Somewhere within all the Jeremy Lin hysteria, and excitement for Kate Upton and Alex Morgan in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, (I use the word “excitement,” but could just have easily used a more NSFW word to describe the phenomena at hand) this NHL record became lost in the shuffle.
Chicago is not a hockey town, and when the local team sucks, (I’d say losing 9 in a row getting D level effort from the goalies, F level effort from the defensemen counts as sucking) talking hockey recedes. When the team’s traditional rival, the Detroit Red Wings (and that IS a hockey town) is kicking ass, hockey talk dissipates even further.
The Wings won an NHL-record 21st consecutive home game, beating the Dallas Stars 3-1 last nigh; breaking the previous mark of 20 set by the Boston Bruins during the 1929-30 season, and matched by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976. Yes, the infamous “Broad Street Bullies.” The Red Wings now currently have the best record in the league. Their 80 points is currently 1 higher than the New York Rangers.
From the AP:
Fans at Joe Louis Arena gave the team a standing ovation in the final minute and were chanting: “21! 21!” After the game, the Red Wings raised their sticks to acknowledge the cheering fans.
In the NHL’s seven seasons with a shootout to eliminate tie games, Boston won 14 straight at home during the 2008-09 season. That was the longest streak until Detroit’s current run of dominance in the Motor City.
Joey MacDonald made 20 saves, filling in again for the injured Jimmy Howard, and was 32.8 seconds away from his third NHL shutout.
Adam Burish scored and Kari Lehtonen stopped 34 shots for the Stars.
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