DALLAS–Before the game a Dallas fan asked their friend during warmups, “Who’s the old guy in the mullet?”
Before the first period expired Jaromir Jagr reminded his one-time home fans who he is with a goal and an assist to help the Florida Panthers build a three-goal lead in what became a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on New Year’s Eve.
Full coverage from nhl.com with highlights and stats can be found here.
Vincent Trocheck scored early for the Panthers and Jagr collected his 1135th assist to tie Paul Coffey for 5th all-time in NHL history. It was Jagr’s 1190th career point.
Jagr later collected his seventh goal of the season, career goal 756, career power play goal 213 and career point 1891, activating the single digit countdown to 1,900 career points.
Jussi Jokinen also scored for the Panthers who had not won a game since defeating Buffalo Dec. 20 and suffered through a regulation loss and three overtime/shootout losses since they last savored victory. The Panthers are 16-14-8 as the year 2016 ends, trailing Boston by four point for third place in the Atlantic Division and needing to make up a similar margin with Philadelphia for the second and final wild card spot. One slot ahead of the Panthers is the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning, who are two points behind Boston and two ahead of them. Of concern is the improved Toronto Maple Leafs who trail Florida by one point with three games in hand.
The Panthers played their second game without leading scorer Aleksander Barkov, who will miss 2-3 weeks with a still unidentified injury believed to have been suffered when he was drilled in the back with a shot Wednesday night in a shootout loss to Toronto. Jonathon Huberdeau continues to recover from a pre-season injury and will be out of action until mid-February. Reilly Smith returned from a concussion suffered in the Detroit game.
Upcoming Jagr milestones
One point to claim fifth all time in assists
9 points to reach 1,900
34 assists to tie Ray Bourque for fourth all-time
Jagr third among Panthers scorers
Barkov 36 games played; 9 goals; 18 assists; 27 points
Marchessault 31- 11-13-24
JAGR 38-7-16-23
Trocheck 38-11-10-21
Yandle 2-16-18
Demers 38-7-9-16
Smith 36-7-9-16
Sceviour 37-5-7-12
Matheson 37-3-9-12
Ekblad 38-3-7-10
The rest of the Panthers have recorded less than 1o points this season.
Three homes games first week of January, 2017
The Panthers host games Wednesday vs. Winnipeg, Friday vs. Nashville and Saturday vs. Boston.
Updated Jagr-O-Meter
Highlights and more from loss to Monteal, Thursday, Dec. 29 from nhl.com
https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-fla/2016/12/29/2016020536#game=2016020536,game_state=final
Tickets for upcoming games can be purchased securely through panthers.nhl.com
Without two of his regular linemates for a few weeks Jagr will be leaned upon more than ever to help push the Panthers up in the standings. Working with Vincent Trocheck produced two points for each player and a win for Florida in their first game together. Updates will come later in the week as….The Legend Continues.
Jagrometer.com is produced by Ray Haluska, a one-time sportswriter who covered Jagr in his first four NHL seasons with Pittsburgh. Contact him at rokinray@aol.com, @CruisingRay on Twitter, or at the message link on this webpage.
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