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NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Rangers got a much-needed victory
without their All-Star and handed a tough loss to the Pittsburgh
Penguins, who were missing theirs as well.
|  | | Rangers goalie Kirk McLean lunges for one of his 22 saves. |
Goalie Mike Richter sat out his second straight game with a knee injury, but Radek Dvorak and Jan Hlavac provided the offense with a goal and an assist each Tuesday night as the Rangers held on for a
4-3 victory over the Penguins, playing without injured winger
Jaromir Jagr.
Jagr, the NHL's leading scorer, was sent back to Pittsburgh
earlier Tuesday and is out indefinitely after hurting his hamstring
in Monday's loss at Tampa Bay.
Pittsburgh is 13-26-9 without Jagr in regular-season games since
1990-91.
The win pushed the Rangers back into eighth place in the Eastern
Conference, one point ahead of the idle Buffalo Sabres, and one
behind seventh-place Pittsburgh with 20 games left.
"Tonight was a must game," Rangers coach John Muckler said. "We had
to win that game."
Richter missed his fifth game since the All-Star break, but
expects to play Friday night at Buffalo. The Rangers, who snapped a
three-game losing streak, earned their first victory in six
contests (1-4-1).
"We need points," said Brian Leetch, who scored the goal that
gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. "We had three games in a row here
where we didn't pick up any points."
Dvorak's 15th goal, scored midway through the second period off
a nice feed from Hlavac, put New York up 3-0 before Pittsburgh
began its comeback.
The Penguins didn't blame Jagr's absence for the loss.
"Jagr didn't give up three goals," Alexei Kovalev said. "We were not sharp in the first period."
Robert Lang scored late in the second and Pat Falloon added a
goal just over a minute into the third to make it 3-2.
After Leetch scored on the power play with 13:04 left, Tyler
Wright got Pittsburgh back within one with his seventh at 11:28.
Without their top offensive threat, the Penguins couldn't tie it.
"Obviously he's our best player, but we have to rally," Wright
said.
It was at that point that Leetch said New York picked its game
up.
"When it was 4-2, we started turning the puck over in the
neutral zone," Leetch said. "We stopped moving our feet so we
could not get the red line and they turned it right back and got
that goal.
"We definitely played better at 4-3 than 4-2."
John MacLean also scored for New York, which got 22 saves from
backup Kirk McLean.
"When you start playing on your heels is when you get into
trouble," McLean said. "We probably played a little better in the
third period, but we got a timely goal by Brian and that won us the
game."
Jean Sebastien Aubin made 30 saves for Pittsburgh, outshot 25-14
through two periods.
The Rangers were 2-for-3 on the power play after failing in all
six attempts in two previous games against Pittsburgh.
The four points by Dvorak and Hlavac gave the Czechmates line -- centered by Petr Nedved -- 30 goals and 39 assists since being formed on Jan. 5.
"We try to score every game," said Dvorak, who completed the trio after being acquired Dec. 30. "Every game is very important to us."
The Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead on a first-period power play.
Nedved forced defenseman Jiri Slegr to turn the puck over along the
left boards. Dvorak moved the puck to Hlavac, who fired it in at
2:34 for his 15th.
MacLean scored his 16th goal, and first in 12 games, to give New
York a two-goal lead at 10:41. McLean started the play with a nice
lead pass to Valeri Kamensky, who set up MacLean.
Hlavac slid a beautiful pass to Dvorak at the left side of the
net and easily steered it in at 8:40.
Pittsburgh cut it to 3-1 on Lang's 20th goal, on the power play,
with 5:12 left in the second.
Falloon made it 3-2 with his seventh goal just 1:17 into the
third.
Throughout the game, the 20th anniversary of the 1980 U.S.
Olympic hockey team's victory over the Soviet Union was celebrated.
Several team members were in attendance as well as Penguins coach
Herb Brooks, who was the leader of the "Miracle On Ice" squad.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
NY Rangers Clubhouse
Pens' hamstrung Jagr placed on injured list
New Pens associate coach, Hlinka, debuts in loss to Lightning
RECAPS
Montreal 1
Phoenix 0
NY Rangers 4
Pittsburgh 3
Philadelphia 3
Chicago 1
Atlanta 4
Colorado 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 John MacLean beats Jean-Sebastien Aubin for the goal.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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