January 8, 1992: 10 Flames, 10 Goals

Joe Nieuwendyk

January 8, 1992: If young hockey fan had to guess which team scored 10 goals, by 10 different players, he could be excused for thinking it was the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s, led by Wayne Gretzky.

But no, it happened a few years later, and it was done by the Oilers' Provincial arch-rivals. On this night, the Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 10-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

Oddly, the game was 0-0 at the end of the 1st period. Gary Roberts scored on a power play, 44 seconds into the 2nd period. Ronnie Stern scored just 24 seconds later. Tomas Forslund scored at the 5:45 mark, team Captain Joe Nieuwendyk at 7:14, Trenty Yawney at 10:32, and Robert Reichel at 15:22.

In the 3rd period, Joel Otto scored at 4:01, to make it 7-0 Flames. At 6:58, Wayne Presley finally got the Sharks on the board. Sergei Makarov scored for the Flames at 7:33. Paul Fenton scored at 9:47 and Tony Hrkac at 13:55, closing the Sharks to within 8-3. Gary Suter scored at 15:13, and Theo Fleury scored at 16:37. To go with the Flames' 10 goals, Al MacInnis had 4 assists.

The Flames tied an NHL record with goals by 10 different players, a feat pulled off only once before, by the 1965 Detroit Red Wings.

In spite of this, the Flames missed the Playoffs for the 1st time in 17 years, since 1975, when they were still in Atlanta.

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January 8, 1992 was a Wednesday. This was also the day that President George H.W. Bush threw up on the Prime Minister of Japan at a state dinner in Tokyo. I have a separate entry for that event.

These 4 other 5 games were played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the St. Louis Blues, 5-3 at Madison Square Garden.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

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Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between Playoff rounds. There were 10 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 99-95 at the Boston Garden. Reggie Lewis scored 33 points.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-97 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Houston Rockets 114-104 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat, 108-106 at the Miami Arena. Michael Jordan scored 40 points.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Sacramento Kings, 114-95 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Indiana Pacers, 104-102 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Utah Jazz, 99-98 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-87 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets, 135-114 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Orlando Magic beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 104-103 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Sam Vincent scored 35 points for the Magic.