This has been a very intriguing date in National Hockey League history. It has provided us with a new all-time leading scorer for players born in Europe. A handful of goaltending milestones were reached, some big moments in Pittsburgh, a very busy night in 1992, and even regular-season overtime was put on a 41-year hiatus. So, let’s take a trip back in time and relive all the best moments from Nov. 21 over the years.
Jagr Moves the Bar
Jaromir Jagr made NHL history, on Nov. 21, 2006, in the New York Rangers’ 4-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Just two days after becoming the 16th player ever to score 600 career goals, he reached another milestone with two more goals.
He scored goal No. 601, late in the second period, to tie Jari Kurri for the most goals by a player born in Europe. Early in the final frame, he scored again to set the all-time record.
Jagr, 34 at the time, played another 11-plus seasons, including parts of eight in the NHL. Following his final game in 2017 with the Calgary Flames, Jagr had 766 goals. He is one of only eight players to score at least 700 goals and is third all-time in league history.
Lumley & Sawchuk, Forever Connected
Hall of Fame goaltenders Harry Lumley and Terry Sawchuk both played for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers. Although they played for many of the same teams, during the same era, they were rivals except for a brief time together with the Red Wings during the 1949-50 season.
On Nov. 21, 1953, Lumley recorded his 43rd career shutout in the Maple Leafs 1-0 win over the Rangers. He retired in 1960 with 71 total shutouts, 34 of them coming with Toronto.
One year later, Sawchuk became the 11th goaltender in NHL history to record 50 career shutouts in a 1-0 win at the Blackhawks. It was his second shutout of Chicago in the last 24 hours.
A decade later, on Nov. 21, 1964, Sawchuk, now with the Maple Leafs, beat the Blackhawks and his former teammate, Glenn Hall, 1-0. He became the first netminder in NHL history to record at least one shutout in 16 consecutive seasons. He broke the previous record of 15 straight seasons that was set by Lumley. Sawchuk extended this streak to 19 seasons before failing to earn a shutout during the 1968-69 season with the Red Wings.
Prime Time in Pittsburgh
Jean Pronovost scored twice to become the first 250 goal scorer in Pittsburgh Penguins history on Nov. 21, 1975, in a 5-0 win over the visiting Blackhawks. Goaltender Dunc Wilson recorded the fifth shutout of his career.
On Nov. 21, 1981, Rick Kehoe scored his 300th career NHL goal in a 9-5 loss at the Montreal Canadiens. He retired in 1984 with 371 goals; 312 of them were for the Penguins after scoring his first 59 with the Maple Leafs.
Sidney Crosby returned to the ice on Nov. 21, 2011, for the first time in nearly 11 months after dealing with the after-effects of a concussion. The Penguins’ captain didn’t look like he missed a beat as he scored on his first shot on goal. He finished his night with two goals and two assists in a 5-0 win over the New York Islanders.
A Huge Night in 1992
We will stay in Pittsburgh to look at the hectic day that was Nov. 21, 1992. Tom Barrasso recorded his 17th career shutout to lead the Penguins to a 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. Jagr scored his first career shorthanded goal in the victory.
Andy Moog became the 20th goaltender in NHL history to record 250 career victories in the Bruins’ 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The big night for goaltenders continued in Vancouver, where Kirk McLean recorded his 11th career shutout in the Canucks’ 9-0 win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers. Geoff Courtnall had a four-point night with a goal and three assists.
Veteran defenseman Doug Wilson played in his 1,000th NHL game in the San Jose Sharks 2-1 loss to the Blackhawks. It was very appropriate that Chicago was in town on this night because Wilson played the first 938 games of his career with them. He was a three-time All-Star with the Blackhawks and won the Norris Trophy for being voted the best defenseman in the league during the 1981-82 season.
Finally, the Los Angeles Kings played their 2,000th game in franchise history, and their 1,000th home game, Kurri and Tony Granato each had a goal and two assists in a 6-4 victory over the Maple Leafs to extend their home winning streak to 10 games.
Odds & Ends
The NHL discontinued regular-season overtime on Nov. 21, 1942, because of conflicts with the train schedules during World War II. It did not return until well after the war had ended. Overtime for regular-season games was reintroduced for the 1983-84 season with a five-minute sudden-death period. Originally, overtime was an entire 10-minute period, no matter how many goals were scored.
