Gallant on Jagr's Panthers debut: 'He was outstanding'

Jaromir Jagr didn't register a point in his Florida Panthers debut, but he certainly impressed coach Gerard Gallant.

"He was outstanding,'' Gallant told reporters after the contest. "He makes your team a lot better, gives your team a lot of confidence.''

Jagr fired three shots while playing 17:09 of the 5-3 Panthers victory over the Buffalo Sabres. He played alongside Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau after a whirlwind couple of days that followed his trade from the New Jersey Devils.

"It was pretty crazy for me. They told me on Thursday at four o'clock so I didn't have much time to pack my stuff," Jagr said at a press conference following Saturday's contest. "I came here last night and it's kind of tough without a practice or any preparation to just go to the game, but we need every point we can get."

Even though Jagr had talked about being traded in the weeks leading up to the deal, he was surprised to be moved because he expected a heads-up from Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello.

"I felt if there were any offers, Lou (Lamoriello) was going to come to me and say 'where do you want to go?'" Jagr said. "But from what I understand, the offer was so good for him he had to say yes, so he didn't ask me. It was kind of a shock for me, yeah."

Jagr has gone a career-high nine games without recording a point, but he will have another opportunity to snap that drought when the Panthers host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. Playing with Florida's youth appears to have reinvigorated the 43-year-old.

"I'm going to do my best, that's why I'm here,'' Jagr said. "I've played the game so many years, when you add Europe I think it's the most ever, so I have a lot of experience. This makes me a little more excited. This is a new life.''