March 23: Gretzky passes Howe by scoring 802nd NHL goal

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: March 23
1994:
Wayne Gretzky
of the Los Angeles Kings
breaks Gordie Howe's NHL career record
by scoring his 802nd goal.

It comes at 14:47 of the second period in the
Kings' 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks
at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. Gretzky takes a cross-ice pass from defenseman
Marty McSorley
on a give-and-go that leaves Vancouver goalie
Kirk McLean
out of position and allows Gretzky to score into a virtually empty net.
The sellout crowd erupts when teammates, led by
Luc Robitaille
and followed closely by McSorley, mob him after Gretzky raises his arms in triumph.
Gretzky surpasses Howe during his 15th NHL season and finishes his NHL career in 1999 with 894 goals and 2,857 points, records that have yet to be approached.

MORE MOMENTS
1918:
Alf Skinner
of the Toronto Arenas scores three goals for the first hat trick by an NHL player in the Stanley Cup Final. The
Vancouver Millionaires defeat Toronto 6-4
in Game 2 of the first Final involving an NHL team.
1939:
Mel Hill
scores his second straight overtime goal (this one at 8:24) to give the Boston Bruins a
3-2 win
against the New York Rangers in Game 2 of their Semifinal series at Boston Garden. The rookie forward scores a third overtime goal in Game 7 to win the series, earning the nickname "Sudden Death."
1944: In the second Stanley Cup Playoff game of his career,
Maurice Richard
scores all five goals
for the Montreal Canadiens in a
5-1 victory
against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Forum in Game 2 of their Semifinal series.
Toe Blake
assists on all five goals. Richard becomes the first player to be
awarded all three stars of the game
.

1952:
Bill Mosienko
of the Chicago Blackhawks sets an NHL record for the fastest three goals by one player when he gets a
hat trick in 21 seconds
during the third period of a
7-6 win against the Rangers
at Madison Square Garden. It's the fifth and final hat trick of Mosienko's NHL career.

1972: Bruins goalie
Gerry Cheevers
extends his NHL-record unbeaten streak to 31 games (24 wins, seven ties) with a
4-1 win against the Rangers
at Boston Garden.
Johnny Bucyk
scores two goals and has an assist, and
Fred Stanfield
and
John McKenzie
each has three assists.
1993:
Teemu Selanne
of the Winnipeg Jets scores two goals and has an assist in a
5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs
at Winnipeg Arena to set an NHL record for most points in a season by a rookie with 111. He surpasses the mark of 109 set by
Peter Stastny
with the Quebec Nordiques in 1980-81.
1994: Two players who would meet in the Stanley Cup Final less than three months later reach the 50-goal mark.
Pavel Bure
of the Canucks scores his 50th for the second straight season and extends his goal-scoring streak to eight games in
Vancouver's 6-3 win
at Los Angeles.
Adam Graves
of the Rangers scores his 50th and 51st goals in a
5-3 win at the Edmonton Oilers
, setting a Rangers single-season record. Graves passes the mark of 50 set by
Vic Hadfield
in 1971-72.
2002: Detroit Red Wings forward
Brendan Shanahan
scores his 500th NHL goal and
Dominik Hasek
gets his 61st NHL shutout in a
2-0 win against the Colorado Avalanch
e. Shanahan is the 30th NHL player to score 500 goals.

2015:
Andrew Hammond
of the Ottawa Senators becomes the first goalie in NHL history to help his team earn at least one point in each of his first 15 starts. Hammond makes 29 saves in
Ottawa's 5-2 win
against the visiting San Jose Sharks, giving him a 14-0-1 record, 1.67 goals-against average and .946 save percentage.
2018:Kyle Connor becomes the second rookie in NHL history to score a regular-season overtime goal in back-to-back games when he beats goalie John Gibson to give the Winnipeg Jets a
3-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks
at Bell MTS Place. The only other rookie to score an overtime goal in consecutive team games is Andrew Cogliano, who gets three in a row for the Edmonton Oilers in 2007-08. The Jets (45-19-10) reach 100 points for the first time since the franchise enters the NHL as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999.