As former New York Ranger bench boss Tom Renney expresses his regret at not lobbying harder to keep Jaromir Jagr in New York this season, speculation swirls in Russia that the big Czech may have played his last game for troubled Avangard. Maxim Sharifyanov writes in Sport Express:

In view of impending cost reductions and budget cuts, its difficult to imagine that the fantastic contract, by European standards, of Jaromir Jagr will be prolonged. And the Czech will hardly be motivated to work in another’s country for yet another season for substantially less money. If so, then it’s quite possible that [on Tuesday] Russian hockey had its last opportunity to watch the legend of world hockey first hand.

Jagr’s immediate future will be decided later today, when the outcomes of games between Chekhov Vityaz and Barys Astana and Severstal Cherepovets and Metallurg Magnitogorsk are decided. A win in regulation by Barys, who currently lead Vityaz 6-2 at the end of the second period, or a regulation or overtime victory for Severstal, will end Avangard’s turrbulent season.

UPDATE 1:30PM: With a goal with just 56 seconds remaining in regulation, Denis Khlystov prolonged Avangard’s season by giving Magnitigorsk a 2-1 victory over Severstal.  Barys held on to defeat Vityaz 6-4, taking 15th place and leaving Avangard in the 16th and final playoff berth.

The Hartford Wolf Pack rode their special teams and yet another outstanding performance by goaltender Matt Zaba to a season-high fourth straight victory on Wednesday night, defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-1. Greg Moore scored twice, Patrick Rissmiller added a goal and an assist, and Corey Potter and Bobby Sanguinetti had two assists each, while Sean Avery tallied his first goal since joining the Pack six games ago. But it was Zaba who made the trip to Pennsylvania a success by stopping 39 of 40 shots he faced in his fifth consecutive start.

It was the Penguins who took the early lead, scoring on the first nine power plays the Hartford would offer them, 5:57 into the opening frame. Defenseman Alex Goligoski scored his second in seven games since being sent down by the parent Penguins when he snuck in from the left point to hammer in a pass from former Ranger and Wolf Pack forward Jeff Taffe on a perfectly-timed back-door play.

The Pens were dominant in the first period, putting 10 shots on Zaba’s goal before the Wolf Pack had even tested Penguins’ goaltender John Curry 3 times. They finished the period with a 16-6 shot advantage, but the Pack would tie the score with 3:03 remaining. Avery, who played one of his better games since his debut two weeks ago, and who was routinely greeted by boos from the local fans when he took the ice, fought through a check along the left wing boards and blistered a slap shot past Curry from the left faceoff dot.

Jordan Owens extended the Wolf Pack lead to two goals early in the second when a picked up the puck at the hashmarks after Mike Ouellette fanned on his attempt, and snapped it past Curry at 1:44. It was Owens’ first game back after missing the last eight with an abductor muscle injury.

The second period was a far more even affair, with Hartford putting 14 shots on Curry while Zaba faced 13.

The Wolf Pack broke the game open in the third with three special teams goals. The first came on the penalty kill, just 1:24 into the period when Moore finished a 2-on-1 rush with Artem Anisimov by wristing the puck over Curry’s glove. Moore’s 17th of the season came on the Wolf Pack’s first shot of the period.

The hosts once again held a strong territorial advantage in the final period.  The Wolf Pack wouldn’t register another shot until 10:53, when Rissmiller scored the Wolf Pack’s second shorthander after intercepting Danny Richmond’s drop pass to Goligosk in the Penguin zone and skating in alone on Curry to beat the Boston University graduate high on the glove side.

Moore added his 18th of the season and second of the game just under three minutes later, on the power play, when he deflected Potter’s shot from the left point, giving the visitors the final 5-1 margin of victory at 13:36.  The Pack finished with just five shots in the final period, while the Penguins added 11, for a final Penguin advantage of 40-25.

The win leaves the Pack just three points behind first place Providence in the Atlantic Division, and three ahead of Portland. They return home on Friday to face sixth place Manchester on Friday and hit the road to battle Portland Saturday night.

Scoring:
1. Goligoski (2) (Taffe, Caputi) 5:57 (PP)
1. Avery (1) (Sanguinetti, Potter) 16:57
2. Owens (10) (Ouellette, Pyatt) 1:44
3. Moore (17) (Anisimov, Sanguinetti) 1:24 (SH)
3. Rissmiller (8) 10:53 (SH)
3. Moore (18) (Potter, Rissmiller) 13:36 (PP)

Lines:
Dupont – Anisimov – Parenteau
Rissmiller – Avery – Weise
Pyatt – Ouellette – Owens
DiDiomete – Moore – Sugden

Potter – Sanguinetti
Urquhart – Sauer
Denisov – Fahey

Zaba / Daigneault

Three Stars:
1. Matt Zaba
2. Sean Avery
3. Greg Moore

Ack! Ignore everything I said here.  When I looked at the standings last night, I failed to notice that 18th place Barys Astana had two games remaining.  They won one of them today.  A regulation win tomorrow against Chris Simon and Chekhov Vityaz would leave Barys tied with Avangard at 78 points, but with an extra win.  That would send the KHL’s most expensive roster on an early summer vacation.