Veteran goaltenders Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers
and Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals each climbed the NHL career
milestone ladder with their performances last week along with forward Patrick
Marleau of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 38-year-old Luongo made 24 saves in his
team's 4-1 road victory over the Buffalo Sabres on November 10th to
earn the 455th win of his career. Luongo now sits fourth on the
all-time list for goaltender wins as he passed Curtis Joseph with the victory.
The only goalies in NHL history to win more games have been
Martin Brodeur with 691, Patrick Roy at 551 and Ed Belfour with 484. And while
we're on the topic of goaltender wins, we should also mention that 28-year-old
Holtby of the Washington Capitals recorded the 200th of his career
the same night with a 4-1 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Holtby has a
career record of 200-76-31 and now becomes the second-fastest netminder in
league history to win 200 games. He achieved the feat in his 319th
regular-season game while Ken Dryden pulled if off in his 309th
outing back in November of 1977.
Luongo, who was drafted fourth overall by the New York
Islanders in 1997, has a career record of 455-368-118 with a goals-against
average of 2.50 and a 91.9 save percentage with 73 shutouts in 973 outings. His
playoff record stands at 34-35 with a 2.49 GAA, 91.8 save percentage and five
shutouts in 70 games. Luongo would likely have moved passed Joseph on the
all-time list earlier this season if it hadn't been for injuries as his
milestone win was just his seventh game of 2017/18. Now that he's back in the
net there's a good chance he'll appear in another 27 contests this season and
also reach the 1,000-games played milestone.
Another 38-year-old to climb the NHL record ladder was
Marleau, who's playing his first season in Toronto after spending the first 19
campaigns of his career with the San Jose Sharks. The former second-overall
draft pick of 1997 scored the 101st game-winning goal of his career
on November 11th when he banged in the overtime winner at home in a
3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. He's now tied with Jarome Iginla for
seventh place on the all-time list for game winners. Jaromir Jagr of the
Calgary Flames leads the way with 135 game winners followed by Gordie Howe
(121), Phil Esposito (118), Teemu Selanne and Brett Hull (110) and Brendan
Shanahan (109).
There's an excellent chance Marleau will continue to climb
the list as he signed a three-year deal with the Leafs as a free agent this
summer. Of course, the 45-year-old Jagr is also still playing and will have the
chance at solidifying is top spot on the list. Marleau has remained productive
in his 20th NHL season as he had eight goals and five assists for 13
points in his first 19 outings with the Leafs. His game winner against the
Bruins was the 516th goal of his career, which moves him into 38th
place on the league's all-time list.
The goal saw him move past Gilbert Perreault (512), Jeremy
Roenick (513) and Pierre Turgeon (515) since the season started. Marleau now
has 1,095 career points in 1,512 regular-season games on his 516 goals and 579
assists. He's also chipped in with 68 goals and 52 assists for 120 points in
177 playoff contests. Each goal, assist, point and game winner will see him
climb the league record lists and help solidify Marleau's chances of becoming a
Hall of Famer once he decides to hang up his skates.
Labels: Ian Palmer