Rangers, Jagr Are On a Roll

Jaromir Jagr is on a tear entering the Olympic break.

Jagr scored twice to reach 40 goals for the sixth time in his career, and the New York Rangers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2, Saturday night at Toronto for their sixth victory in a row.

Jagr scored two power-play goals Friday night in a 4-2 victory at New York in the opener of the home-and-home series, and beat goalie Ed Belfour for two more Saturday night. Jagr leads the NHL in goals and points (88).

“I’ve been on some hot streak lately,” Jagr said. “Hopefully, I can play the same way in the Olympics, but hopefully I can play even better when I come back after the Olympics. I go to represent my country, but my job is to play good for the New York Rangers.”

With 1,397 career points, Jagr -- who will play for the Czech Republic at the Turin Games -- is one behind Jari Kurri for second place among European players.

Jagr scored his 39th by knocking a rebound in off Belfour’s skate at 12:15 of the first.

He scored his 40th at 7:45 of the third, beating Belfour with a shot between the legs after Toronto failed to clear the puck.

Jagr reached 40 goals for the first time since 2000-01. His career high is 62 for Pittsburgh in 1995-96. If he wins the scoring title this year he’ll match former teammate Mario Lemieux with six scoring titles.

New York Islanders 2, New Jersey 1 -- Alexei Yashin had a goal and an assist and Rick DiPietro made 26 saves at East Rutherford, N.J., and the Islanders ended a two-game losing streak.

Jason Blake also scored for New York, which snapped the Devils’ eight-game home winning streak.

Tampa Bay 6, Boston 5 -- Dmitry Afanasenkov and Vaclav Prospal scored two goals apiece, and the Lightning won at Boston for the first time in nearly 12 years.

Atlanta 2, Montreal 1 -- Slava Kozlov scored the only shootout goal to lift the Thrashers over the Canadiens at Montreal.

Ottawa 3, Philadelphia 2 -- Dany Heatley scored 19 seconds into the second period and the Senators held on to beat Flyers at Ottawa.

Buffalo 5, Florida 3 -- Thomas Vanek scored twice at Buffalo, N.Y., to help the Sabres improve to 8-0-1 in their last nine games.

Pittsburgh 6, Washington 3 -- Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, leading the Penguins over the Capitals at Washington.

Nashville 5, Columbus 2 -- Marek Zidlicky scored two power-play goals and added an assist to help the Predators snap a three-game losing streak at Nashville, Tenn.