The number five has come up a lot on this date in National Hockey League history. Plus, some of the greatest goaltenders and defensemen to ever play the game had big moments. There was also plenty of action in both Philadelphia and Calgary. Let’s take our daily trip back in time to relive the best that Feb. 1 has given us.
High Fives
Gordie Howe scored twice and added three assists on Feb. 1, 1953, as he factored in on all of the Detroit Red Wings goals in a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bobby Rousseau scored five times on Feb. 1, 1964, to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 9-3 road win at the Red Wings. It was the first time he had scored more than twice in the same game. It was also the only five-goal game in the NHL between February of 1955 and November of 1968.
Chicago Blackhawks legend Stan Mikita scored two goals and added three assists, on Feb. 1, 1970, in a 7-4 win over the Minnesota North Stars. Jim Pappin chipped in with the third hat trick of his career.
The Buffalo Sabres had an offensive explosion on Feb. 1, 1976, in their big 9-5 win at the California Golden Seals. Gilbert Perreault set a franchise record for the most points in a game with two goals and five assists. Rene Robert had a five-point night with two goals and three helpers. Danny Gare scored his second career hat trick, as well.
Curt Fraser scored a goal and added four assists on Feb. 1, 1987, to lead the Blackhawks to a 6-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Chicago Stadium.
Exactly three years later, the Blackhawks set a team record with five goals within a span of 5:38 in the second period to pick up a 7-4 road win at the Los Angeles Kings. Duane Sutter, Dirk Graham, Doug Wilson, Mike Hudson, and Jocelyn Lemieux all scored between the 2:12 and 7:50 marks of the middle frame.
Finally, on Feb. 1, 1993, Mike Modano was a one-man show as he scored two goals and assisted on three others during the North Stars 5-4 victory at the Vancouver Canucks.
Hall of Fame Goaltenders Take Center Stage
One of the NHL’s earliest goaltending stars, Georges Vezina, recorded his second career shutout on Feb. 1, 1919, as the Canadiens beat the Toronto Arenas 10-0 in Montreal.
Chuck Rayner tried to take matters into his own hands on Feb. 1, 1947, during the New York Rangers’ 2-1 loss at the Canadiens. On three different occasions, the goaltender skated the puck up ice into the Montreal zone and tried to score a goal himself. He was unsuccessful in trying to boost the offense.
Rookie Gump Worsley recorded the second shutout of his NHL career on Feb. 1, 1953, in the Rangers’ 1-0 win at the Blackhawks.
The legendary Terry Sawchuk picked up the final win and shutout of his career on Feb. 1, 1970, leading the Rangers to a 6-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Penguins. His 445 wins and 103 shutouts were both league records at the time.
On Feb. 1, 1994, Ed Belfour recorded his 24th career shutout to become the third goaltender in Blackhawks’ franchise history to win 150 games by beating the Oilers 7-0. Jeremy Roenick led the offensive attack with four assists.
Related – Best NHL Goalies of the 1990s
Grant Fuhr started in his 50th straight game for the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 1, 1996, and made 34 saves in a 2-2 tie with the Canucks.
Patrick Roy made NHL history on Feb. 1, 2001, when he became the first goaltender to ever play in 40 games for 16 straight seasons. However, the Canucks were not in a celebratory mood as they beat Roy and the Colorado Avalanche 5-3.
Big Moments for Legendary Blueliners
Larry Robinson picked up two assists on Feb. 1, 1990, in the Kings’ 7-4 loss to the Blackhawks. This gave him 917 career points, moving ahead of Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr for the second-most points scored by a defenseman in league history.
Two years later, the man Robinson was trailing on the all-time scoring list, Denis Potvin, had his No. 5 retired by the New York Islanders. He retired in 1988 as the league’s highest-scoring defenseman with 310 goals and 1,052 points. His number was the first to be retried by the Islanders. Since this date, seven additional numbers have joined his in the rafters, all belonging to his teammates during New York’s run of four straight Stanley Cups to start the 1980s.
Ray Bourque, who overtook Potvin for the most points by an NHL defenseman, scored a goal and added an assist on Feb. 1, 1997, in the Bruins’ 1-0 win at the Tampa Bay Lightning. The goal gave him 1,341 career points, which moved him ahead of Johnny Bucyk for the most in Boston franchise history.
A Busy Day in Philadelphia
On Feb. 1, 1971, the Philadelphia Flyers traded goaltender Bernie Parent and a second-round pick (Rick Kehoe) to the Maple Leafs for Bruce Gamble, Mike Walton, and a first-round pick (Pierre Plante). The Flyers then sent Walton to the Bruins for Rick MacLeish and Danny Schock. MacLeish scored 328 goals and 697 points over the next 12 seasons in Philadelphia and was a big part of their back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 1974 and 1975.
Parent was traded back to the Flyers in 1973, and his second stint landed him in the Hockey Hall of Fame. On Feb. 1, 1975, he recorded his ninth shutout of the season, a 6-0 win against the Sabres at the Spectrum. It was his 35th career shutout.
