Joel Quenneville reaches 1,000 victories, joining Scotty Bowman in an elite club for NHL coaches

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Joel Quenneville’s 1,000th career victory as an NHL head coach was so dramatic that he almost had to be reminded of the milestone when the clock finally hit zeros on the Anaheim Ducks’ 6-5 comeback win

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Joel Quenneville’s 1,000th career victory as an NHL head coach was so dramatic that he almost had to be reminded of the milestone when the clock finally hit zeros on the Anaheim Ducks’ 6-5 comeback win.

When Quenneville stood at center ice with his wife, his daughter and his entire team for a postgame photo moments later Wednesday night, he allowed himself a moment out of the hockey grind to appreciate history.

“I wasn’t prioritizing the number,” Quenneville said after joining Scotty Bowman in the most exclusive hockey coaching club. “I just wanted to play well tonight and find a way to win. That was the motivation, and it turned out to be a very special one as well.”

His Ducks rallied to beat two-time defending conference champion Edmonton in their return from the Olympic break, overcoming a pair of two-goal deficits and another one-goal deficit during their frenetic four-goal third period.

Cutter Gauthier scored the winner with 1:14 to play, and Anaheim hung on for its NHL-leading eighth multigoal comeback win during its first year under Quenneville, whose players all gathered at the bench to mob their coach after the whistle.