Jagr Leads Rangers Past Flyers To Spoil Forsberg’s Philly Debut
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PHILADELPHIA – Jaromir Jagr spoiled Peter Forsberg’s Philadelphia debut. Jagr scored a pair of power-play goals in the third period, leading the Rangers to a 5-3 victory over the Flyers last night as the NHL returned after a lockout canceled the 2004-05 season.
Jason Strudwick, Jamie Lundmark, and Marcel Hossa also scored for the Rangers, who overcame a two-goal deficit with four straight goals.
Forsberg had two assists in his first game with the Flyers after leaving Colorado, where he helped lead the Avalanche to two Stanley Cup championships. Mike Richards, Mike Knuble, and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers.
With Forsberg in the penalty box for tripping, the Rangers went ahead 4-3 on Jagr’s second goal with 8:34 remaining. Jagr wristed a shot from inside the right face-off circle past goaltender Robert Esche. Hossa gave the Rangers a two-goal lead 33 seconds later, stunning a sellout crowd of 19,821 fans that turned out to see the new-look Flyers.
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With the hockey world watching, the first-round draft pick lived up to all of his expectations and more with a goal and two points in his first NHL game.
Sidney Crosby, it wasn’t. Zach Parise, New Jersey’s first round draft pick in 2003, scored a power play goal and assisted on one of Brian Gionta’s two goals in an outstanding debut that led the Devils to a 5-1 victory over Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sergei Brylin also scored twice for New Jersey.
Crosby, the most awaited rookie in a generation and the 18-year-old poster child of the new-look NHL, had one assist in a long-awaited unveiling game that drew as much attention in his native Canada as a Stanley Cup final.
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In Buffalo, Daniel Briere scored two goals and set up another, leading the Buffalo Sabres to a 6-4 season-opening victory over the Islanders.
Maxim Afinogenov scored twice, J.P. Dumont had a goal and an assist, and Brian Campbell added a goal in a game Buffalo never trailed. Ryan Miller stopped 22 shots and overcame a very soft goal to win his seventh career game.
Alexei Zhitnik, Alexei Yashin, Jason Blake, and Chris Campoli scored and Mike York had two assists for the Islanders.
– Associated Press
