Jan. 27 NHL History
1951: Jean Beliveau, wearing No. 20 and playing on an amateur tryout contract, scores his first NHL goal when he beats Chicago Blackhawks goalie Harry Lumley during the Montreal Canadiens’ 4-2 victory at the Forum. The goal (and an assist) comes in Beliveau’s second NHL game.
1955: Detroit Red Wings forward Gordie Howe is credited with 19 shots on goal against New York Rangers goaltender goalie Gump Worsley, who makes all 19 saves in a 3-3 tie at Olympia Stadium. The Red Wings outshoot the Rangers 31-18, meaning that Howe has more shots than an entire team.
1960: Glenn Hall of the Chicago Blackhawks sets an NHL record for consecutive games played by a goaltender when he appears in his 329th straight game, a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens. The mark of 328 had been set by Montreal’s Georges Vezina.
1965: Ulf Sterner becomes the first player born in Sweden and the first trained in Europe to play in an NHL game when he takes the ice for the Rangers in a 5-2 victory against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden. Sterner is scoreless in four games with the Rangers before being sent back to the minors. He returned to Sweden, where he plays until the 1977-78 season.
1982: The Los Angeles Kings set an NHL record by playing their sixth consecutive tie game, 4-4 against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Forum in Inglewood, California. The Kings rallied to get their record-setting tie. They trailed 4-2 entering the final minute of the third period but get goals from Marcel Dionne and Mike Murphy to earn a point.
1984: Wayne Gretzky extends his NHL-record point streak to 51 games when he scores a first-period goal in the Edmonton Oilers’ 3-3 tie with the New Jersey Devils at Northlands Coliseum.
The goal gives Gretzky at least one point in each of the Oilers’ first 51 games of the 1983-84 season, beginning on Oct. 5, 1983. He has 153 points (61 goals, 92 assists) during the streak. That total alone would have been more than enough to win the NHL scoring title; teammate Paul Coffey finishes second with 126 points.
1989: Steve Yzerman scores a goal and has two assists in his 50th game of the season, helping the Red Wings defeat the Maple Leafs, 8-1. Yzerman becomes the fourth NHL player to reach 100 points in 50 games or fewer. He joins Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bernie Nicholls.
2008: The Eastern Conference blows a 5-1 lead but scores two late goals to defeat the Western Conference 8-7 at the NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta. MVP Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes ties the game with 7:25 remaining in the third period, then assists on Marc Savard’s game-winner with 21 seconds left.
