Oct. 17: Kurri scores 500th NHL goal

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: OCTOBER 17
1992:
Jari Kurri
becomes the first player trained in Europe (and the 18th player in NHL history) to score 500 goals. The milestone comes when the Finland-born forward hits the empty net to clinch
the Los Angeles Kings' 8-6 victory
against the Boston Bruins at the Forum in Inglewood, California.

After a face-off in his own zone, Kurri steals the puck from Boston defenseman
Ray Bourque
, then outraces him and another defender down the left wing before lofting a wrist shot into the net from about 30 feet.
Kurri reaches 500 goals in 833 NHL games. The milestone comes one day shy of the anniversary of his first NHL goal, Oct. 18, 1980, against the New York Islanders.

MORE MOMENTS
1957:
Henri Richard
of the Montreal Canadiens scores three goals for his first NHL hat trick and assists on three other goals for a six-point night in a
9-3 win against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs
.
1974: The expansion Washington Capitals earn their first victory when they
defeat the Chicago Blackhawks
4-3 at Capital Centre.
Jack Egers
scores the winning goal midway through the third period, and
Ron Low
makes 33 saves. The win gives the Capitals a record of 1-2 with one tie after four games; they win seven of their final 76 and finish 8-67 with five ties.
1989:The Calgary Flames pull off the greatest late-game comeback in NHL history to
earn an 8-8 tie
against the Quebec Nordiques at the Colisee. The Flames trail 8-3 with less than seven minutes left in the third period before
Gary Roberts
scores twice in 16 seconds and
Jim Peplinski
gets another goal 11 seconds later to cut the deficit to 8-6. With the Flames shorthanded and goalie
Mike Vernon
off for an extra attacker,
Doug Gilmour
scores a goal with 15 seconds remaining, then sets up
Paul Ranheim
for the tying goal four seconds later. The Flames set an NHL record for the fastest two shorthanded goals.

1991:
Paul Coffey
of the Pittsburgh Penguins becomes the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history. He has two assists in
an 8-5 victory
against the Islanders at the Civic Arena, giving him 1,053 career points. Coffey passes Hockey Hall of Famer (and longtime Islanders star)
Denis Potvin
.

2000:
Patrick Roy
becomes the NHL's all-time winningest goalie when the Colorado Avalanche
defeat the Washington Capitals 4-3
in overtime at MCI Center. Roy makes 27 saves before a goal by
Peter Forsberg
at 2:37 of OT gives him his 446th regular-season victory; that's one more than
Terry Sawchuk
, whose record has stood since his 445th and final victory on Feb. 1, 1970, a
6-0 victory
for the New York Rangers against the Penguins at Madison Square Garden.
2015:The undefeated Canadiens extend the best start in their history by
defeating the Detroit Red Wings
4-1 at Bell Centre for their sixth consecutive victory. Montreal's best previous six-game start is 5-0-1, accomplished four times but not since 1977-78.
2017: Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning becomes the sixth player in the NHL's modern era (since 1943) to score a goal in each of his team's first seven games, joining
Mario Lemieux
,
Mike Bossy
,
Wayne Gretzky
,
Ken Hodge
and
Tony Tanti
. Kucherov's second-period goal extends his streak, but the Lightning lose 5-4 in a shootout to the New Jersey Devils.
2019:Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils defeat Kaapo Kakko and
the Rangers 5-2
at Prudential Center in the first game between the top two picks in the 2019 NHL Draft. Hughes, a center taken No. 1 by New Jersey, gets an assist on Miles Wood's game-winning goal for his first NHL point. It's the seventh consecutive season that players chosen with the first two selections in the previous draft face off.