Coyotes captain Doan sets franchise record for goals

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Shane Doan set a record for goals for the Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes franchise when he scored No. 380 in the first period of a 4-2 win against the second iteration of the Jets at Gila River Arena on Thursday.

"It was nice to get it quickly, get it at home and to get it in a win," said Doan, who has played all 1,422 games of his NHL career for Winnipeg/Arizona. "And right now it's going in, so maybe I should shoot a few more."

As Doan and Coyotes rookie forward Max Domi skated in on a 2-on-1 against Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Domi only cared about setting up Doan for his record-setting goal.

"He had the puck and made a great [saucer pass] to me, and I knew I had to give it back to him," Domi said. "I'm not really a goal-scorer, and he has 6 million goals anyway. I never thought about shooting it once.

"If he passed it back, I would have sent it back to him again. There isn't a guy who ever deserved a goal more than that one."

Doan one-timed a shot past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck into a half-empty net at 9:28 to pass Dale Hawerchuk and become the franchise's leading goal-scorer.

The 39-year-old Arizona captain scored into an empty net late in the third period to cap a New Year's Eve to remember.

Doan made his NHL debut on Oct. 7, 1995, for the original Jets, who moved to Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes for the 1996-97 season.

"It's a storybook ending. He breaks the record against his old team," said Domi, who was born in Winnipeg early in 1995, before the Jets traded his father, Tie Domi, to the Toronto Maple Leafs. "He's a guy I've looked up to for a long time."

Max Domi is the young star, the heir apparent to Doan as the face of the Coyotes. But there is time for that. Thursday was Doan's night, and Domi wanted to set up the goal as much as Doan wanted to score it.

"He has a different level of skill than pretty much anyone I've played with," Doan said of Domi. "He's one of those special guys who makes plays."

Doan set the record sooner than anyone expected, with five goals in his past two games and nine in his past 10. Doan's wife, Andrea, and his four children were vacationing in Hawaii. A few relatives were in town or Doan might have had to share his tale with the family dog when he got home.

The fans at Gila River Arena came ready to celebrate, and they saluted Doan at every opportunity, even before the game.

When Doan got the second hat trick of his NHL career in a 7-5 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, his third goal, which tied Hawerchuk for the most in franchise history, came in the final minute, leaving those fans who remained little time to celebrate.

In an act planned on social media, fans waited until the end of warmups, when Doan is always last to leave to ice, and threw hundreds of hats on the ice in the Coyotes end.

Doan circled the ice and thanked the fans. Then, appropriately, the pig farmer from Halkirk, Alberta, picked up a cowboy hat, put it on and headed down the tunnel.

"I'm not a Twitter guy, so it caught me by surprise," Doan said. "But I can never express how much I appreciate the fans here for sticking with us and sticking with me all these years.

"Áfter everything we've been through together, with the ups and downs of the team and all the rumors and all the changes, giving them something to cheer about like this is as cool as experiencing the moment for yourself."

Arizona coach Dave Tippett doesn't show much emotion behind the bench when the Coyotes score. That went out the window when Doan passed Hawerchuk.

"To know how much he cares and how much he wants to do well and be the leader, to see him succeed is very gratifying," Tippett said. "You know how much work he's put into being a player and into this franchise."

Doan has 917 points in his NHL career, 12 shy of Hawerchuk's franchise-best 929. And with 10 points in his past 10 games, it might not be far into 2016 before Doan passes Hawerchuk again.