June 13 NHL History
1995: The New Jersey Devils advance to the Cup Final for the first time in franchise history by defeating the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. New Jersey scores four consecutive goals after Jim Montgomery scores 4:05 into the first period to put the Flyers ahead 1-0. The Devils limit the Flyers to 16 shots on goal and score four times on 29 shots against Ron Hextall. It’s the first trip to the Final for a franchise that begins as the Kansas City Scouts in 1974 then moves to Denver two years later as the Colorado Rockies before coming to New Jersey in 1982.
2002: Brendan Shanahan scores twice and the Detroit Red Wings defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in Game 5 of the Final at Joe Louis Arena to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in six seasons. Tomas Holmstrom and Shanahan score in the second period to give Detroit a 2-0 lead. Carolina’s Jeff O’Neill makes it 2-1 late in the period, but the Red Wings limit the Hurricanes to five shots on goal in the third before Shanahan’s empty-netter puts the game away. Detroit coach Scotty Bowman puts on a pair of skates and takes a lap with the Cup after becoming the first coach to win it nine times, then announces his retirement.
2011: The Boston Bruins score four times in a 4:14 span of the first period and defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 in Game 6 of the Final at TD Garden, evening the best-of-7 series 3-3. Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ference and Michael Ryder give Boston a 4-0 lead before the midway point of the first period. Forward Mark Recchi, 43, has three assists to become the oldest player to have three or more points in an NHL playoff game, as well as the first player older than 36 to have more than two points in a game in the Final.
2014: The Los Angeles Kings end the longest game in their history with the best possible reward.
Defenseman Alec Martinez scores at 14:43 of the second overtime to lift the Kings to a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Staples Center, giving Los Angeles its second championship in three seasons. Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist makes a save on Tyler Toffoli’s shot but the rebound comes right to Martinez, who puts it into the net and then tosses his gloves and stick into the air in celebration.
It’s the second straight series won by an overtime goal from Martinez; his goal in Game 7 of the Western Conference Final against the Chicago Blackhawks gets the Kings into the Final after they play the maximum 21 games in the first three rounds.
“We made it a little hard on ourselves, but all you have to do is win,” Kings center Jeff Carter said. “It doesn’t matter how you do it.”
Los Angeles forward Justin Williams, who gives the Kings a 1-0 lead 6:04 into the first period, wins the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He has 25 points in 26 games, including seven points in the Final.
2015: Antoine Vermette’s go-ahead goal two minutes into the third period gives the Chicago Blackhawks a 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena. Vermette put the rebound of Kris Versteeg’s shot past Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop to break a 1-1 tie. Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford made 31 saves, including 26 in the final two periods.
