100 greatest moments in NHL history

In what is considered one of the greatest comeback stories in sports history, the '42 Leafs overcame a three-games-to-none deficit to win the Stanley Cup.

On Nov. 10, 1963, Mr. Hockey scored his 545th goal to break the record previously held by Maurice Richard.

Bourque had a heavily decorated career but was on the verge of retiring without winning a championship. That changed in June 2001, when he finally raised Lord Stanley's Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.

Quite possibly the greatest photo of NHL greats to date: A young Wayne Gretzky met his idol, Gordie Howe, and snapped a photo.

At the top of every Bobby Orr highlight reel should be his game-winning goal in overtime of Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup Final.

Chicago Blackhawks captain Bill Mosienko cemented his place in NHL history on March 23, 1952, when he tallied three goals in 21 seconds.

In March 2009, Martin Brodeur broke the record for most wins by an NHL goalie with his 552nd victory. He remains the winningest goalie since retiring with 691 wins.

Reportedly, Mark Messier regretted making his prediction back in 1994 that the Rangers would win the Stanley Cup. It has since gone down as one of the most remembered moments in the history of the league.

Maple Leafs defenseman Bob Baun broke his leg during Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in 1964 but continued playing. And he scored a goal in the process.

Long before "Hockey Night in Canada" and "Wednesday Night Rivalry," the first NHL game was televised on Oct. 11, 1952.

It took 22 seasons, but Dave Andreychuk finally lifted the Stanley Cup in 2004.

The Washington captain joined the 500 club in January 2016, becoming the first Russian-born NHLer to hit the marker.

Upon his first time on the ice since battling cancer, Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu was welcomed by the crowd with a nine-minute standing ovation.

Lester Patrick's playing days were over, but when his team lost its goalie to injury during the 1928 playoffs, Patrick put the pads back on and played goalie himself.

It is arguably Jaromir Jagr's most splendid goal, notched in the 1992 Stanley Cup Final.

Pat LaFontaine scored the game-winner in quadruple-overtime in April 1987, ending the long game between the Islanders and Capitals at 1:58 a.m. on Easter Sunday.

Possibly the best fight in NHL history, this took place before the game even started. What began as a tussle between Claude Lemieux and Ed Hospodar turned into a full-on brawl between the Flyers and Canadiens. Some players were not even dressed yet.

There are few comebacks like that of Lemieux's, who returned to the ice from treatment for cancer in 1993 to go on a scoring rampage.

The first overall draft pick from the 2016 NHL Draft set a league record in his first game by scoring four goals, the most by a rookie in a debut.

The entire NHL took part in Wayne Gretzky's retirement, even raising a very large No. 99 jersey during the 2000 All-Star Game.

One of the greatest blunders in the league's history was on Jan. 4, 2007, when Dallas Stars center Patrik Stefan bumbled a shot at an empty net and missed. The Stars lost that game to the Oilers.

Perhaps the most controversial goal scored and still discussed: Brett Hull's game-winner in the 1999 Stanley Cup Final that he scored with his skate in the crease, which was against the rules at the time.

The Bruins were about to end the Canadiens' reign in 1979 until they got called for "too many men" on the ice and Montreal scored on the power play.

Maybe Tie Domi shouldn't have squirted water at the Flyers fan who was heckling him. But then we would have been robbed of the hilarious scene of the fan falling into the penalty box.

Sean Avery committed the greatest and most bizarre incident of "goalie interference" when he turned his back on a play to screen Devils netminder Martin Brodeur.

Some checks are a little harder than others, like when Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn checked Chicago's Niklas Hjalmarsson so hard that it broke the glass.

The scene of the Boston Bruins jumping into the stands to tangle with fans in 1979 is worth watching on repeat, especially the snippet where Mike Milbury hits a fan with his own shoe.

It was quite the scene at Joe Louis Arena on New Year's Day 1980, when the Red Wings raised Gordie Howe's No. 9 into the rafters.

On April 14, 1992, a hockey fan hopped onto the ice and ended up in front of the Sabres' bench. Then Buffalo's Rob Ray proceeded to pummel him.

Maurice Richard and Gordie Howe were faces of the Canadiens-Red Wings rivalry in the 1950s, even dropping the gloves on one occasion.

O'Ree broke the color barrier in the NHL when he debuted for the Boston Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958.

As a rookie for the Edmonton Oilers, top pick Connor McDavid scored at 9:58 into second frame in his first game back after missing 37 games due to an injured clavicle.

While not the first rookie netminder to register a shutout, San Jose's Troy Grosenick was the last line of defense for the Sharks in his first NHL game when he tallied 45 saves in a 2-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

The goal was part of a huge game for Jaromir Jagr in February 2003, when he also scored his 30th goal of the season and his 11th career hat trick.

