Messier Joins Elite With Goal

Mark Messier’s power-play goal in the third period gave the Rangers a 3-2 victory Wednesday over the Capitals in New York and moved him into a tie for 10th place with Mike Bossy on the NHL all-time scoring list with 573 goals.

With Andrei Nikolishin in the penalty box for hooking Wayne Gretzky, Messier took a return pass from Alexander Karpovtsev in the right faceoff circle and blasted a slap shot that Olaf Kolzig partially stopped at 11:13.

But the puck trickled over the goal line.

Ranger goaltender Mike Richter stopped a penalty shot by Ken Klee at 8:53 of the second period. Richter has faced seven penalty shots and never been beaten.

Calgary 3, Colorado 2--Ron Stern scored his second goal of the game with less than three minutes to play at Denver, and the Flames recorded their first road victory against the Avalanche franchise in five years.

Ed Ward dug the puck out of the boards and fed Stern in the slot. Stern beat goaltender Patrick Roy over his shoulder. It was Stern’s first two-goal game of the year.

Trevor Kidd made 27 saves for the Flames’ first road win against Colorado since Jan. 14, 1992, when the franchise was in Quebec. The Flames were 0-4-1 a year ago in Denver and are 1-2-0 this year.

Chicago 3, Toronto 2--Denis Savard scored twice in the third period to lift the visiting Blackhawks to a come-from-behind victory over the Maple Leafs.

Ethan Moreau added his 11th goal of the season for Chicago, and Eric Weinrich had two assists. Mats Sundin scored his 36th goal and Sergei Berezin his 20th for Toronto.

Hartford 6, Boston 3--Kent Manderville had his first hat trick, and Sami Kapanen scored on a penalty shot at Hartford, Conn., as the Whalers extended their unbeaten streak to four games.

The Whalers, 3-0-1 in their last four, had not scored more than two goals in any of their last seven games. With the score tied, 1-1, Manderville tipped Steve Chiasson’s point shot beneath Bruins’ goalie Jim Carey.

Pittsburgh 5, Phoenix 5--Stu Barnes’ second goal of the game, with 48.2 seconds remaining, gave the Penguins a tie with the Coyotes at Phoenix.

Darrin Shannon had given Phoenix a 5-4 lead with 9:34 left when he redirected a Teppo Numminen shot past Pittsburgh goaltender Ken Wregget for his second goal of the game.

Dallas Drake, Craig Janney and Keith Tkachuk also scored for Phoenix as the Coyotes opened a one-point lead over St. Louis for the Western Conference’s fifth playoff spot.