Jan. 10 NHL History
1920: Newsy Lalonde scores six goals to help the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Toronto St. Pats 14-7 at Mount Royal Arena in Montreal. The 21 total goals set an NHL record that isn’t matched for 65 years.
1931: The Philadelphia Quakers defeat the Montreal Maroons 4-3 in overtime to end their 15-game losing streak. Gerry Lowrey gives the Quakers the win when he scores midway through the 10-minute overtime. It’s the longest losing streak in NHL history until the first-year Capitals lose 17 straight in 1974-75.
1960: Less than 2 1/2 months after Jacques Plante makes history by becoming the first NHL goalie to wear a mask on a regular basis, Don Simmons of the Boston Bruins becomes the second to do so. Simmons, wearing a mask, makes 37 saves in a 4-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Garden.
1985: Boston native Tom Barrasso becomes the first goaltender to shut out the Bruins at Boston Garden in more than seven years when the Buffalo Sabres win 3-0. It’s the first time the Bruins fail to score a goal on home ice since a 2-0 loss to Montreal on Oct. 16, 1977. Barrasso makes 20 saves for his fifth NHL shutout.
1989: Wayne Gretzky passes Gordie Howe for the most combined points (regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs) in NHL history. Gretzky has four assists for the Los Angeles Kings in a 5-4 victory against the Edmonton Oilers at the Forum in Inglewood, California, giving him 2,011 points in regular-season and playoff games. That’s one more than Howe had in 26 NHL seasons, 25 of them with the Detroit Red Wings. That Gretzky passes Howe’s mark against Edmonton is ironic: 1,669 of his regular-season points and 242 of his playoff points come with the Oilers before he’s traded to the Kings on Aug. 9, 1988.
2004: Sheldon Souray sets the single-game record for points by a Canadiens defenseman by scoring a goal and getting five assists in Montreal’s 8-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Souray surpasses the previous record of five points shared by Doug Harvey and Lyle Odelein.
2016: Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin becomes the fifth-fastest player in NHL history, and the first born in Russia, to score 500 goals. The milestone comes when he scores a power-play goal at 16:19 of the second period in the Capitals’ 7-1 victory against the visiting Ottawa Senators.
Ovechkin takes a cross-ice pass from Jason Chimera and beats goaltender Andrew Hammond for his 500th goal in 801 NHL games. Only Wayne Gretzky (575 games), Mario Lemieux (605), Mike Bossy (647) and Brett Hull (693) get to 500 goals faster.
“It is a special moment,” Ovechkin said. “It is nice to be in that category.”
Ovechkin starts on his next milestone by scoring No. 501 on a breakaway at 9:46 of the third period to complete the scoring.
