Rangers Humiliated in Jagr’s Debut, 9-1

Even on Jaromir Jagr’s best night, he wouldn’t have been able to supply as much offense as the New York Rangers needed.

Bryan Smolinski scored twice in the first period and Daniel Alfredsson had a goal and two assists as the Ottawa Senators ruined Jagr’s debut with the Rangers by routing New York, 9-1, Saturday night at Ottawa.

“It wasn’t the start I was looking for, that’s for sure,” said Jagr, acquired from Washington in a deal that was completed Friday.

As has been New York’s problem throughout the season, its defense and goaltending faltered. Jussi Markkanen gave up six goals in the first and third periods and Jason LaBarbera yielded three in the second.

Jagr made his first two appearances with the Rangers on the power play as Ottawa drew a pair of penalties within the first 4:44.

He threw his linemates offside on his first two offensive rushes, and it was all downhill from there for the Rangers.

“It’s not nice to lose 9-1 in your first game, but hopefully the worst is behind me and this team, and we somehow learn from this loss and turn things around,” Jagr said.

Dallas 3, St. Louis 2 -- David Oliver had a goal and an assist at St. Louis, and the Stars completed a home-and-home series sweep of the Blues. Marty Turco stopped 19 shots one night after making 33 saves in a 2-0 victory.

Phoenix 5, Detroit 2 -- Jan Hrdina and Daniel Cleary scored the Coyotes only two shots of the second period at Glendale, Ariz. Brian Boucher made a career-high 44 saves for Phoenix.

Philadelphia 2, Buffalo 1 -- Jeremy Roenick had two goals, and Robert Esche stopped 25 shots to lead the Flyers at Philadelphia. Esche earned his 14th victory of the season and the Flyers won for the fourth time in five games.

Columbus 4, Chicago 3 -- Rick Nash scored his NHL-leading 29th and 30th goals at Columbus, Ohio, to help the Blue Jackets extend the Blackhawks’ road losing streak to a franchise-record 17 games. Chicago has not won a road game since defeating Nashville on Nov. 7.

Florida 2, Boston 1 -- Roberto Luongo made 43 saves and the Panthers hung on to win at Boston behind power-play goals from Juraj Kolnik and Valeri Bure. Luongo also stopped P.J. Axlesson’s penalty shot with 6:32 left.

Toronto 4, Montreal 1 -- Bryan McCabe, Joe Nieuwendyk and Mikael Renberg scored second-period goals to lead the Maple Leafs at Toronto. Eastern Conference-leading Toronto has a 3-1 lead in the season series against Montreal.

Colorado 5, Pittsburgh 3 -- Peter Forsberg returned from a four-game injury layoff to score two goals at Pittsburgh and the Avalanche extended the Penguins’ longest home-ice losing streak in more than 20 years to seven games.

New York Islanders 3, Atlanta 0 -- Rick DiPietro strengthened his grip on the starting goaltending job with a 25-save performance to lead the Islanders at Atlanta.

Tampa Bay 6, Calgary 2 -- Martin St. Louis scored a hat trick against his former team to lead the Lightning at Calgary, Canada.

Nashville 4, Edmonton 3 -- Andreas Johansson scored two goals and the Predators held on at Edmonton, Canada, after holding a 4-0 lead.

San Jose 4, Minnesota 0 -- Evgeni Nabokov made 24 saves for his fifth shutout this season to lead the Sharks at San Jose.