Bowman Takes 1,000th Win In Stride; Most Teams Should Be So Lucky

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If Scotty Bowman’s 1,000 NHL coaching victories don’t seem remarkable, consider this: He has won more games than all but seven of the league’s 26 franchises.

It took him three tries and Brendan Shanahan’s three goals to do it, but Bowman finally achieved his historic victory Saturday at Pittsburgh as the Detroit Red Wings rallied past Pittsburgh 6-5 in overtime.

Detroit had lost twice since Bowman won No. 999, and was on the verge of another loss as Mario Lemieux scored his 601st and 602nd career goals and Dave Roche put Pittsburgh ahead 5-4 with his first goal since Dec. 12.

But Darren McCarty sent it into overtime with his second goal, and Shanahan completed a hat trick by grabbing a deflection of Bob Rouse’s shot off defenseman Jason Woolley’s stick and jamming it past rookie goalie Patrick Lalime at 2:01 of overtime.

Bowman has won more games than all but the NHL’s six pre-expansion franchises, plus the Philadelphia Flyers. He is 1,000-452-255 in regular-season games, and 162-101 in the playoffs.

The stoic-as-usual Bowman did not celebrate, at least outwardly.

The 63-year-old Bowman figures his record will be broken, even if he leads runner-up Al Arbour by 219 victories.

“Somebody, someday will do it … but you have to win 40-50 a year,” Bowman said. “And it’s hard to know what’s going to happen in sports with free agency now and corporations owning teams. “

Slapshots

A goal last week in Tampa Bay gave Boston defenseman Ray Bourque 1,340 points, the most ever by a Bruins player. But in 18 seasons, he is yet to win a Stanley Cup… . Quotable: “There are a lot of times when there is a human being there.” - the retired Mike Ramsey, on Scotty Bowman, whom Ramsey played for in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Buffalo… . When the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers renew their spirited rivalry on Wednesday in Miami, Lightning goalie Daren Puppa could play for the first time since opening day… . Ed Belfour, the new goalie for the San Jose Sharks, on Thursday makes his first visit to Chicago, the team that traded him.