SUNRISE, Fla. — Jaromir Jagr knows No. 2 is as high as he’ll go on the NHL career scoring list.

In his mind, that’s a record in itself.

Jagr’s next point will be the 1,888th of his career and give him outright possession of second place on the all-time NHL points list, breaking a tie with Mark Messier. Only Wayne Gretzky’s total of 2,857 is better than that, and Jagr – the 44-year-old Florida Panthers forward who has said he can see himself playing until he’s 50 – knows the top spot is going to stay far from his reach.

“For me, it’s like No. 1,” Jagr said recently when asked what passing Messier would mean. “I don’t really count Wayne Gretzky. He was from another planet. I don’t think he was from this planet. Whatever he did, it’s unbreakable.”

Jagr caught Messier on Tuesday with a three-assist effort in Florida’s shootout win over Buffalo. His next chance for the tiebreaker is Thursday, when the Panthers host the Bruins.

Jagr would have been No. 2 long ago if not for his leaving the NHL to play in Russia from 2008 through 2011. Jagr collected 146 points in those three seasons, deciding to play there in part because of the proximity to his parents in the Czech Republic. But he missed the NHL, returned to play with Philadelphia in 2011-12 – and has been collecting jerseys since, also logging time with Dallas, Boston, New Jersey and now Florida since coming back to North America.

“It’s an honor to be around him, get a little wisdom from him, get a few laughs from him,” said Florida’s Nick Bjugstad, who scored the goal that became point No. 1,887 for Jagr. “He’s been nothing but awesome for our organization.”

Including playoffs, Tuesday’s three-point game was the 215th of Jagr’s career.

He’s reached seven points in an NHL game twice, and that’s not even close to his career best. He played one game in a German league in 1994-95 during an NHL work stoppage and racked up 11 points – one goal and 10 assists.

His first NHL point was a goal on Oct. 7, 1990, when he was the youngest player in the league at 18. The goalie who gave that one up was Chris Terreri, who was just in his second full NHL season and a relatively young player at 25.

Terreri had a fine, full career and his last NHL game was 16 years ago. Jagr is still going, with no end in sight.

“The way he comes to work every single day is unbelievable,” Panthers interim coach and general manager Tom Rowe said.

RED WINGS: Detroit put goaltender Jimmy Howard on seven-day injured reserve and called up Jared Coreau from AHL Grand Rapids to take his spot on the roster.

Howard was hurt Tuesday night in a 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay. He left the game in the second period, unable to put weight on his right leg.

ISLANDERS: The team signed forward Stephen Gionta to a one-year, two-way contract Wednesday and recalled him from AHL Bridgeport.

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

FLYERS 3, CAPITALS 2: Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds scored in the shootout, Steve Mason made 36 saves and Philadelphia won at home.

Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux scored in regulation for Philadelphia, which snapped a two-game skid that followed a 10-game winning streak.

Andre Burakovsky and Lars Eller scored in regulation for Washington.

Simmonds put the Flyers ahead in the shootout with a forehand shot, and Mason stopped Justin Williams to end it.