Jaromir Jagr and the Rangers broke two skids last night with a resounding 4-2 victory over the Southeast Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes at MSG. With his first two-goal game of the season, Jagr broke a ten-game scoring drought, and with the win, the Blueshirts snapped a three-game losing streak.

Though Jagr was voted first star of the game with his eighth and ninth tallies, this was much more of a team effort, as several players stepped up their game, and the results were noticeable. Scott Gomez was superb all night long and could easily have been the first choice; Brendan Shanahan was great in the third period, Chris Drury had a goal and an assist, and Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding, especially very late in the game when the ‘Canes threw everything at him in a last ditch attempt to gain a point.

The game started out with a familiar theme; the Rangers took control early and played a great first period. They outshot the ‘Canes 13-5, but were unable to beat Cam Ward. After the scoreless opening frame, fans were wondering if this was going to be yet another display of offensive futility.

But early in the second, Jagr was at the right place at the right time and finally scored a goal. At 2:28, he easily tapped the puck in right at the doorstep off a beautiful play by Gomez, but the advantage was short-lived. With a great opportunity to widen the lead, the Blueshirts went on the power-play soon after Jagr’s goal. But Carolina was the team that took advantage as Scott Walker notched the teams’ first shorthanded tally of the season. Lundqvist had no chance on the play as the Rangers were lost deep in their own zone while having more men on the ice. It could have been a critical turning point in the game.

Midway through the period, Colton Orr lined up Matt Cullen with a mid-ice collision that rendered Cullen motionless on the ice for a few seconds. Replays showed it was a helmet to helmet collision that showed no intent to injure but the referees acted in a more emotional rather than rational way. Orr was called for a major penalty for interference which was ludicrous since Cullen had surrendered possession of the puck barely more than a second before the collision. He was caught with his head down and Orr took advantage of that. He could have been called for roughing or maybe elbowing, but never interference.

Thankfully, Cullen left the ice with only moderate assistance; he was a popular player with the Rangers last year, and while Orr is clearly a bruising type player, he is not a headhunter. Regardless, the Blueshirts killed off the five-minute power-play, but the deadlock was to be broken shortly anyway. Another manpower advantage for the Hurricanes resulted in their only lead of the game at 16:19 when Eric Staal pushed in a rebound of Dennis Seidenberg’s effort passed Lundqvist, who couldn’t have done anything to stop it.

The final period was an unexpected offensive outburst for the home team as they manhandled Carolina for the fist half of the frame. Two power-play tallies (Drury at 1:38 and Daniel Girardi at 7:06) turned the game around; both goals resulted from hard shots by Brendan Shanahan. Almost three minutes later, Gomez’ effort produced another Jagr goal and stretched the Rangers’ lead to 4-2. With his two assists, Gomez has a ten-game point scoring streak.

With three goals in less than ten minutes, the Rangers had control of the contest and dropped their intensity. That’s not a good formula for success, but it is understandable. The ‘Canes picked up their tempo and began to make strides as the Blueshirts concentrated on protecting their two-goal lead. Lundqvist was called on to make several big stops especially at the very end when the Rangers tool back-to-back penalties and Carolina pulled Ward for an extra skater. The resulting and very rare six-on-three man advantage could not do anything.

Lundqvist finished with 20 saves in a winning effort while Ward, who was remarkable early, stopped 31 shots. Both netminders were exemplary. The Rangers are off to Toronto; they have a Saturday night game with the Maple Leafs. It is the first of a five-game stretch against Canadian teams.