PRAGUE — Jaromír Jágr celebrated his 51st birthday about a week early by scoring his 1,099th goal to overtake Wayne Gretzky at the top of the chart.
Jágr, who will turn 51 on Feb. 15, scored for the Kladno Knights on Sunday in a 5-4 loss at Trinec in the Czech league.
The winger, who was the NHL’s second highest point scorer in 2018 when he was released by the Calgary Flames, got his 1,099 goals in professional games and at international tournaments.
Jágr collected the puck behind the net before skating around it to put Kladno ahead 4-3 at 4:32 of the final period. It was his second point of the game. He also got an assist when Tomas Plekanec, another former NHL player, tied the game at 1-1 in the opening period.
With three goals and eight assists, Jágr has 11 points in 19 games for Kladno this season.
Jágr made his debut for Kladno as a teenager and returned to the club — which he now owns — after being released by the Flames.
Jágr completed his career in North America with 844 regular season and playoff goals. He added 93 goals in the Russian league/Kontinental Hockey League, 107 in the Czechoslovak and Czech leagues and 55 at international competitions, including the Olympics, World Cups, world championships and Euro Hockey Tours.
Gretzky, the record scorer in the NHL with 894 goals, had 1,072 regular season and playoff goals in the NHL and WHA, and 26 at international adult tournaments. They include 17 at the Canada Cup, three at the World Cup and six at world championships, according to Hockey Canada.
