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NEW YORK — Jaromir Jagr has revived memories of his best days in the NHL with his work in this year's playoffs, and finally, thanks to Henrik Lundqvist, he was rewarded for it.
Jagr's second-period goal stood up as the winner and Lundqvist made sure of it with his work in the New York Rangers' goal as they stayed alive in the Eastern Conference semi-final with a 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. Jagr finished off the Penguins with an empty-net goal in the dying seconds.
The win left the Penguins with a 3-1 lead in the series, which heads back to Pittsburgh for the fifth game on Sunday afternoon. It was the Penguins' first loss in the 2008 playoffs. They swept the Ottawa Senators in the first round.
Jagr did not dominate the game as he did in a losing effort on Tuesday, but he was better than either of the Penguins' two young superstars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He finished with three points, while they were blanked for the first time in this postseason tournament.
Jaromir Jagr of the New York Rangers acknowledges the crowd after being named the second star after his team defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Madison Square Garden on May 1, 2008 in New York. The Penguins lead the series 3-1. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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Best of all, though, was Lundqvist, who protected his team's lead with some stellar work, which included stopping Malkin on a penalty shot late in the second period. He finished with 29 saves for his second career playoff shutout.
"He's a driven man right now, and for all the right reasons he badly wants this team to get back in the series," Rangers head coach Tom Renney said of Jagr. "From the get-go, in terms of us being competitive with these people, he's led the charge. We haven't been in his wake, we've been on his shoulders.
"I think if you look at the whole package — lines, special teams, and [Lundqvist] was obviously terrific. So from the goaltender on out, I thought we were solid. We can even get better and I think we will. We're just trying to knock these things off one at a time."
For his part, Jagr said, "We got what we wanted — it gives us a chance to win the next game. You know how it is, if we win one, it's a lot of confidence coming home. You never know."
The next game, thanks to the NHL's wonky playoff schedule, is not until Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, which could stall the Rangers' momentum.
For the first time in this series, the Penguins showed a little frustration. Late in the game, after Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi dumped Penguins winger Marian Hossa on the seat of his pants with a good hit, Crosby and Malkin both went after him. Both stars wound up in the penalty box, and Malkin drew a 10-minute misconduct at the end of the game after another scrum.
Much of that frustration was provided by Lundqvist. He stopped Malkin on a penalty shot at 17:53 of the second period with the Rangers holding a 1-0 lead. He was awarded the shot after Girardi pushed him into Lundqvist and the video judges ruled the puck went into the net after their collision knocked it loose.
Malkin went in slowly on Lundqvist, then tried a wrist shot, which the goaltender knocked away with his catching glove.
"I have my routine for a penalty shot," Lundqvist said. "I try to be patient, I try to wait out the shooter and don't make the first move. If you make the first move, you lose a lot of times.
"Obviously, it felt pretty good to make the save. It was a critical time, it was just 1-0."
Neither team was able to seize the initiative for most of the first two periods, as both the Rangers and the Penguins looked nervous. There were not many great scoring chances, thanks to the caution from both teams, and the ones that did occur were bungled more often than not.
This worked against the Rangers, as the Penguins were there for the taking. But the Rangers finally grabbed the first lead of the game when Jagr, their inspirational leader, put a shot behind Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-André Fleury that should have been stopped.
Jagr's three points in the game gave him 15 and vaulted him into the scoring lead in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.
"I enjoy the hockey in the playoffs when every play means everything," he said. "Every little mistake, every little play can change everything."
The Rangers increased their lead 44 seconds into the third period when their power play finally clicked. Brandon Dubinsky got the puck in front of the net, spun around and slid a shot along the ice behind Fleury.
