It was a moment 16 seasons in the making, but when Giroux went to celebrate with Stutzle, he had to wait.
Stutzle, bursting with excitement, chased after the puck instead of embracing Giroux.
"I would have rathered he celebrate with me. We can get the puck later," Giroux laughed. "He was excited. I'm happy he's the one that scored on it."
The assist on the goal by Stutzle at 17:26 of the first period was one of three points by Giroux for the night. He got to 999 career points with a goal at 5:51 of the first period in the 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Canadian Tire Centre. He also scored the game-winner at 9:37 of the third period.
But it was the cross-slot pass to Stutzle that gave him the milestone, one he didn't think would come this season.
"It's not something I thought I was going to be able to do [this season]," Giroux said. "But I'm happy I did."
So were the Senators players, who poured onto the ice to help celebrate Giroux's accomplishment. The sellout crowd in Ottawa also responded with a thunderous ovation. Cheering just two sections over from the on-ice celebration were Giroux's wife, two children and parents.
"Just trying to keep my emotions intact," Giroux said of the moment. "I knew it was going to happen, that they were going to come all on the ice, but for it to actually happen, it was definitely a little different, but it was special."
It was also special for his teammates, who have embraced the 35-year-old during his first season with the Senators.
"At one point," captain Brady Tkachuk said, "we were talking about [the looming milestone] amongst ourselves and excluding [Giroux] because he felt like it was kind of getting to his head and that's all he was thinking about. But that's all I was thinking about all day today. So for me, for [Stutzle and I], just to kind of contribute, to just a little part of his unbelievable career, honestly we've talked about it, it's truly special for the both of us."
The two goals gave Giroux 34 for the season, matching his NHL career high he had with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2017-18. He has 78 points (34 goals, 44 assists) in 81 games this season.
For his career, Giroux has 1,001 points (328 goals, 673 assists) in 1,099 games.
"It's not a secret -- I don't think I would have ever gotten that many goals," said Giroux, who has scored in four straight games. "I've never really been a goal-scorer, but now I'm playing with players that make plays, so I'm just trying to get open out there."
He played his first full 14 seasons with the Flyers but was traded to the Florida Panthers before the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline on March 19, 2022. An unrestricted free agent this past offseason, he signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract with Ottawa on July 13, 2022.
"He's had a heck of a year and he's just a smart player," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "He knows where to go to find pucks, he knows how to make plays. He could have had six, seven points tonight, to be honest with you, if guys finished the passes that he gave them."
Ottawa (39-35-7) was eliminated from the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday. Giroux says it's encouraging to see the team fight beyond the end of their postseason hopes. Carolina could have clinched home ice in the Eastern Conference First Round with a victory.
"Any time you're out of the playoffs and you've got a few games left," Giroux said, "it's kind of hard to go out there and compete like we have been all year. But guys are battling hard; we're working hard. It's definitely a frustrating position we're in right now, but we're trying to build an identity here, and tonight was a good example of that."
