This Week in Centennial History

As part of the League's Centennial Celebration, NHL.com is taking a look back at memorable events each week.
Here are Centennial highlights for the week of Nov. 12-18:

Nov. 18, 1926: Detroit's new NHL franchise, known as the Cougars,
plays its first game
but loses 2-0 against the Boston Bruins. Center Duke Keats scores an early goal and sets up one by forward Archie Briden
to give Boston a two-goal lead
before the game is five minutes old, and Bruins goaltender Doc Stewart makes 21 saves.
Nov. 17, 1979: Forward
Gordie Howe
and center
Wayne Gretzky
face each other for the first time
in their NHL careers during the
Hartford Whalers' 4-0 win
against the Edmonton Oilers at the Hartford Civic Center. Howe, age 51, assists on a second-period goal by center Mike Rogers that gives the Whalers a 2-0 lead. Gretzky, 18, and the Oilers are unable to score on 23 shots against Hartford goaltender Al Smith.

Nov. 16, 1926: The New York Rangers
are a hit on opening night
. One season after the New York Americans join the League and show that hockey can be a big draw in the Big Apple, the Rangers (owned by Madison Square Garden, where the Americans are a tenant) draw more than 13,000 fans for their first NHL game,
a 1-0 victory
against the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Maroons.
Nov. 15, 1973: Defenseman
Bobby Orr
has a special night, even by his standards. Orr scores three goals and assists on four others for the
first seven-point game
by a defenseman in NHL history, helping the Boston Bruins
to a 10-2 victory
against the Rangers at Boston Garden.

Nov. 14, 1998: Forward
Brett Hull
becomes the 53rd player in NHL history
to reach the 1,000-point mark
when he scores two goals and has an assist to help the visiting Dallas Stars defeat the Bruins 3-1. He also becomes part of the first father-son tandem to score 1,000 points in the League: Forward Bobby Hull has 1,170 points (610 goals, 560 assists) in 1,063 NHL games before retiring in 1980.

Nov. 13, 1968: The St. Louis Blues
use three goaltenders
to defeat the Rangers 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. After
Glenn Hall
is ejected 2:01 into the game, rookie backup Robbie Irons plays three minutes; that's enough time for
Jacques Plante
to go from the press box to the locker room, get dressed and take over. Plante
makes 22 saves for the win
.
Nov. 12, 1931: The first NHL game is played
at Maple Leaf Gardens
. An opening-night crowd of 13,233, the largest ever to attend a hockey game up to that time, pays anywhere from 95 cents (general admission) to $2.75 (best seats in the house) to see the
Toronto Maple Leafs lose 2-1
against the Chicago Blackhawks.