Jan. 24, 1981

It looked as if Mike Bossy would knock Maurice Richard from the record book by becoming the first player to score 50 goals in less than 50 games when he scored a hat trick in Game 47, giving him 48 goals. But the New York Islanders right wing doesn't score in his next two games and tonight, against the Quebec Nordiques, he is blanked for the first 55 minutes.

"I hadn't given up yet, but I wondered if I'd ever score a goal again," Bossy says later. "I felt like my hands were taped together."

But with 4:10 remaining and the Islanders on a power play, Bossy's backhander beats goalie Ron Grahame for No. 49. Then, with 89 seconds left, he takes a pass from Bryan Trottier and scores again, sending a 25-foot shot from the left faceoff circle through Grahame's legs to seal the Islanders' 7-4 victory at Nassau Coliseum.

The two goals enable the 24-year-old Bossy to tie The Rocket's feat of scoring 50 goals in 50 games. "I felt like someone lifted 1,000 pounds off me," Bossy says.