Rangers Win Probable Final Gretzky-Lemieux Matchup

Mario Lemieux went quietly, leaving the heroics to Wayne Gretzky in what was probably the final meeting of the two superstars.

With Gretzky outplaying Lemieux, and Mike Richter turning in an outstanding goaltending job, the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0, on Monday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Rocked for nine goals in two previous losses to Ottawa and Montreal, Richter shut down the NHL’s highest-scoring team with 34 saves, including a great performance in the second when the Rangers were outshot 14-3.

The shutout was Richter’s fourth of the season and 18th of his career.

Bruce Driver gave New York a 1-0 lead at 4:58 of the first when he beat Patrick Lalime with a backhander from the slot and Mike Eastwood made it 2-0 when he scored from the right circle at 5:32 of the second.

Gretzky finished the game with an empty-net goal to seal the victory with 50 seconds left.

The Rangers moved within four points of the fourth-place Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference standings in their battle for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The sixth-place Penguins dropped four points behind the Rangers.

Lemieux who has said he will retire after this season, his 12th with the Penguins, would only face Gretzky again if their teams met in the playoffs.

Montreal 3, St. Louis 1--Martin Rucinsky scored his 26th goal and added an assist to help the Canadiens beat the Bruins for their first victory at the Molson Centre since Feb. 10. in Montreal.

Rucinsky, who has 14 goals and 10 assists in his last 23 games, beat Jim Carey on the first shot the Boston goalie faced. Carey was put in the game after Rob Tallas sprained an ankle midway through the first period.

Rookie Darcy Tucker and Vincent Damphousse added third-period goals 26 seconds apart to seal the victory.

Jozef Stumpel scored his 18th goal on a power play with 2:23 left in the third period for the Blues, ruining Jocelyn Thibault’s bid for his sixth career shutout.

Edmonton 5, San Jose 1--At San Jose, Ryan Smyth and Todd Marchant scored in a 12-second span of the first period to give the Oilers an early two-goal lead.

Oiler goaltender Curtis Joseph made 30 saves for his 30th victory of the season, improving his career record against the Sharks to 18-2.

Smyth’s two goals give him 33 this season.

San Jose’s home sellout streak ended at 118 games. The attendance of 17,159 was 283 short of a sellout, the first time the Sharks failed to get a capacity crowd since March 8, 1994.

The 118 consecutive sellouts was the longest current streak in the NHL.