Top 10: Greatest playoff moments
Mark Messier's performance in the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs made him a legend on Broadway. (Canadian Press)2. With his team down 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils in the 1994 Eastern Conference final, captain Mark Messier guaranteed New York fans that the Rangers would win Game 6 and return home for the seventh and deciding contest. The Rangers not only won the game 4-2, but Messier backed up his bold prediction by scoring a hat trick.
3. Although he was one of the better defenceman of his era, the Edmonton Oilers' Steve Smith is best known for accidentally scoring on his own goal against the Calgary Flames during the second round of the 1986 playoffs. With the game tied 2-2 in the third period of Game 7, Smith attempted a pass from behind the net that hit goalie Grant Fuhr in the back of the leg and went in. The goal cost Edmonton a chance at a Stanley Cup three-peat.
4. Brett Hull's triple-overtime goal in Game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres won the 1999 Stanley Cup for the Dallas Stars, but it also sparked one of the most controversial moments in NHL history. Hull scored while his left skate was in the Buffalo crease, which was illegal at the time, but NHL officials allowed the goal to stand. The furor over the goal forced the NHL to change the rule the following year.
5. With the Leafs on the verge of advancing to their first Stanley Cup final in 26 years, Wayne Gretzky scored a hat trick to lead the Los Angeles Kings past Toronto in Game 7 of the 1993 Western Conference final. While the Kings lost the ensuing final to Montreal, Gretzky often pointed to that game as his finest NHL performance.
6. After playing for more than two decades with the Boston Bruins, Ray Bourque finally realized his dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche, who acquired the Hall of Famer a year earlier.
7. New Jersey Devils defenceman Scott Stevens had always been revered for his devastating bodychecks, but it was his hit on then-Flyers star Eric Lindros in the 2000 Eastern Conference final that really put him on the map. Stevens nailed Lindros with a vicious hit in Game 6 that gave the hulking centre another concussion and propelled the Devils to their second Stanley Cup title.
8. Playing in his first final, New York Islanders winger Bob Nystrom redirected a shot past Philadelphia Flyers goalie Pete Peeters in overtime of Game 6 to give the Islanders their first-ever Stanley Cup. Nystrom's OT winner in 1980 began an Islander dynasty that would see the franchise capture four straight championships.
9. In one of the most dramatic goals to end a playoff series, New York Islanders forward Pat LaFontaine beat Washington Capitals goaltender Bob Mason in the fourth overtime of Game 7. LaFontaine's goal ended the 1987 opening round epic just before 2 a.m. on Easter Sunday.
10. Game 6 of the 1996 Western Conference final between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings will long be remembered for a dirty hit that ignited a heated rivalry between the two clubs. In was during that contest that Claude Lemieux cross-checked Kris Draper into the boards from behind, leaving the Detroit forward with a broken jaw, nose and cheekbone, as well as a concussion.