THIS DATE IN HISTORY: March 23
1918: Alf Skinner of the Toronto Arenas scores three goals for the first hat trick by an NHL player in the Stanley Cup Final. The Vancouver Millionaires defeat Toronto 6-4 in Game 2 of the first Cup Final involving an NHL franchise.
1939: Rookie Mel Hill scores his second straight overtime goal (this one at 8:24) to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers in Game 2 of their Semifinal series at Boston Garden. Hill scores a third overtime goal in Game 7 to win the series, earning the nickname “Sudden Death.”
1944: In the second Stanley Cup Playoff game of his career, Maurice Richard scores all five goals by the Montreal Canadiens in a 5-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Forum in Game 2 of their Semifinal series. Toe Blake assists on all five goals. Richard becomes the first player to be awarded all three stars of the game.
1952: Bill Mosienko of the Chicago Blackhawks sets an NHL record for the fastest three goals by one player when he gets a hat trick in 21 seconds during the third period of a 7-6 win against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. It’s the fifth and final hat trick of Mosiensko’s NHL career.
1972: Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers extends his NHL-record unbeaten streak to 31 games (24-0-7) with a 4-1 win against the Rangers at Boston Garden. Johnny Bucyk scores two goals and has an assist, and Fred Stanfield and Johnny McKenzie each have three assists.
1993: Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets scores two goals and has an assist in a 5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs to set an NHL record for most points in a season by a rookie with 111. He surpasses the old mark of 109 set by Peter Stastny with the Quebec Nordiques in 1980-81.
1994: Two players who would meet in the Stanley Cup Final less than three months later reach the 50-goal mark. Pavel Bure of the Canucks scores his 50th for the second straight season and extends his goal-scoring streak to eight games in Vancouver’s 6-3 win at Los Angeles. Adam Graves of the Rangers scores his 50th and 51st goals in a 5-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers to set a Rangers single-season record. Graves passes the mark of 50 set by Vic Hadfield in 1971-72.
1994: Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings scores his 802nd NHL goal, breaking Gordie Howe’s career record.
The goal comes at 14:47 of the second period in the Kings’ 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. Gretzky takes a cross-ice pass from defenseman Marty McSorley on a give-and-go that leaves Vancouver goalie Kirk McLean badly out of position and allows Gretzky to score into a virtually empty net.
The sellout crowd erupts when teammates, led by Luc Robitaille and followed closely by McSorley, mob him after Gretzky raises his arms in triumph.
Gretzky surpasses Howe during his 15th NHL season and finishes his NHL career in 1999 with 894 goals and 2,857 points, records that have yet to be approached.
2002: Detroit Red Wings forward Brendan Shanahan scores his 500th NHL goal and Dominik Hasek has his 61st NHL shutout in a 2-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Shanahan is the 30th NHL player to score 500 goals.
