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Jagr's OT goal gives Rangers win on sentimental night

NEW YORK -- A fortunate bounce and the goal-scoring
prowess of Jaromir Jagr made Mark Messier Night a successful one
for the New York Rangers.

Nearly three hours after Messier's No. 11 was retired, Jagr
tallied 14 seconds into overtime to lift the Rangers to a 5-4
triumph over the Edmonton Oilers.

Messier, who won five Stanley Cups with the Oilers from 1984-90,
captained the Rangers to their first championship in 55 years
in 1994. New York showed its appreciation prior to Thursday's
game, retiring the number of Messier, who ended his playing
career this past summer after 25 seasons.

"Obviously, I was overwhelmed with the effort and support that
went into (the ceremonies)," Messier said. "The emotion of the
last couple of days in getting myself prepared comes with a
flood of memories and support that I had throughout my career."

Steve Rucchin got the game off to a good start for the Rangers,
scoring 7:44 into the first period. Edmonton answered with
three straight tallies in the first half of the middle session,
but defenseman Fedor Tyutin and newly acquired Petr Sykora
scored late in the period to forge a 3-3 tie.

Rookie Petr Prucha gave New York the lead 2:14 into the third
with his 21st goal, but Michael Peca netted his second of the
game less than eight minutes later to draw Edmonton even.

Neither team was able to snap the deadlock in regulation, but
the Rangers took advantage of a deflection early in overtime to
post their third straight win.

Edmonton defenseman Chris Pronger's pass was deflected in the
neutral zone, and New York blue-liner Michal Rozsival picked up
the loose puck.

After skating into the Oilers' zone, Rozsival deked past a pair
of defenders before making a cross-slot pass to Jagr, whose
wrist shot from the right faceoff circle beat former Rangers
goaltender Jussi Markkanen for his 28th goal of the season.

"Michal Rozsival made a great play and found me across the ice,"
Jagr said. "I had so much time to look around and put the puck
where I wanted to."

Jagr admitted the significance of the game was important to him.

"It was very special for me," he said. "It wasn't easy to sit
on the bench for an hour (during the ceremonies) and go play.
We warmed up in the first period. In the second and third, we
started to play."

Jagr, Sykora, Rucchin and Prucha each picked up an assist for
New York, which has recorded at least one point in each of its
last seven games.

"It was tough to get focused, but it was amazing to be part of
this game," said Rangers rookie netminder Henrik Lundqvist, who
made 26 saves in improving to 12-2-2 at home. "We battled back
in the game and showed some strong character."

Ales Hemsky scored a goal and set up another and Jarret Stoll
added two assists for the Oilers, who are 7-1-3 in their last 11
road games.

"Same old, same old," said Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish, who
was a teammate of Messier on the Rangers' 1994 championship
team. "It was another game we should have won. We're close to
putting those games away and, from my perspective, when you're
up 3-1 with five minutes to go in the middle period, that should
end up in the win column."

Rucchin opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season,
taking a backhand pass by Sykora from behind the net and putting
a shot inside the left goalpost from the low slot.

Peca began Edmonton's rally with a power-play tally, a one-timer
from the left circle at 2:22 of the second. Hemsky gave the
Oilers a 2-1 edge at 8:31, when he lifted the puck over a fallen
Lundqvist after having his shorthanded breakaway shot stopped.

Playing in his 100th career game, defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron
doubled the lead just over two minutes later with a one-timer
on the power play, but Tyutin used a similar shot from the hash
marks during a man advantage with 3 1/2 minutes to go in the
second to close the gap.

Sykora, who was acquired from Anaheim on Sunday, netted his
second in as many games with New York with 87 seconds remaining
in the session to forge a 3-3 tie.

"The game was called really tight, and those are tough games to
play," said Edmonton center Shawn Horcoff, whose team
successfully killed nine of New York's 10 power plays. "At the
same time, we had a 3-1 lead and we let them back into it."

Prucha put the Rangers ahead early in the third with an
impressive individual effort, but Peca scored a shorthanded goal
at 7:30 to knot the contest.

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