North America tastes defeat for the first time

TORONTO (AP) -- The North Americans found out for the first time what it's like to lose the NHL All-Star game. Mike Richter allowed four third-period goals as the World team won Sunday's All-Star

Sunday, February 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TORONTO (AP) -- The North Americans found out for the first time what it's like to lose the NHL All-Star game. Mike Richter allowed four third-period goals as the World team won Sunday's All-Star game 9-4 in the third year of the international-flavored contest. "It's a shame, in the third we could have made it a little more of a game," said the New York Rangers goalie, who did stop 11 shots. "It was a fun thing to play in."

And Richter could not be faulted, the no-checking wide-open style played in the exhibition is not goalie friendly. "Everybody's in the same boat," Richter said of his fellow goalies.

In the first period, the North Americans had plenty of opportunities to score but couldn't finish plays. "The difference was we had a lot of two-on-ones, and we triedto make the extra pass," Detroit forward Steve Yzerman said. "The Europeans were just firing and we were trying to be too fancy."

Philadelphia's Eric Lindros felt well enough to play after missing Saturday night's Super Skills competition because of the flu, but didn't make the score sheet. "There was a seven-minute stretch in the first period where we were getting two-on-ones and three-on-ones and we were trying to pass it through feet and it was going off sticks," said Lindros, who played on a line with Flyers teammates John LeClair and Mark Recchi. "You should fire the puck and head to the net. Hey, live and learn."

With the loss, the hardest part might be yet to come when players return home to face teammates from the World side. "It's a tough thing to lose to the European guys," said Phoenix's Jeremy Roenick, who scored a first-period goal. "We're going to have to go back to our teams now and we're going to get ridiculed a little bit. I guess we have to take the brunt."

It wasn't all bad for the North American squad. Boston defenseman Ray Bourque tied Wayne Gretzky with his 18th straight All-Star appearance. He also broke a record with an assist on Tony Amonte's second-period goal. "I was lucky, because I really don't know how I got that assist," Bourque said. "I heard my name, but it was no great pass."

The assist was Bourque's 13th in All-Star play and broke a five-way tie for the record. However, Mark Messier joined him at the top 4:54 later when he set up Ray Whitney of the Panthers. Whitney also picked up an assist when Colorado's Joe Sakic cut the World's lead to 2-1 with 6:04 to play in the first. Hometown favorite Curtis Joseph of the Maple Leafs stopped 17 o 20 first-period shots. New Jersey's Martin Brodeur allowed two goals on 13 shots and absorbed the loss.