THIS DATE IN NHL HISTORY: March 28
1929: Rookie Tiny Thompson becomes the second goalie in NHL history to have a shutout in his Stanley Cup Final debut when the Bruins defeat the visiting New York Rangers 2-0 in Game 1. It’s the first Final series between two U.S.-based NHL teams.
1944: Doug Bentley is the first player in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks to score three goals in a playoff game. He has three goals (and two assists) in a 7-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 4 of their Semifinal series at Chicago Stadium. Bentley scores three more goals two days later at Detroit in the series-clinching game.
1967: Black Hawks center Stan Mikita sets an NHL single-season record for assists when he’s credited with his 60th in a 7-2 win against the Red Wings at Chicago Stadium. Mikita breaks his own single-season record of 59, set in 1964-65.
1975: The Washington Capitals earn the only road victory of their inaugural season when Nelson Pyatt’s two third-period goals give them a 5-3 win against the California Seals in Oakland. The win ends the Capitals’ NHL-record 37-game road losing streak; they finish the season 1-39-0 away from home.
1980: Don Cherry gets his 250th and final NHL coaching victory and Bill McKenzie earns his second and final career shutout when the Colorado Rockies defeat the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 5-0. Cherry is 231-105-64 in five seasons with the Bruins but goes 19-48-13 in his only season with the Rockies.
1982: Wayne Gretzky scores his 92nd and final goal of the 1981-82 season in the Edmonton Oilers’ 6-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Gretzky beats Mike Blake 1:50 into the third period to make it 6-1. He also has an assist, his 116th of the season.
Though his 92 goals are 16 more than the previous record set by Phil Esposito in 1970-71, Gretzky says years later that he was somewhat disappointed he didn’t score more. He gets four assists in Edmonton’s final two games, but no goals.
“It was a thrill to get 92 goals, but in some ways, I thought I let myself down by not getting 100,” he says. “Maybe I should have pushed myself more.”
1990: Gary Leeman becomes the second player in Toronto Maple Leafs history to score 50 goals in a season. Goal No. 50 comes in a 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders at Maple Leaf Gardens. He joins Rick Vaive, who scores 54 in 1981-82 and 52 in 1983-84.
1993: Alexei Zhamnov scores to make the Winnipeg Jets the first team in NHL history to have four rookies score 20 goals. Zhamnov joins Teemu Selanne, Evgeny Davydov and Keith Tkachuk on that list when he scores in a 3-3 tie against the Los Angeles Kings.
1996: Gretzky reaches the 100-point mark for the 15th and final time in his NHL career. Gretzky gets to 100 by scoring a shorthanded goal and two assists in the St. Louis Blues’ 4-4 tie with the visiting New Jersey Devils.
On the same night, Jaromir Jagr sets an NHL single-season record for points by a European player when he scores a goal in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers). Jagr’s 60th goal of the season gives him 140 points, one more than Peter Stastny of the Quebec Nordiques in 1981-82.
