Oct. 12 was another very busy date in NHL history. The laundry list of milestones that occurred includes two teams getting their first-ever wins, a bunch of first goals, some great goaltending, and the 100,000th goal ever scored in NHL play. So, let’s hop aboard the THW time machine and revisit all the great moments this date has given us.
Two Teams Score First Victory
After losing their NHL debut to the Atlanta Flames, the New York Islanders were back at it on Oct. 12, 1972, hosting the Los Angeles Kings. Germain Gagnon broke a 2-2 tie to give the Islanders a late lead. New York hung on for the final 69 seconds to earn their first-ever win in franchise history. Billy Harris, the first overall pick of the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft, had the first two goals for the Islanders.
The Columbus Blue Jackets had a rough start to their franchise history. They headed into their first-ever road game, on Oct. 12, 2000, at the Calgary Flames with an 0-2-0 record. They lost their first two games against the Chicago Blackhawks and Kings by a combined score of 12-4.
Rostislav Klesla gave the Blue Jackets an early 1-0 before Kevyn Adams doubled the lead less than four minutes later. The Flames fought back to even up the score heading into the third period. Adams struck for his second goal of the night in the final frame to give Columbus their first win. Goaltender Ron Tugnutt made 19 saves to pick up a victory for the seventh different team in his career.
NHL Firsts are the Theme
On Oct. 12, 1974, Larry Sacharuk became the first defenseman in St. Louis Blues history to score a hat trick. It came in the Blues’ opening night 5-3 win at the Vancouver Canucks, which ended a team-record 16-game road winless streak (0-13-3), dating back to the previous season.
Buffalo Sabres’ forward Danny Gare scored the first hat trick of his NHL career on Oct. 12, 1975. Don Luce also had a goal, and three assists as the Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 8-3.
One of the all-time greats in Kings’ history, Dave Taylor, made his league debut on Oct. 12, 1977. He was held off the scoresheet, but Rogie Vachon recorded his 42nd career shutout in a 2-0 win over the Cleveland Barons.
On that same night, Johnny Wilson became the first man in league history to coach four different NHL teams when he made his debut behind the bench of the Pittsburgh Penguins. His first game with the Penguins was successful as they beat the Blues 4-2.
Future Hockey Hall of Famer Glenn Anderson scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 12, 1980. The memorable goal came in an Edmonton Oilers 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Related – Glenn Anderson Trade Revisited
On Oct. 12, 1985, Montreal Canadiens rookie Stephane Richer scored the first goal of his NHL career in a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Owen Nolan scored the first of his 422 career goals on Oct. 12, 1990. He helped the Quebec Nordiques to beat the Sabres in Buffalo, 4-2.
Alexei Kovalev made his NHL debut on Oct. 12, 1992, for the New York Rangers. He scored his first career goal in a 6-2 win over the Hartford Whalers at Madison Square Garden.
There were two NHL firsts during the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 7-4 victory at the Maple Leafs on Oct. 11, 1996. Chris Gratton scored his first career hat trick, helping goaltender Corey Schwab earn his first career win. Schwab picked up 11 wins in his 31 appearances for the Lightning during the 1996-97 season.
David Legwand scored his first career goal on Oct. 12, 1999, and was the game-winner in the Nashville Predators’ 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs. Legwand went on to score 210 goals over his next 14 seasons with the Predators.
Auston Matthews had one of the most successful NHL debuts on Oct. 12, 2016. Not only did he score the first goal of his career, but he also added three more to become the first player in the modern era to score four goals in his first game. The performance was wasted as the Ottawa Senators came back to beat the Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime.
The newly-minted Seattle Kraken played their first game on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights on this date in 2021. Although they didn’t get their first win, Ryan Donato did score the first goal in franchise history when he tallied at 11:32 of the second period. After trailing 3-0 to start, they made a game of it and ended up losing 4-3.
On Oct. 12, 2022, David Pastrnak became the first player in Bruins history to have at least four points in two season openers. He led the way in a Bruins 5-2 win over the Capitals.
Goaltending Memories
On Oct. 12, 1955, Terry Sawchuk became the 10th goaltender in NHL history to record 200 career victories. Lorne Ferguson scored twice as the Boston Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 2-0. It was Sawchuk’s 58th career shutout and first with the Bruins.
Former Canadiens’ goaltending legend Jacques Plante made his first trip back to the Forum, in Montreal, on Oct. 12, 1963, as a member of the Rangers. His teammates in front of him did Plante no favors as he was peppered with 59 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Habs.
Five years later, on Oct. 12, 1968, Plante recorded his 64th career NHL shutout, and his first with the Blues, in a 6-0 win over the visiting Kings. In his two seasons in St. Louis, Plante earned 10 shutouts.
Tony Esposito recorded his 53rd career shutout on Oct. 12, 1975, to lead the Blackhawks to a 3-0 win over the Canucks at the Chicago Stadium. It was the first of four shutouts during the 1975-76 season.
Related – Remembering Blackhawks’ Legend Tony Esposito
On Oct. 12, 1990, John Vanbiesbrouck made 41 saves for his eighth career shutout in the Rangers’ 3-0 win over the Canadiens at Madison Square Garden. It was New York’s first shutout over Montreal in nearly 20 years. Mike Gartner led the scoring with two goals in the third period.
