Today in NHL History, Dec 31st

1910: Montreal Canadiens goalie Georges Vezina played the first of 367 consecutive regular season and playoff games, when Montreal lost their NHA season opener, 5-3 to the visiting Ottawa Senators. Vezina played every game for Montreal for 15 seasons.

1927: Goaltender George Hainsworth recorded his 19th career shutout and Howie Morenz scored the game's only goal in the Canadiens' 1-0 win over the visiting New York Rangers.

1947: Harry Lumley's second straight shutout (the 9th of his career) led the Red Wings to a 4-0 win over the Black Hawks in Detroit. The game marked the coaching debut of Charlie Conacher for the Black Hawks, replacing Johnny Gottselig.

1951: Elmer Lach scored twice and had an assist in the Canadiens 5-3 win at Detroit. Gordie Howe scored his 6th career hat trick for the Red Wings.

1952: Toronto's Sid Smith scored his 100th career NHL goal in a 3-3 tie against the Rangers, at MSG.....Montreal goaltender Gerry McNeil recorded a shutout to lead the Canadiens to a 2-0 win over the Red Wings at Detroit. It was the 17th career shutout for McNeil.

1955: Wally Hergesheimer picked up three assists as the Rangers won 6-2 over the Bruins, in New York.

1961: Gordie Howe scored three goals (including one on a penalty shot for his 13th career hat trick) when Detroit beat Toronto 4-2, at the Olympia.

1967: Goaltender Denis DeJordy recorded a shutout to lead the Black Hawks to a 3-0 win over the Oakland Seals in Chicago. It was the 10th shutout of DeJordy's NHL career.....Goaltender Ed Giacomin recorded his 12th career shutout in the Rangers' 4-0 win over Toronto, at MSG. Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield each scored a goal and added two assists.

1968: Frank Mahovlich scored his 8th career hat trick and Alex Delvecchio had a goal and four assists as the Red Wings beat the Minnesota North Stars, 6-3 at the Olympia in Detroit.

1969: Alex Delvecchio ended his 31-game scoring slump with his first goal of the season, then added a second in the Wings' 5-1 win over Boston. Delvecchio went on to finish with 21 goals on the year.

1971: Detroit rookie Marcel Dionne had three assists to lead the Red Wings to a 6-3 win over the Oakland Seals, at the Olympia.

1973: Buffalo's Jim Lorentz scored his first career hat trick as the Sabres beat the Red Wings, 6-5 at Detroit.

1974: Red Wings' Danny Grant scored the 200th goal of his NHL career, in Detroit's 4-3 win over the visiting Oakland Seals.

1975: Don Marcotte scored his second career hat trick to lead the Bruins to a 6-1 win over the North Stars at Minnesota.....Detroit goaltender Jim Rutherford recorded his first of three straight shutouts, when the Red Wings beat the visiting Washington Capitals, 4-0.....Detroit G.M. Alex Delvecchio named Billy Dea as interim coach of the Red Wings, replacing Doug Barkley. Delvecchio still held the title of "head coach", but Barkley worked behind the bench for the remainder of the season (and half of 1976-77).....Montreal Canadiens battled the Soviet Red Army team to a 3-3 tie New Year's Eve at the Forum. Ken Dryden and Vladislav Tretiak starred in goal for the teams. Tretiak made 38 saves, including 16 in the final period

1977: Wayne Bianchin scored the only hat trick of his NHL career in the Penguins' 6-3 win against the Cleveland Barons, at the Civic Arena.

1978: Pittsburgh trailed Detroit 4-0, at the 15:11 mark of the second period, but the Penguins came back to win 5-4 over the Red Wings. Randy Carlyle scored the game-winner with seven seconds remaining in the final period.

1985: Mario Lemieux scored four goals (his first career hat trick) and added two assists (for his first NHL six point game) in an 8-4 Penguins' win at St. Louis. Also in that game, Pittsburgh's Mike Bullard scored his 4th career hat trick and added an assist.

1986: Tomas Sandstrom scored his first NHL hat trick, including the winning goal at 4:37 of overtime in a 4-3 Rangers' win over the Islanders, at MSG.

