Messier, Canucks Win in Return to New York

It was a comeback night for Mark Messier at Madison Square Garden, and nothing has changed. He’s still scoring big goals and hearing big cheers from New York Ranger fans.

Messier was the most popular player when he played in New York for six seasons. And he was the most popular player on the ice Tuesday night, even while leading the Vancouver Canucks over the Rangers, 4-2, in an emotion-filled game.

It was Messier’s first return to New York since leaving the Rangers in the summer to sign as a free agent with the Canucks. He came back in style, scoring a classic breakaway goal.

The second-period goal gave the Canucks a 2-0 lead and stood as the game-winner until Tim Sweeney scored for New York with three seconds left.

“I guess I had to use all 20 years’ experience to get ready for the opening faceoff,” Messier said.

The fans cheered his first appearance on the ice for warmups and later his recognition as the game’s first star at the end.

As soon as he hit the ice for warmups, Messier was greeted warmly by Ranger fans, some holding signs that read, “Thanks for the Memories,” “Welcome Home, Mark, We Miss You,” and “We Mess You.”

They cheered even louder and were on their feet applauding for several minutes when a highlight video of Messier’s career in New York was shown on the center-ice scoreboard before the game. Tears streamed down Messier’s face as he sat on the bench.

“I thought I cried myself out of this,” Messier said. “I didn’t think I had any tears left.”

Toronto 3, San Jose 1--The lowest-scoring team in the NHL broke out for three goals against the visiting Sharks.

The Maple Leafs were averaging 1.9 goals a game before the victory. Toronto center Igor Korolev opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 1:26 of the first period. The teams then settled into the style that resulted in a 0-0 game in San Jose on Nov. 5.

Phoenix 3, St. Louis 2--Both Bob Corkum and Teppo Numminen had a goal and an assist, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 26 saves for the host Coyotes.

Rick Tocchet also scored for the Coyotes, who won for the seventh time in their last nine home games (7-1-1) and for the fourth time in five overall.

Darren Turcotte and Steve Duchesne scored for the Blues, who lost their third consecutive game.

Edmonton 2, Chicago 2--Eric Daze’s goal with 75 seconds left in the second period helped the visiting Blackhawks tie the Oilers.

Daze also set up Jeff Shantz’s power-play goal in the first period. The Blackhawks are 10-1-3 in the last 14 meetings with the Oilers.