Today in NHL History, April 2nd

1902: Former NHL defenseman Alex Smith born in Liverpool, England. Smith played in the NHL 1924-25 through 1934-35 with Ottawa, Detroit, Boston and the New York Americans.

1939: Rookie Mel Hill scored after 48 minutes of overtime to lead the Bruins to a 2-1 playoff win over the Rangers in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals. It was Hill's third overtime goal in the Semi-Final series against New York, an NHL record.

1950: Former NHL right winger Fred Harvey born in Fredericton, N.B. Harvey played in the NHL 1970-71 through 1976-77 with Minnesota, Atlanta, Kansas City, and Detroit.

1966: Toronto coach Punch Imlach alternated goalies Terry Sawchuk and Bruce Gamble every five minutes for the entire game when the Rangers tied the Maple Leafs 3-3.

1967: Chicago's Stan Mikita picked up two assists to give him 97 points on the year, to tie Bobby Hull's NHL record for most points in a season (set in 1965-66). Black Hawks won 8-0 over the Rangers, at New York.....In the final game of the 1967 season, Chicago beat New York 8-0, giving the Black Hawks a total of 264 goals scored in 70 games -- a new NHL record. The old mark was 259. The current mark is 446 (by Edmonton in 80 games).....Boston rookie Bobby Orr completed his first NHL season with 13 goals, 28 assists, 41 points, and 102 penalty minutes, as the Bruins lost 5-2 to Toronto. Boston finished in sixth place, out of the playoffs.

1969: Bruins set a playoff record with six power play goals in a 10-0 win against Toronto in Boston. Phil Esposito had four goals (including 3 on power plays) and two assists, as the Bruins picked up their first playoff victory in 10 years. Also in that game Toronto's Forbes Kennedy set a Stanley Cup playoff record for most penalties in one game, with eight. Kennedy received 4 minors, two majors, a ten-minute misconduct, and a game misconduct.....Ted Irvine's goal just 19 seconds into overtime (a playoff record at the time) gave the L.A. Kings their first Stanley Cup playoff OT victory, a 5-4 win against the Seals at Oakland. It came in the second overtime playoff game in Kings' history.

1972: Bobby Hull scored his final goal as a member of the Chicago Black Hawks, #604 in a 6-1 win over Detroit at Chicago Stadium. It was his 50th goal of the season, and Hull became the first player to score 50 or more goals five times in his career.

1975: Goaltender Ken Dryden recorded his 18th career shutout, and Pete Mahovlich had three assists (including two within a span of :06) in the Canadiens' 6-0 win over the Penguins at the Forum.

1977: Marcel Dionne scored three times to become the first King (and 19th NHL player) to score 50 goals in a season, as the Kings beat the Minnesota North Stars 7-2 at the Forum. It was his 11th career hat trick.....Montreal's Guy Lafleur and Bob Gainey each had a goal and three assists as the Canadiens extended their NHL-record home undefeated streak to 34 games (28-0-6), with an 11-0 win over the Washington Capitals. Ken Dryden got his 36th career shutout. Also with the win, Montreal set a new NHL record for most wins in a season, with their 59th of the year. The Canadiens broke the old record of 58 wins, set by Montreal in 1975-76.....Bernie Federko scored his third career hat trick to lead the Blues to a 9-2 win over the Cleveland Barons in St. Louis.

1980: Edmonton rookie Wayne Gretzky became the first teenager to score 50 goals in a season, when the 19-year-old first year NHL player scored for the Oilers in a 1-1 tie against the Minnesota North Stars, at Northlands Coliseum.....Guy Lafleur scored twice to become the first player in NHL history to get six straight 50 goal seasons, as the Canadiens beat the Red Wings 7-2, at Detroit. Lafleur broke the mark of 5 straight 50-goal seasons set by Phil Esposito.

1981: Capitals' Mike Gartner extended his team-record point scoring streak to 17 straight games as Washington won 3-2 at Boston. Gartner scored 17 goals, 9 assists for a total of 26 points during the 17 game streak.

1983: Dave Taylor became the third player in franchise history to get 500 points as a member of the Kings. The milestone came when Los Angeles beat the Minnesota North Stars 8-5, at the Forum.....New York Islanders' Mike Bossy scored a third period goal to become the first player in NHL history to get 60 or more goals for three straight seasons. The Islanders beat Pittsburgh 6-1.

1985: Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky set an NHL record with his 34th career hat trick (and added an assist) as the Oilers beat the Kings 6-4 at Los Angeles. Gretzky broke the record of 33 career hat tricks, set by Mike Bossy two months earlier.

1986: Paul Coffey scored his 47th and 48th goals of the season, in an 8-4 win against Vancouver, to break Bobby Orr's NHL record for most goals by a defenseman. Coffey also picked up two assists as the Oilers won their 8th straight home game.

1988: Montreal Canadiens scored a club record three goals in 37 seconds in the first period, on their way to a 9-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres, at the Forum.

1989: Calgary's Joey Mullen set a new NHL record for most points in a season by a U.S. born player, when his goal and two assists in the Flames' 4-2 win over the Oilers gave him 110 points, three more than Jimmy Carson had with L.A. the previous year.....Washington Capitals' veteran Dale Hunter became the eighth player in NHL history to record 2,000 career penalty minutes. He reached the milestone in a 7-4 loss at New Jersey.....Kelly Hrudey became the first goaltender in NHL history to win 10+ games with two teams in one season, when he got his 10th victory with the Kings, a 5-4 win at Vancouver. Hrudey had won 18 games with the NY Islanders before being traded to L.A.

1993: Maine Black Bears' left winger Paul Kariya became the first freshman ever to win the Hobey Baker award, as the NCAA player of the year.

1994: Flyers' rookie Mikael Renberg set a record for Swedish rookies, when he scored his 38th goal of the year in a Flyers' 6-5 win against the Whalers, at Hartford. He broke the mark of 37 set by Jorgen Pettersson of St. Louis in 1980-81.....San Jose Sharks beat Vancouver 7-4, for their 77th point of the season (with a record of 31-33-15), which gave them a 53-point improvement over the previous season, the biggest turnaround by any team in NHL history.

1997: Dallas Stars won their 7th straight game, and ran their unbeaten streak to 9-0-2, with a 5-4 win over the visiting New York Islanders. The victory gave Dallas a club-record 100 points

2000: Ray Ferraro scored a goal and added two assists as the Thrashers ended an NHL record 17-game home winless streak (0-15-2) with a 5-4 win against the visiting New York Islanders.

2001: Goalie Evgeni Nabokov set a Sharks team record with his 31st victory of the year, when the San Jose beat the visiting Minnesota Wild 4-2. Trailing 2-0 after one period, the Sharks scored twice in 18 seconds early in the third for the win.....Mike Modano scored to become the first player in Dallas Stars franchise history to get 30 (or more) goals eight seasons with the team, during a 4-4 tie against the visiting Calgary Flames.....Colorado's Joe Sakic scored his 11th career hat trick as the Avalanche clinched the President's Trophy with a 5-3 victory against the visiting Edmonton Oilers.

2004: Toronto Maple Leafs set a franchise record with their 101st point of the season, a 2-0 win against the Sabres at Buffalo. Ed Belfour recorded the shutout (the 74h of his career).