May 14 NHL History
2003: Jean-Sebastien Giguere ties a playoff record with his third consecutive shutout

THIS DATE IN NHL HISTORY: May 14

1977: The Montreal Canadiens end perhaps the most dominant season in NHL history when Jacques Lemaire scores his second goal of the game at 4:32 of overtime for a 2-1 victory against the Bruins at Boston Garden, completing a four-game sweep in the Final to win the Stanley Cup for the 20th time. Lemaire’s goal ends a season when Montreal goes 72-11-12 (60-8-12 for an NHL-record 132 points in the regular season, 12-3 in the playoffs) and outscores its opponents 441-194.

1985: Paul Coffey sets a single-game playoff record for a defenseman with six points in the Edmonton Oilers’ 10-5 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 5 of the Campbell Conference Final at Northlands Coliseum. Coffey finishes the night with one goal and five assists. The goal and three of the assists come during a stretch of seven straight goals that blow the game open. Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri each score twice for the Oilers, who outshoot the Blackhawks 51-23.

1993: The Pittsburgh Penguins’ bid for a third straight Stanley Cup championship ends with a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders in Game 7 of the Patrick Division Final, stunning the sellout crowd at the Civic Arena. David Volek, who enters the game without a goal in the 1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs, scores his second of the game at 5:46 of overtime for the win. The Islanders split the first six games of the series and lead 3-1 with less than four minutes to play in Game 7. However, Ron Francis scores at 16:13 and sets up Rick Tocchet’s tying goal with 60 seconds remaining to force overtime. The Penguins have the better chances in OT until the Islanders get a 2-on-1 break. Ray Ferraro sends a perfect pass to Volek, who beats Tom Barrasso for the win, putting New York into the Wales Conference Final. It’s the Islanders’ last playoff series victory until they defeat the Florida Panthers in six games in the 2016 Eastern Conference First Round.

1995: Massachusetts native Bill Guerin helps the New Jersey Devils win the final game at Boston Garden, a series-clinching 3-2 victory against the Bruins in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Guerin, a star at Boston College before coming to the League, scores New Jersey’s first goal and sets up Valeri Zelepukin’s game-winner early in the third period. Bruins center Adam Oates is the last player to score a goal on Garden ice when he beats Martin Brodeur at 15:19 of the third period.

2003: Jean-Sebastien Giguere ties a playoff record with his third consecutive shutout in the Anaheim Ducks’ 4-0 win against the visiting Minnesota Wild in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final. Giguere finishes with 35 saves and Paul Kariya scores twice in the second period for the Ducks. Minnesota’s Jacques Lemaire makes some history of his own by becoming the first in NHL history to coach 100 Stanley Cup Playoff games after playing in 100 or more postseason games.

2008: Mike Modano becomes the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in Stanley Cup Playoff history when he scores a goal in the Dallas Stars’ 3-1 victory against the visiting Detroit Red Wings in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final. The goal gives Modano 145 points, one more than Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios.

2010: The Philadelphia Flyers become the third team in NHL history and the first in 35 years to win a playoff series after losing the first three games when Simon Gagne’s power-play goal with 7:08 remaining in the third period gives them a 4-3 victory against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

After overcoming a 3-0 lead in the series, the Flyers rallied after allowing the first three goals in Game 7. The Bruins become the third team to lose a series after winning the first three games and the first since the Calgary Flames in 1991 to surrender a three-goal lead in Game 7. Milan Lucic scores twice in Boston’s three-goal first period, but goals by James van Riemsdyk, Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere before the midway point of the second period make it 3-3.

Gagne puts Philadelphia in front when he beats Tuukka Rask with the Bruins playing down a man after receiving a bench minor for too many men.

“After Game 1, and even after 3-0 tonight, we could have quit,” Gagne said. “We just said, ‘Let’s put one in and you never know what happens.’ We got a couple of goals to tie the game in the second, and after that the game was right there for both teams. Fortunately, they took a penalty and we were able to score on the power play.”

The Flyers join the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders as the only teams to win a series after trailing 3-0; the Los Angeles Kings join that group in 2014.

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