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Jagr is hurting -- and so are Penguins
Posted: Sunday May 07, 2000 07:10 PM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- If Jaromir Jagr is hurting, the Pittsburgh Penguins must be, too. Jagr, bothered again by another of the leg problems that sidelined him for most of the final two months of the season, played only five minutes of the Penguins' 6-3 playoff loss Sunday to the Philadelphia Flyers. It was the second consecutive game that Jagr, who had five goals in the first three games of the series, was clearly off his game. The NHL scoring champion visibly labored through the Penguins' 2-1, five-overtime loss on Thursday, when he apparently injured his left quadriceps while being held scoreless. The Penguins described the injury as a pulled muscle, but they aren't saying if the 1999 NHL most valuable player is experiencing a reoccurrence of the thigh or hamstring injuries that sidelined him in late February and early March. The thigh injury required surgery to remove a blood clot. Jagr was the dominant player as the Penguins won the first two games in Philadelphia, and he had two goals and an assist in the Penguins' 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4. The leading scorer in the playoffs with 11 points, he has not scored in the last two games as the Flyers have opened a 3-2 lead going into Game 6 Tuesday in Pittsburgh. "I'm not doing too good right now but, hopefully, I'll be back the next game," Jagr said. "I pulled something. I'm not going to say exactly what happened until the series is over." Jagr played a few shifts in the first period Sunday, tried one more in the second period, then returned to the Penguins' dressing room and called it a day. One more loss, and the Penguins will call it a season. "I've got to get better and, hopefully, I will play," said Jagr, who acknowledges there is additional pressure on him to play because of the Penguins' predicament. "I would say it's 90 percent I'm going to play." With Jagr clearly struggling to get up and down the ice, the Penguins face a big challenge trying to generate offense without him. After his dominating effort in Game 3, Jagr didn't have a point despite playing nearly 60 minutes in Game 4, the third-longest game in NHL history. He never skated with any of his normal power or breakaway speed, and he looked badly fatigued. "You could tell he was really hurting," Flyers defenseman Adam Burt said. "Every time he got the puck, he wanted to turn it on and it wasn't happening for him. Let's face it, he's a marked man in these playoffs. I'm sure it's having its effects." It already is -- on the Penguins, who seemed primed to beat the Flyers in the playoffs for the first time after winning the first two games in Philadelphia. "We expect Jags to be ready Tuesday," forward Rob Brown said. "Any time you don't have the best player in the world, it affects you." The Flyers, too. "He is a wonderful player and it is always easier to play when a player like him is not in the lineup," Flyers coach Craig Ramsay said. Jagr acknowledges the five-overtime loss, which followed another overtime loss in Pittsburgh two nights before, took a lot out of the Penguins. And, obviously, Jagr himself. "It was hard to come back after the last game. It was tough on everyone," Jagr said. Now, the Penguins aren't certain if Jagr can come back -- at least in this series. Or this season. "We need to be sure he's healthy, because we need him," goaltender Ron Tugnutt said.
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