The Chicago Blackhawks are chasing history.

How close they are to making it is a matter of interpretation.

The 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers hold the NHL record for most consecutive games without a regulation loss: 35 games, beginning on Oct. 14, 1979 and continuing until March 2, 1980.

The Blackhawks have opened this season with 24 straight games with at least a point, itself a record for the most successful start in NHL history. But if you take it back to last season, Chicago has actually gone 30 regular-season games without a regulation loss, spanning back to March 27, 2012.

[Also: Carcillo’s last-minute goal extends Blackhawks’ points streak to 24 games]

So are they six games away from breaking the record, using the combined mark from 2011-12 and 2012-13? Or is the Flyers’ record only attainable in a single season?

According to the NHL Guide and Record Book, the only team records – winning, losing and undefeated streaks – that the League officially recognizes are the ones compiled within a single season.

The League designates those streaks from the start of the season, like the Blackhawks' current points streak that blew away that of the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers.

So if there's any debate about how to tabulate the Blackhawks' record, the NHL confirms this is how it sees things: If Chicago plays 36 games this season without a regulation loss, they own the record. But it has to be within a single season.

With that, we can all get back to debating whether the streak's validity is threatened because of three ties, right ESPN?

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