SUNRISE, Fla – Jaromir Jagr picked up his seventh goal of the year midway through the third period to lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames.
“Well-timed,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “He had a real nice assist and a nice goal and that’s what we need from our guys. It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was a game we fought for and a game we really needed.”
Jagr caught the Flames’ defense standing around.
The Panthers also got goals from Vincent Trocheck, Reilly Smith and Aaron Ekblad
While the win was welcome, the Panthers held a player-only meeting after the match.
“We feel that we didn’t play our best hockey,” goalie Roberto Luongo said. “Fortunately, we didn’t pay for it tonight. But under different circumstances, we probably don’t win this game. That’s the sign of a good team. You can’t be satisfied with a win; you want to be satisfied with the process. We made some mistakes, but we also scored some big goals. We’re happy with the win, no doubt, but at the same time we realize that we need to be better.”
David Jones scored twice and Sean Monahan added a goal for the Flames.
What Florida needs to do now is string a number of wins together and not lose contact with divisional leaders.
“We won; that’s a good thing,” Jagr said. “We feel like we didn’t play our best. We have those seven home games, we have to make sure we play our best hockey and get some wins together. A win is good, but everybody felt like we should play a little better.”
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