The Finnish Flash started his NHL career off spectacularly with a 76-goal campaign.

Nothing was quite like the 2009 semifinals when Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin notched hat tricks in the same game.

It was Oct. 8, 2005, when Sid the Kid tallied his first NHL goal.

The West Coast finally got to experience the Winter Classic in 2014 when the Kings and Ducks played the first outdoor game in California at Dodgers Stadium.

In 2014, the San Jose Sharks teamed up with Make-A-Wish Foundation to make die-hard fan Sam Tageson a "Shark for a day." Tageson was the first non-NHLer to skate through the Sharks' head at SAP Center in San Jose.

What makes Lanny McDonald's milestone 500th goal so amazing was that it almost didn't happen. He notched the marker just four days before retiring from the game.

Anaheim's Teemu Selanne became just the third European-born NHLer to reach 600 goals during a Sunday night game in March 2010, when he notched a power-play goal against the Colorado Avalanche just 34 seconds into the second frame.

Henrik Zetterberg has an endless highlight reel of amazing goals. But his snipe that went five-hole on Marc-Andre Fleury in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final will live in infamy.

It was in 1936 that the NHL awarded its first Rookie of the Year Award, with the honors going to Toronto Maple Leaf Syl Apps.

After being instrumental in forming the NHL Players' Association, the Lester B. Pearson Award — the only NHL award in which the ballot is filled out by players themselves — was renamed in Ted Lindsay's honor following the 2008-09 season.

Of the most memorable moments in Peter Forsberg's Hall of Fame career, the hat trick he scored during Game 2 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Final is probably at the top of the list.

Smith still holds the NHL record for most saves in a game, an incredible 92 during a tilt that had six overtimes.

In 1928, Alec Connell set the first longest shutout streak at 461:29 minutes.

It is a wonder to many why it took so long for stellar defenseman Al MacInnis to win the Norris Trophy, though he finally did in 1999.

Ray Bourque's first NHL goal was a beauty, notched on Oct. 11, 1979.

Toronto Maple Leaf Doug Gilmour made quite the scoring impact when he registered 1,414 points in 1,474 games.

Pavel Datsyuk will forever be known as a shootout magician, but his nastiest came against Minnesota's Josh Harding in 2009, when the tremendous Red Wing beat the netminder with four dekes and a sly dangle of the puck before chipping it over his skate and into the net.

Henri Richard battled through being smaller in stature to play 1,256 career games and raise an NHL-high 11 Stanley Cups. He was honored on Dec. 10, 1975, when the Canadiens retired his No. 16 sweater.

After having many stitches from taking a puck to the face, Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante became the first netminder to wear a mask full time in the NHL.

The Flyers' captain scored impressive goals and notched his fair share of penalty minutes, but he was also known as a heck of a quote. But his best was to comment on his keeping quiet: "I've discovered that the less I say, the more rumors start."

Despite playing all the way back in the 1920s, George Hainsworth still holds the league's single-season shutout record (22) and lowest goals-against average (0.92), which were both achieved during his 1928-29 campaign.

Joe Mullen was the first U.S.-born player to score 500 goals and reach 1,000 points in his career.

Mike Gartner is widely remembered as being a New York Ranger, but it was his overtime goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6 against the San Jose Sharks in 1994 that puts him in Stanley Cup Final playoff reels.

This one is atop any list of "goals scored by players who have fallen on the ice." In a bout with the Detroit Red Wings, Luc Robitaille fell to the ice, then spun around on his stomach and swung his stick, somehow maneuvering the puck into the goal.

The midseason event was marked by Wayne Gretzky's return to Edmonton after being traded to the L.A. Kings. He played on a line with then-linemate Luc Robitaille and former Oilers linemate Jari Kurri.

Coyotes captain Shane Doan's two-goal game against the Calgary Flames on Feb. 12, 2016, set a new franchise record previously held by Dale Hawerchuk.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the league, the Maple Leafs named Keon, who won four Stanley Cups with the club, the greatest to ever play for the franchise.

Goalie masks were made mandatory in 1959, but it was in the '70s that we started to see some extra-special masks, like the one Ken Dryden wore while playing between the pipes for the Habs.

In 1962, netminder Glenn Hall played his 502nd consecutive regular-season game, setting the league record.

It's no wonder Yvan Cournoyer won the Conn Smythe after the 1973 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He score 15 goals in 17 games.

A standout in Guy Lafleur's career is definitely March 29, 1975, when he became the third Montreal Canadiens player to reach 50 goals in a season.

Netminder Bernie Parent was a big reason the Philadelphia Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cups in the mid -'70s, and Parent earned himself two Conn Smythes to go along with it.

