Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Today in NHL History, Dec 26th

1917: Toronto Arena's defenseman Harry Cameron scored four goals to lead his team to a 7-5 win over Montreal.

1925: New York Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates set an NHL record with 141 shots in the Americans 3-1 win. New York held the shot edge, 73-68. Roy Worters made 70 saves for Pittsburgh, and Jake Forbes had 67 for NY.

1926: Ottawa goalie Alex Connell and Maroons' Clint Benedict dueled to a 0-0 scoreless tie, in a game played at Montreal. It was just the fourth scoreless tie in NHL history, the 27th career shutout for Connell and the 31st for Benedict.

1935: Toronto goaltender George Hainsworth recorded his 90th career shutout to lead the Maple Leafs to a 2-0 win over the Canadiens, at Montreal.

1951: Goaltender Chuck Rayner recorded his 23rd career shutout to lead the Rangers to a 1-0 win over the visiting Detroit Red Wings. It was the first loss for Detroit away from home in the 1951-52 season.....Former NHL right winger Mark Heaslip born in Duluth, Minn. Heaslip played in the NHL 1976-77 through 1978-79 with the New York Rangers and Los Angeles.

1959: Montreal's Marcel Bonin scored a hat trick and added two assists, and Jean Beliveau had two goals and two assists as the Canadiens won 9-2 against Chicago, at the Forum.

1962: Toronto's Frank Mahovlich scored a goal and added three assists as the Maple Leafs won 5-4 over the visiting Detroit Red Wings.

1964: Goaltender Ed Johnston recorded his 8th career shutout, Dean Prentice scored twice and Tom Williams picked up two assists as the Bruins won 2-0 over the Rangers at New York.

1965: Goaltender Roger Crozier recorded his 11th career shutout, and Alex Delvecchio scored the only goal at 19:04 of the third period in the Red Wings' 1-0 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens.

1968: St. Louis goalie Jacques Plante recorded his 350th NHL career victory in the Blues' 3-2 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.

1970: Andre Boudrias became the first Canucks player to score a goal with Vancouver two men short. He scored the goal against Tony Esposito of Chicago. The goal was the 100th in the team's brief history. Chicago won the game 4-2.

1971: Flyers' Serge Bernier set a team record (since broken) with five points (a goal and four assists) in a 6-1 Philadelpha win against Pittsburgh.

1972: Don Tannahill became the first Vancouver rookie to score three goals in a game, in a 4-3 Canucks' win over the Oakland Seals. It came in Vancouver's third season in the NHL.

1976: John Bucyk's 545th career goal moved him past Maurice Richard on the all-time goal list, in the Bruins' 6-3 win over the Cleveland Barons, in Boston Garden. Bucyk's 545 goals put him #4 in NHL history (behind Howe, Hull, and Esposito).....Chicago goaltender Tony Esposito became the 11th goaltender in NHL history to win 250 games, in a 5-3 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies.

1981: Steve Payne scored his 4th career hat trick and added an assist to lead the North Stars to a 6-3 win against St. Louis, in Minnesota.

1982: Calgary's Lanny McDonald scored three times to give him 350 career NHL goals, as the Flames tied 4-4 with the Oilers, at the Saddledome, in Calgary. It was the 13th career hat trick for McDonald.

1984: Minnesota goaltender Don Beaupre recorded his first career NHL shutout as the North Stars won 4-0 over the Winnipeg Jets.....Edmonton's Paul Coffey scored four goals (including his second career hat trick) to lead the Oilers to a 6-5 win over Calgary. Coffey's four goals were the most ever by an Oilers' defenseman.....Mike Bullard scored his third career hat trick and an assist, and rookie Mario Lemieux had two goals and two assists in the Penguins' 6-5 win against the NY Islanders, in Pittsburgh.

1985: Winnipeg's Dale Hawerchuk scored his 200th career NHL goal and added two assists as the Jets lost 6-5 to the visiting Minnesota North Stars.

1986: Hartford Whalers' Doug Jarvis played in his 915th straight game to establish a new NHL record. Jarvis (who started the streak in 1975 with Montreal) broke the mark of 914 set by Garry Unger.....Denis Savard scored two goals and added two assists in his 500th career NHL game, as the Blackhawks extended their home undefeated streak against St. Louis to 7 straight games (6-0-1) with an 8-6 win over the Blues.

1987: Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Capitals 3-2, after trailing 2-0. The win was the Flyers' seventh straight, and extended their undefeated streak to 14 straight games (12-0-2).....New Jersey's Kirk Muller appeared in his 475th game to set a franchise record for most games in a Devils' uniform, breaking the mark held by Mike Kitchen. New Jersey lost 5-3 to the visiting New York Rangers. Also in that game, New Jersey's Aaron Broten scored a goal and had two assists to become the first player to score 300 points as a Devil.

