THE BOTTOM LINE

New York Rangers center Troy Mallette has been fined $500 for his fight with New York Islander defenseman Dean Cynoweth, who sustained facial scratches during the scuffle at the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night. At the same time, Brian O’Neill, the NHL’s executive vice president, dismissed any thought of suspension against Mallette. “In my judgment, it did not appear there was an overt attempt to injure the Islander player nor did Mallette use any dangerous tactics during the fisticuffs,� O’Neill said Monday.

The West German yacht, Container, owned by Udo Schutz and helmed by Olympic medalist Achim Greise, took the lead today in the 1990 International 50-Foot World Cup, winning the first of seven scheduled races. Container, with a 15-member crew, came from behind to finish in 1 hour, 47 minutes, 12 seconds, edging the American yacht Windquest by 34 seconds. The race was held in rain squalls with north-northwest winds of 5 to 7 knots off the coast of Sajima, Japan. Eighteen yachts from West Germany, the United States, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Japan and Australia are participating in the six-day competition.

Champion Kaosai Galaxy of Thailand knocked out Japanese challenger Kenji Matsumura with a succession of crashing lefts in the 12th round to retain his WBA junior bantamweight title today. The end for Matsumura came at 2 minutes, 56 seconds of the final round. He fell after two hard blows in the face, and American referee Rudy Battle stopped the fight and declared Kaosai the winner.

Americans Kelly Jones and Brad Pearce upset seeded players in the opening round of the Bergen Open tennis tournament in Bergen, Norway, today.