Dallas Stars goaltender Andy Moog played in his 500th career NHL game on Oct. 12, 1993, a 3-3 tie with the Blackhawks. Moog played in 213 more games before calling it a career in 1998.
Roberto Luongo made 37 saves on Oct. 12, 2017, as his Florida Panthers beat the Blues 5-2.
This was the 454th win in his career, tying him with Curtis Joseph for the fourth-most in NHL history. He currently remains fourth all-time with 489 wins, only behind Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin earned his 100th career win on Oct. 12, 2023, a 5-1 win over the Sabres. He became the seventh goaltender in NHL history to reach the milestone in 159 career games or fewer. The others: Bill Durnan (139 GP), Michel Larocque (148 GP), Frank Brimsek (150 GP), Bob Froese (155 GP), Chris Osgood (158 GP) and Tiny Thompson (158 GP).
A Busy Day in Vancouver
Greg Adams scored his second career hat trick and added an assist on Oct. 12, 1988, leading the Canucks to a 6-2 win at the Edmonton Oilers. The victory snapped a 27-game winless streak versus the Oilers (0-24-3).
Two years later, on Oct. 12, 1990, Dan Quinn scored his 200th career goal, while goaltender Troy Gamble picked up his only NHL shutout in the Canucks’ 4-0 win over the visiting Blues.
Pavel Bure scored four goals and added an assist on Oct. 12, 1992, to lead the Canucks to an 8-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
Bure scored his first career hat trick with three goals in the second period. Two of his four goals came while shorthanded on the penalty kill.
Finally, on Oct. 12, 1995, Trevor Linden became the third player in franchise history to score 200 goals with the team. The milestone goal, along with two assists, came in a 7-7 tie with the Kings in Los Angeles.
A Big Date in DC
Washington Capitals center Dale Hunter made NHL history on Oct. 12, 1996. He scored the 300th goal of this career in a 4-3 loss to the Kings, becoming the first player in league history to rack up 300 goals and 3,000 penalty minutes.
Peter Bondra scored three goals on Oct. 12, 1999, including the tying and winning goals 58 seconds apart late in the third period, as the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4. His 14th career hat trick made Bondra the team’s all-time leader, passing Gartner.
On Oct. 12, 2005, rookie Alex Ovechkin scored a goal in the Capitals’ 7-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. His tally made him the first player in franchise history to have at least one point in each of his first five games with the team.
Odds & Ends
The brand-new Buffalo Memorial Auditorium opened its doors to hockey for the first time on Oct. 12, 1940, with a game featuring the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League. The building later became the home for the Sabres in 1971.
Claude Ruel made his debut as Canadiens’ head coach on Oct. 12, 1968, succeeding Toe Blake, as Montreal tied 1-1 with the Penguins. Ruel’s first season with the Canadiens ended with a Stanley Cup championship.
On Oct. 12, 1976, Don Murdoch of the Rangers had a massive night with five goals in a 10-4 victory over the Minnesota North Stars. His five goals tied a league record for the most goals in a game by a rookie, equaling Howie Meeker, who first accomplished this feat for the Maple Leafs in 1948.
The Canadiens beat the North Stars 7-3 on Oct. 12, 1977, to extend their unbeaten streak in season-opening games to 15. Guy Lapointe had a goal and two assists as Montreal improved to 11-0-4 in season openers since 1963.
Wilf Paiement of the Maple Leafs made history on Oct. 12, 1980, by scoring the 100,000th all-time goal in the NHL. It was one of the easiest of all those goals as he scored into an empty net to wrap up a 4-2 win over the Flyers.
Steve Yzerman scored a shorthanded goal on Oct. 12. 1990, for his 700th career NHL point, in the Red Wings’ win over the Hartford Whalers. He finished the night with two goals and an assist.
Yzerman’s eventual teammate, Nicklas Lidstrom, had two assists, on Oct. 12, 2001, in the Red Wings’ 4-2 win over the Sabres. His two helpers gave him 571 points making him the highest-scoring defenseman in team history, passing Reed Larson.
On Oct. 12, 2003, Keith Tkachuk scored twice to become the 74th player to score 400 NHL goals. Goaltender Chris Osgood made 39 saves as the Blues won 2-1 at the Colorado Avalanche.
Whenever you break a record of Wayne Gretzky’s, you have really accomplished something. On Oct. 12, 2006, Ryan Smyth scored three goals in a span of 2:01, breaking Gretzky’s record for the fastest hat trick in Oilers’ history by 17 seconds. The milestone came in a 6-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
On Oct. 12, 2022, Connor McDavid passed the 700-point plateau after a hat trick and an assist in a 5-3 comeback win over the Canucks. His 700th came on the winning goal in the third period.
Happy Birthday to You
A total of 23 current and former NHL players were born on Oct 12. The most notable of this lot are Dave Brown (62), Randy Wood (61), Todd Krygier (59), J.J. Daigneault (59), Dwayne Roloson (55), Randy Robitaille (49), Marcel Hossa (43), Carl Soderberg (39), Mike Green (39), Adam McQuaid (38), Jake McCabe (31), Sean Monahan (30), Jonah Gadjovich (26), Philipp Kurashev (25), William Eklund (22), and Adam Fantilli (20).
*Originally constructed by Greg Boysen
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