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BOX SCORE
TORONTO (AP) -- Jaromir Jagr is playing hurt. He's also playing well enough to help the Pittsburgh Penguins clinch a postseason
berth.
Jagr, who returned from an injury layoff March 19, had two goals
and assist to take sole possession of the NHL scoring lead as
Pittsburgh beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Wednesday night.
The win guaranteed Pittsburgh a playoff spot for the 10th
consecutive season, while the Leafs failed for the second game in a
row to wrap up their first division title since 1962-63.
"I don't feel very good. My health is not at 100 percent," said Jagr, who missed 12 games because of surgery to remove a blood clot from his thigh, and another five with hamstring, thumb and upper back injuries.
"He's amazing. He's doing a lot of the little things," Matthew
Barnaby said. "The points haven't really been there but he did
great tonight."
The points have been there often enough to put Jagr atop the
league with 95 points. He entered Wednesday's action tied with
Florida's Pavel Bure, who has 93 points and has played in 11 more
games than Jagr has.
Jagr turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Penguins advantage after
two periods. The winger ripped a shot from a bad angle past Curtis
Joseph at 8:13 on the power play. He scored his second with 1:35
left when he one-timed a pass from Jan Hrdina at almost the same
spot as his first.
Rob Brown and Robert Lang also scored for Pittsburgh, while Ron
Tugnutt made 31 saves. Josef Beranek had two assists.
"It's always tough coming into Toronto," Tugnutt said.
"Jaromir stepped up and showed he's a great captain."
Kris King and Steve Thomas responded for Toronto.
"We still have a couple games left to muck with some things,"
Leafs GM-coach Pat Quinn said. "I don't think we had a good line
tonight."
The Leafs forwards weren't too concerned with backchecking,
which led to several scoring opportunities for Pittsburgh.
"I wish we could put it all together," Thomas said. "We
played in their end an awful lot but sometimes we stayed out too
long and didn't have enough to skate back. I don't think we were
too smart out there regarding our defensive positioning."
Lang gave the Penguins a two-goal cushion 1:14 into the third
when he turned in Jagr's pass in front of the net.
The Leafs had an excellent opportunity to get back into the game
with a two-man advantage for 1:46 but were unable to capitalize.
The Leafs, who are five points ahead of the Ottawa Senators in
the Northeast Division, need just one more point in their remaining
two games to clinch one of the top three seeds in the Eastern
Conference.
The Leafs also remain three points behind the Washington
Capitals for second place in the conference.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Toronto Clubhouse
Blind in one eye, Leafs' Berard hopes to play again
RECAPS
Florida 6
Boston 3
Montreal 3
NY Rangers 0
Pittsburgh 4
Toronto 2
St. Louis 6
Calgary 5
Chicago 5
Anaheim 2
Colorado 3
Edmonton 2
Phoenix 3
Nashville 2
Los Angeles 1
Vancouver 1
San Jose 5
Dallas 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jaromir Jagr scores the power-play goal for Pittsburgh.
avi: 675 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Rob Brown's second effort beats Curtis Joseph for the score.
avi: 473 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Steve Thomas puts the puck past Ron Tugnutt for the goal.
avi: 478 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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