October 31 NHL History
1942: Rookie Maurice Richard plays his first NHL game with the Montreal Canadiens. Richard, wearing No. 15, gets his first NHL point (an assist) 36 seconds into the game, a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins at the Forum.
1981: Wayne Gretzky becomes the first player in NHL history to have seven hat tricks before his 21st birthday when he scores four times (and has an assist) in an 11-4 victory against the Quebec Nordiques at Northlands Coliseum.
Gretzky scores early in the second period to give the Oilers a 3-0 lead, then finishes his big night with three more goals (and the assist) in the third period against Michel Plasse. It gives him 13 goals in Edmonton’s first 13 games.
Exactly eight years later, Gretzky gets his 46th career hat trick and has three assists for a six-point night in the Los Angeles Kings’ 8-4 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Civic Arena. Pittsburgh star Mario Lemieux has two assists to begin a 46-game point scoring streak. It’s the second-longest in NHL history, five games short of Gretzky’s record.
1987: New York Rangers forward Marcel Dionne scores the 700th goal of his NHL career, joining Gordie Howe (801) and Phil Esposito (717) as the only players to reach that mark at the time. The goal comes in an 8-2 loss to the New York Islanders. Though neither spends the bulk of his career with the Rangers, Esposito and Dionne each score goal No. 700 with New York.
1995: Montreal’s Mario Tremblay sets an NHL record for best start by a new coach with his sixth straight win when the Canadiens defeat the Bruins 3-1. Tremblay breaks the mark of five straight wins shared by Bep Guidolin (1973) and Marc Crawford (1995).
2003: The Vancouver Canucks become the second team in NHL history to score the first goal in each of its first 11 games of the season. Trevor Linden scores 8:16 into the first period of a 4-1 road win against Phoenix Coyotes.
2007: Chicago Blackhawks rookie center Jonathan Toews scores a goal in a 5-4 road win against the Dallas Stars to give him one point in each of his first 10 NHL games. It’s the second longest such streak in NHL history.
2008: Defenseman Matthias Ohlund scores in the 13th round of the shootout to give the Canucks a 7-6 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. Each team scores six times during regulation but manages one successful attempt apiece in the tiebreaker until Ohlund, the 26th shooter, beats Jonas Hiller for the win.
