Jagr helps beat his former team
![Flyers' Jaromir Jagr (68) collides with Pittsburgh Penguins' Craig Adams. Jagr scored in his return to Philadelphia where he starred. (Associated Press)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/245yJQpQ7wccXE8gATXOIsCWXII=/400x0/media.spokesman.com/photos/2011/12/30/jagrpic30.jpg)
NHL: Jaromir Jagr spent the days leading up to his return to Pittsburgh insisting it wasn’t personal. He stressed that he didn’t mean to cause hard feelings when he signed with the hated Philadelphia Flyers over the summer instead of with the Penguins, with whom he became a star two decades ago.
The Penguins are just another team, Jagr said – no different than Tampa Bay.
Funny, he didn’t play like it.
Seeming to revel in the chance to play the villain, Jagr punctuated his homecoming with his 12th goal of the season in a 4-2 Flyers victory on Thursday night.
“I felt pretty good but I had so many chances that if I would have scored five goals, nobody would be surprised,” Jagr said.
One was enough to prove that the 39-year-old Czech Republic native can still summon breathtaking hockey when he needs to.
Jagr missed an open net in the first period, then atoned late in the second. He took a pass from Claude Giroux in the high left slot, fended off Pittsburgh’s Brooks Orpik while skating through the zone, and flipped a backhander past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Flyers a lead they didn’t relinquish.
The second-leading scorer in Penguins history briefly raised his arms in triumph, then skated along the boards, offering a stone-faced salute as the Consol Energy Center crowd booed lustily.
“I think it was important for not just him but the whole team to get that goal because he got it pretty tough from the fans,” Giroux said. “But I think he kind of liked it a little bit.”
Jagr wasn’t the only former Penguins player to return in triumph. Max Talbot, who helped Pittsburgh to the 2009 Stanley Cup title, added an empty-net goal in the final seconds as the Flyers remained perfect in Pittsburgh’s new building since it opened a year ago.
Canada wins at world junior championship
Hockey: Mark Stone had two goals and an assist for Canada in a 10-2 win over Denmark at the world junior hockey championship in Edmonton, Alberta.
Canada tops Pool B at 3-0 ahead of the U.S., Finland and the Czech Republic at 1-1. Denmark dropped to 0-3.
The host country has today off and meets the U.S. on Saturday to conclude the preliminary round. The U.S. meets the Czechs and Finland takes on Denmark today.
Durant scores 30, hits winning shot
NBA: Kevin Durant scored 30 points and hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to lift the host Oklahoma City Thunder to a 104-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals.
• In other NBA games: Kevin Martin scored 25 points for Houston in the host Rockets’ 105-85 win over San Antonio. … Ryan Anderson scored 22 points, Dwight Howard had 16 points and 24 rebounds and Orlando Magic beat visiting New Jersey. … Derrick Rose had 19 points and eight assists and Chicago earned a 108-98 victory over host Sacramento. … Wesley Matthews had 25 points, including five 3-pointers in the second half, and the host Portland Trail Blazers defeated Denver 111-102 to stay undefeated after three games this season. … Kobe Bryant scored 28 points and host Los Angeles Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter for their ninth straight victory over New York, 99-82.
Rutgers upsets Florida in 2OTs
Men’s basketball: Freshman Eli Carter scored a career-high 31 points and hit the go-ahead basket in the second overtime as Rutgers (8-5) rallied to stun No. 10 Florida (11-2) 85-83 in Piscataway, N.J. … Also, Jeffery Taylor scored 19 points to help Vanderbilt (9-4) steamroll No. 14 Marquette (11-2) 74-57 in Memphis, Tenn.
Maryland wins in battle of unbeatens
Women’s basketball Laurin Mincy scored a career-high 25 points, Alyssa Thomas had 23, and No. 5 Maryland (13-0) used a strong second half to defeat previously unbeaten and 19th-ranked Delaware (10-1) 85-76 in College Park, Md.
Defago wins WC downhill; Miller 5th
Olympic champion Didier Defago won the grueling World Cup downhill on the bumpy Stelvio course in Bormio, Italy.
Bode Miller was fifth, moving the American atop the downhill standings.