There are lots of ways to measure just how long New York Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara has played in the NHL.
As a rookie with the Islanders in 1997-98, Chara wore the uniform the club used after the fashion faux pas known far and wide as the fisherman uniforms. When Chara starts alongside Noah Dobson on the Islanders’ blue line, he is playing with a teammate who was born more than two years after Chara made his NHL debut.
On Thursday night, Chara will add to his resume the simplest and most impressive measure of his longevity.
Chara is in line to break the NHL record for most games played by a defenseman Thursday night, when the Islanders are slated to visit the San Jose Sharks for the first time in more than two years.
Both teams were off Wednesday after playing on the road Tuesday, when the Islanders began a five-game road trip by beating the Seattle Kraken 5-2 and the Sharks suffered their seventh straight loss by falling to the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3, in the shootout.
Chara, 44, collected the assist on Zach Parise’s empty-net goal Tuesday and played 19:51 in his 1,651st career game, which tied him with Chris Chelios for the most games played by an NHL defenseman. Chara’s played 404 more games — a little more than five full seasons’ worth — than the next senior-most defenseman, the Dallas Stars’ Ryan Suter.
“This one’s a pretty remarkable one, it may never be broken again,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “And he’s one game away from standing there all by himself. And that’s pretty remarkable.”
Trotz said Tuesday night that Chara — who played for the Islanders and Ottawa Senators for four seasons apiece before playing 14 seasons with the Boston Bruins and spending last season with the Washington Capitals — didn’t want to make a big deal of tying Chelios’ mark and focused instead on being a part of a much-needed win. New York is 17 points behind the Bruins, who occupy the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“There wasn’t any T-shirts or hats or anything like that — the most important thing for him was for us to play well and win a hockey game,” Trotz said. “And that says a lot.”
An ill-timed skid continued Tuesday for the Sharks, who have at least managed to salvage a handful of points while losing 11 of their last 13 (2-6-5). San Jose’s current losing streak includes four losses in overtime or the shootout.
The slump has dropped the Sharks into seventh place in the Pacific Division and nine points behind the Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, who were tied for the final Western Conference wild-card spot entering the Kings’ game Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes.
“It sucks when you lose,” Sharks center Logan Couture said. “It’s tough to take positives at this time right now, 20 minutes after the game ends.”
The Islanders and Sharks didn’t play last season, when regular season play consisted entirely of divisional games. San Jose earned a 2-1 overtime win in Elmont, N.Y. on Dec. 2.
The two teams last opposed one another in San Jose on Nov. 23, 2019, when Couture scored 2:30 into overtime to lift the Sharks to a 2-1 win.
–Field Level Media