Panthers’ Jaromir Jagr Passes Mark Messier For Second In NHL All-Time Points

Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr broke a tie with Mark Messier for second place on the NHL all-time career points list.

Panthers’ Jaromir Jagr Passes Mark Messier For Second In NHL All-Time Points

Jagr reached the mark with an assist on Aleksander Barkov’s third-period goal in the Panthers’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. This pushed the 44-year-old Czech to 1,888 points for his career in his 1,663rd game. It took Messier 93 more games to attain his total of 1,887 points.

A shot from Michael Matheson glanced off Jagr’s pants, hit Bruins goalkeeper Tuukka Rask, then went to Barkov, who fired the puck into the net with 6:40 left in the game. Officials had to review the play to make sure Jagr had indeed touched the puck in order to give him the assist. The game then was stopped for a brief ceremony where Jagr received a gold stick.

“I appreciate everything … over my hockey career, and I thank the fans,” Jagr said during the ceremony.

Panthers interim coach Tom Rowe said he understands why Jagr was upset despite his big, record-setting night: because his team had still lost the game, and the Czech star values the team’s success. more than his own individual success.

“(Jagr’s) upset. He’s second in history in NHL scoring and he doesn’t even care about that right now,” Rowe said. “The two points were more important to him.”

Only Wayne Gretzky, with 2,857 points, has more than Jagr.

In a video, Gretzky offered congratulations. “You play the game the right way,” he told Jagr.

“I was dreaming about something else,” Jagr said. “I thought I was going to score beautiful goal, beautiful assist, and we’re going to win the hockey game. Obviously, it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, but the best thing is just to put it behind us and the whole team should concentrate on winning the games. We didn’t play very well today.”

Frank Vatrano, Patrice Bergeron and David Backes scored for Boston, and Rask made 29 saves. Even Bruins coach Claude Julien praised Jagr for his achievement.

“He deserves that attention. We didn’t mind that at all,” Julien said of the brief stoppage of play to honor Jagr. “He played for us so it was nice to be a part of it.”

Jagr played 22 games for the Bruins in 2013.

Rask was also thrilled to have witnessed a night where not only his team one, but Jagr reached a historic accomplishment.

“You don’t get to be (on the ice) with that kind of a legend very often so it was great to see that,” Rask said. “I’m very happy for him; it’s great.”

Vatrano, called up this week from Providence of the AHL, scored in his first game and on his second shot as a Bruin on a wrister from the slot at 2:09 of the second period.

“You aren’t a part of something like that every day,” Vatrano said about Jagr’s memorable assist. “He’s a tremendous player, one of the best in the game and it’s awesome.”

SUNRISE, FL – DECEMBER 22: Jaromir Jagr #68 of the Florida Panthers rushes up ice against the Boston Bruins at the BB&T Center on December 22, 2016 in Sunrise, Florida. The Bruins defeated the Panthers 3-1. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)