Dec. 17: Gretzky gets 800th point, 500th assist

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Dec. 17
1983:
Wayne Gretzky
reaches two NHL milestones when he
scores one goal and assists on five others
to help the Edmonton Oilers defeat the Quebec Nordiques 8-1 at Northlands Coliseum. Gretzky gets his 500th assist and 800th point in his 352nd NHL game. No one has reached either total faster.

Exactly three years later, Gretzky
scores four goals
, including a natural hat trick in the first 12:38 of the first period, and assists on another in a 5-3 home win against the Nordiques. It's his 41st NHL hat trick.

MORE MOMENTS
1924:The NHL has the first
0-0 tie
in its eight-year history. Goalie
Jake Forbes
of the Hamilton Tigers and
Alec Connell
of the Ottawa Senators are perfect through three periods of regulation time and a 20-minute overtime period.
1935:It's a milestone night for five original New York Rangers.
Bill Cook
,
Fred Cook
(better known as Bun),
Frank Boucher
,
Ivan Johnson
and
Murray Murdoch
each plays in his 500th NHL game when the Rangers and Montreal Canadiens
skate to a 1-1 tie
at Madison Square Garden.
1957:In the largest trade in NHL history at the time, the Chicago Blackhawks send
Nick Mickoski
,
Jack McIntyre
,
Bob Bailey
and
Hec Lalande
to the Detroit Red Wings for
Dutch Reibel
,
Billy Dea
,
Bill Dineen
and
Lorne Ferguson
.
1977:
Barry Beck
of the Colorado Rockies
scores three goals
for his first NHL hat trick and gets an assist in a 5-1 win against the Minnesota North Stars in Denver. Beck sets a League record for rookie defensemen by scoring in his sixth consecutive game. He finishes his first NHL season with 22 goals, also a record for rookie defensemen.
1991:The Pittsburgh Penguins set a team record by scoring
eight second-period goals in a 10-2 win
against the San Jose Sharks at the Civic Arena.
Joe Mullen
has a goal and two assists to give him 800 NHL points.

2008:Rangers defenseman
Michal Rozsival
scores on a penalty shot
in the second period, and again in overtime to give New York a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center. Rozsival becomes the second player since the NHL reinstitutes overtime in 1983 to score on a penalty shot before winning the game with an overtime goal.
Steve Thomas
of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim is the other (April 1, 2003).
2018: Jaroslav Halak makes 22 saves and the
Boston Bruins shut out the Canadiens 4-0
for their fifth straight win at Bell Center. Halak earns his third shutout of the season and 45th of his NHL career. Boston's longest previous winning streak in Montreal is four games, from Jan. 11-Dec. 20, 1941.
2019:Evgeni Malkin becomes the seventh Russia-born player in NHL history to score 400 goals when he scores at 18:02 of the third period for the Penguins in a
4-1 win against the Calgary Flames
at Scotiabank Saddledome. He's the fourth player in Penguins history to score 400 goals and joins countryman Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals as the only members of the 2004 NHL Draft class to reach the milestone. Goal No. 400 comes in his 873rd NHL game.