Of all the nasty hits Larry Robinson laid down in his day, the most remembered is perhaps from the 1976 semis, when he checked Philadelphia's Gary Dornhoefer so hard that it broke the boards.

During his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres in the late '80s, Dale Hawerchuk played in his 1,000th career game and became the only NHLer to do so before the age of 31.

Before Adam Oates made a public spectacle that ended up sending him to the Boston Bruins, he was half of a tandem with Brett Hull that was on its way to being the best in NHL history.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien reportedly insisted on Mark Recchi taking the ice for the last shift of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, before Brad Marchand scored the game-winning empty netter. Recchi retired shortly after.

On Feb. 11, 2012, the Toronto Maple Leafs retired Mats Sundin's No. 13. The Swede still holds multiple franchise records.

Ed Belfour didn't just look impressive in his first year in the NHL — he took home both the Calder and Vezina Trophies.

Chris Chelios found the loose puck at the right time to register the overtime goal in Game 4 of the Western Conference semis in 1995.

On Oct. 10, 1987, Doug Jarvis played in his record-setting 964th consecutive regular-season game.

Following the 1934-35 season, Frank Boucher won his seventh Lady Byng Trophy, the seventh time in eight years, prompting the league to give him the trophy outright.

Evgeni Malkin has a highlight reel full of amazing puck movement. But in a recent standout move from November 2015 against the Minnesota Wild, the Penguins forward wrapped the puck around his leg before shooting it into the goal.

Mascot mishaps happen from time to time. But there is not one better than when the Sharks' mascot got stuck in midair while trying to lower onto the ice for pregame festivities.

During his Stanley Cup-winning run with the Tamp Bay Lightning, Brad Richards set the NHL record for most game-winning goals in a playoff run at seven.

On March 12, 1966, Bobby Hull became the first NHLer to reach not 50 goals, but 51 goals.

Before he was the man who handed down penalties on behalf of the league, Brendan Shanahan was a player who regularly went to the penalty box. But things got crazy in the 2002 Stanley Cup Final when he mocked a fan who was yelling at him through the glass.

On Dec. 26, 1984, Paul Coffey became the last defenseman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game, doing so against the Calgary Flames.

Mike Modano holds the record for most goals (561) by a U.S.-born player, but the moment that he set the new record with 503 in March 2007 might be the best.

Stan Mikita had many moments over his career. One of the most memorable was at the end of the 1968 season when he won his second Art Ross, Lady Byng and Hart Memorial Trophies, becoming the only player to win all three in consecutive years.

This moment became a tear-jerker when Ray Bourque took the No. 7 jersey off his back and handed it to Esposito.

In 1992, Dionne (731 career goals, 1,040 assists and 1,771 points) became the first player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as an L.A. King.

The Boston Bruins' 1970 championship team didn't have an appointed captain so alternate captain Bucyk did the honors of hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup and skating it around the Boston Garden.

The Edmonton Oilers were of course led by "The Great One," but for a moment that lasted during the '80s, the team was led by the amazing trio of Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Mark Messier.

During a Rangers-Islanders tilt in 1978, Bryan Trottier set the league record for most points scored in a single period with six.

The 1983 playoffs belonged to Mike Bossy. He became the only player in NHL history to score the game-winning goal in every game of a series — the semifinal — and notched the game-winner in back-to-back Final-clinching games in '82 and '83.

On Nov. 28, 1979, Isles netminder Billy Smith made NHL history when he became the first goaltender to be credited with scoring a goal.

Patrick Roy became the only NHL player in history to win the Conn Smythe three times (1985-96, 1992-93, 2000-01).

Following the New York Rangers' Stanley Cup victory in 1994, Brian Leetch became the first U.S.-born NHLer to win the Conn Smythe.

Ron Hextall was known for his bad temper just as much as his great goaltending, but the Philadelphia Flyer got into major trouble 1989 when he jumped opponent Chris Chelios and was suspended for the first 12 games of the following season.

After captaining the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup victory in 2001, Sakic was also named NHL's Most Valuable Player and won the Hart Trophy, Lady Byng Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Trophy and Bud Light Plus-Minus Award.

Maurice Richard became the creator of the 50-goal club in the 1944-45 season.

Nicklas Lidstrom helped the Detroit Red Wings win a Cup in 2002, then became the first Swede to be awarded the Conn Smythe.

It's not easy to condense a Sergei Fedorov highlight reel. But his five-goal game against the Capitals in 1996 is probably his best.

Jean Beliveau won the honors in the first Stanley Cup Final in 1965.

Buffalo Sabres netminder Roger Crozier became the first player to win the Conn Smythe in a losing effort, in 1966.

This was less of a moment and more of "that moment to look out for" as it became Habs defenseman Serge Savard's signature move in his repertoire.