One More Time
It was a night to pay tribute to one of the greatest hockey players to ever lace up skates, so it was fitting that another one of the all-time greats provided the winning goal. Long after the cheers for Mark Messier had died down, Jaromir Jagr scored just 14 seconds into overtime to give the Rangers a 5-4 victory over Edmonton.
Perhaps the lengthy ceremony took something out of the Rangers because they started the game very flat and despite numerous power plays, they had managed only one goal and nine shots by the midway point of the game. With Edmonton leading 3-1, Fedor Tyutin took a pass from Martin Straka and ripped a shot past Edmonton goalie Jussi Markkanen. A few minutes later, Petr Sykora scored and the Rangers had tied it up.
New York took the lead in the third period on a nice backhanded goal by Petr Prucha, but the Oilers got the equalizer when Michael Peca scored his second short-handed goal of the game. It appeared that Edmonton had a man in the crease, but the play was not reviewed and despite several scoring chances, the Rangers could not break the tie. That’s where Jagr took over. He spun into the offensive zone and rifled a shot from the face-off circle to send the crowd home happy and the Rangers to Detroit with two points under their belt.
Photo by Newsday/Paul J. Bereswill via Newsday.com
