Oct. 29, 2000 NYR 5 - Boston 1 - New York, NY (Sports Network) - Mark Messier scored two goals and added an assist to lead New York past the Boston Bruins, 5-1, snapping a four-game losing streak for the Rangers. Boston has now dropped six of its last seven contests. Mike Richter earned his first win of the season for the Rangers, stopping 31-of-32 shots.

Oct. 27, 2000 Pittsburgh 4 - NYR 1 - New York, NY (Sports Network) - Jaromir Jagr scored his ninth goal of the season and assisted on a Martin Straka tally as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers, 4-1, at Madison Square Garden. Pittsburgh won its fourth straight game against the Rangers and improved to 2-0-1 on the road. The Rangers have lost their last four games and are now 1-4-0 at home this season. Jean-Sebastien Aubin stopped 27-of-28 shots for the Penguins and rookie Johan Holmqvist made 29 saves in his NHL debut. The Rangers' top two goaltenders, Mike Richter and Kirk McLean, did not dress for Friday's game. Richter, who played Thursday against Philadelphia, is not yet ready for back-to- back games after having knee surgery and McLean is suffering from back spasms.

Oct. 26, 2000 PHILADELPHIA 3 - NYR 0 - Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Daymond Langkow notched a goal and an assist and Brian Boucher stopped 32 shots en route to his fifth-career shutout, as the Philadelphia Flyers completed the home- and-home sweep of the New York Rangers with a 3-0 victory at the First Union Center. The Flyers won their second-straight game after capturing Tuesday's meeting at the Garden, 5-4, and dealt the Rangers their third-consecutive loss. Prior to Tuesday's win, the Flyers had a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2). New York has dropped five-of-six games after opening the season with a pair of wins.

Oct. 24, 2000 Philadelphia 5 - NYR 4 - New York, NY (Sports Network) - Keith Primeau tallied a goal and an assist and Simon Gagne contributed three assists, as the Philadelphia Flyers held on to defeat the New York Rangers, 5-4. Philadelphia won for the first time in eight games (1-5-2) and improved to 7-1-1 in its last nine trips to Madison Square Garden.

Oct. 22, 2000 Tampa Bay 4 - NYR 2 - New York, NY (Sports Network) - Fredrik Modin recorded his first career hat trick and Wayne Primeau had two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning doubled up the New York Rangers, 4-2, at Madison Square Garden. The Lightning snapped a two-game losing streak and handed the Rangers their third loss in their last four games. Modin scored once in the first period and twice in the third, completing the hat trick at 13:20 of the final period. Kevin Weekes stopped 31-of-33 shots for the Lightning and Mike Richter turned aside 18 in his season-debut for the Rangers. Richter had been sidelined since having knee surgery on April 5.

Oct. 18, 2000 NYR 4 - CHICAGO 2 - CHICAGO (AP) - Valeri Kamensky said it was almost offside. The Chicago Blackhawks claimed it definitely was. Nonetheless, Kamensky's breakaway goal, scored with 20 seconds left in the first period counted and put the New York Rangers ahead for good Wednesday night in their 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. With the game tied 1-1, Kamensky, motoring over the Chicago blue line, took a long lead pass from Mark Messier, who had just crossed the Rangers' blue line. Kamensky cruised in alone on Tallas and helped New York snap its two-game losing streak. The Rangers nursed the 2-1 edge for 30 minutes before Jan Hlavac and Theoren Fleury connected in the third period. Adam Graves scored in the first for New York, which got 38 saves from Kirk McLean and improved to 3-2-0. Alpo Suhonen, the Blackhawks coach and Rob Tallas, their goalie, didn't see Kamensky's goal the same way. Steve Sullivan and Dean McAmmond scored for Chicago as the Blackhawks slipped to 2-3-0-1. McLean's effort came in his fifth straight start in place of injured regular Mike Richter. It might be McLean's last appearance for a while as Richter is scheduled to return from knee surgery Sunday night and start for the Rangers at home against Tampa Bay. McLean was particularly sharp early in the third period, when the Rangers, who were nursing a 2-1 lead, made several turnovers. Richter, who had left knee surgery in April, is scheduled to return Sunday and start for the Rangers at home against Tampa Bay. But Rangers coach Ron Low won't reveal whether Richter will immediately regain his role as the regular No. 1 goalie. The coach did, however, acknowledge that McLean's strong performance helped the Rangers snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 3-2. McLean, for his part, seems ready to accept whatever role Low gives him. Graves opened the scoring at 9:37 of the first period by ripping in a high shot from the left circle. Sullivan tied it 3:02 later when he beat Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch with a quick move and then beat McLean with a rising shot. After a scoreless second period, Chicago's Tony Amonte missed a wide-open net on a tip-in chance 3:50 into the third and then slid the rebound into McLean. The Blackhawks had several other prime chances before Hlavac shoveled in his own rebound to make it 3-1 with 9:55 left. Hlavac beat Tallas with a backhander that clanked in off the post. Fleury added an empty-net goal with a minute left to make it 4-1. McAmmond cut it to 4-2 with 31 seconds remaining.

