Say what you will about Sergei Fedorov, but he was a Detroit Red Wings legend. If you created an All-Centennial Red Wings team, you'd at least give Fedorov serious consideration, and that's all there is to it.
I mean, what didn't Fedorov accomplish during his time wearing the winged wheel? Just about everything you could ask for, that's what. And better yet, Fedorov even had his fair share of NHL firsts, one of which occurred on December 26th, 1996, just one day after Christmas.
For many, they were still on break, but the NHL was back in action, and the Red Wings were squaring off against a struggling Washington Capitals team. But it was one of those nights in which the Caps gave the Wings all they could handle.
And maybe Washington would've taken this one if it wasn't for Fedorov looking like a virtual one-man wrecking crew when the puck landed on his stick. I mean, that's what happens when you score more than a hat trick, like when your fourth goal ultimately forces an overtime.
Still, Fedorov upped the ante during the overtime period when his fifth goal of the contest won the thriller for the Wings. Sure, it was only a game taking place during the early-middle stages of the regular season. But, nevertheless, Fedorov's performance went down in the history books.
Sergei Fedorov's unforgettable five-goal game was a night of NHL 'firsts'
Never before had it been done. Nobody in NHL history to that point saw one player score all five goals for his team in a single game. And to make this one even sweeter, Fedorov tied the game not once, but twice, with the first game-tying goal coming at the 10:33 mark in the third period before he tied the game again at the 12:08 mark, responding to Dale Hunter's goal at 11:27.
Fedorov did have some help though, mainly from Vladimir Konstantinov, who put up assists on four of those five goals. Igor Larionov clocked in another three assists, while Slava Fetisov and Brendan Shanahan each had one.
What a performance, to say the least. And Fedorov wasn't finished after this big win, as he scored the game-opening goal in the Red Wings 7-1 thrashing of the New York Islanders. That gave him six goals in a row before he passed the torch.
Of course, I could probably write an entire series on all of Fedorov's heroics in a Red Wings uniform. But this one would definitely rank near the top, even if the stakes weren't incredibly high heading into this post-Christmas bash.
