October 21 NHL History
1954: Red Kelly becomes the second defenseman in Detroit Red Wings history to score three goals in a game. His first NHL hat trick helps the Red Wings to a 5-3 victory against the visiting Boston Bruins. Kelly scores a power-play goal in the first period, an even-strength goal 1:05 into the third period and a shorthanded goal at 7:06.
1962: Detroit’s Bill Gadsby became the second player in NHL history to appear in 1,000 regular-season games when he plays in a 3-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Olympia Stadium. Gadsby joins teammate Gordie Howe, who plays his 1,000th game 11 months earlier.
1979: Phil Esposito of the Rangers joins Howe as the only players in NHL history to reach 1,500 points. The milestone comes when Esposito scores a power-play goal at 16:56 of the first period during New York’s 6-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden.
1988: After 2,283 NHL games and 1,245 goals between them, Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne score as teammates for the first time.
Dionne gets a power-play goal 7:52 into the first period and Lafleur scores at 5:30 of the third to help the New York Rangers defeat the Washington Capitals 4-1 at Landover, Maryland. It’s the first goal of the season for Dionne and the second for Lafleur. Dionne is in his second full season with New York after being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on March 10, 1987; Lafleur is returning to the NHL after retiring from the Montreal Canadiens in November 1984 and being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.
1993: NHL history is made in Detroit when Paul Devorski referees a game and younger brother Greg is one of the linesmen. It’s the first NHL game ever played with brothers as on-ice officials. The Red Wings defeat the Winnipeg Jets 6-2 at Joe Louis Arena.
1997: Eric Lindros scores his 200th NHL goal and has four assists to help the Philadelphia Flyers defeat the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 7-1. Lindros needs 307 games to score 200 goals, the fifth-fastest in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull.
2000: The Blackhawks and Red Wings each play in their 5,000th NHL games; they are the fourth and fifth NHL teams to do so. The Blackhawks lose 1-0 at the St. Louis Blues; the Red Wings defeat the visiting Buffalo Sabres 5-4 in overtime. Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom has two assists to become the third European defenseman in NHL history to reach 500 career points.
2006: Jordan Staal of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores two shorthanded goals in a 5-3 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Mellon Arena. He becomes the first NHL rookie in 24 years to score each of his first three NHL goals with his team shorthanded.
The New Jersey Devils became relevant again before the Sabres did…. nothing hurts as much as this realization….