Jan. 13 NHL History
1926: Babe Ruth drops the puck for a ceremonial face-off at Madison Square Garden prior to a game between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Americans. The Canadiens defeat the Americans 2-1 in front of a crowd of more than 10,000.
1940: The Rangers defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 to extend their winning streak to 10 games, their unbeaten streak to 19 and their road unbeaten streak to 11. The 10-game winning streak (matched in 1972-73) is still the longest in their history. Goaltender Dave Kerr extends his personal unbeaten streak to 19 games, a Rangers record that stands until 1994.
1971: Five days after being named general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, Ned Harkness trades left wing Frank Mahovlich to the Canadiens for forwards Mickey Redmond, Bill Collins and Guy Charron. Mahovlich helps the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in 1971 and 1973.
1979: The “Triple Crown Line” plays together for the first time in the Los Angeles Kings‘ 7-3 victory against the Red Wings in Detroit. Center Marcel Dionne scores four goals, including the 300th of his NHL career, playing between right wing Dave Taylor and left wing Charlie Simmer, who gets the spot two days after being recalled from the minors. Taylor scores a goal and Simmer contributes an assist.
Two years, two teams, two milestones for Mark Messier.
1991: Messier joins the 1,000-point club with three assists in the third period of the Edmonton Oilers’ 5-3 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum. The first of the three assists come when he sets up Glenn Anderson’s 400th NHL goal.
1993: Exactly two years later, Messier scores a goal and has three assists to reach 1,200 points and help the New York Rangers hold off the Washington Capitals 5-4 at Madison Square Garden. Messier scores the go-ahead goal at 8:52 of the third period and sets up Adam Graves for what turns out to be the game-winner.
2006: Capitals rookie Alex Ovechkin scores all three goals in Washington’s 3-2 victory against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at Honda Center for his first NHL hat trick. Ovechkin gives the last-place Capitals the win when he beats Jean-Sebastien Giguere at 3:04 of overtime for his 30th goal of the season.
2007: Kings goalie Yutaka Fukufuji becomes the first Japanese native to play in the NHL when he relieves Barry Brust to start the third period of a 6-5 loss at the St. Louis Blues. Fukufuji enters the game with the Blues leading 5-4. He makes four saves, allows one goal to Dennis Wideman and winds up with the loss. Fukufuji makes his first NHL start three nights later.
2015: The Buffalo Sabres honor Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Dominik Hasek by raising his No. 39 jersey to the rafters of First Niagara Center (now KeyBank Center) prior to their game against the Red Wings. Of Hasek’s 389 NHL wins, 234 come with the Sabres from 1992-2001. He also wins the Vezina Trophy six times and the Hart Trophy twice while playing for Buffalo.
2016: Sam Bennett scores four goals for the Calgary Flames in a 6-0 victory against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Saddledome. At 19 years, 207 days, he becomes the youngest player in Flames history to get a hat trick, as well as the sixth rookie.
