Jagr continues pursuit of Messier as Panthers visit Avalanche (Dec 16, 2016)
The Florida Panthers are struggling to find the magic that got them into the playoffs last year, but one thing that has them feeling good is the historic chase by Jaromir Jagr.
The ageless forward enters Friday's game against the Colorado Avalanche within three points of Mark Messier for second on the NHL all-time scoring. Jagr had an assist in the Panthers' 4-3 shootout loss at Winnipeg on Thursday and has 1,884 career points.
At 44, he doesn't seem to be slowing down.
"He's ageless, he's still going and doing very well," Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla told HockeyBuzz.com. "I'm definitely impressed. His reach and his shot, and he's definitely not easy to knock off the puck. You go to hit him and you feel it just as much as he would. There's not that many guys at that age who would still have the fire and passion to still be doing it."
Jagr would like to be doing it on a team on a roll, but the Panthers (13-13-5) struggled since associate general manager Tom Rowe took over behind the bench for the fired Gerard Gallant. Florida is 2-4-4 since Rowe became the interim coach.
The hope was a coaching change would spark the Panthers but that hasn't happened. However, a win in Colorado last season came during a 12-game winning streak, and a win Friday could help start turning things around.
"We were in a pretty similar situation from last year to now," Nick Bjugstad told the Sun-Sentinel. "If you can string together that at any point of the season it can change the whole course of the year."
The Panthers are in prime position to get on another streak against a Colorado team that has seemingly lost the ability to win at home. The Avalanche are 0-5-1 in their last six games at Pepsi Center and 4-9-1 overall there. They showed some fight in their most recent setback, a 4-3 loss to the streaking Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, and they're hoping to build upon that effort.
"I thought we played real hard, real competitive, did a lot of good things," coach Jared Bednar said after the loss to the Flyers. "That's how we have to play -- like that."
The Avalanche (11-16-1) are still without goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who also missed Wednesday'sgame with a groin injury. Varlamov has been inconsistent this season but had his best outing in a 3-1 victory at Toronto on Sunday. He made 51 saves and came within a 6-on-3 power-play advantage for the Maple Leafs of getting his second shutout of the season.
Calvin Pickard will get the start again. He allowed four goals on 25 shots against Philadelphia, including two in a span of 1:46 of the third period that proved to be the difference.
Pickard's role as the starter is expected to be short-lived. Varlamov was on the ice for practice Thursday and Bednar said he thinks he will be ready soon.
"He's three days off the ice now, and now he's skating so we'll have to give him some shots," Bednar told HockeyBuzz.com. "It's not like we need three days leeway to get him back in only being out that length of time. We're taking it day and day and we'll ask the trainers when he's ready to go. When he feels good, then he'll be back in."
