Jagr becomes seventh player to score 700 league goals
(Reuters) - New Jersey Devils forward Jaromir Jagr became the seventh player to score 700 career goals in the National Hockey League (NHL) when he netted a second period score in Saturday's road game against the New York Islanders. The 42-year-old Czech recorded his 19th goal of the season when he skated in from the right circle and beat Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov with a wrist shot that deflected off the skate of Islanders defenseman Andrew MacDonald. Jagr, in his 20th season in the NHL, gave the Devils a 2-0 lead with his strike at 3:31 in the second period. He was instantly surrounded by his jubilant team mates before he skated off clutching the puck in his glove as a memento. The Czech veteran, a nine-time All-Star and a Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992, is only eight goals behind Mike Gartner in the all-time scoring list. Ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky holds the record with 894 goals in the NHL. The Devils ended up winning Saturday's game against the Islanders 6-1 with Jagr extending his career league assists to 1,040 after setting up a power-play goal by Marek Zidlicky at 8:07 in the second. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Gene Cherry)
