Toronto Maple Leafs: How Does Mitch Marner’s Streak Compare?
By Luke Ryan
Darryl Sittler’s streak started with a goal in the January 26th, 1978 road game with the New York Islanders and concluded on March 9th, 1978 in Montreal, when they became the first team in 18 games to hold him pointless.
Indeed, it took Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden to eventually keep him off the scoresheet that night at the Montreal Forum.
Sittler’s streak was punctuated by three-point nights versus the Atlanta Flames, Cleveland Barons, Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks, with his run made up of more multi-point nights than single ones (per Hockey Reference).
He ended the 18-game span with 17 goals and 16 assists totalling 33 points, which ultimately made up just over a quarter of his points total for the 1977-78 season.
It’s really not at all surprising that Sittler finished that season as the league’s third-highest point scorer on 117 points with the streak only serving to boost his statistics.
Only Guy Lafleur (Montreal Canadiens) with 132 points and Bryan Trottier (New York Islanders) with 123 points bettered his total, with the Toronto Maple Leafs center making the Second All-Star team in recognition of his efforts.
What is rather surprising is that during the span of his 18-game point streak, the Toronto Maple Leafs themselves weren’t exactly on a winning streak themselves, with a couple of 3-game and a single 4-game run their best efforts.
That season, Sittler was sharing the ice with fellow future Hall of Famers Lanny McDonald and the recently departed Borje Salming, who Sittler clearly held in the highest regard.
Indeed what else should be noted that this wasn’t quite yet the free-wheeling 1980s, with the league-average team goals sitting at 264 that season; a far cry from the 1981-82 league-average of 321.
Unfortunately for the Toronto Maple Leafs, although Sittler notched 11 points in 13 games as they made it to the Stanley Cup semi-finals, he wasn’t able to drag them past the eventual Cup winners that year, the Montreal Canadiens.
Other achievements in Daryl Sittler’s career, namely his 10-point night achieved two years earlier, for the Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately overshadowed the fact that he jointly-held this point-streak crown for so long.
It’s not at all surprising for those that are long-time fans of the team that Daryl Sittler was one of the holders and in all fairness, we expect he would be one of the first to congratulate Mitch Marner if he breaks it this weekend in Tampa.