Angeles Power plays including five in the third period. Shoulder injuries to Craig Simpson and Anatoli Semenov left Edmonton thin up front but a Strong defensive Effort preserved the two goal Lead in the third period. The oilers 36-34-10 in the regular season but Only 1-3-3 against the Kings look a 2-0 Lead in the first period by out skating the Kings and consistently beating them to the puck. They struck first at 4 14 on Vince Damphousse a goal after the Kings were penalized for having too Many men on the ice. Damphousse who led Edmonton in scoring with 38 goals and 89 Points in the regular season came around the net to flip a rebound Over crud Eye a right leg. Damphousse then set up Glynn in the Slot and the Dafen Semans a wrist shot from Between the circles hit Hruden and went Between his pads at 15 45. Edmonton took a 3-0 Lead on Glynn s second goal at 9 44 of the second period. Seventeen seconds after Marty Mcsorley was penalized Joe Murphy sent a pass from the right Circle to Glynn at the Point. Glynnus slap shot went past Hru Dey s kick. The two goals equalled Glynnus regu Lar season output with the oilers who obtained him from Minnesota on Jan. 21. He scored two goals with the North stars. Galaxy from wire reports East Rutherford . A Kendall Trainor Given a second Chance after a roughing penalty kicked a 32-Yard Field goal As time ran out saturday to lift the new York new Jersey knights to their first world league Victory of the season 2421 Over the Frankfurt Galaxy. Trainor missed from 37 Yards but the Galaxy a Cedric Stallworth tripped Trainor setting up the second kick. New York is 1-4 Frankfurt dropped to 2-3. Doug Pederson the third string quarterback for the knights completed 18 of 39 passes for 257 Yards and two touchdowns. He moved the knights 69 Yards in nine plays in the final 1 46 to set up Trainor s game Winner. Starter Reggie Slack was out with a sprained left shoulder and backup Brent Pease has a dislocated right thumb. Both were injured in the second Quarter of last weeks loss to Orlando. Frankfurt starting quarterback Mike Perez was also sidelined with a rotator cuff injury. Alex Espinoza replaced Perez and completed 10 of 18 for 169 Yards and one touchdown. The knights took the opening Kickoff and marched 65 Yards in 10 plays with Eric Wilkerson going Over from four Yards out. Wilkerson carried six times for 33 Yards on the drive. On the ensuing Kickoff Cornell Burbage recovered a Fumble by Frankfurt a Tony Baker on Galaxy 17. Three plays later Pederson passed 12 Yards to Lonnie Turner for a touchdown As the Ball deflected off Burbage a hands to Turner in the end zone. But Frankfurt rallied to tie it at 14 at halftime. Pederson was sacked by Kevin Wolfolk and fumbled and Strong safety Tim Broady recovered and took it 23 world league Yards for a touchdown making it 14-7. On the knights next Possession Wilkerson fumbled and Pat Moorer recovered for the Galaxy on the knights 25. Four plays later Espinoza passed seven Yards to Chad Fortune for the tying score. The knights surged ahead 2114 in the third Quarter when Pederson connected with Chris Mclemore for a 67-Yard scoring play the longest in team history. Frankfurt tied it on the first play of the fourth Quarter with Baker going Over on a four Yard run to Cap an eight play 55-Yard drive. Espinoza hit Baker with a 26-Yard pass to set up the score. Baker rushed 26 times for 96 Yards for the Galaxy. Mclemore rushed for 61 Yards on 11 carries for the knights. In other world league games saturday Barcelona 9, London 0 Wembley England Teddy Garcia kicked three Field goals including a league record 51-yarder, As the dragons blanked the monarchs. Garcia who played for new England and Houston in the nil also converted from 20 and 43 Yards. He missed from 20 and 27 Yards. The Victory gives Barcelona 4-1, a sweep of the regular season series Between the two teams and maintains their hold on first place in the leagues european division. The monarchs who Defeated the dragons in last years inaugural world bowl fall to 1-3-1 before 18,518 at Wembley stadium. The drag Iii dominated the game controlling the Ball for almost 40 minutes As Joe Mickles subbing for the injured Paul Palmer rushed for 107 Yards ins 21 carries. But despite six possessions inside the London 30, they were unable to get the Ball into the end zone a they resulted in Garcia a five Field goal attempts and one interception. The London offence struggled the entire game As quarterback Stan Gelbaugh threw four interceptions. Birmingham 28, Sacramento 14 Birmingham Ala. Mike Norseth threw for two touchdowns including a 56-yarder to Eddie Britton that broke a fourth Quarter tie to Lead Birmingham Over Sacramento. The Eire 3-1-1 Pul the game away four minutes later when Jim Bell scored on a 1-Yard plunge. The surge 3-2 out gained Birmingham by nearly 100 Yards but was Hurt by four turnovers