The timing was essentially perfect for Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns Thursday night, as he reached yet another milestone.

Burns, 40, played in his 911th straight game last night — he last missed a game in November of 2013 — passing former teammate (and Canes legend) Patrick Marleau for sole possession of the fifth-longest iron man streak in NHL history.

And not only that, but the veteran defenseman reached the milestone in San Jose, the place where he made his mark as one of the NHL's top blueliners.

Burns played 11 seasons in San Jose, playing in 798 regular season games and registering 172 goals and 594 points alongside winning a Norris Trophy as well as a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

He and Marleau, who retired in 2022, were teammates on the Sharks for eight of those seasons (572 games).

Thursday night, Burns returned to San Jose as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, helping lead the Canes to a 3-1 victory and their eighth consecutive win.

The bearded blueliner was traded to Carolina in the summer of 2022 and has since stayed as a top pairing defenseman for the Hurricanes even as he continues to age.

Burns led all Hurricanes skaters in ice time (22:09) and had an assist on Sebastian Aho's eventual game-winning goal.

According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Canes outchanced San Jose in Burns' 5v5 minutes 21-9 and the team controlled an expected goals percentage of 81.79%.

And per HockeyStatCards, Burns had the highest game-score impact Thursday night as well.

There have been ups and downs to Burns' play this season, but since returning from their two-game Canadian road trip out of the 4 Nations break, he's been playing at a consistently high level.

Even as he crests over the hill, the veteran is still able to log big minutes thanks to his commitment to health and training. He's still one of the most fit players on the team and I wouldn't be surprised to see him tack on a few more seasons after this one.

Burns has the chance to continue to climb the iron man ranks this season, now sitting just three games back of Gary Unger (914 games) for the fourth-longest streak in league history.

If he wants a shot at the top-3 though, he'll need to continue to play through next season.

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