Oct. 16, 2000 Anaheim 4 - NYR 3 - NEW YORK (AP) - Paul Kariya was so focused on getting the Anaheim Mighty Ducks turned around, he nearly lost track of his birthday. Kariya, held to only one point in Anaheim's first four games, had a goal and an assist as the Mighty Ducks beat the New York Rangers 4-3 Monday night. It was the first victory for the Ducks since they beat expansion Minnesota on opening night. Anaheim scored only five goals in three losses. Kariya helped set up Marty McInnis' second goal of the season that gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead in the first period. He made it 2-0 at 9:05 of the second, scoring the first of two Mighty Ducks goals in a 32-second span.Sylvain Lefebvre, Theo Fleury and Jan Hlavac scored for the Rangers, who managed only two first-period shots. New York, which opened the season 2-0 for the first time since the 1989-90 season, dropped its second straight game. The Rangers nearly tied it with 8:32 left, but Hlavac's shot rang off the left post. Mike Leclerc restored the two-goal lead at 4-2 when he scored his first goal 52 seconds later. New York closed to 4-3 with only 56.9 seconds left when Hlavac got one past Dominic Roussel on the power play and with goalie Kirk McLean pulled for an extra skater. A furious attempt to tie in the closing seconds was thwarted. Roussel, making his first start of the season and second appearance for the Ducks, stopped 25 shots. Kariya and right wing Teemu Selanne have gotten off to a slow start. Selanne, who has two goals, helped Kariya get his first by making a pass out from the corner into the left circle to Kariya, who whipped a shot that beat McLean. Anaheim's top line should get a boost soon when injured center Steve Rucchin returns to the lineup. Recently, coach Craig Hartsburg briefly split up Kariya and Selanne to try to spread the offense out. The Ducks' power play, only 3-for-19 this season, clicked on its first attempt Monday. McInnis deflected Kariya's shot from the center of the blue line past McLean at 10:39 of the first, 15 seconds after Rich Pilon went off for slashing. Andrei Nazarov gave the Ducks a 3-0 lead at 9:37 of the second period when Ladislav Kohn curled to the blue line and got the puck into the slot to Nazarov, who scored his first goal. Lefebvre cut it to 3-1 just 1:27 later. Leetch sent a shot on goal that Roussel should have been able to grab easily. The puck, however, tipped off his glove to Petr Nedved, who carried to the side boards and backhanded a pass to Lefebvre in the left circle. Fleury's luck has shown some signs of changing for the better. After scoring a career-worst 15 goals in his first year with the Rangers, the pint-sized forward scored his third of this season with 9:50 left when his pass hit Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei and slid into the net.

