Jagr's Return Electrifies Pens

Jaromir Jagr's recovery was nearly as miraculous as his play.

Jagr, visibly slowed by a groin injury that sidelined him for four games, scored an electrifying tying goal with 2:12 left in regulation, then won it in overtime as the Pittsburgh Penguins staved off playoff elimination by beating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 Sunday.

Jagr's two-goal performance on a day he wasn't expected to be in uniform no doubt will go down in NHL playoff history not only for its brilliance, but its bravery.

"It was just unbelievable," teammate Brad Werenka said of a victory and a memorable one-man show that prolonged the Penguins' season and, at least temporarily, saved the bankrupt franchise from possible extinction.

Jagr, the NHL scoring champion, was hurting so badly that he could barely stand up on skates before the Devils' 4-3 victory Friday in Game 5. He talked pessimistically Saturday of playing in Game 6, but became more encouraged after being fitted with some scuba diver's pants that provided more support and partly eased the pain.

"I felt pretty good," he said. "The new pants held my leg a little tighter and I felt much better when I skated. That's when I decided to play."

The series now heads to a climactic Game 7 Tuesday night in New Jersey, a game that seemed improbable when the Devils took a 2-1 lead on Scott Niedermayer's goal at 4:34 of the third.

Improbable most of all to the Devils, who had held Jagr in check until his final flurry provided one of the most dramatic finishes in Penguins' playoff history.

"We're absolutely disappointed about letting this one get away," Brian Rolston said of the Devils' sixth consecutive playoff overtime loss. "Jagr is the best player in the world, so we're not surprised. But we were pretty confident up 2-1 with 2 1/2 minutes to go."

With time winding down and the Penguins desperately rushing the et with every opportunity, Jagr carried the puck into the Devils' zone, then got it back from German Titov to score as Niedermayer left him undefended to cover Titov. It was Jagr's first goal since his overtime goal in New York two Sundays before ruined Wayne Gretzky's final NHL game.

"Titov made a good play and beat the guy outside one-on-one, and he threw it to the net and I just went to the net and hit the puck. It was kind of a lucky goal that went in," Jagr said.

"It's definitely my responsibility to not let that guy beat me to the net," said Niedermayer, who slipped on the play.

Jagr, whose goal clearly shifted the momentum to the Penguins, then won it at 8:59 of overtime. Martin Straka carried the puck down the left wing boards before threading it on the opposite side to Jagr, who beat goaltender Martin Brodeur up high for a goal that couldn't have been more memorable if Mario Lemieux had scored it.

Fittingly, Lemieux, who is trying to win control of the Penguins in ongoing bankruptcy court hearings, watched in the stands with his family.

Jagr said the goal compared to several during the Penguins' Stanley Cup seasons in 1991 and 1992, including his penalty-shot goal to beat the Rangers in Game 5 of their 1992 series.

"It's tough to say," said Jagr, asked if his third career game-winning overtime goal was his best. "There were some games during the Stanley Cup years, but this was one of the best."

"Even at 65-70 percent, he is better than a lot of players in this league," the Devils' Randy McKay said. "You could see he wasn't 100 percent, but he could still control the puck."

For the favored and top-seeded Devils, it couldn't have been much worse.

The Devils' late collapse reawakened memories of their stunning first-round playoff ouster by Ottawa a year ago. Just like the Senators, the Penguins also were the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

"We like our chances," the Devils' Bobby Holik said of Game 7. "We don't feel pressured. We're not scared. We just feel we're going to win that game."

But, the Penguins now do, too.

"Everybody was saying this might be our last game in Pittsburgh," Alexei Kovalev said. "We didn't want that. New Jersey didn't want to have to go back and play again at home."

The Devils couldn't hold leads of 1-0 and 2-1. They took the initial lead at 12:04 of the first on Sergei Brylin's backhander from the lower slot off Holik's one-handed pass from behind the net.

Pittsburgh couldn't tie it until Martin Straka, left alone at the side of the net, directed Kovalev's pass by Martin Brodeur at 6:44 of the second.

Penguins goaltender Tom Barrasso stopped 25 shots and wasn't beaten on any of the long shots that the Devils were successful with in scoring earlier in the series.

Barrasso isn't convinced the Penguins are about o play their last game either of the season or in franchise history.

"I've never thought that," he said. "I'm just glad the guys on this team got to experience what we went through (in the Stanley Cup years). It was something, wasn't it?"

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