THIS DATE IN NHL HISTORY: April 25
1964: Johnny Bower becomes the first goaltender in playoff history to have a shutout in Game 7 of the Final by making 33 saves in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 4-0 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at Maple Leaf Gardens. Andy Bathgate, acquired from the New York Rangers two months earlier, scores the Cup-winning goal 3:04 into the game, and Toronto puts the game away in the third period when Dave Keon, Red Kelly and George Armstrong score. The Stanley Cup is the third in a row for the Maple Leafs.
1972: Bobby Orr has three assists in the Boston Bruins’ 5-3 road victory against the St. Louis Blues in Game 4 of the Semifinals, completing a four-game sweep. Orr finishes the first two rounds of the playoffs with 15 assists, the most ever by a defenseman in one playoff year. He breaks the mark set by Pat Stapleton of the Chicago Blackhawks and J.C. Tremblay of the Montreal Canadiens one year earlier.
1985: Wayne Gretzky has the second seven-point playoff game of his career. Gretzky scores three goals and sets up four more to power the Edmonton Oilers to an 8-3 victory at the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 to complete a sweep of the Smythe Division Final. He scores two goals in the first period, then completes his hat trick with a shorthanded goal into an empty net midway through the third. Three of his four assists come on goals by Jari Kurri. Gretzky matches the single-game record he set two years earlier.
1989: Mario Lemieux puts on arguably the greatest offensive performance in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs
Lemieux ties playoff records by scoring five goals and finishing with eight points, powering the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 10-7 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of the Patrick Division Semifinals at the Civic Center.
Lemieux scores three goals in the first 6:55, setting a playoff record for the fastest three goals from the start of a game. He scores his fourth of the game at 17:09 of the first period, tying the record for the most goals in a period, and matches the record for most goals in a playoff game with five when he scores an empty-net goal with 37 seconds remaining. Lemieux also has three second-period assists; his eight points tie the single-game playoff record set by Patrik Sundstrom of the New Jersey Devils one year earlier. His five goals tie the mark set by Maurice Richard and equaled by Darryl Sittler and Reggie Leach.
“I’ve had a lot of great games,” he says, “but under a lot of pressure like that, a key game for the team, I think that was one of the best.”
1996: Mike Gartner completes the first playoff hat trick of his career when he scores 7:31 into overtime to give the Maple Leafs a 5-4 victory against the Blues in Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals at Maple Leaf Gardens. Gartner scores once each in the first and second periods, then gives Toronto the victory by scoring a power-play goal against Jon Casey.
2008: The Penguins rally from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Rangers 5-4 at Mellon Arena in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Rangers enter the game with a 93-1 record when leading by three or more goals in a playoff game, having lost only to the Canadiens on April 6, 1967. The Penguins win for only the second time in 48 playoff games in which they trail by three or more goals.
Exactly one year later, they do the same thing against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to win 5-3.
2012: Joel Ward scores at 2:57 of overtime to lift the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 win against the Bruins at TD Garden in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Washington coach Dale Hunter becomes the first person in NHL history to score a Game 7 overtime goal and coach a team to a Game 7 overtime victory. Washington and Boston become the first teams to play a seven-game series in which every game is decided by one goal.
2016: The Chicago Blackhawks’ hopes of repeating as Stanley Cup champions are ended by one of their former players. Troy Brouwer’s third-period goal gives the Blues a 3-2 victory against the visiting Blackhawks in Game 7 of their Western Conference First Round series. Brouwer, a member of Chicago’s 2010 Cup-winning team, scores his first playoff goal in 24 games, since May 8, 2013. The Blues advance past the first round for the first time since 2012.
