Jaromir Jagr knew it would be quite a challenge to say goodbye to the NHL and breathe life into a new league that has visions of becoming the world’s best collection of hockey talent. He never could have imagined just how tough his task would become.

Ryan Miller made 43 saves in regulation and overtime and turned aside three attempts in a shootout, and Ales Kotalik scored the lone goal in the tiebeaker in the Buffalo Sabres’ 2-1 victory over the Rangers on Friday night.

Henrik Lundqvist will join Montreal’s Carey Price, who was voted in by the fans as the starter, and Boston’s Tim Thomas as the three Eastern Conference goaltenders for the NHL All-Star Game Jan. 25 in Montreal.

Robert Lang scored a hat trick during the Canadiens’ four-goal third period Wednesday, and with Henrik Lundqvist shaky in net following his blanking of the Pens, the Rangers endured a 6-3 defeat, their fifth loss in seven games.

Former Rangers star Ron Duguay, told the Daily News Tuesday night that the front office should bring Sean Avery back. “I see what’s missing on the ice, and he’s that extra fireplug,” Duguay said.

With the second half opening Wednesday against Montreal, even coach Tom Renney can’t be entirely sure what to expect with 41 games remaining to determine whether his team will sink or swim in the congested Atlantic.

Ovechkin’s tiebreaking short-handed goal with a half-minute left in the second period lifted Washington past the Rangers 2-1 Saturday night, extending the Capitals’ winning streak to a season-high six games.

Over the past couple weeks, the Rangers’ watertight PK unit suddenly has begun to spring a few leaks. It has allowed seven goals in the Rangers’ last 23 times shorthanded, a kill rate a fraction below 70%. The Rangers are 2-3-1 in that stretch.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 27 shots he saw as the Rangers blasted the reeling Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-0, at the Garden Monday night - their eighth straight regular-season victory over their division rival.

Ted Donato is quite at home with his life in Cambridge, five years after he retired from the NHL, took the T over to his alma mater and stepped behind the bench as Harvard’s head coach.