Jagr enters Czech league action at 51
PRAGUE – Jaromir Jagr has made his ice hockey season debut at age 51 for his hometown Kladno Knights in the Czech league.
Jagr began his 36th professional season with an assist to help Kladno come back from 3-0 down at league leader Pardubice. Kladno eventually tied the score but conceded a shorthanded goal to lose 4-3.
He skated for 13 minutes, 44 seconds. He didn’t talk to reporters after the game but coach Otakar Vejvoda called Jagr’s contribution “excellent.”
His return is expected to be a boost for Kladno, which is second to last on the table.
He has started the season in Kladno’s 26th game, but late starts are not uncommon for Jagr, who entered last season in game No. 27.
Jagr made his debut for Kladno as a teenager and returned to the club – which he now owns – in 2018 after the Calgary Flames released the NHL’s second all-time leading point-scorer.
Thursday’s games
Predators 4, Flyers 2: Philip Tomasino scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 4:01 remaining, and visiting Nashville ended
Philadelphia’s nine-game point streak. Cole Smith also scored, Gustav Nyquist converted an empty-netter and Colton Sissons added a pair of assists for the Predators. Morgan Frost had a goal and an assist, and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers. The game was tied 2-2 when Sissons passed from the side boards to the slot, and Tomasino fired a wrist shot over goalie Samuel Ersson’s right shoulder. Ersson made 27 saves. Juuse Saros stopped 29 shots for the Predators. Philadelphia, a surprising second place in the Metropolitan Division entering play, still has won seven of nine. Frost scored an unlikely goal 1:31 into the game to put Philadelphia in front. Bobby Brink sent a pass behind the net and it deflected off Frost’s skate, over the net, off the back of Saros and in. The Predators tied it 1:05 into the second when Smith finished a 2-on-1 short-handed chance with a shot past Ersson’s blocker side. Philadelphia went back ahead 3:40 later when Couturier converted his eighth of the season on the power play, shooting between Saros’ legs from close range after an assist from Frost.
Sabres 9, Maple Leafs 3: Jeff Skinner scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, and added an assist, and host Buffalo responded to its most embarrassing loss of the season with its fourth victory in 12 games. Tage Thompson also had a goal and two assists and captain Kyle Okposo scored twice, two nights following a 9-4 loss to Columbus when the team was booed off the ice and fans chanted “Fire Donnie” in reference to coach Don Granato. Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power (Michigan), Jordan Greenway and Jack Quinn also scored for Buffalo, which won for just the fourth time in 12 outings. Calle Jarnkrok, with a short-handed goal, and Max Domi also scored for Toronto, which lost consecutive games in regulation for just the second time this season.
Lightning 5, Golden Knights 4: Nicholas Paul scored the winning goal with 1:13 left in the third period and added two assists as host Tampa Bay beat injury-impacted Vegas. Tampa Bay right wing and NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists. Jiri Patera, playing in his third game this season and fifth overall, made 31 saves filling in for the injured Adin Hill (lower body) and Logan Thompson (upper body).
Penguins 2, Hurricanes 1 (SO): Sidney Crosby scored his 19th goal of the season in regulation and then beat Pyotr Kochetkov in a shootout to lift host Pittsburgh. Ex-Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 23 saves and turned away all three Carolina attempts in the shootout as the Penguins beat the Hurricanes for just the third time in 13 meetings. Teuvo Teravainen scored his 12th of the season for the Hurricanes.
Capitals 3, Blue Jackets 2 (OT): Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal in 15 games with 53 seconds left in overtime for visiting Washington. Ovechkin’s 828th career goal came on a 4-on-3 Capitals power play due to a roughing call against Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins with 2:18 left in the OT period. It was Ovechkin’s 26th OT goal, extending his NHL record, and his 125th game-winner overall, second in NHL history behind Jaromir Jagr’s 135. Ex-Wing Anthony Mantha scored twice and Charlie Lindgren made 34 saves as the Capitals won their third straight. John Carlson had three assists.