A day before Hurricane Matthew was due to hit South Florida, Florida Panthers middle-aged marvel Jaromir Jagr was asked if he had prepared for the life-threatening storm by stocking up with water and filling his car with gas.

The affable Czech smiled and shook off Matthew like he does defensemen who dare to take the puck from him.

“People are getting scared because everything is sold out. It’s good business for U.S.,” Jagr joked. “I’m OK. People have to survive two weeks without water so I could try for two days. I got to test my body. I want to see how strong I am.”

Of course, Jagr did not mean to take the deadly Category 4 storm lightly, but that is how he approaches life. He enjoys every day and especially every second on the ice.

At 44, the oldest player in the league shows no sign of running out of fuel, and despite entering his 23rd NHL season much leaner than his customary 230-pound physique, he sees no reason why he can not only match his team-leading 66 points from last season but add to it as he chases Mark Messier to become the sport’s No. 2 all-time scorer.

“The speed you lose quick. Power you can keep, experience,” said Jagr, who needs 20 points to pass his former New York Rangers teammate. “Twenty years ago, you didn’t have to be very quick, you just had to be strong, so you work for that.

“Now everything is a lot quicker and guys are in better shape, but they’re not as big or as strong as 20 years ago, so you have to adjust.”

Jagr kept his iconic, albeit graying, mullet growing, but he changed his summer routine of working out in Las Vegas so he could be with his parents, Anna and his 76-year-old father Jaromir, who is recovering from heart surgery back home in Kladno, Czech Republic.

There are doubters who do not believe that Jagr can be the oldest player in NHL history to lead his team in scoring again, or that a club with Stanley Cup aspirations would enter a season with a top-line right wing who will turn 45 in February.

“It’s just people’s opinion,” said Jagr, who led all right wings who played more than 20 games with an 18.9 shooting percentage last season. “They’re always saying stuff how they feel, so they think how they feel everybody is supposed to feel the same way. But everyone is different. Everyone has different motivation, everybody has a different body. You just have to know what kind of body you got and work from that.”

Neither Panthers general manager Tom Rowe nor coach Gerard Gallant expect any decline in Jagr’s production because he is again surrounded by skilled linemates Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov, who combined equal his age and are expected to improve on their respective career-best 59-point seasons.

“When you’re playing with Barkov and Huberdeau, they’ve got phenomenal chemistry, and I think Jagr is probably pretty excited about the lineup that we have,” said Rowe, who re-signed Jagr to a one-year, incentive-laden $4 million contract in May. “We’ve got defensemen that can get the puck up to him pretty quick on a regular basis.”

Rowe believes the revamped defensive corps, featuring newcomers Keith Yandle and Jason Demers, will save Jagr the energy of lugging the puck up the ice before he sets up in the offensive zone. He also chalked off Jagr’s playoff slump, which has reached 37 games without a goal, to lack of puck luck, rather than fatigue.

“No, because he had a ton of chances,” Rowe said. “We had so much possession time of the puck, it wasn’t funny. That was more bad luck than him not being able to produce.”

Rowe said that before Huberdeau suffered a sliced ankle tendon in the final preseason game, which will put him out for three to four months. For now, Jagr will seek a similar chemistry with Barkov and Jonathan Marchessault, 25, who has had four 20-goal seasons in the American Hockey League before notching seven last season for the Lightning.

“We have to wait and see,” Jagr said. “There’s no doubt about it he’s got a lot of skill; he can play the game, but I’m talking about chemistry, what we had with Huby after playing so many games together.”

Besides his unbridled love of the sport, Jagr stays young by tutoring the rising 20-something stars on the team. It was more than 25 years ago that he was dubbed Mario Jr., an anagram of Jaromir, that paid homage to his mentor, Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux.

“It’s good to see him come back. He’s got a great personality and he definitely helps this team,” said Panthers forward Reilly Smith, 25, who scored a career-high 25 goals last season. “He’s a good leader. His work ethic on and off the ice is second to none. … It looks like he’s gearing up for another great season.”

Jagr, who loves fast cars, shows no signs of slowing down.

“Even if you’re older,” Jagr concluded, “you can always get better because you know what you need.”