Dec. 16 NHL History
1934: Two brothers oppose each other as coaches for the first time in NHL history. Frank Patrick gets the better of older brother Lester when the Boston Bruins defeat the Rangers 2-1 at Madison Square Garden.
1950: Two future Hall of Famers make their debuts for the Montreal Canadiens in a 1-1 tie against the Rangers at the Forum. One of the newcomers, Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, scores Montreal’s goal. The other, center Jean Beliveau, wears No. 17 in the first of two games he plays during an amateur tryout. Beliveau doesn’t have much interest in turning pro, and the Canadiens wind up having to buy an entire amateur league to bring him to Montreal. Beliveau doesn’t join them full-time until the 1953-54 season.
1964: Gordie Howe and the Detroit Red Wings each reach a milestone during a 7-3 victory against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Howe scores two goals and has two assists to become the first NHL player with 1,300 points. The win is the 1,000th in the history of the Red Wings since entering the League in 1926.
1970: The Chicago Blackhawks’ combination of Stan Mikita and Cliff Koroll is too much for the St. Louis Blues. Koroll sets a Blackhawks record with four assists in the second period, and Mikita scores four goals and sets up another to help Chicago to an 8-3 victory. The victory extends the Blackhawks’ unbeaten streak at Chicago Stadium to 17 games (15-0-2).
1991: The Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators are officially granted membership in the NHL, bringing the League to 24 teams. They begin play at the start of the 1992-93 season.
2000: Luc Robitaille becomes the second player to score 500 goals as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. The milestone comes in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Lightning. Robitaille also becomes the 16th NHL player to score 500 goals with one team.
2002: Canadiens center Doug Gilmour becomes the 14th player in NHL history to reach 1,400 points. Point No. 1,400 is a goal at 15:30 of the first period in Montreal’s 3-2 win at the Ottawa Senators.
2014: The longest shootout in NHL history finally ends when Nick Bjugstad scores in the bottom of the 20th round to give the Florida Panthers a 2-1 victory against the Washington Capitals at BB&T Center.
Bjugstad freezes goaltender Braden Holtby with a quick fake, moves the puck to his forehand and fires high into an open net, capping a tiebreaker that takes 17:43. It comes on Bjugstad’s second try in the shootout (each team uses all 18 skaters and has to start over again), and after Roberto Luongo makes a save on Alex Ovechkin to begin the 20th round.
The Capitals take the lead on five occasions only to have the Panthers tie the game each time. The 11 combined goals also are a shootout record.
The Panthers and Capitals shatter the previous mark for longest shootout, a 15-round loss by the Capitals to the New York Rangers on Nov. 26, 2005.
