NHL
The first defenseman to hit eight points was a name few expected, least of all Tom Bladon's teammates Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images
This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of Darryl Sittler’s legendary 10-point game. On Feb. 7, 1976, Sittler scored six times and added four assists to power the Toronto Maple Leafs to a win over the Boston Bruins. With the feat coming on a nationally televised “Hockey Night in Canada” game, the record became a defining moment of 1970s hockey. The record still stands to this day.
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Sittler’s record was recognized by the Maple Leafs during a ceremony last week, in the last home game before the anniversary. We dug into that record-breaking night in more detail in that week’s newsletter, including an interesting bit of trivia: Not only has nobody ever matched Sittler’s 10 points, but nobody in NHL history has even reached nine points in a game.
But while the 10-point club is exclusive and the nine-point club remains empty, the eight-point club is more crowded than you might think. There have been 15 eight-point games in NHL history, by a total of 12 different players. And let’s just say it’s an eclectic group.
On Sunday, we can celebrate Sittler’s night for the ages. But today, let’s recognize the 15 times somebody has hit the eight-point mark, going chronologically from the first to the most recent.
The player: Maurice “Rocket” Richard
The date: Dec. 28, 1944 against the Detroit Red Wings
The story: This explosion came midway through what arguably still stands as the most famous single season in NHL history: Richard’s “50 in 50” campaign that saw him become the first player to ever hit the 50-goal mark in a season.
Fully 10 percent of those 50 goals came on this night in Montreal, which saw Richard open the scoring in just over a minute, with three more in the second period, and then add one more goal in the third. Along with his three assists, Richard became the first player to ever score eight points in a game. But only just barely, with his final point coming through an assist on Elmer Lach’s goal with just 13 seconds left to play.
What made it unique: Given it was the first, literally everything.
The NHL wouldn’t see a second 50-goal scorer until Boom Boom Geoffrion in 1961. They wouldn’t have to wait quite as long for the second eight-point man, but it did take a while …
The player: Canadiens winger Bert Olmstead
The date: Jan. 9, 1954 against the Chicago Black Hawks
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The story: Olmstead doesn’t carry the same star power as the Rocket for today’s fan, but he was a legitimate superstar in his era, winning five Cups on his way to a Hall of Fame induction. And he was never more dominant than on this night against the Hawks.
Playing on a line with Richard, Olmstead had two points in the first, added three more in the second, and then three more in the third. The last two came in the period’s 17th minute, giving the Habs some much-needed insurance in what had until then been a 10-1 nailbiter.
In addition to Olmstead’s eight points, Richard and Jean Beliveau each had five of their own. It was a good night to have the Habs in your office hockey pool.
What made it unique: It would be the last eight-point game the league would see for 23 years.
I’ll save you the math — we’re about to skip ahead to 1977. We’ve passed the era of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Bobby Orr, most of Phil Esposito and almost all of Gordie Howe, and none of them have had eight points. As the league celebrates its 60th season, only two men have ever hit the mark, and both are Hall of Famers.
Who’d be the next to finally join the club? Do you have a guess? Well, it’s wrong, because …
The player: Flyers blueliner Tom Bladon
The date: Dec. 11, 1977 against the Cleveland Barons
The story: Wait, what?
Look, it’s OK if you’re not sure who Bladon is. I’m not sure Flyers fans knew who he was at the time. He’d rank just 10th in team scoring that season. Heading into the game that night, he’d had one four-point game in his career, which had come five seasons ago when he was a rookie. He’d had three points in an NHL game five times in his life, which is fewer than Darren Raddysh has just this season.
But for one night, Bladon was Bobby Orr, only better.
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It took him a while to get going, as he didn’t record his first point until almost 18 minutes into the game. But that was the first of three points he’d record before the end of the first, and after a scoreless first half of the second, he scored twice to record the first (and only) hat trick of his NHL career. He scored again early in the third, then added two assists to get to eight points with six minutes left to play. This was apparently the point where the Barons decided to lock down on defense, because sadly, Bladon was unable to get that historic ninth point.
(Yes, the Flyers’ opponent that night was the Cleveland Barons, which might help explain how a relatively unknown defenseman managed to turn into Rocket Richard. Look, they were technically an NHL team, so it still counts.)
What made it unique: Bladon might be the only player on this list who can claim that his eight points wasn’t even his most impressive number of the night. He was also a +10, which remains the league’s all-time record to this day.
After decades of waiting, hockey fans would only need to hold on for another year to get to their next eight-point game. And this name was a little more recognizable.
The player: New York Islanders center Bryan Trottier
The date: Dec. 23, 1978 against the New York Rangers
The story: The Islanders sent the rival Rangers a lovely Christmas gift to the tune of a 9-4 drubbing, with the line of Trottier, Mike Bossy and Clark Gillies doing most of the damage. That was especially true in the second period, which saw Trottier get in on six of the Islanders’ seven goals to turn a tie game into a rout.
