Penguins Rolling Again With Jagr

With the return of Jaromir Jagr to the lineup after he missed four weeks because of a groin injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins appear ready to make a run for the Stanley Cup.

Jagr scored his first goal in six weeks and Mario Lemieux scored his 610th goal to tie Bobby Hull for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time list as the Penguins held off Florida, 4-3, Monday at Pittsburgh.

Lemieux set up Jagr’s 46th goal to put the Penguins up, 3-0, then restored their two-goal lead with a power-play goal at 18:30 of the second after the Panthers had rallied with successive goals.

The Penguins have won two in a row since Jagr’s return, and the line of Lemieux, Jagr and center Ron Francis has combined for 15 points in the two games.

“I think we’re getting close now to where we want to be,” Lemieux said. “I think we’ve played a lot better the last couple of games. We had a lot of good chances, especially our line, so that’s a good feeling.”

By winning the second game of a five-game homestand, Pittsburgh tied the idle New York Rangers for fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Dallas 3, Edmonton 1--Arturs Irbe made 17 saves in relief of Roman Turek and the Stars set a single-season franchise record for points as they posted their sixth consecutive victory, a win at Edmonton.

Irbe entered the game with 31 seconds left in the first period after Turek twisted his left knee.

The Oilers remained tied with the Mighty Ducks for fourth place in the West with 77 points, but Edmonton holds an edge with two more wins.