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This Day in Hockey History – April 17

No Stanley Cups were won today in hockey history, despite there being a lot of championships in the last few days. But on this day, the fastest goal to start a playoff game, another record for penalties, teams that didn’t do so well on the powerplay, a player sets the record for points in a postseason game, another Gretzky milestone, and a goalie with more offensive upside than John Scott.

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April 17, 1977 – Don Kozak set a playoff record by scoring just six seconds into the game, the fastest to start a match. That’s not even enough time for people to take their seats and sinfully put their beers on the dasher. His Kings would beat the Bruins 7-4 in Game 4 of their quarter-finals.

April 17, 1980 – The Bruins and Islanders combined to set an NHL playoff record for…most penalty minutes in one period. Two hundred and forty-eight penalty minutes were handed out. It wasn’t all bad, though, as they taught each other the value of sharing…they split the time with 124 PIMs each. The Isles won 5-4 in overtime.

April 17, 1983 – In a battle of New York, the Rangers and Islanders combined to set the record for most shorthanded goals in one game with four; the Rangers got three and the Islanders picked up one. The shorties proved to be the difference, as the Rangers won 7-6 in Game 3 on the Patrick Division finals.

April 17, 1983 – Across the continent from that last fact, One player set the record for most points in a playoff game with seven, four goals and three assists. Can you guess which player? Yeah it was Gretzky. The Oilers beat Calgary 10-2. Although, seven wasn’t even enough; his record would be broken in 1988 by New Jersey’s Patrick Sundstrom.

April 17, 1995 – The Great One, with the Kings, picked up point #2,500, extending his record for career points, although the Kings would lose 5-2 at Calgary.

April 17, 1997 – Marty Brodeur became just the second goaltender to score playoff goal when his empty-netter sealed a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their quarter-finals matchup. Ron Hextall was the first goalie to score, although Marty now has the record for most all-time goals by a goalie with three (though he got the last one by making a save).

 

Source: Hockey Hall of Fame

Scott Finger
Scott is the former managing editor at Hooked on Hockey Magazine. He loves hockey, writing, and writing about hockey. He graduated from Roger Williams University in 2011 with a useless degree in Media Communications (concentrating in Journalism). Being a New York Rangers fan (and NY Giants and Mets fan) living in Boston is very uncomfortable for him, and it'll be awkward trying to celebrate a Rangers Cup win in the streets when they inevitably win sometime in the next 100 years. He also likes long walks on the beach.
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