NEW YORK (AP) -- Jaromir Jagr yelled at his struggling team in

the second period then gave the New York Rangers the on-ice

pick-me-up they've been lacking.

"We needed to win an ugly game," said Jagr, whose NHL-leading

45th goal in the third period pushed the Rangers to a 5-4 win over

the Washington Capitals that snapped a season-worst, six-game

losing streak.

Jagr has always been a reluctant leader but he is the main

reason the Rangers have been playoff contenders all season and why

they moved two points ahead of Philadelphia in the race for the

Atlantic Division title Thursday night.

When he screamed at the bench after the Rangers squandered two

leads to the lowly Capitals, coach Tom Renney calmed the MVP

favorite down.

It worked, because Jagr's winning goal was as relaxed and

impressive as a hockey move can be.

Jagr, who also assisted on Petr Sykora's second-period goal,

used his backhand to forcefully steer around defenseman Shaone

Morrisonn, switched the puck to his forehand and slid a shot around

Olie Kolzig's pad at 7:08 while the teams were skating 4-on-4.

"He was the difference maker," Renney said. "The strength of

the man and the ability to get around the defenseman, get it to the

net and put it away is unbelievable. That's what makes him

special."

And just what the Capitals thought they were getting when they

acquired Jagr from Pittsburgh. But after 2½ lackluster seasons in

Washington, he was sent to New York.

Now the Rangers are in position to reach the playoffs for the

first time since 1997.

This one didn't come easy. New York blew a two-goal lead for the

second straight home game, against the team with the second-fewest

points in the NHL.

"It was not pretty. That might be the understatement of the

year," Renney said.

New York busted out of its scoring slump with three power-play

goals -- taking advantage of the league's worst road penalty killers

after scoring only nine times overall in the losing skid that

included two overtime defeats.

Steve Rucchin, Sykora and Sandis Ozolinsh all had power-play

goals. Petr Prucha also scored, and Michael Nylander had three

assists.

"We needed this game big time," Nylander said. "We got it and

it's going to be an energy booster and a confidence booster."

Brian Sutherby and Brian Willsie rallied Washington from a 2-0

deficit. Bryan Muir got the Capitals even at 3 in the second

period, and Chris Clark gave them their only lead with 6:24 left in

the middle period.

Ozolinsh tied it with his first Rangers goal since being

acquired a week earlier from Anaheim. He zipped a shot through

traffic and past Kolzig 4 seconds into a power play and with 1:19

left in the second period.

Things didn't start well for New York when Nylander was given a

4-minute, high-sticking penalty just 24 seconds in.

Henrik Lundqvist, who earned his first victory since leading

Sweden to the Olympic gold medal, kept the Capitals off the board

when he robbed Dainius Zubrus from in close with a snatching glove

on the power play. Two minutes after Nylander got out of the box,

New York took the lead.

Rucchin finished off a pretty passing play started by Martin

Straka and Ozolinsh, and steered a shot into an open net before

Kolzig could get back into position at 6:36 of the first.

Prucha made it 2-0 1:56 later with his first goal in his second

home game back from a knee injury that kept him out of the

Olympics. Lundqvist, who finished with 36 saves, earned an assist.

Sutherby cut the Capitals' deficit to 2-1 with 2:41 left in the

period in which they held a 19-11 shots advantage. Washington tied

it on Willsie's goal at 1:17 of the second.

Sykora's 17th put New York back in front, but Washington tied it

on Muir's eighth and took the lead on Clark's 15th.

The Capitals, who held a 40-27 shots edge, thought they got even

again in the third but the goal with just under 9 minutes remaining

was waved off by referee Tom Kowal.

"Did I hear a whistle before the puck went in the net? No, of

course not," Capitals coach Glen Hanlon said. "The interpretation

of the rule was explained to me and I don't agree with it."Game notes
Ozolinsh, who helped set up Rucchin's goal, has assists in

three straight games. ... LW Ben Clymer, who had two assists,

matched his career high with three points in Washington's loss to

Buffalo on Tuesday. He has three goals and five assists in five

games. ... The Rangers had D Marek Malik (shoulder) back in the

lineup but were without LW Martin Rucinsky. Malik assisted on

Jagr's goal.