Jaromir Jagr had a four-point night to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 6-3 victory over the Florida Panthers. It was a win the Devils desperately needed as they hope against reason that they can still make the playoffs.
But Jagr wasn’t in the mood to celebrate Monday night.
“We gotta play better hockey than today,” Jagr said, per NJ.com. “That’s for sure. Otherwise we don’t have a chance. We’ve gotta play better hockey. We were lucky.”
Jagr went onto say his team was “sleeping” and that they played like it was “a (bleep)ing preseason game.”
The 42-year-old forward hasn’t been shy when it comes to expressing himself to the media. In January, he openly wondered if the Devils simply weren’t good enough because they were repeatedly making the same mistakes. When he was separated from linemate Travis Zajac -- who he helped earn his first career hat trick last night -- in February, he said that it didn’t make sense.
It’s worth adding that Devils GM Lou Lamoriello and coach Pete DeBoer have both previously defended Jagr’s right to call out his teammates.