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Jaromir Jagr scored Saturday, becoming just the seventh player in NHL history to score 700 career goals.
Just a few minutes into the second period against the Islanders, Jagr, who reached 699 goals a couple of nights before, scored to give the Devils a 2-0 lead. It was the 19th goal of the season for Jagr, the Devils' leading scorer, and more importantly the 700th of his career.
The only other players in the 700-goal club in NHL history are Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Brett Hull, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Mike Gartner and now Jagr. Gartner is potentially within reach for Jagr this season, his 708 career goals sixth all time.
The actual finish on the goal wasn't a thing of beauty, going in off a defender's skate, but the play that preceded the soft shot was what we've come to expect from Jagr. He was able to stay strong on the puck, going right into and through the heart of the defense and into the scoring area.
Jagr's 700th goal came in game No. 1,452 of his career, leaving him just shy of a half-goal per game career average. Considering he spent much of his career playing in an NHL where scoring has decreased, that's quite the achievement. If that per-game average were extended for the years he missed with lockouts and playing overseas, we might be talking about Jagr in the 800 club with only Gretzky and Howe.
Who knows, maybe Jagr will play long enough to get there anyway. He's certainly showing no signs of being over the hill this season at age 42.
