Ranking Jaromir Jagr’s Top 5 Best Penguins’ Moments
During his 11-year stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jaromir Jagr experienced plenty of highs, but unfortunately, some lows as well. From two-time, Stanley Cup winning champion to his infamous, fallout with superstar teammate, Mario Lemieux.
On Sunday, the Penguins are going to honor Jagr, before their game against the Los Angeles Kings, as he will have his jersey 68 officially retired up into the PPG Paints Arena rafters.
To celebrate the much deserved, and well overdue occasion, I’ve ranked Jagr’s Top 5 greatest moments with the Penguins from his fifth best to his very best.
5. First career four-goal game: Jaromir Jagr had many accolades, in his decorated career with Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t until the turn of the century that Jagr would accomplish a feat that he hadn’t done before.
On October 14th, 2000, Jagr recorded his first and only career four-goal performance. He did so versus the New York Rangers, where he scored a goal in each period. After already registering a hat-trick, Jagr put up his fourth goal on Rangers goalie Kirk McLean, who had given up eight in the game.
4. Game 1 of the ‘92 Stanley Cup Finals: Jagr would help propel the Penguins to perhaps their most incredible playoff comeback in franchise history.
Trailing the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 midway through the second period, Pittsburgh got a pair of goals from Rick Tocchet and Mario Lemieux in the second to make it 4-3. Jagr would rise to the occasion, with a game-tying goal in the third, and Lemieux completed the comeback. The Game 1 victory set the tempo for their second Stanley Cup championship.
3. Game 2 of the ‘91 Division Semi-Finals: Jagr’s first biggest playoff moment came during Game 2 of the 1991 Division Semi-Finals against the New Jersey Devils. His first postseason goal was an overtime game-winner to give the Penguins a 5-4 victory in Game 2. At age 19, Jagr became one of the youngest players in league history to score a playoff goal.
2. Game 6 of the ‘99 Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals: Without playing alongside Lemieux, Jagr wanted to show that he could carry the Penguins on his back, and he certainly did that during the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals.
Much like he did in the ‘91 playoffs, Jagr was a major thorn in the Devils’ side again. In Game 6, with Pittsburgh down 2-1 late in the third period, Jagr would produce a game-tying goal. He would add the cherry on the top by scoring the OT game-winner past Hall of Fame Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. The game was arguably Jagr’s best at the Civic Arena.
1. Jagr collects 1,000th point: While Jagr’s memorable playoff game moments deserve their just due, his best moment was from a statistical standpoint, and that came on December 30th, 2000, when he scored a goal versus the Ottawa Senators to compile 1,000 career points. The play was setup by an assist from Lemieux, who ironically recorded his 1,500th point that night.
At the time, Jagr became only the second Penguins player to join the exclusive, 1,000 point club. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have reached the milestone since then.