October 14 NHL History
1967: The Los Angeles Kings defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California, to win their NHL debut. Brian Kilrea scores two goals, including the first one in Kings history.
1972: In the first NHL regular-season game played in the southern United States, the Atlanta Flames tie the Buffalo Sabres 1-1 at the Omni. Ernie Hicke scores a power-play goal for the Flames 2:03 into the first period and Phil Myre makes 30 saves, 17 in the third period, allowing only a first-period goal by Jim Lorentz.
1979: Wayne Gretzky scores his first NHL goal in the Edmonton Oilers’ 4-4 tie with the Vancouver Canucks at Northlands Coliseum.
Gretzky beats goaltender Glen Hanlon for a game-tying power-play goal with 1:09 remaining in the third period. He also assists on a first-period goal by defenseman Risto Siltanen.
1979: The Flyers begin the longest unbeaten streak in the NHL by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 at the Spectrum. The Flyers go 35 games without a loss (25 wins, 10 ties) before the streak ends with a 7-1 road loss to the Minnesota North Stars on Jan. 7, 1980.
1979: The Winnipeg Jets become the first of the four teams added from the World Hockey Association (also the Oilers, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques) to defeat an NHL team. The Jets defeat the Colorado Rockies 4-2 at Winnipeg Arena.
1991: Mike Gartner scores his 500th NHL goal in the New York Rangers’ 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden. Gartner, who began his NHL career with the Capitals, beats Mike Liut 3:27 into the game to become the 16th player in NHL history to reach the milestone, but the first to do so in a Rangers uniform.
2006: Mike Sillinger becomes the first NHL player to score a goal for 12 teams when he gets one for the New York Islanders in a 4-1 victory against the Boston Bruins at Nassau Coliseum. Sillinger finishes his NHL career with 240 goals in 1,049 games.