1988: Defenseman Phil Housley scored both goals as the Sabres came from behind to beat the Bruins 2-1.....Playing his first game as a Ranger, on the day he was traded to the team, Carey Wilson had three assists as the Rangers beat the Devils, 5-1 at MSG. Also, Tomas Sandstrom had two goals and an assist in the game for New York.

1989: Adam Oates picked up four assists as St. Louis won 8-3 over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.....The Islanders won 5-4 over the Soviet Wings in an exhibition game at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island.....Hall of Famer Doug Harvey passed away at the age of 65. During his NHL career spanning 20 seasons (Mtl, NYR, Detroit & St. Louis) Harvey won 6 Stanley Cups, 7 Norris Trophies and was a first or second team All-Star in 11 consecutive seasons.

1990: Jeff Brown scored a goal and added three assists as the Blues tied 6-6 at Chicago, to extend their unbeaten streak to 9 games (6-0-3).

1991: Washington led the Rangers 6-1 in the first period, but the Rangers came back to beat the Capitals 8-6 in one of their biggest comebacks in team history. The victory gave the Rangers a seven game winning streak.....Joey Mullen scored four goals for the second consecutive game, and added two assists to lead the Penguins to a 12-1 win over Toronto, in Pittsburgh. Mario Lemieux had 2 goals and 5 assists in the game. Kevin Stevens had 2 goals and 4 assists. Also in that game, Pittsburgh's Larry Murphy became just the 10th defenseman in NHL history to score 700 career points.

1992: Jeff Hackett established Shark records for most shots faced (59) & most saves (57) in a game, and most shots faced (22) and most saves (21) in a period as the Sharks beat the Kings 7-2 at the Cow Palace to end their 13 game losing streak.

1993: Rangers' Mike Gartner scored twice and added an assist to become the sixth player in NHL history to score 600 career goals. The milestone came when New York won 8-3 over the visiting New Jersey Devils.

1995: Pittsburgh's Ron Francis became the 24th player in NHL history to hit the 1,200 career point mark, when he had a goal and two assists in the Penguins' 6-3 win over the Sabres.....Detroit's Scotty Bowman coached his 1,606th NHL game, tying the NHL record set by Al Arbour as the Red Wings won 3-2 over the Blues at Joe Louis Arena.

1996: Detroit's Sergei Fedorov became the first player in NHL history to score all five goals in his team's victory, when he netted the game winner at 2:39 of OT in a 5-4 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals.

1998: Chicago's Doug Gilmour scored a goal to give him 1,200 career NHL points. The milestone came in a 3-2 loss to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. Gilmour became the 27th player in NHL history to score 1200 career points.....Miroslav Satan scored twice, and Dominik Hasek recorded his second consecutive shutout (his 7th of the season and the 40th of his career) as Buffalo won 2-0 at New Jersey.....Rangers' Kevin Stevens scored his 300th career NHL goal and Petr Nedved added two goals and two assists in the second period as New York won 6-3 against the Hurricanes, at Carolina.

1999: Rookie Scott Gomez scored his first career hat trick in the Devils 3-3 tie against the Rangers, at New York. The win improved the Devils' unbeaten streak against the Rangers to 16 games (11-0-5).

2000: San Jose rookie Evgeni Nabokov became the first goaltender to win 20 games in the 2001 season as the Sharks won 2-1 against the Kings at Los Angeles. The crowd of 18,460 was the largest ever to see a hockey game in California.....Nashville's Scott Walker scored his first career hat trick and added an assist in the Predators' 5-2 win against the visiting Colorado Avalanche.

2001: Colorado's Patrick Roy became the first goaltender in NHL history to record 500 career wins, and picked up his 59th career shutout, in a 2-0 Avalanche victory at Dallas.....Ottawa's Radek Bonk became the Ottawa Senators' all-time leader in games played, when he appeared in his 506th career game with the team, a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins. Bonk broke the record of 505 set by Alexei Yashin.....Edmonton Oilers won their 500th all-time home game, when they beat the visiting Calgary Flames 3-2.

2002: Daniel Alfredsson became the Ottawa Senators all-time leader in career assists, when he picked up the 274th of his career (along with a goal) in a 3-2 win at Buffalo. Alfredsson broke the record of 273 held by Alexei Yashin.

2003: Vancouver Canucks became the 15th team in league history to win 1,000 NHL games, when Dan Cloutier recorded his 12th career shutout in a 2-0 win over the Flames at Calgary.....Patrick Marleau scored twice in a 29-second span near the end of the second period, rookie Jonathan Cheechoo added two goals and Evgeni Nabokov recorded his 20th career shutout in the Sharks 5-0 win against the visiting Los Angeles Kings.


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