Jagr breaks Rangers scoring mark

Jaromir Jagr broke New York’s single-season points record – and gave the Rangers a little cushion in the Atlantic Division race.

Jagr assisted on four straight goals in a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday night at Uniondale, N.Y., to pass Hall of Famer Jean Ratelle on the team scoring list and help the Rangers move four points ahead of second-place Philadelphia.

“It’s a big honor for me,” Jagr said. “I’m glad I did it in the first period. … We need the points. We want to stay in first in the division.”

Drawing chants of “MVP! MVP!” from the many Rangers fans at Nassau Coliseum, Jagr broke the tie with Ratelle at 7 minutes, 23 seconds of the first period, setting up Petr Prucha’s power-play goal for point No. 110. Jagr also assisted on Martin Straka’s three goals.

Jagr, trying to for his sixth NHL scoring title, is the clear favorite to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player, an award he won in 1998-99 with Pittsburgh. Jagr has 113 points in 73 games, seven more than Joe Thornton has in 70 games for Boston and San Jose.

Stars 2, Mighty Ducks 1: At Dallas, Sergei Zubov and Niko Kapanen scored power-play goals in the second period and Dallas moved closer to clinching the Pacific Division title with a win over second-place Anaheim.

Canucks 2, Wild 1: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Anson Carter scored a power-play goal with 6.1 seconds left to give Vancouver a win over Minnesota.

Blackhawks 3, Blues 2 (OT): At Chicago, Kyle Calder scored in overtime as Chicago defeated St. Louis and snapped a five-game losing streak.

Flames 2, Kings 1: At Calgary, Alberta, Jarome Iginla scored a short-handed goal early in the second period to help Calgary beat Los Angeles and move back into a tie for first place in the Northwest Division.

Panthers 5, Penguins 3: At Pittsburgh, Chris Gratton scored his 16th goal to lead Florida past Pittsburgh for its seventh straight victory.

Sabres 4, Bruins 3: At Buffalo, N.Y., J.P. Dumont scored twice to help Buffalo defeat Boston and snap a six-game losing streak.

“Teppo Numminen will miss up to two weeks after the veteran Sabres defenseman sprained his knee in the win.

Capitals 5, Hurricanes 1: At Raleigh, N.C., rookie Alexander Ovechkin got his 48th goal of the season, Matt Bradley scored twice and backup goaltender Brent Johnson stopped 49 shots to help Washington beat Carolina.