SUNRISE, Fla.-- Frank Vatrano picked a good time to make his season debut, getting a front-row seat to witness Jaromir Jagr -- a player twice his age -- make NHL history while contributing to his own team's victory.

The 22-year-old Vatrano scored on a night the 44-year-old Jagr passed Mark Messier for second on the all-time points list as the Boston Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Thursday.

Jagr was credited with an assist with 6:40 left when Aleksander Barkov scored after Michael Matheson's shot bounced off Jagr's backside for his 1,888th career point, passing Messier and moving within 969 of Wayne Gretzky.

Jagr downplayed the achievement after the game.

"You want to win the hockey game. The best thing is to put it behind us, and the whole team should be concerned on winning the game," he said. "It wasn't our best game, for sure. The best thing is we have a game to playtomorrow (against Detroit). We're going to do everything (to win)."

Jagr said it was hard to concentrate on personal goals with the team losing to a rival it is chasing in the standings.

"If the game does not go the right way, I can't just put it behind me. It's not easy for me to talk about the game or what I achieved today," Jagr said.

Said Florida coach Tom Rowe: "He's upset. He's second in history in NHL scoring and he doesn't even care about that right now. The two points were a lot more important to him.

"Our players need to watch how he played tonight. He made the little plays and went to the net. He played a simple game."

Boston coach Claude Julien said he wasn't upset at the stoppage in play to commemorate Jagr's achievement. The Czech winger was interviewed, and it was broadcast to the crowd.

"I would have been just as happy dropping the puck, but we agreed to it and it's a milestone for him. He deserves that attention," said Julien, whose club had to protect a one-goal lead after the brief ceremony.

"If we ever used that as an excuse, it's BS."

Vatrano, who had a short stint in the AHL before being called up, scored in the second period to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

"It's good to get a goal right away for your confidence," Vatrano said. "I thought I made some good plays on the half-wall. Our line had some really good chances and had the puck in their end."

Patrice Bergeron added a goal for the Bruins (18-14-3). David Backes had an empty-net goal at 18:37 of the third period.

Torey Krug had a pair of assists. Ryan Spooner and Brad Marchand added an assist apiece.

Boston's Tuukka Rask made 29 saves in running his career record against the Panthers to 18-3-1.

Goaltender James Reimer recorded 30 saves in his 11th start for Florida (15-14-5).

The Bruins started the game just two points ahead of the Panthers for third place in the Atlantic Division standings, but just as they were in the previous two meetings, Boston proved to be the better side from the outset.

They scored twice in a span of 3:04 in the second period to take control of the game in Rask's return to goal.

The netminder was pulled in Tuesday night's game against the New York Islanders after allowing three goals in 13 shots in a 4-2 loss.

Krug kept the puck in Boston's offensive zone right at the blue line early in the period, then fed a slick pass to Vatrano in the slot.

Vatrano, who scored eight goals in 39 games as a rookie last year, beat Reimer for a 1-0 lead at 2:09 on just his second shot of the season.

With Florida's Seth Griffith in the penalty box for hooking, Krug slipped another pass into an open area in front of Florida's goal. Bergeron fired his fifth goal past Reimer at 5:13 for a 2-0 edge.

The marker was also a boost to the Bruins' power play, which entered the game 29th in the league at a meager 12.7 percent.

Boston dominated the Panthers in the period, outshooting the home squad 16-5 and keeping the majority of the play in front of Reimer, who was starting in place of Roberto Luongo.

Both teams played Tuesday night but the Bruins, who were playing the first game of back-to-back road contests, started quickly, outshooting Florida 6-0 through the game's first seven minutes.

NOTES: The Bruins scratched Cs Noel Acciari and Tim Schaller, and D Joe Morrow. ... Boston RW David Pastrnak and C Frank Vatrano returned to the lineup. Pastrnak had surgery to remove the bursa sac in his right elbow and missed two games. Vatrano torn ligaments while running in September and made his season debut. ... C Dominic Moore, a member of the Panthers on the 2009-10 club, played in his 800th NHL game. ... The Panthers scratched G Roberto Luongo, RW Paul Thompson, C Kyle Rau and D Dylan McIlrath. ... Florida RW Jaromir Jagr is the only player in NHL history age 44 or older to record multiple three-point games. Jagr, who turns 45 in February, tallied three assists in the Panthers' 4-3 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday. ... Florida entered the game with the league's hottest penalty-killing group since Nov. 29, a span of 11 games. The Panthers negated 36 of the opposition's last 39 chances before Boston went 1 for 3 on Thursday.