Oct. 14, 2000 PITTSBURGH 8 - NYR 6 - PITTSBURGH (AP) - The New York Rangers were surprised by Jaromir Jagr's four-goal game against them Saturday night. Surprised that he hadn't done it before. Jagr had his first career four-goal game as the Pittsburgh Penguins scored four times in the third period and beat the Rangers 8-6 for their third consecutive victory. In a league that's become obsessed with goal prevention in recent years, the Rangers played a style custom-made for Jagr. That kind of wide-open style energized Jagr and the Penguins, who opened the season with two games in Japan and admitted they were battling fatigue in Friday's home opener against Tampa Bay. Jagr pointed out that he actually got another goal, he said the Rangers' last score, credited to Theo Fleury, went off his stick. The Rangers lost for the first time this season and missed a chance at their first 3-0 start since 1989-90. Mark Messier and Fleury each scored twice as the Rangers converted four of nine power-play chances. The Penguins put the game away with three goals in the first 6:06 of the third period against McLean, 5-14-1 in his career against Pittsburgh. Jagr completed his seventh career hat trick 53 seconds into the third to break a 4-4 tie. With the Rangers caught in a line change, Jagr had ample time to wrist a shot past McLean. For Jagr, who usually faces close-checking teams, it was a dream come true. And how does a goalie defend 5-on-zero against one of the game's most prolific scorers? Martin Straka increased Pittsburgh's lead to 6-4 at 1:29 when he pulled away from defenseman Brad Brown in the slot and put a shot over McLean's glove. Roman Simicek got his first NHL goal at 6:06 to make it 7-4. Jagr scored again at 9:15 to give the Penguins four goals in the third period before the Rangers recorded a shot on goal. McLean was lifted in favor of rookie Jason LaBarbera after Jagr's fourth goal of the game and fifth of the season. McLean, who stopped 55 of 57 shots in the first two games, gave up eight goals on 33 shots to the Penguins. Kim Johnsson scored during a two-man advantage at 15:06 of the third for New York. Fleury scored on a power play late in the period. The Rangers were trailing 2-1 after one period when Michael York scored at 6:41 of the second. Fleury gave New York the lead at 10:09. Jagr's second goal, on a power play at 13:53, tied it 3-3. The Rangers regained the lead when Messier scored a power-play goal at 15:22, but Robert Lang scored on a power play at 19:07 to tie the score at 4. Messier scored the game's first goal on New York's first power-play chance at 6:43. Milan Kraft scored his first NHL goal to tie it less than two minutes later, and Jagr gave the Penguins their first lead when he put a shot in off McLean's pad at 14:11.

Oct. 11, 2000 NYR 3 - Montreal 1 - NEW YORK (AP) - Mark Messier again made Madison Square Garden his playground. Messier made a triumphant return to New York and the Rangers, the team he left as a free agent three years ago, scoring the winning goal in a 3-1 victory Wednesday night over the Montreal Canadiens. It wasn't the prettiest of the 184 goals he tallied wearing a Rangers jersey, but it led to the victory he wanted more than anything. Radek Dvorak scored twice for the Rangers, who won their home opener for the first time since 1995 and improved to 2-0 for the first time in a decade. Messier's goal came just 24 seconds into the final period as he carried the puck to the right of Canadiens goalie Jeff Hackett. Messier tried to pass out in front, but the puck hit the shin guard of Montreal defenseman Eric Weinrich and ricocheted nto the net to make it 2-0. Messier, who had an assist in New York's 2-1 opening-night victory over Atlanta, returned this summer as a free agent, signing a two-year deal. Messier, who led the Rangers to the 1994 Stanley Cup, ending 54 years of frustration, was honored as part of a 30-minute pregame ceremony celebrating the Rangers' 75th season and their captains. Rangers coach Ron Low said he could tell Messier was a bit excited. The Captain, who reclaimed his title from Brian Leetch, who uncomfortably held it in his absence, received a four-minute standing ovation from his beloved fans as he was the last New York player introduced to the crowd. Dvorak gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead on the power play with a wrist shot over Hackett's stick at 1:13 of the second period. Defenseman Craig Rivet got Montreal within a goal, 2-1, at 2:58 of the third by blasting a long shot past Kirk McLean. McLean, playing in place of injured goalie Mike Richter, who's recovering from offseason knee surgery, made 28 saves. Dvorak restored the two-goal lead with nine minutes remaining, taking a beautiful pass across the crease from Petr Nedved and directing the puck past Hackett, who played well in stopping 29 shots. It was Hackett's second strong game after a rough start. Hackett made 16 saves in Tuesday's victory over Edmonton after allowing seven goals on 38 shots in two losses. But even he was impressed by Messier. The Canadiens were 0-for-7 on the power play while New York was 2-for-6. Saku Koivu, who had two goals and two assists in Montreal's first three games, sprained his left knee in the first period and did not return.

Oct. 7, 2000 NYR 2 - Atlanta 1 - Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Valeri Kamensky and Petr Nedved scored first-period goals and Kirk McLean stopped 27 shots to lead the New York Rangers over the Atlanta Thrashers, 2-1. The Rangers improved to 28-33-13 on opening night, while the Thrashers have lost both of their season-openers. Steve Guolla scored Atlanta's lone goal and Damian Rhodes made 26 saves for the Thrashers.