New York Daily News
Friday, May 2nd 2008, 12:11 AM
NEW YORK - MAY 01: Jaromir Jagr #68 of the New York Rangers runs into Brooks Orpik #44 and Sergei Gonchar #55 after Jagr scored a goal in the second period against Pittsburgh Penguins during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 1, 2008 in New York City. The Rangers won the game and the Penguins lead the series 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Jaromir Jagr played strong and scored the eventual game-winning goal for the Rangers in Game 4.
He came sweeping along the left side, one of the few Ranger forwards capable of doing anything special anymore. Jaromir Jagr's snap shot finally beat Marc-Andre Fleury at 12:45 of the second period, broke the scoreless tie, and then he was blind-sided from the right side by Brooks Orpik.
"Right in the head," Jagr said after the Rangers beat the Penguins, 3-0, in Game 4 Thursday night. "Like a boxer who got hit. I couldn't celebrate it. I wanted to start dancing, but just couldn't do it."
Jagr lay on the ice for a minute or so, flat on his stomach, recovering his senses. It was a borderline hit from Orpik, who arrived just too late. Jagr would pardon the Pittsburgh defenseman, calling it a clean play. "When you have the chance to shoot, you don't look who's going to hit you," Jagr said. It was just the price that a superstar pays sometimes if he wants to change a game, rescue a series for another day and extend his stay in New York.
Jagr did this in two ways last night. He managed it with his goal, then accomplished it again by rising from the ice, skating to the bench and appearing on his next shift. The Rangers are a banged-up, reeling team. Among the toll is their chief gnat, Sean Avery, who is still in the hospital with a lacerated spleen.
But Jagr kept saying he was OK, even though he would later admit he wasn't feeling very well in general. Nobody asked him how many fingers they were holding in front of his face. They probably should have done that, but it's not in the culture of the sport to probe for mild concussions with the season on the line.
Jagr played. The fans, who very nearly had been numbed into a Knick-like trance, fired up their engines. They chanted "Ja-gr," an infrequently heard mantra around these parts. They showed their love at long last to the hulking Czech, who thirsts for such affection.
The task at hand did not then grow easier for the Rangers, who were still required to hold on for dear life over 27 minutes of Penguin pressure. For this, they relied mostly on the dexterity and glovework of Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped a penalty shot from Evgeni Malkin along with 28 other shots.
New York Rangers' Jaromir Jagr is attended to by a trainer after falling to the ice after scoring a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period during Game 4 of an NHL Eastern Conference semifinal hockey playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Lundqvist did his part. Brandon Dubinsky spun around in the slot for the Rangers' second goal 44 seconds into the third period and then Jagr sealed the win with an empty-netter at 19:46. The Rangers closed within 3-1 in the conference semifinal and earned another trip to Pittsburgh in the process.
"Nobody gives us a chance," Jagr said. "The chance is still there."
It didn't look that way for much of the evening. Before the big game last night, a half-dozen Penguins of European descent circled up and headed a soccer ball among themselves in a back corridor of the Garden, laughing and carrying on as if this were just another preseason scrimmage.
The Rangers had hoped that maybe these young opponents might feel just the tiniest bit of pressure while trying to close out the semifinal series. But youth is an effective tranquilizer in situations such as these, and the Pens came out fast and relatively carefree once again.
The Rangers bent, but clearly wanted this one badly. Even with his team reeling from three straight losses, Tom Renney had promised great things from his side before Game 4.
"Play hard, play smart," Renney said. "More traffic, more rubber to the net. I don't sense despair or fear. Great things are done in the face of doubt."
The Penguins pushed and prodded, but couldn't beat Lundqvist. Hockey gets another game, at least, out of these two showcase teams.
Jagr gets to play another postseason game, his favorite thing in the world.
"Me personally, I would like to play tomorrow," he said. "I enjoy when every play means everything, when you play on an edge all the time.
"We don't have much error for mistakes," Jagr said.
New York Rangers' Jaromir Jagr is congratulated by Martin Straka, center, both of the Czech Republic, and Brandon Dubinsky after scoring against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period during Game 4 of an NHL Eastern Conference semifinal hockey playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Jagr scored two goals in the Rangers' 3-0 win.
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Not quite what he meant, but then the guy had just scored two goals, assisted on another and taken a blind-side hit to the head.
When you score five goals in nine games, when you lead the league with 15 points in the playoffs, you get to be the Czech Yogi Berra all you want.
Jagr got up off the ice last night, and then the Rangers did, too.
fjbondy@netscape.net
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