October 27 NHL History
1963: Gordie Howe scores his 544th NHL goal during the Detroit Red Wings’ 6-4 loss to the visiting Montreal Canadiens. The power-play goal midway through the third period against goalie Gump Worsley pulls Howe into a tie with Maurice Richard of the Canadiens, the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring leader when he retires in 1960.
Exactly five years later, Howe, now 40, becomes the oldest player in NHL history to score points in each of his first five games of the season. Howe scores two goals and has an assist in Detroit’s 4-3 win against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
1973: New York Islanders rookie defenseman Denis Potvin scores his first two NHL goals in a 3-2 victory against the New York Rangers at Nassau Coliseum. Potvin retires in 1988 with 310 goals, at that time the most by any defenseman in NHL history.
1988: Quebec Nordiques center Joe Sakic scores a goal to become the first rookie in NHL history to get points in each of his first 11 career games. The milestone comes in a 6-2 loss to the Boston Bruins at Boston Garden.
1995: The Red Wings make history by playing five Soviet players (Viacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Fedorov and Vyacheslav Kozlov) as a unit during a 3-0 road win against the Calgary Flames. All five had played for the Central Red Army in the Soviet Union.
2000: Goalie Marc Denis makes 32 saves and the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets win a home game for the first time in team history by defeating the Washington Capitals 3-1 at Nationwide Arena.
2014: The Rangers score five goals in the third period to overcome a 3-0 deficit and defeat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 at Madison Square Garden. It’s only the second time in team history that the Rangers win a game trailing by three goals after being shut out entering the third period. Their previous win of that kind comes on Jan. 4, 1956, when they trail the Red Wings 3-0 early in the third period but rally for a 5-4 victory.
