Panthers Losing Originality

The Florida Panthers got rid of yet another player from their original expansion roster of five years ago, trading left wing Dave Lowry to the San Jose Sharks.

In exchange for the 33-year-old Lowry, the Panthers got 22-year-old left wing Viktor Kozlov. As part of the deal, Florida also swapped a 1998 first-round draft pick for San Jose’s fifth-round pick.

Lowry, in his 13th year, has played in only seven games this season and has no points. He was a healthy scratch 10 times.

“Dave has been here since Day 1,” teammate Tom Fitzgerald said. “He didn’t like the role of being an extra, extra, extra guy. He had a desire to play, not sit in the stands and watch.”

Lowry represented the gritty defensive style the Panthers used to get to the Stanley Cup finals two seasons ago. During the playoffs in 1996, Lowry got hot with 17 points (10 goals, 7 assists).

Florida did not re-sign original Panthers Brian Skrudland and Mike Hough during the off-season. The Panthers have nine players remaining from their expansion roster.

With Kozlov, Florida adds another young unproven player to its roster. Kozlov scored 16 goals and had 25 assists in his first full season with the Sharks in 1996-97. He has five goals and two assists this season.

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Pittsburgh Penguin right wing Jaromir Jagr, who shares the club scoring lead with Ron Francis, will sit out tonight’s game at Toronto because of a strained hip muscle. He also sat out Friday’s game against the Rangers at New York.

Jagr, the centerpiece to the franchise in the post-Mario Lemieux era, has been noticeably hampered by the injury, failing to score a point in his last three games. He has seven goals and 14 assists in 20 games.

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New York Islander defenseman Bryan Berard, who entered play Friday leading the NHL in power-play goals with six, sat out his second consecutive game because of a groin strain. The second-year pro is expected back next week.

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Tampa Bay center Brian Bradley, who suffered a concussion Nov. 6, was put on the injured reserve list. The Lightning recalled winger Paul Brousseau from its American Hockey League club in Adirondack N.Y. . . . Lightning starting goalie Daren Puppa missed the contest because of flu.

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San Jose Shark center Bernie Nicholls will sit out at least one more game because of a broken thumb, the team said. Nicholls, 36, has missed the last two games and remains doubtful for tonight’s game against Dallas.