Messier Is Injured in N.Y. Loss

The New York Rangers lost Mark Messier to injury and then suffered a rare home loss, 5-3, as Joe Juneau scored twice for the Washington Capitals in the third period.

It was the Rangers’ first loss in 92 games when they led after two periods. They had been 85-0-6 in those games since 1992.

It was also the second consecutive loss at home for the Rangers, who matched a club record by going unbeaten in 24 games before losing to the Islanders last week.

Messier was forced to leave in the first minute of the second period after aggravating an old injury to his right shoulder. There was no immediate word on the extent of the injury to the Rangers’ captain and leading scorer, who scored his 41st goal in the first period.

“No one guy can fill in for Mark Messier,” Ranger forward Adam Graves said. “I think the big thing is that collectively we have to pick up our game at both ends of the rink. I don’t know how bad the injury is, but we have to learn to go through these things.”

The Rangers also lost defenseman Kevin Lowe to an apparent groin injury in the third period.

Detroit 6, N.Y. Islanders 2--Viacheslav Kozlov scored twice in the third period at Uniondale, N.Y., as the Red Wings broke open a close game to win their fifth in a row.

Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood won his 30th game, stopping 24 shots. The Red Wings have lost only two of their last 20 (17-2-1).

Tommy Soderstrom stopped 26 shots for the Islanders, who have lost two of their last three.

Edmonton 4, Boston 3--Mariusz Czerkawski, traded from the Bruins to the Oilers last month, scored with 20 seconds left in overtime, lifting Edmonton to the victory at Boston.

Czerkawski’s 11th goal of the season--and first game-winner--came at 4:40 of the extra session. He scored on a backhanded shot from the right faceoff circle, assisted by Jeff Norton and Bryan Marchmant.

Cam Neely sat out his third consecutive game for the Bruins because of a hip injury.

Pittsburgh 7, Vancouver 4--The Penguins rolled to an easy victory over the Canucks at Vancouver behind two goals apiece from Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux.

NHL Notes

Art Savage, who guided the San Jose Sharks in their first five years, resigned as president and chief executive, effective March 15. Savage will be replaced by Greg Jamison, currently the team’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. Savage, 44, said his decision had nothing to do with the team’s 14-42-6 record this season but is something he had considered for several months. . . . The Philadelphia Flyers traded third-string goaltender Dominic Roussel to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for fellow netminder Tim Cheveldae and a 1996 third-round draft pick. . . . Ron Francis of the Pittsburgh Penguins was fined $1,000 and suspended for two games without pay by the NHL as the result of a “checking from behind incident” against Montreal Canadien defenseman Vladimir Malakov on Saturday. . . . Right wing Peter Bondra of the Washington Capitals will sit out at least three games because of a groin injury.