1987: Bob Probert scored his first career hat trick and added an assist, and Steve Yzerman had a goal and three assists as the Red Wings won 7-2 against the visiting St. Louis Blues.....Goaltender Rejean Lemelin recorded his 8th career shutout, and Cam Neely scored a goal and added an assist in the first period to lead the Bruins to a 2-0 win at Buffalo.

1988: Rangers' rookie Brian Leetch picked up three assists in the second period as New York won 4-1 over Chicago, at MSG.

1989: Islanders' Pat LaFontaine scored a goal in each period (for his 5th career hat trick) as New York won 4-2 at Buffalo.

1990: Rookie goalie Ed Belfour stopped 22 shots for his second career shutout, and the Blackhawks picked up their first road shutout in more than six years, with a 4-0 win at Detroit.....Goaltender Tom Barrasso tied a Pittsburgh team record with his seventh consecutive victory, as the Penguins won 4-3 over the Blues, in Pittsburgh.

1991: Brian Bellows scored four goals (for his 7th career hat trick) in the Minnesota North Stars' 6-2 win against Chicago.....Brian Leetch set a Rangers' team record with a point in his 17th consecutive game in a 5-2 win against the Jets at Winnipeg. Leetch had 5 goals, 27 assists during the 17 game streak, and broke the old team record of 16 set by Mike Rogers in 1982. That game also marked the 1,000th regular season one for the Winnipeg Jets since entering the NHL in 1979-80.....Dave Christian played in his 900th career NHL game as the Blues lost 4-3 at Buffalo.

1992: Vancouver extended their team-record home undefeated streak to 15 straight games (13-0-2) with a 4-0 win over the Kings. Kirk McLean recorded his 12th shutout with Vancouver, a new team record (Gary Smith had 11 career shutout with the Canucks).....Mario Lemieux scored a goal and added an assist to reach 100 points in his 38th game of the season (the second-fastest pace of his career, and the fourth fastest pace in NHL history). Penguins tied 3-3 with the Maple Leafs at the Civic Arena.

1993: Goaltender Dominik Hasek turned back 39 shots (including 21 shots in the second period) to lead the Sabres to a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers in Buffalo.

1995: Chicago goalie Jeff Hackett made 29 saves for his eighth consecutive victory (tying Tony Esposito's team record) as the Blackhawks won 5-0 over the Devils, at the United Center.....Goaltender Daren Puppa recorded a shutout as Tampa Bay won 3-0 at Ottawa. It was the 14th shutout of Puppa's NHL career.

1997: Theo Fleury picked up his 400th career NHL assist, in a 3-2 Flames' loss to the visiting Montreal Canadiens.....Dominik Hasek stopped 36 shots for his 27th career shutout, in a 3-0 Sabres' win over the visiting Ottawa Senators. Hasek became the first NHL goaltender since George Hainsworth in 1928-29 to record six shutouts in one month.....Detroit's Brad Marsh became the 72nd player in NHL history to appear in 1,000 career games. It came in a Red Wings' 5-3 loss to Boston.

1998: Dallas Stars extended their unbeaten streak to a franchise-record 13 straight games (10-0-3) with a 6-1 win against the visiting Boston Bruins. The Stars' previous club record was 12 games (9-0-3) in 1982 when the franchise was in Minnesota.....John LeClair became the 11th player in team history to score 200 goals as a member of the Flyers, and added two assists as Philadelphia won 6-2 at Vancouver.

1999: Dallas' Brett Hull scored two goals, including the 600th of his NHL career (in his 900th game) and added an assist as the Stars won 5-4 against the visiting Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Also in that game, Guy Carbonneau picked up his 400th career NHL assist, and Sergei Zubov added two assists playing in his 500 career NHL game.

2001: Eric Daze capped his 4th career hat trick, by scoring with 5.4 seconds remaining in overtime as the Blackhawks won 5-4 against the Senators at Ottawa.

2002: Mike Dunham recorded his 12th career shutout (and his first with the Rangers) as New York won 2-0 over the Hurricanes at Carolina.

2003: Buffalo's Maxim Afinogenov scored his first career hat trick, and Miroslav Satan scored his 5th career hat trick in a 7-1 win against the visiting Washington Capitals. It was the first double hat trick for the Sabres in 11 years.


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