Jan. 8: Sawchuk, Robinson make NHL debuts

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Jan. 8
Two Hockey Hall of Famers make their NHL debut on this date, 23 years apart.

1950:Goalie
Terry Sawchuk
plays his first NHL game for the Detroit Red Wings when he takes the place of Harry Lumley, who's out with an injury, in
a 4-3 loss
to the Boston Bruins at Olympia Stadium. Sawchuk plays seven games before Lumley returns, winning three times and getting the first of his 103 NHL shutouts. He wins the starting job the following season.
1973: Defenseman
Larry Robinson
plays in the League for the first time with the Montreal Canadiens in
a 3-3 tie
with the Minnesota North Stars at the Forum. Robinson gets the chance to play after injuries leave the Canadiens short on defense. He shows enough to stay after the injured players heal and goes on to play 17 seasons with the Canadiens, winning the
Stanley Cup six times
before finishing his NHL career by playing three seasons with the Los Angeles Kings.

MORE MOMENTS
1944:
Babe Pratt
becomes the first NHL defenseman to
get six assists
in a game. Pratt's big game powers the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 12-3 victory against the Bruins at Maple Leaf Gardens. He shares the record with five other defensemen, including
Bobby Orr
.
1947:Forward
Howie Meeker
sets an NHL single-game record for goals by a rookie when he
scores five times
in Toronto's 10-4 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Maple Leaf Gardens. The record has been matched once, by
Don Murdoch
of the New York Rangers in 1976.
1986:Not even
Wayne Gretzky
's 37th NHL hat trick can prevent the Edmonton Oilers from losing 11-9 to Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. Gretzky also contributes three assists for
a six-point night
, and
Jari Kurri
scores a goal and has five assists, but Toronto forward
Miroslav Frycer
scores his fourth goal of the game midway through the third period to break a 9-9 tie.
1990:
Mario Lemieux
extends his point streak to 31 games by
scoring four goals
to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-5 win against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. It's the 24th hat trick of Lemieux's NHL career. His streak becomes the third-longest in League history; he extends it to 46 games before missing a game with a back injury.

1994:Red Wings forward
Dino Ciccarelli
becomes the 19th member of the NHL 500-goal club. Ciccarelli scores the milestone goal at 4:20 of the third period in Detroit's
6-3 road victory
against the Los Angeles Kings.
2004:Florida Panthers rookie forward
Nathan Horton
becomes the youngest player in NHL history to
score on a penalty shot
. Horton (18 years, 224 days old) breaks the record set by Toronto's
Jack Hamilton
in 1944 when he scores a shorthanded goal against
Jeff Hackett
at 3:38 of the second period during the Panthers' 4-3 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wachovia Center.
2008:Two 40-somethings help the Red Wings defeat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 at Joe Louis Arena. Goalie
Dominik Hasek
, playing three weeks before his 43rd birthday,
makes 19 saves
. Defenseman
Chris Chelios
becomes the second-oldest player in history to play an NHL game. He's 45 years, 348 days old, one day older than Moe Roberts, who played for the Blackhawks on Nov. 25, 1951.
Gordie Howe
(52) is the only player older than Chelios to skate in an NHL game.
2010:The Tampa Bay Lightning end a 10-game losing streak against the New Jersey Devils with
a 4-2 victory
at Prudential Center in a game that takes 48 hours to complete because of a lighting malfunction two nights earlier. Tampa Bay leads 3-0 with 9:12 remaining in the second period when the lights go out. Lightning goalie Mike Smith completes the victory, finishing with 33 saves.
2019: Tuukka Rask makes 24 saves for his 250th NHL victory, a
4-0 win by the Bruins
against the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden. Rask becomes the fourth goalie born in Finland to win 250 games in the NHL, trailing only Pekka Rinne,
Miikka Kiprusoff
and
Kari Lehtonen
.
On the same night, Erik Karlsson becomes the fifth defenseman in NHL history to have an assist streak of at least 14 games. Karlsson sets up three goals to help the San Jose Sharks
defeat the Oilers 7-2
at SAP Center. He's the first defenseman with an assist streak of at least 14 games since
Phil Housley
in 1992-93.