By: Evan Michael | Follow me on Twitter @00EvanMichael
On this day in Bruins history, April 11th, 1996, forward Sandy Moger accomplished quite the “bookend” seasonal celebration for Boston.
His timely goal — assisted by Dave Reid and Kyle McLaren — midway through the third period gave the B’s a thrilling 3-2 victory against the Whalers at the (then) Fleet Center (now TD Garden), earning Boston a playoff birth and extending the franchise’s consecutive playoff streak to an un-“B”-lievable 29 seasons.
Moger, known more for fisticuffs than faceoffs and punches than points, had perhaps the two biggest points in the entire 1995-’96 season — case in point!
We already mentioned his last goal which propelled the B’s into that record-setting postseason (in fact, it’s still the longest playoff streak by any North American pro sports team in history). But did you know… Moger also scored the first EVER goal in the history of Fleet Center!?
That’s right. Good ole No. 45 had the “number one” goal at the new building back on October 7th, 1995 (as seen above), assisted by none other than Todd Elik and Kevin Stevens. Remember that? Probably not because the night was overshadowed by Cam Neely’s hat trick!
Talk about a trivia-night-fun-fact-extravaganza when it comes to the Bruins’ category–one in which even Boston’s biggest fan –and near Jeopardy champ– Cliff Claven himself may have confused the aforementioned history-making goal scorer:
“Nah… you mean Andy Moog, Sam. There’s no such player as Sandy Moger. It’s Andy Moog… you know, The Mooger! Just ask Ma.”
For more fun historical B’s facts to CHEERS about, keep it right here on the BN’G Hockey Blog’s “This Day in Bruins History” series!
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