When Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos scored his first goal of the season in the first period of tonight's game, he did more than just tying the game against the Dallas Stars. He entered the 2026-27 season sitting in 19th place on the NHL's all-time goal scoring leaderboard. Today, he scored his 625th career goal and tied two Hockey Hall of Famers for 17th.
At 4:46 in the first period, the Predators were on the power play when Ryan O'Reilly was able to connect with Stamkos on a cross-slot pass that was quickly shot past Casey DeSmith and into the net. This was Stamkos's 70th goal with the Predators and 625th overall, as 555 of them came with the Tampa Bay Lightning. As a result, the Predators forward tied Hockey Hall of Famers Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic for the 17th-most goals in NHL history.
Sakic scored his final goal against goaltender Mathieu Garon on October 23, 2008 when the Colorado Avalanche faced the Edmonton Oilers. Iginla then tied the legendary centerman with his 625th goal as a member of the Los Angeles Kings against the Vancouver Canucks and Ryan Miller on March 31, 2017.
Stamkos has the third-most career goals amongst active players trailing just the all-t...