Why does Jaromir Jagr think the ultra-talented Rangers are off to a 2-4-1 start this season?
“To answer the question, I would have to give you more questions,” Jagr said. “We’ve played bad because: a. we’re not good enough; b. a lack of confidence; or c. trying too much?
“It’s too many things I don’t know,” Jagr said. “Right now we don’t play good and I don’t know the problem.”
The captain knows the Rangers have to start scoring goals if they want to win. Jagr has notched eight points, four coming at even strength, and his one goal was a 6-on-5 rebound with 1:09 left in a 3-1 loss against Ottawa on Oct. 13. The team, with a roster that includes six 30-goal scorers, has been shutout in 15 of their 21 periods.
“I don’t know how good we really are,” Jagr said. “I believe we are good, but we have to start playing good, that’s all.”
Tonight is an open invitation for the Rangers to get started in a positive direction. In a nationally televised game on the home ice of the face of the new NHL, the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, the spotlight is on the Rangers. With a Penguins team tied for 25th in the NHL with 3.43 goals-against-average, the Rangers offense should have ample opportunity to rid themselves of the moniker as The Most Talented Team That Can’t Score.
“If your talent is working as hard as any of your role players, you’re going to win a championship,” coach Tom Renney said. “We’ve got players here who understand what offensively has to be done. It’s not far away, but we have to capture this soon.”
*
Marcel Hossa returned to practice yesterday and skated with the first line of Jagr and Scott Gomez. Renney said he expects him to play tonight. . . . Martin Straka will not need surgery for a broken finger he sustained in the third period Saturday after blocking a shot on the penalty kill. Renney said he expects Straka will be back in four or five weeks.
bcyrgalis@nypost.com