That eruption gave Trottier seven points heading into the third, and he got his eighth on a goal less than eight minutes in. That gave him plenty of time to chase Sittler’s record, or at least to establish the nine-point club. But it wasn’t to be, and he’d end the night with five goals and three assists.
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What made it unique: Trottier’s six-point period wasn’t just the most of any game on our list; it was the most in NHL history. And it stood alone until a few years ago, when Mika Zibanejad became the second (and still only other) player to hit the half-dozen mark in a single period in 2021.
After Bladon and Trottier both pulled it off a year apart, the hockey gods made us wait a few seasons for the next eight-point game. But they had a trick up their sleeve to make it worth the wait.
The players: Peter and Anton Stastny, the Slovak brothers who’d just come over that year to join the Quebec Nordiques
The date: Feb. 22, 1981 against the Washington Capitals
The story: The two Stastnys (who’d be joined in Quebec by a third brother, Marian, the following season) were playing on a line with Michel Goulet that night in Washington, and each had two points before the first period was 10 minutes old. They combined on three more goals in the second to get to five points, and Peter added a sixth on an assist just before the buzzer. They teamed on another goal 34 seconds into the third, and then Anton picked up an assist shortly after to join his brother at seven points. But after that, they were shut down for almost 19 full minutes, until Anton picked up an assist on Peter’s goal with just five seconds left in regulation.
The eight points each still stand as the rookie record for one game.
What made it unique: In addition to being brothers and rookies, this remains the only time in history that anyone has scored eight points in a road game.
OK, enough stalling. Let’s get to a name you knew would show up …
The player: Wayne Gretzky. You may have heard of him.
The date: Nov. 19, 1983 against the New Jersey Devils
The story: The Devils actually led this game 2-0 three minutes in, and held Gretzky and the Oilers off the board entirely until almost six minutes had gone by. Trust me, that was pretty good for 1983.
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But once the floodgates opened, they stayed that way. Gretzky had two points by the end of the first, added three more in the second, and then three more in the third. The last came on a short-handed goal with two minutes left, which made the final 13-4.
And yes, if all of this sounds familiar, this was indeed the infamous Mickey Mouse Game.
What made it unique: With his team scoring 13 goals that night, Gretzky established what might be an unbreakable record: most times not having a point on a goal your team scored in an eight-point game. Is that too wordy? I think it’s too wordy.
The rest of the league vowed never to let Gretzky do that again, and they managed to hold firm on that for almost two whole months.
The player: Wayne Gretzky
The date: Jan. 4, 1984 against the Minnesota North Stars
The story: Nobody had ever scored eight points in a game twice in their career, until Gretzky did it twice in a season. This time, his victims were the North Stars, who, to their credit, at least put up a fight in what would end up being a 12-8 loss. At the time, it was the NHL’s first 20-goal game since 1920, and it remains tied for the third-highest-scoring game ever.
The amazing part here is that Gretzky racked up four points in the first and four more in the second. That means he still had a full period to chase down Sittler, who probably figured his record was toast. Instead, Gretzky was shut out and had to settle for being the first player to double down on eight points in a game.
What made it unique: That third period was the first time in history that a player had a pointless period in an eight-point game.
With Gretzky apparently getting bored, it was time for another Oiler to get an invite to the club.
The player: Paul Coffey
The date: March 14, 1986 against Detroit
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The story: This one came against the Red Wings, one of Coffey’s (many) future teams. They held him off the board for ten minutes, but he had three points by the end of the first, and three more in the second. He got his seventh point of the night midway through the third, and then got to eight with 15 seconds to spare on Jari Kurri’s late goal.
Along with Bladon, Coffey remains the only other defenseman who has had eight points in a game.
What made it unique: By recording the very first two-goal, six-assist game in NHL history, Coffey became the first player to get to eight points without scoring a hat trick.
We’re over halfway through the list, and you may have noticed that all of our games so far came in the regular season. That’s about the change.
The player: Devils center Patrik Sundström
The date: April 22, 1988 against the Washington Capitals
The story: First of all, this was somehow only like the fourth most memorable thing that happened to the Devils that spring, trailing the John MacLean OT goal that got them into the playoffs, the “Have another donut” incident and Yellow Sunday. The 1980s were fun.
But in Game 3 of their second-round series against the Caps, Sundström made a little history. He assisted on a pair of Mark Johnson goals in the first, added three points in the second, then assisted on two more Johnson goals in the third to get to seven points. He finished the job with a goal with five minutes left.
(Also, check out that penalty summary. Did I mention that the 1980s were fun?)
What made it unique: In addition to establishing a record for most points in a playoff game, Sundström threw in a twist on the Stastny story by having his big night against his brother. Peter played for the Caps and had zero points that night.
