PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Jaromir Jagr couldn't shoot off his injured leg, and was so tired by the third period he could barely skate. That didn't prevent him from reminding the NHL what he means to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Jagr had three assists in his first game in nearly a month and the Penguins scored twice in a 43-second span of the third period to overtake the New York Rangers 5-4 Sunday night in a key game for both teams.

Martin Straka scored the tying goal at 6:19 of the third before Jiri Slegr's soft wrist shot sailed over goalie Mike Richter's right shoulder at 7:02 after the Penguins failed three times to hold leads.

Clearly helped by Jagr's return following a 12-game layoff caused by thigh and hamstring injuries, the Penguins vaulted by the Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens into seventh place in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Penguins have 74 points to Montreal's 73 and the Rangers' 72. The Rangers lost for the first time in the 22 games this season they have scored four or more goals. Five teams are separated by four points as they contend for the final two spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

"Getting the three points, I don't care about that," said Jagr, who managed only three shots while clearly favoring his injured left leg. "I knew it was a very important game for the team and I'm glad we won."

Jagr, who had surgery last month to remove a blood clot from his left thigh, was supposed to play only 10 minutes but instead played nearly twice that in his first three-point game since a seven-point night against the New York Islanders on Dec. 30.

Jagr's points were his first since he scored a goal Feb. 14 against Vancouver and gave him a NHL-leading 88 for the season. Despite a three-game scoreless streak followed by the 12-game injury layoff, Jagr retained the league scoring lead.

"I didn't feel good at all. I was way tired," Jagr said. "I couldn't shoot because of my legs, the one isn't strong at all, it's not good for shooting. But I think it's going to get better."

Slightly more than midway through the third period, he told assistant coach Eddie Johnston, "That's it, I can't play."

The Rangers only wish he had said that, say, about midway through the first period.

"It was obviously a very important game," said defenseman Brian Leetch, who assisted on all three Rangers goals in the second period. "There's no need to talk about how big it was. It's right there."

Straka had two goals and Alexei Kovalev, traded by the Rangers to Pittsburgh last season, matched his career high with four points -- a goal and three assists -- as Pittsburgh rallied after failing to hold leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2.

"He (Kovalev) does seem to play with a bit of an edge against us, that's to be expected when you're playing the team that traded you," Richter said.

Still, Kovalev said, "It didn't make any difference it was them. It was important we got something going. I hope this is the start of something for us."

Straka especially benefited from Jagr's return, scoring his first two goals -- his 16th and 17th -- since he had a goal Feb. 19 at Florida.

The Rangers scored goals 13 seconds apart, by Valeri Kamensky and John MacLean, late in the period to take their first lead at 4-3.

Kamensky scored his third goal in two days -- he had two Saturday as the Rangers won 3-2 at Philadelphia -- at 17:50 and MacLean followed at 18:03, throwing a shot between Jean-Sebastien Aubin's pads after Leetch stole the puck.

But the Penguins tightened defensively, limiting the Rangers to three shots in the first 15 minutes of the third period to score a critical victory as they try to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990.

Straka and New York's Eric Lacroix scored in the first period, and Jagr assisted on defenseman Janne Laukkanen's power-play goal, his first goal with Pittsburgh and second of the season. The power-play goal was only the second for the Penguins in their last 29 power-play chances.

Mike York answered with his 21st for New York, tying it at 2, before Kovalev put Pittsburgh ahead again at 16:47, slightly more than a minute ahead of the Rangers' two quick goals.