OTTAWA - Even if it had been Jaromir Jagr's best night, he couldn't have supplied as much offense as the Rangers needed.
Bryan Smolinski scored twice in the first period Saturday and Daniel Alfredsson had a goal and two assists as the Senators ruined Jagr's debut with the Rangers by routing New York 9-1. Jussi Markkanen allowed six goals in the first and third and Jason LaBarbera, recalled Friday from the AHL, yielded three in the second.
"It wasn't the start I was looking for, that's for sure," said Jagr, acquired Friday from Washington.
"It's one of the worst beatings I've taken in my career," Rangers coach and general manager Glen Sather said. "It seemed like everyone stood around and was waiting for Jagr to win it for us."
Center Bobby Holik disagreed: "That's Glen's opinion; I didn't feel that way. Even if Jaromir did magic, it still wouldn't be enough tonight."
Jagr made his first two Ranger appearances on the power play in the first 4:44. He threw his linemates offside on his first two offensive rushes.
ISLANDERS 3, THRASHERS 0: Rick DiPietro strengthened his grip on the starting goaltending job for visiting New York with an often-spectacular 25-save performance. DiPietro was especially sharp in denying Ilya Kovalchuk on a handful of scoring chances. That came on the heels of DiPietro's 3-2 victory Friday at Carolina.
FLYERS 2, SABRES 1: Robert Esche had 25 saves for his 14th win this season, adding to his career high, as host Philadelphia moved four points ahead of New Jersey in the Atlantic Division.
AVALANCHE 5, PENGUINS 3: Peter Forsberg returned from a four-game injury layoff with two goals and an assist for Colorado, which extended Pittsburgh's longest home losing streak in more than 20 years. The Penguins lost their seventh straight at home to tie the franchise single-season record set in October 1983.
BLUE JACKETS 4, BLACKHAWKS 3: Rick Nash scored his league-leading 29th and 30th goals for Columbus, which extended Chicago's road losing streak to a franchise-record 17 games. The Blackhawks have not won a road game since beating Nashville 2-1 on Nov.7.
PANTHERS 2, BRUINS 1: Roberto Luongo had 43 saves and Juraj Kolnik and Valeri Bure scored power-play goals for visiting Florida. Luongo's strong game included a save on P.J. Axlesson's penalty shot with 6:32 left.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, CANADIENS 1: Goalie Ed Belfour had 14 saves for visiting Toronto to tie Tony Espositio for fourth on the career victory list with 423. Also, Montreal moved today's scheduled outdoor practice to the Bell Centre because of a forecast of minus-22 degrees.
STARS 3, BLUES 2: David Oliver had a goal and an assist for visiting Dallas, which completed a home-and-home sweep. Jere Lehtinen scored the winner with 10:24 left when Pierre Turgeon's centering pass bounced off Lehtinen's skate and past goalie Chris Osgood.
COYOTES 5, RED WINGS 2: Jan Hrdina and Daniel Cleary scored on host Phoenix's only two shots of the second. Also, the league suspended defenseman Jiri Fischer a game for head-butting Ian Laperriere of the Kings on Thursday, and Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall will miss up to three months with a broken right leg.
YOUNGSTARS GAME: Rookie scoring leaders Michael Ryder of Montreal and Trent Hunter of the Islanders were picked for the YoungStars game, to be played during All-Star weekend. Ryder has 14 goals and a rookie-best 36 points. Hunter has 16 goals, including a league-high six winners.
