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BOX SCORE
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Rangers probably would have lost
this game last season.
|  | | Rangers right wing Sandy McCarthy, left, squares off against the Oilers' Georges Laraque in a first-period confrontation. |
Down by two goals less than two minutes into the game, the Rangers rallied to beat Edmonton 4-3 on Tuesday
night, snapping the Oilers' four-game winning streak.
Brian Leetch scored twice to reach 800 career points, and Radek
Dvorak tallied a late power-play goal as the Rangers won for the
fourth time in five games and reached the .500 mark at 7-7-0.
"We were always on the short end of 2-1 and 3-2 games," Leetch
said of last season, the Rangers' third straight without a playoff
appearance. "We were always pressing and pressing and that tired
as out."
The Rangers failed to score at least five goals for the first
time in five games, but four was enough.
"We responded after being down 2-0, we kept working and
working," Leetch said. "We had a good attitude coming in that we
would keep playing regardless of the score. That's what we've been
trying to preach the last two weeks."
Dvorak's goal with 5:15 remaining gave the Rangers the lead
after Mike Grier's shorthanded goal tied it 3-3 for Edmonton with
8:34 left.
Petr Nedved, who had three assists, made a blind backhand pass
out in front to Dvorak, who scored his third of the season.
"I saw him there for a half-second and I saw he was going to
the net," Nedved said. "The defenseman sort of went with me, so I
just threw it out there and it was a goal."
Dvorak wasn't surprised the puck came to him.
"I was expecting a pass from Petr because he made a look before
he passed," Dvorak said.
The game marked the first between the teams since Glen Sather,
the architect of Edmonton's dynasty of the 1980s, left after 22
years as Oilers general manager to take the same job with the Rangers.
"For anybody who is long in an organization, those games mean a
little bit more than others," Nedved said. "It was great we were
able to win, especially the way we started out."
New York took a 3-2 lead at 6:12 of the third, erasing the
deficit Edmonton built in the first 1:58. Jan Hlavac, who had two
assists, carried the puck into the Oilers' zone and got it to
Nedved in the right circle. Nedved moved it back to him in the left
circle, Hlavac hit Leetch streaking down the middle, and the
Rangers defenseman fired it in for his fourth goal.
Just eight seconds after Eric Brewer was called for hooking,
Todd Marchant and Grier rushed toward the Rangers' end with only
Leetch back and scored.
After falling behind 5-0 in shots, the Rangers rebounded for a
41-16 advantage the rest of the way.
"They were the hungrier team," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish
said. "It was a pretty intense hockey game."
Bill Guerin scored his 11th goal at 1:09 of the first, and
Brewer added his first in 38 games just 49 seconds later to make it 2-0.
"You don't like to be in that position, but they made a couple
of good plays," said goalie Mike Richter, who was stellar in
stopping 18 shots. "To our credit, we were able to regroup and the
fans didn't really seem to get on us."
Leetch scored at 6:55 of the second to cut it to 2-1, and Mike
York tied it at 13:06.
Both teams had goals waved off in the second. Just 13 seconds
before York tied it, it was ruled New York's Eric Lacroix kicked in
a shot from the crease.
Edmonton lost a chance to take a 3-2 lead when Janne Niinimaa
fired a shot from inside the blue line that struck Richter in the
shoulder and got behind him. Richter lunged to cover the puck, but
it was knocked in. However, the net was knocked off its pegs before
the puck crossed.
Game notes
Rangers RW Theo Fleury, last week's NHL player of the week,
skated in his 900th career game. Fleury had a five-game point
streak and a four-game goal streak snapped. ... Edmonton RW Georges
Laraque fought Sandy McCarthy and Dale Purinton in the first. ...
Oilers D Igor Ulanov was struck in the face by a puck in the second
and returned midway through the third. ... The teams do not meet
again this season. ... The scoreboard clock was stuck at 15:26 left
in the third for 1 minute, 8 seconds. The time was adjusted after
Leetch's second goal, which was originally announced as 4:56.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Edmonton Clubhouse
NY Rangers Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Islanders 2
Nashville 1
NY Rangers 4
Edmonton 3
Colorado 2
Minnesota 0
Phoenix 3
Los Angeles 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Brian Leetch scores his 800th career point.
avi: 900 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Bill Guerin starts the game with a goal on Mike Richter.
avi: 1268 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Eric Brewer scores his first goal of the season for the Oilers.
avi: 968 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Tommy Salo denies Theo Fleury on the breakaway.
avi: 1395 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Brian Leetch knocks the power-play goal past Tommy Salo.
avi: 777 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Mike York slips the puck past Tommy Salo.
avi: 1229 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Brian Leetch credits a lot of his success to fellow Ranger Mark Messier.
wav: 175 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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