Nov. 16 NHL History
1926: The New York Rangers are a winner in their NHL debut.
One season after the New York Americans join the League and show that hockey can be a big draw in the Big Apple, the Rangers (owned by Madison Square Garden, where the Americans are a tenant) draw more than 13,000 fans for their first NHL game, a 1-0 victory against the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Maroons.
Captain Bill Cook scores the first goal in Rangers history at 18:37 the second period and Hal Winkler makes it stand up, becoming the first goaltender to earn a shutout in his NHL debut.
Perhaps the most ironic event occurs in the third period, when Rangers center Frank Boucher and Montreal’s Bill Phillips drop the gloves. It’s the only fight of Boucher’s 10-year NHL career; he goes on to win the Lady Byng Trophy as the League’s most gentlemanly player seven times in eight years. Lady Byng finally gives him the original trophy to keep and has a second one made.
1969: Bobby Orr has the first four-assist game of his NHL career, helping the Boston Bruins outlast the Los Angeles Kings 7-4 at Boston Garden. Orr assists on three of Boston’s four goals in the second period and gets his fourth on Phil Esposito‘s power-play goal at 6:29 of the third.
1986: New York Islanders forward Mike Bossy scores the 545th goal of his career, passing Hall of Famer Maurice Richard to move into sixth place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. It’s the Islanders’ only goal in a 3-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
2001: Two Detroit Red Wings reach milestones in an 8-3 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Joe Louis Arena. Steve Yzerman scores twice, including the 650th NHL goal of his career, and Brett Hull has two assists to give him 1,200 points.
2003: The Calgary Flames acquire goalie Miikka Kiprusoff in a trade with the San Jose Sharks for a second-round pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. Kiprusoff goes on to lead the League with a 1.69 goals-against average and is 24-10-4 with the Flames after going 5-14-0 with the Sharks the previous season. He helps the Flames reach Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Final before they lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
2014: Troy Grosenick makes 45 saves in his debut to help the Sharks to a 2-0 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. Grosenick, an undrafted free agent who signs with the Sharks after playing at Union College, becomes the third U.S.-born goalie to have a shutout in his first NHL game. He makes Tomas Hertl’s first-period goal stand up until Joe Thornton hits the empty net with eight seconds remaining.
