NHL's Fastest to 300 Goals

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Apr 6, 2011

NHL's Fastest to 300 Goals

Alex Ovechkin

The dynamic Russian winger scored 50 or more goals four times in his first five NHL seasons, reaching his career-high of 65 in 2007-08 when he won both the league scoring title and the Hart Trophy. No. 300 was a first-period power play tally on April 5, 2011 in a Southeast Division-clinching victory over Toronto. It was the Capitals' fourth-straight such crown.

Teemu Selanne

Selanne, who took over Kurri's nickname, was an instant scoring sensation, setting the NHL rookie record of 76 goals with the Winnipeg Jets in 1992-93. The new Finnish Flash tallied his 300th in a 4-1 win over San Jose on Feb. 27, 1999. He is the NHL's top active scorer with 634 career goals (as of this writing) and ranks 14th all-time. With 34 more, he'll move into the top 10.

Jari Kurri

The original "Finish Flash," Kurri teamed with Wayne Gretzky on the Oilers during his first eight years in the league and won four Stanley Cups, plus a fifth in 1990 after the Great One was traded to the L.A. Kings. Gretzky assisted on 364 of Kurri's 601 career goals, and when Kurri retired, he had scored more goals than any other European-born player (since passed by Jaromir Jagr).

Mike Bossy

Back injuries cut short the career of one of the game's most prolific pure goal scorers, who set an NHL record by topping the 50 mark in nine consecutive seasons. Bossy got No. 300 in style, as part of a four-goal performance on March 23, 1982. But despite scoring at the highest rate (0.762 goals per game) in league history, he ranks 20th on the career scoring list with 587.

Brett Hull

Plenty happened between Hull's 299th and 300th goals in 1991-92. A back injury forced him to miss a month of action, and in that time, the NHL Player's Association staged a short strike. But in his first game back, the future Hall of Famer scored the Blues' only goal in a 1-1 tie to reach the milestone.

Mario Lemieux

Super Mario set an NHL record during the 1988-89 season by producing 57 percent of his team's goals and reached 300 in the regular season finale, a 6-5 overtime victory over interstate rival Philadelphia. Lemieux ranks ninth on the NHL's all-time scoring list with 690 goals.

Wayne Gretzky

The Great One needed little time to establish his record-shattering offensive presence. He scored 51 goals during his debut NHL season in 1979-80 and started his string of eight straight Hart Trophies as the league's MVP. His 300th goal came in an 8-5 loss to the Islanders on Dec. 13, 1983. He remains the NHL's all-time goals leader with 894.