Feb. 4: Gretzky gets 44th NHL hat trick, first with Kings

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Feb. 4
1989:
Wayne Gretzky
scores three goals for his 44th NHL hat trick and first with the Los Angeles Kings in a
5-3 victory
against the Buffalo Sabres at the Forum in Inglewood, California. He gets a little help: One goal is knocked into the Buffalo net by a member of the Sabres, and he is awarded an empty-net goal with one second remaining when officials rule that a Buffalo player intentionally knocked the net off its moorings.

Exactly 10 years later, Gretzky scores his 1,071st professional goal (regular season and playoffs, including the NHL and World Hockey Association) in the New York Rangers'
8-4 victory
against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden. It ties him with
Gordie Howe
for total career goals scored.

MORE MOMENTS
1943: Frank Calder, president of the NHL since its inception in 1917, dies of a heart attack in a Montreal hospital. He's replaced on an interim basis by Red Dutton.

1961: The start of the game between the Rangers and Boston Bruins at Boston Garden is delayed for two hours because the Rangers are late in arriving because of a snowstorm. Though the Rangers dress just 13 players,
Andy Hebenton
and
Harry Howell
score 34 seconds apart early in the second period and
Gump Worsley
makes 28 saves in a
2-1 victory
.
1971:
Gilles Villemure
makes 30 saves and
Rod Gilbert
scores in the second period in the Rangers'
1-0 victory
against the Detroit Red Wings at Olympia Stadium. It's the last 1-0 road win for the Rangers until Feb. 27, 1993, when
Mike Richter
makes 29 saves in a
victory against the Edmonton Oilers
.
Exactly two years later, Villemure gets his 10th NHL shutout when the Rangers
defeat the Atlanta Flames 6-0
at Madison Square Garden to extend their team-record winning streak to eight games.
Pete Stemkowski
supports Villemure's goaltending with the fourth and final hat trick of his NHL career.
1997:
Mario Lemieux
scores his 600th goal
to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-4 win against the visiting Vancouver Canucks. The milestone goal, into an empty net, comes in his 719th game, one more game than Gretzky needed to get his 600th goal. Lemieux becomes the first player to score 600 goals while spending his entire NHL career with one team.

2003:
Jaromir Jagr
scores his 500th NHL goal
and completes a natural hat trick when he scores 7:19 into the second period of the Washington Capitals' 5-1 road win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jagr, playing in his 928th NHL game, becomes the 33rd player to score 500 goals. It's Jagr's 11th NHL hat trick, and he reaches 30 goals in a season for the 12th time in his 13 NHL seasons.
Exactly 13 years later, Jagr becomes the
sixth NHL player with 1,100 assists
. He reaches the milestone by setting up a first-period goal by
Brandon Pirri
in the Florida Panthers' 6-3 win against the visiting Detroit Red Wings.

2019: The Philadelphia Flyers earn their 2,000th regular-season win since entering the NHL in 1967 by
defeating the Vancouver Canucks 2-1
at Wells Fargo Center. Rookie Carter Hart makes 41 saves for his seventh consecutive victory, becoming the fourth goalie in NHL history to win at least seven consecutive games before his 21st birthday.
On the same night, Mika Zibanejad has a goal and an assist for the New York Rangers in a
4-3 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings
at Madison Square Garden. He becomes the ninth different player (and first member of the Rangers) to have a point on at least 10 consecutive team goals.