Playing in his 965th consecutive NHL game, Keith Yandle has officially become the NHL’s Iron Man.
The Philadelphia Flyers defenceman passed the league record 964 games set by Doug Jarvis three-plus decades ago after skating against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
Jarvis broke the previous record held by Garry Unger on Boxing Day 1986, which happened to be less than three months after Yandle was born. Jarvis’ streak was slightly different in that the former Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and Hartford Whalers forward didn’t miss a single game throughout his career that spanned 13 years.
[radioclip id=5278974]Yandle, a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in 2005, hasn’t missed a regular-season game since late March of 2009.
Phil Kessel is also approaching Jarvis’ mark, having skated in 940 consecutive games since 2009. Kessel began his streak roughly seven months after Yandle started his.
The Flyers have 39 games remaining on their schedule, so hypothetically, Yandle could reach 1,000 consecutive games played come late April.
— With files from Mike Johnston
