Nhl

Red Wings 6, Islanders 2

Uniondale, N.Y.

The Detroit Red Wings visited Long Island on Tuesday night and showed why they are the best team in the National Hockey League.

Their skating was elegant, their passing crisp, the transitional game flawless - especially when the Russian line of Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Koslov, Igor Larionov and Sergei Fedorov was on the ice.

This unit produced three goals - two by Kozlov and one by Larionov - in a 6-2 victory over the New York Islanders that would have been even wider were it not for Tommy Soderstrom’s inspiring peformance in goal before a crowd of 11,762 at Nassau Coliseum.

Detroit 1 1 4 - 6

N.Y. Islanders 0 2 0 - 2

First period-1, Det, Coffey 7 (Brown, Primeau), 1:44. Second period-2, Det, Larionov 17 (Konstantinov, Fedorov), 3:58. 3, NY, McInnis 10 (Palffy, Straka), 9:32 (pp). 4, NY, Bertuzzi 13, 14:29. Third period-5, Det, Kozlov 30 (Fetisov), 2:22. 6, Det, Lapointe 5 (Coffey, Yzerman), 8:53. 7, Det, Kozlov 31 (Larionov), 10:57 (pp). 8, Det, Primeau 19 (Brown, Kozlov), 15:08.

Shots on goal-Det 11-9-12-32. NY 8-11-7-26.Power-play opp.-Det 1 of 7; NY 1 of 4.Goalies-Det, Osgood 30-5-3 (26 shots-24 saves). NY, Soderstrom 10-15-6 (32-26).A-11,762 (16,297).

Oilers 4, Bruins 3 (OT)

Boston

Mariusz Czerkawski, traded from Boston to Edmonton last month, scored with 20 seconds left in overtime, lifting his new team to victory.

Edmonton 0 2 1 1 - 4

Boston 2 0 1 0 - 3

First Period-1, Bos, Donato 20 (Bourque, Stumpel), 10:18 (pp). 2, Bos, Bourque 17 (Mullen, T.Sweeney), 11:50 (pp).

Second Period-3, Edm, Weight 20 (Intranuovo), 11:06 (pp). 4, Edm, Weight 21, 11:59 (pp).

Third Period-5, Bos, T.Sweeney 5 (Heinze, Moger), 6:09. 6, Edm, Norton 7 (Czerkawski, Anderson), 12:28.

Overtime-7, Edm, Czerkawski 11 (Norton, Marchment), 4:40.

Shots on goal-Edm 3-9-6-3-21. Bos 13-12-14-2-41.Power-play opp.-Edm 2 of 6; Bos 2 of 8.Goalies-Edm, Joseph 8-9-0 (41 shots-38 saves). Bos, Ranford 21-25-7 (21-17).A-17,565 (17,565).

Capitals 5, Rangers 3

New York

The New York Rangers lost Mark Messier to injury and then were sent to a rare home loss by Washington.

Messier was forced to leave in the first minute of the second period because of a shoulder injury. The Rangers said Messier aggravated an old injury to his right shoulder, but there was no immediate word on the extent of the injury.

Washington 2 0 3 - 5

N.Y. Rangers 1 2 0 - 3

First period-1, Was, Johansson 8 (Cote, Peake), 3:58 (pp). 2, NY, Messier 41 (Leetch, Verbeek), 6:17. 3, Was, Peake 14 (Pivonka, Cote), 10:25 (pp). Second period-4, NY, Nemchinov 11 (Graves, Presley), 16:55. 5, NY, Nemchinov 12 (Presley, Beukeboom), 19:38. Third period-6, Was, Pivonka 12 (Peake, Jones), 2:56. 7, Was, Juneau 12 (Konowalchuk, Berube), 5:04. 8, Was, Juneau 13 (Konowalchuk), 12:03 (sh).

Shots on goal-Was 9-13-21-43. NY 12-20-9-41.Poweri-play opp.-Was 2 of 5; NY 0 of 3.Goalies-Was, Kolzig, 4-7-1 (41 shots-38 saves). NY, Healy, 16-8-8 (43-38).A-18,200 (18,200).

Goalies traded

The Philadelphia Flyers traded goaltender Dominic Roussel to Winnipeg in exchange for goalie Tim Cheveldae and a third-round pick in the 1996 NHL entry draft.

Cheveldae,28, has appeared in 30 games this season with the Jets for an 8-18-3 record and a 3.93 goals-against average. The seven-year NHL veteran has a 149-135-37 career record and a 3.49 GAA in 338 regular season games with Winnipeg and the Detroit Red Wings.

He will report to the Hershey Bears, the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate.

The Red Wings drafted Cheveldae in the fourth round of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft from the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League.

Roussel, 26, has appeared in nine games for the Flyers this season, posting a 2-3-2 record and a 2.89 GAA. He also registered a 4-4-3 record and a 2.78 GAA in 12 games this season with the Hershey Bears.