Phil Kessel set to have historic night when he plays against the Toronto Maple Leafs

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Andrew Loftus
October 24, 2022 (6:05 PM)

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Vegas Golden Knight's forward Phil Kessel is about to make NHL history. Kessel will suit up for the 989th consecutive game tying Keith Yandle for the longest ironman streak in NHL history. To put this into perspective, no other current NHL player is close to Kessel's streak. Brent Burns of the Hurricanes sits at six hundred eighty four consecutive games played. That is over three hundred games behind Kessel.

This is a remarkable accomplishment by Phil Kessel. As fans already know, hockey is a contact sport and players get hurt frequently. Kessel has found a way to not get severely injured and miss any games during this thirteen year span. Even when he hasn't felt one hundred percent healthy, he's battled through it. Kessel admits part of the contributing factor with his streak is his love of the game. His new teammates are happy for his accomplishment and impressed that he has been so consistent.

Kessel's streak started all the way back in 2009 when he was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ironically the team he will play this evening when he ties Keith Yandle's record. Kessel has skated in one thousand two hundred career National Hockey Leagues games. Kessel is also looking for career goal number four hundred of his career as well. Can he scored one against his former team the Toronto Maple Leafs? Tying the record and scoring your four hundredth career goal against your former team would be quite special for the American born winger.

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