The player: Mario Lemieux. He was pretty good.
The date: Oct. 15, 1988 against the St. Louis Blues
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The story: Just Mario being Mario. He had two points in the first, three in the second and three more in the third. All told, he scored twice and assisted on six, including all three goals in a hat trick by our old pal Rob Brown. The last one came on a John Cullen goal with just 20 seconds left.
What made it unique: This was by far the earliest eight-point performance, coming in just the Penguins’ fourth game of the season. All the other nights on this list came at least 20 games into a season.
The player: Los Angeles Kings center Bernie Nicholls
The date: Dec. 1, 1988 against the Toronto Maple Leafs
The story: Nicholls’ 1988-89 season remains one of the most ridiculous in NHL history, in all senses of the word. He’d finish the year with 70 goals and 150 points without getting even one MVP vote, a record that will never be broken. Remember, this was Gretzky’s first year in Los Angeles, so we barely even noticed that the Kings’ second-line center was having a pretty solid season of his own.
We did notice when he put up an eight-spot on the hapless Leafs. He did so by getting primary assists on the first four Kings goals and then scoring the next two as the Kings built a 6-1 lead. Two more assists in the third sealed the deal, with the last point coming with under two minutes to play.
(Amusingly, the Leafs then scored twice in the final seconds to turn a 9-1 score into a 9-3 final. Call them the comeback kids.)
What made it unique: Ken Baumgartner had an assist on two of the eight goals, one of only five two-point games in The Bomber’s 12-year career. Also, Ken Baumgartner ruled.
(Wait, was there a Super Mario 2? There must have been, because I know there was a Super Mario 3, but I have no recollection of even hearing about it. Fellow ’80s kids, help me out on this one.)
The player: Mario Lemieux. Still pretty good.
The date: Dec. 31, 1988 against the New Jersey Devils
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The story: Apparently, Lemieux saw Nicholls steal his bit a few weeks earlier and took it out on the Devils.
This one saw Lemieux rack up a hat trick in the first, followed by a goal and three assists in the second. At that point the Devils apparently switched strategies, presumably by having three players tackle Lemieux at all times rather than the standard two. They almost held him off the board in the third, until he scored an empty net goal with one second left in the third, the latest anyone has ever earned their eighth point.
What made it unique: If the details and/or date ring a bell, they should — this is the infamous “five points five ways” game that the NHL voted its greatest moment of all time. Lemieux’s haul on the night included one even-strength goal, one power-play goal, one short-handed goal, one penalty-shot goal and one empty-net goal. (Well, technically, the penalty-shot goal was also short-handed and the empty-netter was also even-strength, but nobody likes a pedant.)
Anyway, we get it Mario, you can score eight points whenever you want. Let’s see you do it in the playoffs.
The player: Really, he’s just showing off now.
The date: April 25, 1989 against the Philadelphia Flyers
The story: Lemieux started this one off with a casual four-goal first period, just to get the blood flowing. He switched to assists in the second period, recording three. And then, just like in the previous game, he was almost shut out in the third before scoring an empty net goal in the final minute.
What made it unique: I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure this is the only playoff game to feature a combined 17 goals, an eight-point performance, and a goalie fighting a defenseman.
After that, Lemieux apparently got bored with eight-pointers. So did the rest of the league, because the feat disappeared in the 36 years and counting since. Well, except for one last guy …
The player: Sam Gagner?
The date: Feb. 2, 2012 against the Chicago Blackhawks
The story: I have no idea. Nobody does.
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With apologies to our pal Tom Bladon, no eight-point game has ever come out of left field quite like this one. At least Bladon’s Flyers were playing the Cleveland Barons. This one came against a very good Hawks team. And it came from a guy who had just 22 points in 43 games coming into it. Oh, and he did it without even recording a point in the first period.
Instead, Gagner took the long route, with a goal and two assists in the second period, followed by a third-period explosion. He had three points in the period’s first few minutes, giving him six on the night. The seventh point came on a goal with five minutes left, and the eighth on an assist at 16:15 of the third.
Sam Gagner played in the NHL for 17 seasons, and he had three games where he scored four points. And then also the night he had five, in just the third period, to join one of the most exclusive clubs in all of hockey. Sure, why not?
What made it unique: The Oilers won the game 8-4, meaning Gagner is the only player in NHL history to have eight points while being in on every one of his team’s goals.
This article will be updated after the NHL’s next eight-point game, which is to say probably never.
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Sean McIndoe has been a senior NHL writer with The Athletic since 2018. He launched Down Goes Brown in 2008 and has been writing about hockey ever since, with stops including Grantland, Sportsnet and Vice Sports. His book, “The Down Goes Brown History of the NHL,” is available in book stores now. Follow Sean on Twitter @DownGoesBrown
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