Tonight Patrick Marleau ties Gordie Howe for the NHL All-Time Iron Man at 1767 games played. He will set the record on Monday April 19 when SanJose plays at Vegas.
Marleau was one of the 3 or 4 fastest men in the NHL during his younger days, while being 6-2/215. For a speed athlete to avoid injury for 23 NHL seasons is unreal.
Marleau has indeed been extremely reliable and durable and consistent and deserves the record, but it's one of those records that it's hard to get overly enthusiastic about considering whose mark he broke. Marleau will never be mentioned among the all-time greats. It's kind of like, say, Harold Baines breaking the all-time record for MLB games played.
Anyway, Gordie played an additional five seasons in the WHA, games that don't count when it comes to NHL stats, and didn't retire until he was 52!
Since we both like the Pens, they had a 6-0 lead over New Jersey last night after two periods and yet barely won 7-6. It was the first time in the NHL's 103 year history in which a team scored 6 goals in the third period and still didn't win. Or, the first time in NHL history a team leading going into the third period gave up 6 goals and still won, take your pick. It should have been a Pens blowout, a statement game, but instead the Penguins reverted to their default mode of laziness and lack of discipline instead of closing out their opponent and had to hang on to the very end to get the two points. Tristan Jarry was horrendous in goal and d-man Kris Letang may have been worse.
Pitt surprised just about everyone with a great run in March and are a cinch for the playoffs, but after bowing out two years in a row in the first round, fans are keeping their fingers crossed. It may be the last go-round for their aging threesome core of Crosby, Malkin and Letang, but Malkin's been hurt and who knows if he'll be ready for the playoffs, and even then which version of "Geno" will show up? He was awful the first part of the season but was coming on big time before his knee injury.