NEW YORK – This is the Jaromir Jagr everyone expected two years ago in the playoffs.

And in this series, No. 68 has been the best player on the ice, even more than the young kids who wear 87 or 71.

With Sean Avery and Blair Betts out, it came down to Jagr who fought for the puck on every shift and almost willed his team to victory.

Yet it was his two goals and one assist which led the way in the 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

“He is a driven man right now,” said Rangers coach Tom Renney. “There is no question about that. Certainly for all the right reasons he wants this team to get back in the series. In terms of us being competitive with these people he has led the charge.”

With the Rangers playing in the customary defensive posture, the Blueshirts were able to get on the board with 7:15 left in the second. Jagr beat Marc- Andre Fleury from the slot after taking a pass from back from Brandon Dubinsky. Unfortunately a check to the head by Brooks Orpik, knocked the Ranger captain down on the ice and he laid motionless as the Garden faithful celebrated the Blueshirt lead.

As he got up, the crowd chanted “Jagr! Jagr” as No. 68 made his way off the ice.

It was all Henrik Lundqvist needed as he made amends for his poor performance in Game 3 with a 29 save effort for his second career playoff shutout.

“Last game was a tough one,” Lundqvist said. “But we found a way to score tonight; it was important for us to get a good start. It feels like every game that special teams decide the game and our penalty kill and power play stepped ip. We have to focus on special teams because five-on-five, we create more than they do.”

Lundqvist’s big moment came in with almost two minutes left in the second when Dan Girardi, who didn’t have his stick knocked Evgeni Malkin into the goalie causing a penalty shot to be rewarded. Lundqvist stopped the Hart Trophy candidate when Malkin hit Lundqvist’s glove hand easily to end any Pittsburgh hopes.

“Henrik came up bug on that penalty shot,” Jagr said. “That was huge. I think that was the turning point of the series.”

That’s because in the third it was all Rangers. Dubinsky scored on the power play just 44 seconds in to make it 2-0 with Jagr getting the second assist, and then Jagr added an empty netter to allow the Rangers to live for another day.

“We are going back to Pittsburgh down 1-3 and we have made this predicament regardless of whether or not we should have a better fate, it really doesn’t matter.” Renney said. “We are going back to Pittsburgh still in the series and that us the most important thing.

“We live to play to another day and we intend to win.”

All thanks to Jaromir Jagr.

Notes: Chris Drury played and show no ill effects of the injury from the other day. He played for 20:40 and won 15 or 24 faceoffs….Jagr leads the league in playoff points so far this season…The power play came alive today, going 2-7, even though the last goal was an empty netter…Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NBC.

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