KESSEL CLIMBS NHL’S ALL-TIME CONSECUTIVE GAMES PLAYED LIST

Coyotes forward Phil Kessel skated in his 777th consecutive regular-season game dating to Nov. 3, 2009, passing Craig Ramsay (776 GP; March 27, 1973 – Feb. 10, 1983) for the seventh-longest streak in NHL history.

* Kessel’s 777th consecutive regular-season game and 999th of his career overall came exactly 32 years since Doug Jarvis extended his League-record “Ironman” streak to 964 contests on Oct. 10, 1987, in what would be his final NHL appearance.

“His streak, knock on wood, is incredible. You can pencil him in every time,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. “The maturity of our younger guys should fast-track because of a guy like him.”

KESSEL EXPECTED TO REACH 1,000-GAME MILESTONE

Coyotes forward Phil Kessel is expected to skate in the 1,000th regular-season game of his NHL career later today. Kessel (32 years, 10 days) is set to become the third-youngest active player to reach the 1,000-game milestone, behind only Patrick Marleau on Jan. 17, 2011 (31 years, 124 days) and Anze Kopitar on April 1, 2019 (31 years, 222 days).