THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Nov. 21
1942: Regular-season overtime becomes a casualty of World War II when the NHL Board of Governors announces that it will be discontinued because of conflicts with train schedules. Overtime is reinstated for the 1983-84 season after a 41-year absence, though in a five-minute, sudden-death format rather than the prewar version when the teams played a full 10-minute extra period.
1943: Buddy O’Connor of the Montreal Canadiens has his second five-point game in as many nights. He gets his first NHL hat trick and has two assists in a 13-4 victory against the Boston Bruins at the Forum. One night earlier, O’Connor has a goal and four assists in a 7-2 road win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
1958: The Maple Leafs hire Punch Imlach as their new general manager, replacing Hap Day. Eight days later, Imlach replaces Billy Reay as coach. Imlach rebuilds Toronto into a Stanley Cup finalist in 1959, then guides the Maple Leafs to three straight championships from 1962-64 and another in 1967.
1964: Toronto’s Terry Sawchuk becomes the first goaltender in NHL history to have at least one shutout in 16 straight seasons when he outduels Glenn Hall in a 1-0 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Maple Leaf Gardens. Sawchuk breaks the record of 15 seasons with at least one shutout set by Harry Lumley. Sawchuk extends the record to 19 seasons before going without a shutout with the Detroit Red Wings in 1968-69.
1971: The New York Rangers enjoy the biggest offensive game in their history, defeating the California Golden Seals 12-1 at Madison Square Garden. Center Jean Ratelle scores four times for New York, which outshoots California 52-16. The Rangers blow the game open with eight goals in the third period, including two in eight seconds by rookie Pierre Jarry.
1987: With King Olav V of Norway watching from behind their bench, the Canadiens edge the New Jersey Devils 2-1 at the Forum. Bobby Smith and Chris Chelios each has a goal and an assist in the second period for Montreal.
2006: Jaromir Jagr scores twice in the New York Rangers’ 4-0 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden to pass Jari Kurri and become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer among European-trained players.
Two nights after becoming the 16th player in League history to score 600 goals, Jagr ties Kurri’s total of 601 goals when he scores on a wrist shot at 13:36 of the second period, then passes him with goal No. 602 at 3:11 of the third period.
“Now I’m looking for the 700th,” he says with a chuckle. “Jari Kurri was a guy everybody looked up to from Europe. He was our idol. To score more goals than him … It’s huge.”
2011: Sidney Crosby returns from an absence of more than 10 months without missing a beat. In his first game back after a lengthy concussion-related absence, Crosby scores on his first shot and finishes with two goals and two assists to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-0 victory against the New York Islanders at Consol Energy Center. Crosby, who hasn’t played since Jan. 6, whips a backhand shot under the crossbar and into the net at 5:24 of the first period to make it 1-0. It’s his first goal since Dec. 28, 2010. He assists on Kris Letang’s goal later in the first period and Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal early in the second, then ends the night by winning a face-off and scoring on a backhand shot.
2015: Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks becomes the 83rd player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points, and the 16th to do so with one organization. The milestone comes when the 36-year-old forward assists on the first of two goals by defenseman Brent Burns in a 3-1 win against the Penguins at Consol Energy Center.
