Today in NHL History, Dec 18th

1926: Ottawa's Alex Connell became the second NHL goalie to record 25 career shutouts, and Clint Benedict became the first to reach the 30 shutout milestone, as the Senators tied 0-0 with the Maroons, at Montreal.

1928: Goaltender George Hainsworth set an NHL record with his fifth straight road shutout, and Howie Morenz scored two goals and added an assist in the Canadiens' 5-0 win at Chicago.

1930: Chicago goalie Chuck Gardiner and Canadiens' George Hainsworth dueled to a 0-0 scoreless tie, in a game played at Montreal. It was the 16th career shutout for Gardiner, and the 55th for Hainsworth.

1932: New York Rangers traded Russ Blinco to Montreal Maroons for cash.

1934: Boston's Nels Stewart scored two goals in 20 seconds as the Bruins won 5-3 against the visiting New York Rangers.

1938: Boston's Frankie Brimsek recorded his fourth straight road shutout in a 2-0 win over the Red Wings, at the Olympia in Detroit. It was also the fifth shutout in six games for the rookie goalie.

1941: Chicago Black Hawks purchased Red Hamill from Boston. Hamill went on to score 18 goals and 9 assists in 34 games during the 1941-42 season.

1943: Maple Leafs' Lorne Carr picked up four assists when Toronto won 8-4 over the visiting Chicago Black Hawks.

1954: Montreal's Maurice Richard became the first player in NHL history to score 400 career goals, when the Canadiens defeated the Black Hawks 4-2 at Chicago.

1955: Detroit's rookie Glenn Hall recorded his third consecutive shutout, this time 2-0 over the Montreal Canadiens. Earlier in the week Hall had blanked the Rangers 2-0, and Toronto 4-0. The win also ended an eight game winning streak for Montreal.

1958: Ranger goalie Gump Worsley recorded his 18th career shutout, and Andy Hebenton scored twice as New York won 2-0 at Detroit.

1960: Gordie Howe scored twice to lead Detroit to a 3-2 win against the Black Hawks, at Chicago.....Former NHL center Bob Brooke born in Melrose, Mass. Brooke played in the NHL 1983-84 through 1989-90 with the New York Rangers, Minnesota and New Jersey.

1963: Montreal's Jean Beliveau scored two goals as the Canadiens beat Toronto, 7-3. The two goals gave Beliveau a total of 324, equalling the NHL career record for centers held by Nels Stewart.

1966: Goaltender Roger Crozier recorded his second consecutive shutout (for the 19th of his career) in the Red Wings' 5-0 win over the visiting New York Rangers.

1970: Goaltender Gary Smith got his 9th career shutout in the California Golden Seals' 1-0 win over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.

1974: Gilles Villemure recorded his 13th (and final) career shutout, Derek Sanderson scored his 4th career hat trick and added an assist, and Bill Fairbairn had a goal and three assists as the Rangers won 7-0 over the Minnesota North Stars, at MSG.....Mike Murphy scored two goals and added three assists in the Kings' 6-0 win over the Scouts, at Kansas City. Gary Edwards recorded his 7th career shutout, as the Kings began a team-record 8 game road winning streak.

1975: Richard Martin scored his 12th career hat trick and added an assist in the Sabres' 5-2 win over the visiting Minnesota North Stars.

1976: Goaltender Bernie Parent recorded his 42nd career shutout in the Flyers' 2-0 win over the Blues at St. Louis. Bill Barber scored a goal and added an assist in the first period.

1977: Montreal goaltender Ken Dryden recorded his 39th career shutout as the Canadiens began a team-record 28 game undefeated streak (23-0-5), with a 2-0 win over the Flyers at Philadelphia.....Goaltender Tony Esposito recorded his 60th career shutout to lead the Black Hawks to a 3-0 win against the Atlanta Flames, at Chicago Stadium. Grant Mulvey scored two goals.

1982: Rookie Steve Larmer scored his second NHL hat trick and Denis Savard added four assists in the Black Hawks 8-5 win against the Maple Leafs, at Toronto.

1983: Wayne Gretzky scored two goals and two assists, for his 100th point of the season as the Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-5. Gretzky's 100th point came in the Oilers 34th game of the season, the fastest 100 points by a player in NHL history....Black Hawks retired Bobby Hull's uniform #9 in a pre-game ceremony at Chicago Stadium. Black Hawks lost 5-1 to the visiting Boston Bruins.

1984: John Tonelli scored his third career hat trick to lead the Islanders to a 7-4 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets.

1985: Mike Gartner played in his 500th game as Washington won 5-2 over the Oilers at Edmonton.

1986: Tim Kerr and Dave Poulin both had hat tricks as the Flyers beat the N.Y. Islanders 9-4, at the Spectrum. It was Poulin's 5th (and final) career hat trick, and Kerr added an assist along with his 12th career hat trick.

1987: Gerard Gallant scored his first career hat trick and added an assist, and Steve Yzerman had a goal and three assists to lead the Red Wings to an 8-3 win against the visiting Minnesota North Stars.

1989: Brett Hull scored his 100th career NHL goal in the Blues' 6-3 loss, at Toronto.

1990: Paul Coffey scored a goal and two assists to become the third defenseman in NHL history to score 700 career assists. The three points came in a 9-2 Penguins win over the Winnipeg Jets, at the Civic Arena.

1992: Pavel Bure had four assists as the Vancouver Canucks extended their team-record home undefeated streak to 12 straight games (10-0-2), with an 8-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.

1993: Jim Dowd, the first New Jersey native to play for the Devils, scored his first NHL goal in a 6-2 Devils' win against the Nordiques, in Quebec City.....Dave Andreychuk played in his 1,000th NHL game, and scored twice (to give him 400 career NHL goals) and added an assist, to lead the Leafs to a 4-1 win over the Kings in Toronto. Andreychuk became the 44th NHL player to reach the 400 goal mark.

1998: Ottawa's Alexei Yashin scored twice and added three assists as the Senators won 5-1 against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes. Yashin set a club record for points in a period with a goal and three assists in the second.

2000: Ron Tugnutt recorded the first shutout in Blue Jackets' history as Columbus won 2-0 at Montreal. It was the 16th career shutout for Tugnutt.

2001: Mark Recchi scored his 400th career NHL goal in the Flyers 6-3 win against the visiting St. Louis Blues. The loss came in the Blues' 3,000th all-time NHL game.

2002: Alexander Mogilny had two assists to give him 500 in his NHL career, in the Maple Leafs 2-2 tie with the Panthers at Florida.

2003: Martin Brodeur recorded his 72nd career shutout (and his 8th of the season), and rookie Rob Skrlac scored his first NHL goal in the Devils 3-0 win at Atlanta. New Jersey outshot the Thrashers 38-15.....Sheldon Souray scored his first career hat trick, including the winning goal 35 seconds into overtime and added an assist, and Mike Ribeiro had four assists in the Canadiens 5-4 win against the visiting Nashville Predators.


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