Maurice Richard
1957: Montreal's Maurice Richard has a goal and an assist to become the first NHL player with 100 career points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

THIS DATE IN NHL HISTORY: March 30

1916: The Montreal Canadiens, a member of the pre-NHL National Hockey Association, win the first of their 24 Stanley Cup championships, defeating the Portland Rosebuds of the PCHA 2-1 in the fifth and deciding game of the Final. Each Montreal player receives $238 for the victory.

1918: The Toronto Arenas defeat the Vancouver Millionaires 2-1 in the final game of their best-of-5 series to become the first NHL team to win the Stanley Cup.

The Arenas, who later would be renamed the Toronto St. Patricks, and then the Maple Leafs, win the inaugural NHL championship and earn the right to play the Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in a Stanley Cup challenge.

The leagues’ differing rules present a problem: The NHL uses six players on the ice while the PCHA employs a rover as a seventh player. An agreement is reached: PCHA rules will be used in even-numbered games, NHL rules employed in the odd-numbered games.

The Millionaires win Games 2 and 4 playing seven a side. Toronto sweeps Games 1, 3 and 5 with one fewer player on the ice.

Alf Skinner scores eight goals in five games for Toronto. Vancouver’s Cyclone Taylor scores nine goals.

1957: Montreal’s Maurice Richard has a goal and an assist to become the first NHL player with 100 career points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Richard’s milestone comes in an 8-3 victory against the New York Rangers at the Forum in Game 3 of the Semifinals.

1969: Pat Stapleton of the Chicago Blackhawks ties an NHL single-game record for defensemen with six assists in a 9-5 win against the Detroit Red Wings. Stapleton also becomes the first defenseman in League history to be credited with 50 assists in one season.

1975: The Philadelphia Flyers become the first NHL team to win 13 games in one month with a 4-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Spectrum. Rick MacLeish has a goal and two assists for the Flyers.

1976: Center Jean Ratelle reaches the 100-point mark when he scores a goal and has two assists for the Boston Bruins in a 4-4 tie against the Buffalo Sabres at Boston Garden. Ratelle, acquired from the New York Rangers on Nov. 7, 1974, becomes the first NHL player to earn with 100 points while playing for two teams in the same season.

1979: The NHL announces that it will expand from 17 to 21 teams with the addition of four clubs from the World Hockey Association. The Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques will begin play in October 1979. The Oilers become the most successful of the four teams, winning the Stanley Cup five times from 1984-90. They are also the only one of the four teams that has not relocated.

1989: Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins sets a single-season NHL record with his 13th shorthanded goal, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s mark set in 1983-84. It’s one of four goals scored by Lemieux in a 9-5 loss to the visiting Hartford Whalers.

1991: Guy Lafleur scores his final NHL goal, the 560th of his career, in the Nordiques’ 4-3 loss to the Canadiens at the Forum. Of Lafleur’s 560 goals, 518 come as a member of the Canadiens before he retires in 1984 only to return to the NHL four years later.

1993: Winnipeg Jets rookie Teemu Selanne becomes the first NHL player to score 20 goals in one month. Selanne scores a goal and has two assists in a 5-4 road victory against the Calgary Flames.

 

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