Veteran goaltenders Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers and Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals each climbed the NHL career milestone ladder with their performances last week along with forward Patrick Marleau of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 38-year-old Luongo made 24 saves in his team’s 4-1 road victory over the Buffalo Sabres on November 10th to earn the 455th win of his career. Luongo now sits fourth on the all-time list for goaltender wins as he passed Curtis Joseph with the victory.
The only goalies in NHL history to win more games have been Martin Brodeur with 691, Patrick Roy at 551 and Ed Belfour with 484. And while we’re on the topic of goaltender wins, we should also mention that 28-year-old Holtby of the Washington Capitals recorded the 200th of his career the same night with a 4-1 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Holtby has a career record of 200-76-31 and now becomes the second-fastest netminder in league history to win 200 games. He achieved the feat in his 319thregular-season game while Ken Dryden pulled if off in his 309thouting back in November of 1977.
Luongo, who was drafted fourth overall by the New York Islanders in 1997, has a career record of 455-368-118 with a goals-against average of 2.50 and a 91.9 save percentage with 73 shutouts in 973 outings. His playoff record stands at 34-35 with a 2.49 GAA, 91.8 save percentage and five shutouts in 70 games. Luongo would likely have moved passed Joseph on the all-time list earlier this season if it hadn’t been for injuries as his milestone win was just his seventh game of 2017/18. Now that he’s back in the net there’s a good chance he’ll appear in another 27 contests this season and also reach the 1,000-games played milestone.
Another 38-year-old to climb the NHL record ladder was Marleau, who’s playing his first season in Toronto after spending the first 19 campaigns of his career with the San Jose Sharks. The former second-overall draft pick of 1997 scored the 101st game-winning goal of his career on November 11th when he banged in the overtime winner at home in a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. He’s now tied with Jarome Iginla for seventh place on the all-time list for game winners. Jaromir Jagr of the Calgary Flames leads the way with 135 game winners followed by Gordie Howe (121), Phil Esposito (118), Teemu Selanne and Brett Hull (110) and Brendan Shanahan (109).
There’s an excellent chance Marleau will continue to climb the list as he signed a three-year deal with the Leafs as a free agent this summer. Of course, the 45-year-old Jagr is also still playing and will have the chance at solidifying is top spot on the list. Marleau has remained productive in his 20th NHL season as he had eight goals and five assists for 13 points in his first 19 outings with the Leafs. His game winner against the Bruins was the 516th goal of his career, which moves him into 38thplace on the league’s all-time list.
The goal saw him move past Gilbert Perreault (512), Jeremy Roenick (513) and Pierre Turgeon (515) since the season started. Marleau now has 1,095 career points in 1,512 regular-season games on his 516 goals and 579 assists. He’s also chipped in with 68 goals and 52 assists for 120 points in 177 playoff contests. Each goal, assist, point and game winner will see him climb the league record lists and help solidify Marleau’s chances of becoming a Hall of Famer once he decides to hang up his skates.