Jan. 24: Bossy scores 50 goals in 50 games

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Jan. 24
1981:
Mike Bossy
matches
Maurice Richard
's record of 50 goals in 50 games when he scores twice late in the third period of the New York Islanders' 7-4 victory against the Quebec Nordiques at Nassau Coliseum.

Bossy comes into the Islanders' 50th game of the 1980-81 season with 48 goals and it looks like he might leave with that many when he's kept off the scoresheet for more than 55 minutes. But with the Islanders on a power play, Bossy gets No. 49
with 4:10 remaining in the third period
. Encouraged by a roaring Coliseum crowd, Bossy catches Richard, who set the mark in 1944-45, when he beats
Ron Grahame
from the lower left circle with 1:29 left.
Bossy reaches another milestone exactly five years later. He
scores a goal and has three assists
in the Islanders' 7-5 win against the Washington Capitals in Landover, Maryland, to become the 20th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points. The milestone comes in his 656th regular-season game, faster than anyone in NHL history (at the time) except
Wayne Gretzky
.

MORE MOMENTS
1937:
Howie Morenz
scores the 271st and final goal of his NHL career during the Montreal Canadiens'
4-1 win
against the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium. Four days later, his career comes to an abrupt end when he sustains a leg injury against the Blackhawks in a game at the Forum.
1960:Chicago's
Glenn Hall
ties the NHL record for consecutive games played by a goalie when he appears in his 328th straight game,
a 3-2 loss
to the Canadiens. Hall matches the mark set by Montreal's
Georges Vezina
.
1988:
Neil Sheehy
, a defenseman with the Hartford Whalers, becomes the first skater in NHL history to wear No. 0. Sheehy takes seven minutes in penalties during the Whalers'
2-1 overtime victory
against the Detroit Red Wings at the Civic Center.
2001:
Mario Lemieux
scores a goal in each period for his 40th NHL hat trick (passing Bossy for second place all-time). He has all three goals for the Pittsburgh Penguins in
a 3-1 victory
against Montreal at Mellon Arena. Lemieux scores his three goals on three shots.

2007: The NHL All-Star Game comes to Dallas for the first time. A full house at American Airlines Center sees the Western Conference outscore the Eastern Conference 12-9. East forward
Daniel Briere
wins the MVP award by scoring one goal and assisting on four others.
Marty Turco
of the hometown Dallas Stars is the winning goalie.
2014:Nashville Predators forward
Eric Nystrom
has the biggest night of his NHL career. Nystrom, who has one goal in his previous 19 games,
scores four
against his former team, the Calgary Flames, at Scotiabank Saddledome. However, the Flames tie the game on late goals by Mikael Backlund and
David Jones
, then win 5-4 when Sean Monahan scores the deciding goal in the shootout.
2018:William Nylander scores on a penalty shot six seconds into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a
3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks
at United Center. Nylander matches the NHL record for fastest regular-season overtime goal previously accomplished by
Mats Sundin
,
David Legwand
, Alex Ovechkin and Andreas Athanasiou, who does it three weeks earlier.