Jagr's goal off Scuderi's stick leads Rangers past Penguins

Pittsburgh went 4-1 in seven days.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jaromir Jagr looked for teammate Michael Nylander -- and luckily found defenseman Rob Scuderi.
Jagr snapped his longest scoring drought of the season Monday night when his pass for Nylander clipped off Scuderi's stick and slipped into the net with 33.8 seconds left in the New York Rangers' 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"I am not 24 chasing any records anymore," said the 35-year-old Jagr, who went eight games without scoring for the second time this season. "My goal is to make the playoffs. Right now it doesn't matter as long as we win."
New York moved past idle Carolina into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, two nights after getting into playoff position. The Rangers, who nearly put up back-to-back shutouts for the first time since March 2003, trail sixth-place Tampa Bay by one point with nine games left.
Thibault takes loss
Jagr swung around Alain Nasreddine and flipped the puck toward the net. The drive hit Scuderi and slipped underneath Jocelyn Thibault, who stopped 40 of New York's previous 41 shots. The puck disappeared, but it was revealed over the line when Thibault moved his legs.
"I thought it was in but I wasn't 100 percent sure," said Jagr, who reached 25 goals for the 16th straight season.
The goal was awarded after a video review that lasted a few minutes. Thibault hung his head in the crease and again on the bench after being pulled for an extra skater. He didn't face another shot, but Jagr's goal was enough to snap Pittsburgh's winning streak at five and improve the Rangers' run to 7-1-3.
"I was just trying to squeeze my pads," Thibault said. "I didn't know where it was. For a second I kind of had it. You couldn't see the puck until I split my pads. Knowing that, I would've moved my pads the other way."
Still trailing
The Penguins could've tied New Jersey atop the Atlantic Division with a win, but remained two points back. Thibault played well in place of No. 1 goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who backstopped a 4-3 shootout victory over Ottawa at home Sunday night.
Pittsburgh is 7-1-1 in its last nine and went 4-1 during a stretch of five games in seven days.
"If you look at the big picture, you have to be satisfied," coach Michel Therrien said. "What makes it tough is that we were about 30 seconds from picking up at least another point."
This one was scoreless until the third period, when Blair Betts gave New York a 1-0 lead at 47 seconds.
Pittsburgh caught the Rangers in the third when Michel Ouellet tied it with 5:42 left. Ouellet guided in Erik Christensen's pass before soaring through the crease over goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who was spread out in front.
Lundqvist, who stopped 30 shots in a 7-0 win against Boston on Saturday, had little work after the opening period. He stopped eight shots in the opening 20 minutes, five in the second, and eight in the third.
Thibault made 19 saves in the second period, when the Rangers had three power-play chances. The 32-year-old netminder stopped 25 shots at New Jersey last Wednesday in his previous outing, posting his first NHL shutout since Oct. 8, 2003, and had gone 141 minutes, 15 seconds without allowing a goal when Betts broke the deadlock.
"We got a bad bounce, no doubt," Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. "We've had our breaks against them throughout the year. This one went against us."
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