Eric Lindros scored his 250th career goal on Feb. 1, 1999, in the Flyers 4-2 win against the visiting Kings. He became the seventh player in franchise history to score 250 goals.
Defenseman Luke Richardson became the 159th player in league history to play in 1,000 games on Feb. 1, 2001, when the Flyers beat the Islanders 2-0.
The Wheelin’ Dealin’ Flames
The Calgary Flames pulled off two notable trades on this date. First, on Feb. 1, 1986, they sent Eddy Beers, Gino Cavallini, and Charlie Bourgeois to the Blues for Joe Mullen, Terry Johnson, and Rik Wilson.
Mullen had a great stint with the Flames. He led the team with 12 postseason goals in their run to the 1986 Stanley Cup Final. He scored a career-high 51 goals during the 1988-89 season before scoring 16 goals and 24 points in 21 playoff games to help Calgary win their only championship in franchise history. In 345 regular-season games with the Flames, he scored 190 goals and 388 points. He was traded to the Penguins in 1990 for a second-round draft pick.
On Feb. 1, 1998, the Flames acquired Valerie Bure from the Canadiens in exchange for Jonas Hoglund and Zarley Zalapski. He had the best three offensive seasons of his career with the Flames. In 1999-00, he scored a career-high 35 goals and 75 points. He had 93 goals and 192 points in 256 games before being traded to the Florida Panthers in 2001 for Rob Niedermayer, where he played with his older brother Pavel Bure.
Odds & Ends
Rangers Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert underwent spinal fusion surgery on Feb. 1, 1965, and missed the remainder of the 1964-65 season. He returned and played 11 more seasons and became the leading scorer in franchise history.
Jean Beliveau scored the 450th goal of his career on Feb. 1, 1969, in the Canadiens 6-2 win over the Rangers.
Fellow Montreal legend Guy Lafleur scored a goal and added three assists on Feb. 1, 1977, in the Habs’ 7-3 road victory at the Cleveland Barons. This was the start of this record-setting 28-game single-season point streak. He registered a point in every game for the remainder of the 1976-77 season.
Butch Goring scored his 10th career hat trick on Feb. 1, 1978, as the Kings beat the Washington Capitals 8-3 at the Forum. He also hit the 20-goal mark for the seventh straight season. Exactly three years later, on this date in 1981, he scored his 300th career goal in the Islanders’ 6-3 loss at the Bruins.
Wayne Gretzky scored his first career hat trick on Feb. 1, 1980, to lead the Oilers to a 9-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. He scored 50 regular-season hat tricks during his incredible career, still the NHL’s all-time record.
That night, Ric Seiling scored the 3,000th goal in Sabres history during a 4-0 win over the Jets. Goaltender Don Edwards recorded his 13th career shutout.
Glenn Anderson scored twice to give him 250 career goals on Feb. 1, 1986, when the Oilers and Flames tied 4-4.
One year later, Marcel Dionne became the first player in NHL history to score 20 goals in each of his first 16 seasons. He picked up his 20th goal of the season in the Kings’ 3-2 loss at the Quebec Nordiques.
Gary Bettman’s first day on the job as NHL Commissioner took place on this date in 1993.
Rookie Steve Gainey made his NHL debut on Feb. 1, 2001, in the Dallas Stars’ 4-2 win at the San Jose Sharks. He became the seventh player in NHL history to appear in a game with a team his father was the general manager of. Hall of Fame defenseman Bob Gainey was the GM in Dallas at this time.
On that same evening, Calle Johansson recorded his 500th career point with an assist as the Capitals beat the visiting Maple Leafs 5-4. Trevor Linden played in his 900th career game by dressing for Washington.
The Vegas Golden Knights set the record for the most wins by an expansion team on Feb. 1, 2018, beating the Jets 3-2 in overtime. David Perron’s goal gave the Knights their 34th win of the season, one more than both the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks had during the 1993-94 season.
Patrick Kane became the fifth-fastest U.S.-born player to score 900 career points on Feb. 1, 2019, when he scored two goals and added two assists in the Blackhawks’ 7-3 win in his hometown of Buffalo. He needed just 873 games to reach this milestone. He also became the youngest American to score 900 points, beating Roenick by 230 days.
Sabres forward Jeff Skinner played his 900th game on this date in 2023, becoming the first player from the 2010 NHL Draft to do so.
Happy Birthday to You
Hall of Famer Mark Recchi, who turns 56 today, headlines a group of 30 current and former NHL players born on this date. Other Feb. 1 birthday boys include Mike Kitchen (68), Mark Hardy (65), Tommy Salo (53), Geoff Sanderson (52), Ladislav Smid (38), Tyler Myers (34), Jayson Megna (34), Kyle Palmieri (33), Yegor Chinakhov (23), and Seth Jarvis (22).
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