It was NHL premiere night Monday night, when for the first time in league history, two players reached the 1,000-point plateau on the same night. Claude Giroux first achieved the feat at the start of the evening, then Joe Pavelski imitated him less than an hour later.
Giroux thus became the 96th player in the history of the Bettman circuit to reach this prestigious plateau and the 10th active player, while Pavelski followed as the 97th player in history and 11th player still in the NHL.
The Ottawa Senators forward reached 1,000 NHL points with two goals and an assist once morest the Carolina Hurricanes in a 3-2 Sens victory.
Giroux first scored his 999th point when he opened the scoring following just under six minutes of play. Then at the end of the period, he was complicit in Tim Stutzle’s goal to amass his 1000th point at his 1099th duel.
Giroux capped off his dream night in the third period by scoring the winning goal midway through the engagement. He accepted a spectacular pass from Shane Pinto between his legs, before scoring with a good backhand shot.
“It’s special, that’s for sure. Especially (to do it) at home, it’s a little bit more special (…) It’s the funhe admitted during an interview with our colleague Alexandre Tourigny during the intermission.
“I told my teammates that I didn’t want them on the ice! But they were pretty much all excited. When you see them like that and they’ve been talking regarding it for weeks, it’s a special moment, ”added the former Philadelphia Flyers captain.
Number 28 of the Senses achieved the feat in front of his wife and two children, present at the Canadian Tire Centre.
“I was looking for them following I got the 1000th point, but I mightn’t see them. I’m sure they’ll talk regarding it for a while! »
Giroux has 328 goals and 673 assists in his career during which he also played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panthers.
On his first period goal, Giroux accepted a brilliant cross pass from Brady Tkachuk and redirected the puck into the back of the net. He then served a nice pass to Stutzle in the top slot late in the period and Stutzle doubled the lead with a good sharp shot.
In the Hurricanes camp, Brett Pesce and Brent Burns were the scorers.
Senators goaltender Mads Sogaard blocked 27 of 29 shots he faced, while Frederik Andersen allowed three goals on 32 shots.
Pavelski suit Giroux
Pavelski, for his part, participated in an offensive festival of the Dallas Stars once morest the Detroit Red Wings to reach the plateau.
After watching his team take a comfortable 4-0 lead, Pavelski redirected a Colin Miller shot early in the second period for his 1,000th point in his 1,248th NHL game.
Pavelski has 448 goals and 552 assists in his 17-season career on the Bettman circuit.
Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell, Ty Dellandrea and Jason Robertson had all scored before Pavelski in the game. Robertson already had three points at the start of the second period.