Rocket Man

Since the creation of the award in 1998, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy has only been awarded in a tie situation once: a three-way tie between Ilya Kovalchuck, then-rookie Rick Nash, and Jarome Iginla, in 2004.

Well, until now, that is.

As the end of the regular season inched closer, the race for the Rocket was intense, with NHL superstars Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby neck in neck most of the way, and Steven Stamkos close on their heels.

And with all three in action on the ice on Sunday, April 11, the nail-biting competition got even more intense.

Going into the Sunday games, Ovechkin and Stamkos stood at 50 points, while Crosby came in with 49. But in the Capitals' shootout loss to the Boston Bruins, Ovechkin was held scoreless.

Crosby and Stamkos, on the other hand, exploded onto the ice with every intent of winning the trophy.

Crosby's 2 goals against the New York Islanders came late in the first and within the first minute of the second periods. In addition to the goals he pulled in 3 assists. For the first time in his NHL career Crosby passed the 50-goal mark, and landed at 51 by the end of the game.

Stamkos scored his 51st goal during the last minute of the Tampa Bay Lightning's game against the Florida Panthers, delivering a clean wrist shot right into an empty net.

Crosby amicably accepted the tie for the trophy, acknowledging that it's not easy scoring goals in the NHL, though some believe that Sidney should have been the sole winner, given the fact that Stamkos' empty netter was basically handed to him.

Crosby and Stamkos' trophy win broke Alex Ovechkin's Rocket winning streak. In 2008 Ovechkin led the league without any competition with 65 goals, and snagged the trophy once again in 2009 with 56 goals.