Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr scored his 731st NHL goal Thursday to tie Marcel Dionne for fourth place on the League's all-time list.
Jagr scored 51 seconds into the first period of a 4-1 win against the Washington Capitals at BB&T Center. He has nine goals this season; he had gone eight games without one.
"I was waiting for a long time," Jagr said. "I had some chances; I just couldn't score. I'm glad it's behind me. Every record looks like there's a big karma around it and it's tough to break it. It's not the first time that I was stuck on a number. It's always like that. The great players, there's great charisma and great karma around it ... it's like a huge wall.”
Jagr scored on the first shot after an opening faceoff that was delayed 17 minutes to allow the required emergency personnel to arrive at the arena.
"He had some chances before that, but tonight it's good to get that goal," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. 'He's going to score more goals for us over his career, but tonight I'm sure he's pretty excited."
The 43-year-old is 10 goals behind Brett Hull for third place. Wayne Gretzky's 894 goals are most in NHL history, 93 more than Gordie Howe.
Jagr is fourth with 1,823 points, behind Howe (1,850), Mark Messier (1,887) and Gretzky (2,857).
Jagr, who made his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 1990, has played 1,577 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils and Panthers.
Dionne scored his 731 goals in 1,348 games with the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Rangers. He last played in the 1988-89 season.
Jagr missed three NHL seasons playing in the Kontinental Hockey League from 2008-11.
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