Marc Staal set to join brothers in the 1000 NHL games club and make history
Anthony Scultore
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Marc Staal is going to make some NHL history when his Detroit Red Wings face the Calgary Flames.
The moment the puck drops, Marc will reach the 1000 games played milestone his brothers Eric and Jordan have already hit. However, when he does it the Staal’s will become the first three brothers combination in the history to do so.
Marc Staal to play 1000th game
“It’s kind of surreal, to be honest,” Marc said via NHL.com. “It’s been our whole lives and I think we’re all just grateful that we had the opportunity to play as long as we have been. It’s a cool thing. I don’t think we would have gotten to where we are without each other. I think it has helped us push each other along the way, challenge each other and encourage each other.”
Meanwhile, the Red Wings have struggled lately. Detroit has lost seven of its past nine games, allowing 51 goals during those defeats. The Red Wings will be looking to snap a four-game winless streak, including a 6-5 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic handed the Wild a first-period goal when he mishandled the puck and it bounced through his legs and into the net.
“We all make mistakes. When a goalie makes mistakes, it’s very visible,” Blashill said. “But we made lots of mistakes (Thursday). The goalie also is the one that has to bail lots of guys out, so I think it was good mental toughness by him and I think it was a good job by our team sticking together.”
Red Wings face power Flames team
Johnny Gaudreau has six career hat tricks. The sight of people flipping their lids onto the ice never gets old for the Calgary Flames forward.
“It’s awesome. It’s a really cool feeling,” Gaudreau said after achieving the feat Thursday in a 4-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. “It’s an even cooler feeling when you’ve got all the fans chanting your name. It’s pretty special. I don’t take those for granted. It was a cool moment there.”
He’ll have a good chance to keep the streak going at home on Saturday afternoon against the struggling Detroit Red Wings.
Gaudreau now has 26 goals and 77 points this season. The Flames have the same amount of points to lead the Pacific Division.
They bounced back from a 5-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday and now are 15-2-1 over their past 18 games.
Markstrom made 33 saves when Calgary blanked Detroit 3-0 in the teams’ first meeting on Oct. 21. The Flames will be wrapping up a four-game homestand, while the Red Wings are beginning a four-game road trip.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report