Zdeno Chara stands alone.

The New York Islanders blueliner set a record for most games played by an NHL defenseman after he skated in his 1,652nd career contest in Thursday night's 4-3 road loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Hall of Fame defender Chris Chelios had held the mark since 2010, when he retired after 26 seasons in the NHL. Chara is also tied for having played the seventh-most games ever at any position in the league.

Pekka Rinne, who led the Nashville Predators to their lone Stanley Cup Final in 2017, is adding another first to his long list of accomplishments.

The longtime goaltender will become the first player to have his jersey retired by the organization when the Predators raise Rinne's No. 35 to the rafters before the Thursday night game against Dallas.

"A huge honor," Rinne said. "It is. I consider myself very fortunate. There's been a lot of great players in this organization over the years, but also I realized that I was lucky enough to play for a long time for this organization and that's obviously a big thank you to [general manager] David [Poile] as well.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby scored his 500th career goal Tuesday night, the second player in franchise history to do so.

Crosby broke a 1-1 tie with the Philadelphia Flyers 16:34 into the first period, scoring on the power play with an assist from Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins won in overtime, 5-4.

Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask has officially announced his retirement from the NHL.

The longtime netminder released a lengthy statement on social media Wednesday, calling it a career after 15 seasons. The news comes one day after rumors began to swirl that Rask was considering hanging up his skates following a brief comeback attempt last month.