NHL ROUNDUP : Oilers Spoil the Reunion for Messier

Mark Messier’s reunion with his former team turned bittersweet when the Edmonton Oilers rallied in the final minutes at New York to beat the Rangers, 4-3, Sunday night.

Messier, a longtime star with the Oilers before being traded to the Rangers on Oct. 4, said he was nervous before the game, but scored a goal to help the Rangers take an early lead.

“Once the game started, I was able to treat it like another game,” Messier said, “but the buildup was bigger than usual.”

With Messier playing for the other team, it fell to Joe Murphy to provide the Oilers with a lift. Murphy reached out and deflected Luke Richardson’s point shot past John Vanbiesbrouck for the tying goal with 3:11 to play in regulation, then set up Craig Simpson for the winner 43 seconds later.

Vanbiesbrouck and the Rangers protested, to no avail, to referee Paul Stewart that Murphy’s stick was over his shoulder.

With the Rangers still upset over the tying goal, Murphy controlled the puck to the left of Vanbiesbrouck and found Simpson in front for a quick dunk that gave the Oilers the lead.

Oiler goaltender Bill Ranford made 32 saves, including Mike Gartner’s stab at a loose puck in the slot in the closing seconds.

The victory over the Rangers gave the Oilers a successful weekend visit to the New York area. They beat the Islanders, 4-2, in Uniondale, N.Y., on Saturday night.

St. Louis 4, Chicago 1--Pat Jablonski, making only his 13th career start, stopped 43 shots at Chicago and the Blues ended the Blackhawks’ five-game unbeaten streak.

Jablonski made 16 saves in the first period, giving up only Mike Stapleton’s goal, then turned aside 15 shots in the second period and 12 more in the third.

He was at his best in the second period, stopping Steve Smith, Jeremy Roenick and Michel Goulet, then thwarting Steve Larmer on a short wrist shot. Chicago outshot the Blues, 44-20.

Ron Sutter tied the score with a power-play goal 1:01 into the second period, then set up Dave Christian’s go-ahead short-handed goal with 1:45 to play in the period as St. Louis won on the road for the first time this season after three losses.