Phil Goyette's First NHL Game Winning Goal

Phil Goyette went into the 1957-58 NHL season technically still a rookie. He played 14 regular season games the previous year and all ten in the playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens, hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first of four times during his NHL career.

1st Of 36 Career NHL GWG

Playing all 70 regular season games for the Habs, Goyette scored nine goals. On February 27, 1958 in a home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Montreal Forum, Phil put in his sixth of the year and it turned out to be the game winning goal.

At 13:08 of the second period, he put one past Toronto goalie Ed Chadwick to put Montreal up 2-0. With the final score ending in a 3-1 win for the Canadiens, Goyette's goal stood as the game winner. He also assisted on the first of the game, scored by Claude Provost in the first period.

Also scoring for Montreal were Marcel Bonin and Don Marshall. Jacques Plante stopped all but one of 30 shots put his way. The only one to get past Jake the Snake was off the stick of Brian Cullen early in the third period, assisted by Bob Pulford and Ron Stewart.

Phil Goyette's NHL Career

Goyette played 940 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1956-57 and 1971-72 with the Canadiens, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres. Over that time, he scored 207 goals. Of those 207, 36 were game winners.

His performance with Montreal in 1957-58 got him a look for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. Phil finished third in voting, a distance behind a tight battle between winner Frank Mahovlich of the Toronto Maple Leafs and runner-up Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Phil Esposito as a New York Ranger

Phil Esposito is best known for his time in the NHL with the Boston Bruins but he had some productive years with the New York Rangers at the end of his career. In his four full seasons with the Blue Shirt, he scored no less than 34 goals.

The Trade

On November 7, 1975, Phil and Carol Vadnais were sent to the Rangers from Boston for Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi. Esposito had started the 1975-76 NHL season playing 12 games, putting up six goals and ten assists for 16 points - pretty decent numbers. 

The was the second blockbuster trade involving Esposito over his career. After starting out with the Chicago Blackhawks, he was traded to the Bruins on May 15, 1967 with Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield for  Gilles Marotte, Hubert "Pit" Martin and Jack Norris.

Arrival In The Big Apple

Phil had always worn number seven during his NHL career with both the Blackhawks and Bruins. When he arrived in New York, Rod Gilbert was wearing and had long worn the number. Esposito started with the Rangers wearing number 12 - he is shown on the front of his 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee card with that on his jersey. He also wore 5 for a time before settling into 77.

In his first game with the Rangers, Esposito scored two goals and added an assist for three points in a game against the California Golden Seals. Despite the effort, New York lost the game 7-5. The Seals were propelled by a four goal performance put in by Gary Sabourin and 31 saves made by Gilles Meloche. 

His best season as a Ranger came in 1978-79 when he scored 42 goals. This total led the team and placed him eighth overall in the NHL. In the post season, Esposito contributed 20 points over 18 games, leading New York to the Stanley Cup final before losing to the Montreal Canadiens.

After another decent year in 1979-80, Esposito's numbers dwindled and he called it a career 41 games into the 1980-81 season. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984.

Michel Goulet's 4 Straight 50 Goal Seasons Tie Him For 7th All-Time

Michel Goulet jumped from the WHA to the NHL when the two leagues merged for the 1979-80 season. However, the Quebec Nordiques were a new team for Michel, having playing his only year in the WHA with the Birmingham Bulls.

In the interesting world created by the merger, Goulet was drafted by the NHL Nordiques in the first round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, 20th overall. Prior to his year with Birmingham, Michel was a standout with the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL. In his final season of major junior, he scored 73 goals in 72 games with Quebec in 1977-78 while totaling 135 points. 

He started slow with the Nordiques, scoring just 22 goals in his rookie NHL season. He steadily improved and by 1982-83, he put in 57 goals. This was good for fourth in the league, 14 behind leader Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers.

Goulet topped the 50 goal plateau for the next three campaigns but would never up his career high of 57. Just six players have scored 50 in more consecutive NHL seasons: Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky, Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito and Brett Hull.

Between 1979-80 and 1993-94, Michel Goulet scored 548 goals in 1,089 regular season NHL games with the Nordiques and Chicago Blackhawks. This goal total places him 32th all-time, four goals ahead of Maurice Richard and one behind Ron Francis. Michel was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998.