October 20 NHL History
1965: In the 19th and final preseason NHL All-Star Game, Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings scores two goals and assists on another to lift the All-Stars to a 5-2 victory against the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens at the Forum. Beginning in 1966-67, the game is shifted to midseason and the format is changed after the League’s first expansion adds six teams in 1967-68.
1974: The New York Islanders get the first shutout in their history, in their third season and 161st game, when they defeat the Washington Capitals 5-0 at Capital Centre. Billy Smith makes 26 saves for his first NHL shutout.
1978: Wayne Gretzky, a 17-year-old center for Indianapolis of the World Hockey Association playing in his second game, scores his first two goals as a professional. He gets them against his future team, the Edmonton Oilers, in a 4-3 loss. Gretzky plays six more games for Indianapolis before being traded to Edmonton. Exactly 15 years later, Gretzky has a goal and two assists for the Los Angeles Kings in a 4-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s the first time Gretzky plays an NHL game against younger brother Brent, a 21-year-old center for Tampa Bay.
1993: Rookie goaltender Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils gets his first NHL shutout in a 4-0 victory against the visiting Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Brodeur makes 17 saves, and the Devils blow the game open with third-period goals by Alexander Semak, Randy McKay and Claude Lemieux. It’s the first of three shutouts in 1993-94 for Brodeur, who finishes his NHL career with a League-record 125, all but the last one with the Devils.
1999: Jozef Stumpel scores with 1:09 remaining in the third period to give the Los Angeles Kings a 2-2 tie against the Boston Bruins in the first NHL game played at Staples Center. The game draws 18,188 fans, then the largest crowd ever to see a hockey game in California.
2001: Scotty Bowman earns his 1,200th regular-season NHL victory and Luc Robitaille scores the game-winner in the second period against his former team when the Red Wings defeat the Kings 3-2 at Joe Louis Arena.
2015: Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals gets his 900th NHL point when he scores a second-period goal in a 6-2 victory against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. He’s the first player in Capitals history to reach 900 points. The goal is his 483rd, four shy of Sergei Fedorov‘s record for NHL players born in Russia.
