Yandle inherits streak after Cogliano’s 2-game penalty

CORAL SPRINGS — Keith Yandle didn’t see the play that elevated him up a hallowed NHL leaderboard. He was on vacation in the Bahamas so he missed the moment that gave him the league’s longest active games played streak.

When Anaheim forward Andrew Cogliano was served with a two-game suspension this week for a hit on Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe, his 830-game streak of consecutive games played ended. It ushered Yandle’s current streak of 676 games to the top of the active leaderboard.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” Yandle said Thursday after the Panthers returned to practice. “You feel bad for him. I know what type of guy he is. Obviously, he brings it every single night and you hate to see anybody lose a streak like that, especially for such a long one that he’s had. Definitely feel bad for him.”

Cogliano’s streak was impressive not only for its length but also for its beginning. The streak started at the beginning of his career, meaning he’d never missed an NHL game in his 11 seasons prior to Monday’s absence.

Yandle, meanwhile, has not missed a game since the 2008-09 season, when he was a member of the Phoenix Coyotes. Since then, the Coyotes changed their name to the Arizona Coyotes and Yandle’s been traded twice (to the Rangers and then to the Panthers).

The last game he missed was on March 22, 2009, between Keith Yandle now has the longest consecutive-game streak among active players, with 676. the Coyotes and Ducks. To peruse that box score is to walk through history. Former Panther Ed Jovanovski played for the Coyotes that game. Both Niedermayer brothers were in Anaheim, as were Chris Progner, George Parros and Teemu Selanne.

Pronger now works in the Panthers front office. Parros works in the league office responsible for handing down punishments. Selanne was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in November.

“To play any game in the league is special,” Yandle said. “For me, I never take it for granted. You come to the rink and enjoy every moment of it, try to get better every day. To play any games in this league is a true honor for me.”

He’s played in 125 consective games for the Panthers since joining the team during the summer of 2016. Yandle has eight goals and 56 assists for Florida entering Friday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Yandle’s streak is the eighth-longest in the history of the league, and he could catch Henrik Sedin (679) within the next week.

“I think it’s good for the young guys to actually see, too,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. “As long as he’s played and how he prepares and what he does, and he’s had a great year for us. He’s been a steady, steady guy back there. It’s good to have guys like [Ian McCoshen] and [MacKenzie Weegar] and everybody to see that consistency in his game. I think that it’s infectious.”