Dec. 1: NHL debuts in United States

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Dec. 1
1924:The NHL makes its debut in the United States when the Boston Bruins play their first game, a
2-1 victory against the Montreal Maroons
at Boston Arena.

Smokey Harris
and
Carson Cooper
score for Boston
after Montreal takes the lead when
Chuck Dinsmore
beats
Hec Fowler
midway through the first period.
The opening-night victory is one of the few highlights for the Bruins in their first NHL season; they go 6-24-0 and finish last in the six-team league. But Boston finishes above .500 in its second season and wins the Stanley Cup in 1929.
MORE MOMENTS
1940: "Brotherly love" takes on a whole new meaning when the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the New York Rangers
4-1 at Chicago Stadium
. The game features four sets of brothers: New York's
Lynn Patrick
and
Muzz Patrick
, and
Neil Colville
and
Mac Colville
play against Chicago's brother combinations of
Max Bentley
and
Doug Bentley
, and
Bob Carse
and
Bill Carse
.
On the same night, the Bruins score seven unanswered goals in the third period to
defeat the New York Americans 10-3
at Madison Square Garden.
Bill Cowley
sets a Bruins record with six points (two goals, four assists). Three of the assists come on goals by
Eddie Wiseman
.
1960:
Gordie Howe
has two third-period assists for the Detroit Red Wings in
a 3-2 home loss
to the Bruins, moving him past the NHL record of 1,091 points (regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs) set by recently retired Montreal Canadiens star
Maurice Richard
.

1988:
Bernie Nicholls
sets Los Angeles Kings records with
six assists and eight points
in a 9-3 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Nicholls' big night overshadows a five-assist performance by
Wayne Gretzky
and a hat trick by
Dave Taylor

1996:Gretzky becomes the first (and still only) NHL player to reach the 3,000-point plateau (including the Stanley Cup Playoffs) when he has
a goal and an assist
in the New York Rangers' 6-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden. Gretzky finishes his NHL career with 2,857 regular-season points and 382 in the playoffs.

1997:The Montreal Canadiens become the first team in NHL history to play 5,000 games when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins at Molson Centre (now Bell Centre). The Penguins spoil the festivities
by winning 1-0
.
2014:Arizona Coyotes rookie Tobias Rieder scores shorthanded goals
58 seconds apart in the second period
of a 5-2 victory against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Rieder becomes the first rookie in NHL history to score two shorthanded goals in less than one minute. He beats
Viktor Fasth
on a breakaway 36 seconds into the second period, then scores again at 1:34.
2018:The New York Islanders rally for a
3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets
in their first home game at Nassau Coliseum since 2015. The Islanders move to Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the start of the 2015-16 season, but after getting approval for a new arena at Belmont Park that's scheduled to open in 2021-22, they split their 2018-19 schedule between their new and old homes.
2019:Mikko Koivu has a night to remember in the Minnesota Wild's
3-2 shootout win
against the Dallas Stars at Xcel Energy Center. Koivu becomes the first player in Wild history to play in 1,000 NHL games (all with Minnesota), gets his 700th assist on a first-period goal by Kevin Fiala, then tops off his night by scoring the deciding goal in the shootout.