On December 23, 1978 an NHL record for most points scored in a single period was established, and it was a feat that stood alone for just under 43 years. It was accomplished by a Hockey Hall of Fame forward, seven-time Stanley Cup champion, and failed head coach, and they made history when they scored three goals and added three assists for six points in the second period of what became a 9-4 victory against the New York Rangers.
Foe, turned friend, who would become foe once again
Bryan Trottier accomplished this feat against the Blueshirts, a team he would go on to "coach" decades later, and the organization had to wear that performance alone until Mika Zibanejad had a historic performance of his own that's become a core memory for many fans.
Rangers vs. Flyers was unique affair at Madison Square Garden
On March 17, 2021, the Rangers took on the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden. It was an interesting time because this game was played during the COVID-19 pandemic, and only a small percentage of fans were in the building due to capacity restrictions that were put in place.
To make things even more interesting, then head coach David Quinn and assistant coaches Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown missed the game due to being in COVID protocol. That led to Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch, Hartford associate coach Gord Murphy, and then associate general manager of the Rangers Chris Drury stepping behind the bench for the game.
The game got underway and was completely dominated by the Rangers, and they entered the first intermission up 2-0 over Philadelphia.
Mika Zibanejad makes history in second period
Zibanejad picked up his first point by assisting Pavel Buchnevich at 1:38 of the period. Exactly two minutes later Buchnevich tipped in a shot from Jacob Trouba off a pass from Zibanejad to make it 4-0. The trio of players linked up for yet another goal nearly four minutes later with Trouba scoring off a feed from Zibanejad who'd been passed the puck by Buchnevich.
With three assists on the ledger, Zibanejad decided it was time to start scoring goals. His first goal of the period came shorthanded at 8:27 of the period. Just over six minutes later, Zibanejad found the back of the net on the power play to make it 7-0 Rangers. Four minutes and eight seconds later Zibanejad completed his natural hat trick at even strength, and this time he was assisted by best friend and long-time teammate Chris Kreider and the aforementioned Buchnevich and the game was 8-0.
Filip Chytil scored a goal one minute and two seconds later to put the Rangers up 9-0 with 21 seconds to go in the period. At that point it was clear the Rangers more than had the game in the bag, and in order to finish the game honorably, the team recorded just six shots on goal in the final 20 minutes. Tying one record was good enough for Zibanejad, and he didn't push to tie or break Steve Vickers' Rangers records for most points in a game (7 points) which still stands to this day.