Later that night, overtime was not needed, even if it was an option, as the Maple Leafs blew out the Canadiens 8-0. Hall of Famer Turk Broda became the first goaltender to record 150 wins as a member of the Maple Leafs. Only Johnny Bower and Felix Potvin have won at least 150 games with the team since.
Related – Top 3 All-Time Maple Leafs Goalies
On Nov. 21, 1943, Buddy O’Connor scored his first career hat trick and added two assists in the Canadiens’ 13-4 beating of the Bruins. This was his second straight game with five points. The previous night, he had a goal and four assists versus the Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs made a move that changed the direction of the franchise on Nov. 21, 1958. They hired Punch Imlach as their new general manager to take over for Hap Day. A few days later, Imlach fired head coach Billy Reay and moved behind the bench. He led them to the Stanley Cup Final that season. The Leafs won four championships under his leadership, including three in a row during the 1960s.
Goaltender Tony Esposito recorded his 70th career shutout on Nov. 21, 1979, in a 4-0 win over the Washington Capitals. He is one of only 13 netminders to have at least 70 career shutouts. Defenseman and former Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray had three assists in the first period to lead the offense.
Two years later, on Nov. 21, 1981, the Capitals beat up the Philadelphia Flyers 10-4. Dennis Maruk and Tim Tookey both had hat tricks as Greg Theberge set a team rookie record with five points, scoring two goals and adding three assists.
Wayne Gretzky had a six-point night on Nov. 21, 1982, as he scored his 17th career hat trick and added three assists. Remarkably, this wasn’t enough as the Oilers lost 9-7 at the Quebec Nordiques.
The Canadiens hosted the Devils on Nov. 21, 1987, as well as another very special guest. King Olav V of Norway took in the game from right behind the Montreal bench. He and a packed house at the Forum witnessed Bobby Smith and Chris Chelios each put up and goal and an assist in a 2-1 victory for the home team.
Scott Hartnell scored the 1,000th goal in Nashville Predators history on Nov. 21, 2003, an overtime game-winning goal in a 4-3 win against the visiting Ducks. This was his first career overtime goal.
Patrick Marleau hit a significant milestone on Nov. 21, 2015, in the Sharks’ 3-1 win in Pittsburgh. His first-period assist made him the 83rd player in league history to score 1,000 points and just the 16th to do it with one team.
On Nov. 21, 2021, Clayton Keller had two assists in a 2-1 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings to become the fourth player in Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets history to get a point in overtime in back-to-back games.
On that same night, Jaden Schwartz got into the Seattle Kraken record books as the first player to record four points in a game when he had a goal and three assists in their 5-2 victory over the Capitals. He also hit 400 points in the NHL.
Ryan Lindgren beat the buzzer on Nov. 21, 2021, when he scored the game-winner for the Rangers with 0.7 seconds left in regulation. With the goal, he became the 24th player, and fourth defenseman, in NHL history to score a go-ahead goal in the final second of regulation. He was also the fourth player in Rangers history to do so, joining Brad Richards, Dean Prentice, and Grant Warwick in the feat.
To continue the milestones on this date in 2021, Marc-Andre Fleury passed Roy Worters (67) for sole possession of 14th place on the NHL shutouts list when he blanked the Canucks 1-0. He also became the fourth Blackhawks goalie to have a shutout at age 36 or older.
Andrew Mangiapane also etched his name into NHL history when he scored his 14th road goal of the season against the Bruins in a 4-0 win. He became only the third player to score at least 14 of his first 15 goals of the season on the road. Only John LeClair (14 in 1994-95 with the Canadiens and Flyers) and Paul Gardner (14 in 1976-77 with the Colorado Rockies) were in the exclusive club before he joined them on Nov. 21, 2021.
Finally, Mangiapane’s teammate, Elias Lindholm, played his 600th NHL game on Nov. 21, 2021, becoming only the second player from the 2013 NHL Draft to reach that mark joining now-Canadien Sean Monahan.
On Nov. 21, 2022, Patrice Bergeron recorded his 1,000th point in the NHL and became the 41st player to record 1,000 points with one team.
On that same night, Cal Clutterbuck had nine hits and took over the top spot on the all-time hits list with 3,635, passing Dustin Brown who had 3,632.
Happy Birthday to You
There have been 18 current and former NHL players born on Nov. 21 through the years. The most notable players of the bunch are Alex Tanguay (45), Ben Bishop (38), Antoine Roussel (35), Andreas Johnsson (30), Vladislav Gavrikov (29), and the late Jimmy Hayes.
*Originally constructed by Greg Boysen
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