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Henrik Lundqvist, whose play came on late in the season, is the caliber of goalie who can lead the Rangers to a Stanley Cup, writes Bill Clement of NBCSports.com.

A net gain on the attack
The Rangers began the season by struggling mightily on offense. The pieces didn’t fit the puzzle the way management was hoping. Drury and Gomez got off to slow starts. It was musical chairs for a while as different line combinations were tried out. Seven months after the first puck dropped on their regular season, the Rangers are scoring better.

Slowly but surely their attack has improved. Renney stopped trying to fit Gomez and Drury with Jagr, who instead has played the most with rookie Brandon Dubinsky, a combination that makes the superstar comfortable and one that has really clicked. Add either Martin Straka or Sean Avery to that line and the Rangers get a pretty consistent burst of offensive punch. With Jagr on the ice, opposing defenses always feel threatened and that’s even more so when the Czech scoring machine is meshing well with his linemates.

The Rangers younger players upfront have done a solid job. Three rookies have burst upon the scene. Dubinsky has good speed and great tenacity and just a love of the game. He is not afraid to take chances and be creative, but he never seems to sacrifice defense when doing so. The two other rookies worth noting for their fine efforts are Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan, both of whom play with a great amount of energy and the team’s veteran stars feed off it.

What’s next for Jagr?
During the lockout of 2004-05 Jagr played in the southwestern Siberian city of Omsk for a team -- Avangard-Omsk -- of the Russian Super League. Apparently he came away from that experience feeling he would someday like to play in Omsk again. He’s likely to explore such an opportunity this month when Anatoly Bardin, the general manager of Avangard-Omsk, visits New York on business – the top item of which is to meet with Jagr, an unrestricted free agent this summer, and discuss a possible return by the Czech to the Siberian team.

That Jagr -- on the brink of the start of the playoffs -- would publicly confirm he will be meeting with Bardin speaks to the superstar’s complex personality. The timing of this meeting is strange – and strange is a good word to describe Jagr. I challenge anyone to say they have truly figured Jagr out despite his being in the NHL since 1990.

If Jagr is seriously considering playing in Siberia, he will want to leave the NHL on a positive note. The one thing for certain about him is that he takes pride in his numbers. This was only the second time in Jagr’s 16 NHL seasons that he didn't score 30 goals. If he can put this negative stat behind him by accomplishing something significant in the playoffs, then he may find it much easier to bid farewell to the NHL.

The mystery at this point is how much the Rangers would be willing to pay Jagr to keep him in New York? Renney has a special relationship with Jagr and the coach will go to bat for his superstar in a big way. Rangers general manager Glen Sather brought Jagr to New York and Sather believes teams win when they have star players. But in the end will the Rangers’ brass believe Jagr can help the team win enough games in the future that it will pay him what it takes to keep him in New York?

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Knowing Jagr figure his decision will come down to money. A Rangers’ offer of between $4 and $6 million a year for two years might well be expected. What also might well be expected is for Bardin to top that offer leaving Jagr with one tough choice to make.

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Heading to the Cup finals

Adam Henrique scored off a wild scramble in front early in OT and the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 to advance to their first Stanley Cup finals since '03. The new Eastern champs will face LA next.

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Highlights: OT goal delivers Devils to Cup finals

  Check out highlights as the New Jersey Devils advanced to the Stanley Cup finals by defeating the New York Rangers, 3-2, in overtime.

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