Golden Knights: Phil Kessel’s Ironman Streak Breakdown
By Jim Lynch
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, the NHL will get a new Ironman Streak leader when Phil Kessel of the Vegas Golden Knights plays in his 990 NHL game, a streak that has been going on since November of 2009.
Kessel is currently tied with recently retired defensemen Keith Yandle for the lead, but tonight he plays in his 990th game to take the lead. Let’s take a look at how we have gotten here.
Golden Knights: Phil Kessel’s Ironman Streak Breakdown
Phil Kessel played in Toronto, Pittsburgh, Arizona and now Vegas in the making of this ironman streak. Of course, he was initially drafted by the Boston Bruins, the team he started his career with. So far Kessel has played in 1211 NHL games, but the fact that he could play in 1000 consecutively is pretty amazing.
Kessel was drafted fifth overall in 2006, behind Erik Johnson, Jordan Staal, Jonathan Toews and Niklas Backstrom. He won back-to-back championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has put up over 35 goals in a single season three times.
Over the course of his career, Kessel has scored 399 goals, although during the record-tying game last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kessel almost scored his 400th goal.
Kessel game breakdown:
Kessel’s ironman streak currently stands at 989 games including the following amount of games with these teams.
Toronto Maple Leafs: 446 Games
Pittsburgh Penguins: 328 Games
Arizona Coyotes 208 Games
Vegas Golden Knights: Seven Games
Kessel’s eighth game in Vegas is on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks.
This is going to be a tough record to break after Kessel takes the lead tonight. Behind Kessel, the next best list of players includes Brent Burns with a 685-game streak and Johnny Gaudreau with a 301-game streak.
After the Golden Knights game against the Sharks, the next big day to keep an eye on for Kessel would be November 17, 2022. That is the day that he has the potential to play in his 1000th straight NHL game, and that could come against a familiar team for Kessel, the Arizona Coyotes.