Phil Kessel's iron man streak lives on... in the most bizarre way!
The former Bruins forward played just a single shift before leaving last night's game.
The Coyotes right winger took one shot on net in his only shift against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. He then fist-bumped a few teammates on his way back to the bench before leaving.
A 34-year-old Phil Kessel clearly had much better things going on Tuesday night; he was set to become a father!
That's why he played his first shift, kept his iron man streak alive, and then took off so he could return to Arizona for the birth of his child. According to Elliotte Friedman, the Coyotes had even set up a private plane so their forward could make it back in time.
While the setting is unusual, to say the least, it allowed Kessel's ironman streak to live on. By having played in 956 consecutive games, Kessel is just a few games back of Doug Jarvis' second place at 964 games.
He's also still in the run for Keith Yandle's all-time mark, who set the new record earlier this season and has currently pushed the streak to 977 games.
Here's a look at Kessel's only shift of last night's game:
The last game Kessel was held out of was all the way back on Halloween of 2009, when he was forced to miss a few games after having shoulder surgery.
NHL players in this story
Phil Kessel
