Florida Panthers' Jaromir Jagr and St. Louis Blues' Jori Lehtera. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI |
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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jaromir Jagr earned his 760th career goal as the Florida Panthers scored three times in less than six minutes during the second period in a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night at the Honda Center.
The 45-year-old Jagr, who ranks third in NHL career goal scoring, now needs 41 to tie Hall of Famer Gordie Howe for second place. Wayne Gretzky finished his Hall-of-Fame career with 894 goals.
Colton Sceviour, Aaron Ekblad and Derek MacKenzie also scored for the Panthers (26-20-10), who used their sixth win in seven games to move within one point of the Eastern Conference's final wild-card playoff spot. Goalie James Reimer stopped 35 shots.
Andrew Cogliano scored his 12th goal for the Ducks (30-19-10), who received 27 saves from goalie John Gibson yet suffered their fifth defeat in seven games.
Cogliano's short-handed goal gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 2:46 of the second period. But 92 seconds later, Sceviour exploited a turnover to tie the score.
Alex Petrovic began the scoring sequence by poke-checking the puck off Nick Ritchie's stick. Florida's Shawn Thornton slapped the puck to MacKenzie at center ice. MacKenzie's drop-pass found Sceviour, who fired a rising slap shot from the top of the slot for his seventh goal.
Jagr's 11th goal of the season put the Panthers ahead at 6:58. As defenseman Josh Manson skated from behind Anaheim's net, Jagr stole the puck from behind Manson at the goal line. Jagr faked several times before depositing a forehand inside the left post.
Ekblad extended the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 10:08. Jonathan Marchessault deflected Cogliano's pass at center ice to Vincent Trocheck, who fired a slap shot that Gibson saved. But the long rebound ricocheted to Ekblad, who scored his eighth goal on a slap shot from the top of the slot.
The Ducks had a chance to narrow their deficit when Marchessault received a delay-of-game penalty with 2:37 to play. Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle pulled Gibson to create a 6-on-4 advantage, but MacKenzie's short-handed goal into an empty net ended the scoring with 1:58 left.
Cogliano used another turnover to score Anaheim's goal. Nick Bjugstad's pass to Florida teammate Reilly Smith deflected off Smith's and Cogliano's sticks to Logan Shaw, who freed Cogliano for a breakaway. Cogliano fended off Bjugstad and shot the puck off Reimer's left thigh.
NOTES: D Sami Vatanen returned to the Ducks' lineup after missing the past five games because of an injured knee. ... Florida scratched D Jakub Kindl and C Michael Sgarbossa. ... Panthers G Roberto Luongo needs one game to tie Hall of Famer Ed Belfour for fourth place among goalies with 963 career appearances. ... Panthers D Keith Yandle needs two points for 400 in his career. ... Anaheim scratched D Korbinian Holzer and RW Corey Tropp. ... The Ducks won 50.4 percent of their faceoffs to lead the NHL entering the game. ... The Ducks sent D Shea Theodore to San Diego of the American Hockey League.