Gretzky, Rangers Win One

The New York Rangers finally won a game in the Wayne Gretzky era.

Gretzky scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 10:39 left in the third period as the Rangers got their first victory of the season, beating the Calgary Flames, 5-4, in New York Monday night.

The Rangers, 1-3-2, were the last NHL team to win a game.

“Teams go through this during the course of an 80-game season,” Gretzky said. “Hopefully this is the only stretch like this we’ll go through.”

The Rangers followed what has become a familiar pattern, falling behind, 2-0, on first-period goals by Corey Millen and Joel Bouchard. Booed as they left the ice between periods, the Rangers fought back to tie it 2-2 in the second by outshooting the Flames, 14-0.

“We knew we dug ourselves a hole and we had to get out of it ourselves,” said the Rangers’ Brian Leetch, whose power-play goal at 10:36 of the second period cut Calgary’s lead to 2-1.

Boston 5, Vancouver 4--Rick Tocchet scored with 14 seconds left in overtime to give the Bruins a victory at Vancouver.

The goal was one of three that went between the legs of goaltender Kirk McLean and came on the only shot he faced in the overtime.

Tocchet beat McLean, snapping off a shot from the slot after teammate Adam Oates won a faceoff from Canuck center Mike Sillinger in the Vancouver zone.

McLean also gave up third-period goals to Jeff Odgers and Ted Donato on shots from sharp angles that beat him between the leg pads.

Steve Heinze scored the other two goals for the Bruins, who were outshot, 43-19, but won their second consecutive game on a West Coast trip.

Edmonton 6, Phoenix 3--Jason Arnott and Dean McAmmond spoiled Jeremy Roenick’s debut by scoring two goals apiece as the Oilers won at Phoenix.

Andrei Kovalenko and Todd Marchant also scored for the Oilers, who snapped their two-game skid and ended a three-game winning streak by the Coyotes.

Roenick, who ended a 58-day holdout late Sunday, appeared for the first time in a Phoenix uniform. He drew a standing ovation from the crowd of 13,916 when he was introduced as a starter but appeared to be winded after a few seconds of skating.