THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Jan. 20
1946: Max Bentley scores three goals for his fourth NHL hat trick and the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the New York Rangers 9-1 in front of an NHL-record crowd of 19,749 at Chicago Stadium.
1970: Gordie Howe scores his 10th and final goal in All-Star Game competition. His power-play goal 7:26 into the first period proves to be the game-winner in the Eastern Conference’s 4-1 victory against the Western Conference at St. Louis Arena. Chicago’s Bobby Hull has a goal and an assist and is named the game’s most valuable player.
1977: For the third time in NHL history (and the first time in 23 years), brothers oppose each other as coaches. Johnny Wilson’s Colorado Rockies defeat Larry Wilson’s Detroit Red Wings 3-1 at Olympia Stadium.
1982: Wayne Gretzky becomes the first player in NHL history to have 12 hat tricks before age 21. He gets his sixth hat trick of the season and 12th of his NHL career when he scores three goals (and has two assists)in the Edmonton Oilers’ 8-6 victory against the St. Louis Blues at Northlands Coliseum.
1983: Darryl Sittler becomes the 17th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points. Sittler gets the milestone with a goal and an assist in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 5-2 win against the Calgary Flames at the Spectrum. It comes one year to the day after the Flyers acquire Sittler in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
1989: Mario Lemieux becomes the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in less than 50 games. He joins Wayne Gretzky, who’s done it three times.
Lemieux, 23 and in his fifth NHL season, scores 1:18 into the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Winnipeg Arena when he takes a pass from Rob Brown and beats goaltender Eldon Reddick to the short side. The goal comes in Lemieux’s 44th game of the season and the 46th for the Penguins.
Despite the milestone, Lemieux isn’t happy after the game. “We didn’t put any type of effort in out there,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
Lemieux finishes the season with 85 goals, the fourth-highest single-season total in NHL history, and his 199 points are the most scored in one season by anyone other than Gretzky (212).
2003: Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche becomes the first goaltender in NHL history to play in 1,000 regular-season games. Roy makes 29 saves in a 1-1 tie with the Dallas Stars at Pepsi Center.
2017: Vancouver Canucks center Henrik Sedin becomes the 85th player in NHL history with 1,000 pointswhen he scores a goal 5:50 into the second period of a 2-1 victory against the Florida Panthers at Rogers Arena. The goal comes when he takes a pass from his twin brother, Daniel Sedin, and beats longtime teammate Robert Luongo. Henrik is the 35th player to get 1,000 points with the same team and the fourth who was born in Sweden.
