Prior to the 1965-66 NHL season, just Maurice Richard, Bernie Geoffrion and Bobby Hull had scored 50 goals in a single NHL season, each with exactly 50. In 1965-66, Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks went beyond 50, finishing with 54 in just 65 games.
That remained an NHL record for just three seasons before the Golden Jet broke his own record with 58 in 1968-69. That mark didn’t last long with Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins scoring 76 in 1970-71. The current record for most goals in a season was set by Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers in 1981-82 with 92.
In that 1965-66 season, Hull actually tailed off his goal scoring considerable at the end of the year. In his final 13 games, he had just four goals. Number 50 was scored on March 2, 1966 at Chicago Stadium against the Detroit Red Wings. He put the milestone goal past Detroit goalie Hank Bassen at 5:15 of the third period in a 5-4 Chicago win.