Devils Continue Mastery of Rangers

As Mark Messier went against the New Jersey Devils, so did the New York Rangers.

When Messier was on the ice, the Rangers competed. When Messier collapsed in pain trying to skate off a third-period shot to his left knee, so did the Rangers.

Jason Arnott scored two goals as New Jersey erupted for four goals after Messier was hurt and the Devils extended their unbeaten streak against the Rangers to 20 games with a 5-2 victory Wednesday night at East Rutherford, N.J.

Messier downplayed his injury, which Coach Ron Low did not think was serious.

“We climbed back into the game after a strong second period,” Messier said. “We got caught up in the neutral zone in the third and they got some momentum. Those are things we can correct, and we will. But this was a good test for us. We have ground to make up, but I think we are slowly getting there.”

Brian Rafalski and Jay Pandolfo also scored in the final period and Martin Brodeur stopped 18 shots as the Devils won a season-high sixth consecutive game after a six-game losing streak.

St. Louis 6, Toronto 5--Jochen Hecht scored 18 seconds into overtime to cap the Blues’ rally from a 5-0, third-period deficit at Toronto.

Alexander Khavanov scored twice for the Blues, including the game-tying goal with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation.

“It’s the biggest comeback of my hockey career, and it’s not likely to ever happen again,” said Pavol Demitra, who assisted on the Blues’ last three goals.

Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph gave up six goals in less than 16 minutes.

“It was like an avalanche that you couldn’t get out of,” Joseph said. “It just kept coming.”

Washington 4, Tampa Bay 1--Jeff Halpern’s short-handed goal broke a second-period tie at Washington and sent the Capitals to their fourth consecutive home victory.

Philadelphia 4, Columbus 3--Mark Recchi scored two goals in the third period at Columbus, Ohio, including the winner with a minute to play as the Flyers sent the Blue Jackets to their sixth loss in a row.

Detroit 6, Atlanta 4--The Red Wings stunned the Thrashers by scoring four second-period goals in a span of 3:57 at Atlanta, wiping out a 3-2 deficit.

A hat trick by Atlanta’s Shean Donovan went for naught.

Calgary 4, Dallas 3--Jason Wiemer ended Ed Belfour’s shutout streak at 219 minutes 9 seconds, then Cory Stillman scored three goals in the third period at Dallas as the Flames ended an eight-game winless streak.

Stillman’s hat trick, which came in a 5:06 span, wasn’t made official until after the game. Jerome Iginla originally was credited with Calgary’s second goal of the period, on a power play, but further reviews prompted the switch. The three goals give him 10 for the season and two hat tricks in his career.

Colorado 2, Phoenix 1--Martin Skoula scored his first goal of the season with 1:12 to play and Joe Sakic had a power-play goal at Denver as the Avalanche extended its home unbeaten streak to eight games.

The Avalanche, 7-0-1 in its last eight home games and 17-4-3 overall, is also off to the best start in franchise history. The 1994-95 Quebec Nordiques were 16-5-3 after 24 games.

Montreal 3, Edmonton 2--Brian Savage had a goal and an assist and Martin Rucinsky scored the winner for the Canadiens midway through the third period at Edmonton.

Carolina 2, Florida 1--Bates Battaglia scored on a breakaway with 3:19 to play in overtime at Miami.