NHL ROUNDUP : Richter, Rangers Turn 2-0 Lead Into a 4-3 Loss

Usually a 2-0 lead at Madison Square Garden with Mike Richter in goal is a sure bet for the New York Rangers.

Not this season.

The Rangers’ top goalie continued to struggle at home Friday night, giving up Ron Sutter’s first goal of the season early in the third period as the New York Islanders beat the Rangers, 4-3.

For the third consecutive game at the Garden, Richter was pulled. Before the slump, he had finished all his starts this season.

“I think we generated more chances and had the better play than they did, so I will take responsibility for the loss,” Richter said.

Travis Green scored two goals for the Islanders and Bob Beers one. Alexei Kovalev, Pat Verbeek and Mark Messier scored for the Rangers.

The Islanders have won only twice in their last 13 games, and both victories have been against the Rangers.

Winnipeg 7, Vancouver 4--Winnipeg scored three short-handed goals in less than five minutes in a victory at Winnipeg, Canada.

Nelson Emerson, Darryl Shannon and Keith Tkachuk each beat Vancouver goalie Kirk McLean in a span of 4:44 during the first and second periods to help Winnipeg extend its undefeated streak to four games.

Tkachuk and Teemu Selanne scored two goals apiece for the Jets, while Alexei Zhamnov had one.

Detroit 4, Toronto 2--Viacheslav Kozlov and Keith Primeau scored late in the second period at Toronto as the Red Wings extended their unbeaten streak to seven games and handed the Maple Leafs their third consecutive loss.

Paul Coffey and Martin Lapointe also scored for the Red Wings, who tied the idle Quebec Nordiques for the most points in the league.

San Jose 5, Edmonton 0--Igor Larionov and Ray Whitney each scored two goals, and Larionov added an assist to help the Sharks shut out Edmonton at San Jose.

The victory snapped the Sharks’ three-game losing streak and moved San Jose ahead of Edmonton and into contention for the final Western Conference playoff berth.

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NHL Notes

The Dallas Stars beat the trading deadline with two deals, including a trade of unhappy All-Star right wing Russ Courtnall to the Vancouver Canucks for two players and a draft choice. The Stars also dealt right wing Alan May to the Calgary Flames for an undisclosed 1995 draft choice. In exchange for Courtnall, disgruntled over his $800,000 salary and benched for three games recently because of the pay dispute, the Stars obtained left wing Greg Adams and right wing Dan Kesa. Courtnall joins his brother, Geoff, in Vancouver. . . . In an exchange of defenseman, the Philadelphia Flyers traded fifth-leading scorer Garry Galley to the Buffalo Sabres for Petr Svoboda. The Sabres also sent defenseman Ken Sutton to the Edmonton Oilers for left wing Scott Pearson.

The Pittsburgh Penguins bolstered themselves for the playoffs by trading center Martin Straka to Ottawa for defensemen Norm MacIver and center Troy Murray. The Penguins made three deals. The others involved defensemen. Grant Jennings went to Toronto for Drake Berehowsky, and minor-leaguer Greg Brown was sent to Winnipeg for unspecified future considerations. . . . The San Jose Sharks traded veteran left wing Gaetan Duchesne to the Florida Panthers for a sixth-round choice in this year’s entry draft. . . . Defenseman Gerald Diduck was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks by the Vancouver Canucks, who received minor-league prospect Bodgan Savenko and a third-round draft pick this year from the Blackhawks. Earlier, the Canucks acquired right-winger Roman Oksiuta from Edmonton and sent defenseman Jiri Slegr to the Oilers.

The Boston Bruins have acquired goalie Craig Billington from Ottawa for future considerations, team officials announced. . . . The Toronto Maple Leafs obtained defenseman Grant Jennings from Pittsburgh and forward Tie Domi from Winnipeg in separate deals. . . . The NHL suspended Hartford Whaler defenseman Glen Featherstone for four games for throwing his helmet into the seats at Buffalo and slightly injuring a Sabres usher.