Today in NHL History, Dec 23rd

1897: Hall of Famer Cy Denneny born in Farran's Point, Ont. Denneny played in the NHL 1917-18 through 1928-29 with Ottawa and Boston.

1916: Hall of Famer Woody Dumart born in Kitchener, Ont. Dumart played in the NHL 1935-36 through 1953-54 with Boston.

1926: Goaltender Jake Forbes recorded his second straight shutout (and the 13th of his career) in the New York Americans' 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, in a penalty-free game in New York.

1927: Boston Bruins purchased Ralph "Cooney" Weiland from the Minneapolis Millers of the AHA.

1933: Charlie Conacher scored his 7th career hat trick, and King Clancy picked up four assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs won 8-2 over the visiting Montreal Maroons. Also in that game, Toronto's rookie defenseman Bill "Flash" Hollett scored his first career goal (and added an assist).

1943: Red Wings beat the Rangers 5-3. In the final period N.Y. goalie Ken McAuley was injured and had to leave the game. With no backup on the bench, the Rangers used 17-year-old Harry Lumley, who had played goal for Detroit the night before.

1948: New York Rangers' new coach Lynn Patrick got off to a winning start when New York beat Chicago, 3-2.

1959: Chicago's Tod Sloan scored his 200th career NHL goal, and Glenn Hall recorded his 27th career shutout in the Black Hawks' 3-0 win over the Rangers, at New York.

1967: Boston's Andre Gill became the 11th NHL goaltender to record a shutout in his first career game, as the Bruins won 4-0 over the Rangers, at New York. Gill retired with a career record of 3-2-0, with one shutout and 2.89 GAA.....Pittsburgh rookie Les Binkley made 23 saves (including a stop on the first penalty shot taken by a Penguins' opponent) to earn his second career shutout, as the Penguins beat the Minnesota North Stars 4-0 at the Civic Arena.

1977: Denis Potvin became the first defenseman in NY Islanders history to score 100 goals. The milestone goal (along with two assists) came when New York lost 7-5 at Montreal.

1978: Bryan Trottier set an NHL record with six points in the second period, and finished the night with five goals and three assists in a 9-4 Islanders' win over the Rangers; the Islanders extended their home undefeated streak to 16 games (12-0-4).....Scotty Bowman became the fourth coach in NHL history to win 500 career games, when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2 at the Forum.

1979: Philadelphia Flyers extended their NHL record undefeated streak to 30 straight games (21-0-9) with a 4-2 win over Hartford. Rookie Brian Propp led the scoring with two goals, while Pete Peeters extended his undefeated streak to 16 games (12-0-4).....Tony Esposito recorded his 72nd career shutout, and Grant Mulvey scored his third career hat trick in the Black Hawks' 8-0 win against the NY Islanders, in Chicago. The Black Hawks set a team record with 5 power play goals in the game.

1980: Winnipeg Jets beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 to end their 30 game winless streak (0-23-7). During the streak the Jets went thru three coaches (Tommy McVie, Bill Sutherland, and Mike Smith). Doug Smail led the scoring with a goal and two assists.

1986: Ted Sator became just the third man in NHL history to coach two teams in one season, when he led the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 win over Philadelphia. Sator (who had been fired by the NY Rangers one month earlier) took over for Craig Ramsay.....Islanders' Mike Bossy scored at 3:25 of overtime for a 4-3 win over the Penguins. Bossy's 22nd goal of the season and 557th of his career passed Johnny Bucyk (556) into fifth place on the all-time list. Bossy also picked up two assists.

1987: Buffalo goalie Tom Barrasso became the third goalie in franchise history to record 100 victories as the Sabres beat the Red Wings 5-2 at Detroit. At 22 years, 9 months old, Barrasso became the youngest goalie to win 100 NHL games

1988: Los Angeles' Wayne Gretzky scored two empty net goals, including the 611th of his NHL career, to pass Bobby Hull into fourth place on all time goals list, as the Kings won 5-2 at Vancouver. Gretzky also added two assists in the game.....Buffalo's Phil Housley picked up his 300th career NHL assist as the Sabres won 5-2 over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

1989: Phil Housley scored a goal and added four assists to lead the Sabres to a 6-5 win over the Nordiques in Quebec City, to extend their unbeaten streak to 5 games (3-0-2).

1992: Penguins' Larry Murphy became the eighth defenseman in NHL history to record 600 career assists. He picked up #600 in a 4-0 Penguins' win at Philadelphia.

1995: Pat Burns picked up his 300th career NHL victory, when Toronto beat the Oilers 6-1. The win improved Burns record to 300-192-79. Also in that game, Toronto's Doug Gilmour picked up two assists for his 1,000th NHL career point. Gilmour became the 44th NHL player to score 1,000 career points.

1996: Joe Sakic scored his 300th NHL goal and added an assist when the Colorado Avalanche began a team-record 12 game undefeated streak (9-0-3), with a 4-3 win over the visiting Calgary Flames.

1997: Montreal's Mark Recchi scored a goal while playing in his 500th consecutive NHL game, a 4-3 loss to the Senators in Ottawa.

1998: Boston Bruins General Manager Harry Sinden and the Gold Medal winning U.S. Olympic Women's Hockey Team were named recipients of the 1999 Lester Patrick Award, for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.....Nashville's rookie goalie Tomas Vokoun made 50 saves in the Predators' 5-3 win against the visiting Detroit Red Wings.

2000: Washington's Ron Wilson picked up his 250th career coaching victory, when the Capitals beat the Florida Panthers 5-3. Also in that game, Olaf Kolzig became the winningest goaltender in Washington Capitals' history, with his 129th victory. Kolzig broke the mark of 128 wins set by Don Beaupre.....Nashville's David Legwand scored the first overtime penalty shot goal in NHL history as the Predators won 3-2 against the Rangers at New York.

2001: Mighty Ducks scored three goals in a 51-second span during the first period, the fastest three in franchise history, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere recorded his 6th career shutout as Anaheim won 4-0 against the Coyotes at Phoenix.

2002: Mario Lemieux scored a goal and added three assists within a span of 6:02 during the final 9 minutes of the third period, to lead the Penguins to a 5-2 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres.....Al MacInnis became the 4th defenseman in NHL history to score 900 career assists, when he picked up 3 for the St. Louis Blues in a 5-0 win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings. Brent Johnson recorded his 11th career shutout.

2003: Chicago rookie Michael Leighton recorded his second career shutout, as the Blackhawks picked up their 1,300th all-time home victory with a 3-0 win against the visiting St. Louis Blues.


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