Dec. 8: Hextall first goalie to score goal by shooting puck into net

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Dec. 8
1987:
Ron Hextall
of the Philadelphia Flyers becomes the first goalie in NHL history to score a goal by shooting the puck into the net.

The Flyers lead the Boston Bruins 4-2 at the Spectrum when goalie
Rejean Lemelin
is pulled for an extra skater. Hextall, already known for his stickhandling skills, grabs a loose puck to the left of his net and lifts a shot that goes past the Boston defense and slides into the
empty net at 18:48 of the third period
.
Though
Billy Smith
of the New York Islanders is the first NHL goalie to be credited with scoring a goal when the Colorado Rockies backpass the puck into their own net during a delayed penalty on Nov. 28, 1979, Hextall is the first to score by shooting the puck into the net. For good measure, he does it again on
April 11, 1989
, in a playoff game against the Washington Capitals.
MORE MOMENTS
1931:The
Bruins lose 3-2
to the New York Americans at Boston Garden, ending their 24-game unbeaten streak (19-0, five ties) at home. It's their first loss at the Garden since Nov. 25, 1930, when the Chicago Blackhawks
win 4-3 in overtime
.
1974:
Norm Ullman
becomes the fourth player in NHL history to reach 1,200 points when he scores a goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a
4-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks
at Chicago Stadium. The goal comes against another future Hockey Hall of Famer,
Tony Esposito
.
1979: On his 40th birthday,
Red Berenson
is named coach of the St. Louis Blues, replacing Barclay Plager. The hiring comes a year after Berenson retires as a player with the Blues, with whom he scores 412 points (172 goals, 240 assists) in 519 games.
1993:
Jari Kurri
becomes the highest-scoring European player in NHL history, passing
Peter Stastny
, when he has a goal and two assists in the Los Angeles Kings'
6-5 loss
to the visiting Florida Panthers. Kurri's 1,223rd point is one more than Stastny; he finishes his NHL career with 1,398.

1997:The Toronto Maple Leafs play the
5,000th game in franchise history
and celebrate with a 3-0 victory against the Dallas Stars at Air Canada Centre. Goalie
Ed Belfour
makes 25 saves and
Mats Sundin
scores twice in the third period. The win gives the Maple Leafs a record of 2,139-2,135 and 726 ties.
1999:The Kariya brothers oppose each other in an NHL game for the first time when the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Vancouver Canucks
tie 2-2
at Arrowhead Pond.
Paul Kariya
scores a power-play goal for Anaheim; younger brother
Steve Kariya
has an assist for Vancouver.
2014:
Jaromir Jagr
,
playing in his 1,500th NHL game
at age 41, scores a goal and has an assist for the New Jersey Devils in a 2-1 win at the Carolina Hurricanes. Jagr is the 15th player in NHL history to reach that games-played milestone and the sixth to have a multipoint performance in his 1,500th regular-season game. He joins
Gordie Howe
(one goal, one assist),
Alex Delvecchio
(two assists),
Johnny Bucyk
(two goals),
Larry Murphy
(two assists) and
Mark Messier
(one goal, one assist).

2017: Malcolm Subban of the Vegas Golden Knights and defenseman P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators become the 10th set of brothers to face each other in an NHL game in which one is a skater and the other a goalie. Malcolm makes 41 saves and doesn't allow a goal in six shootout attempts before Reilly Smith scores to give the Golden Knights a 4-3 victory at Bridgestone Arena.

2019: The New York Rangers get points from each of their six defensemen in a
5-0 win against the Golden Knights
at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It's the second time in 2019-20 that each of New York's defensemen have points in the same game (Oct. 3, 2019). Before that, it had been done once by the Rangers in their previous 33 seasons.