Some of the National Hockey League’s “Original Six” teams made postseason memories on this date. However, there are plenty of the league’s newer franchises that made their mark on Stanley Cup Playoff history on April 23, as well. Let’s begin our daily trip back in time to relive all the best moments.
A Big Date in Detroit Red Wings History
The Red Wings can fondly look back on this date as they not only won a Stanley Cup on it, but one of their greatest players in franchise history left rewrote the record books.
The Red Wings hosted the New York Rangers, in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, at Olympia Stadium, on April 23, 1950. Jim McFadden knotted the game at 3-3 late in the second period, which was the final goal scored for quite some time. After finishing up the final 26 minutes of regulation without a goal, the two teams needed a second overtime to decide a winner.
Pete Babando, who his first goal of the postseason earlier in the contest, beat goaltender Chuck Rayner to win the Stanley Cup 8:31 into the second overtime session. This was the first-ever Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final that was decided past regulation, and it remains the only one to reach a second overtime period.
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Fast forward 46 years to April 23, 1996, and the Red Wings are in Winnipeg to take on the Jets in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Center Sergei Federov tied a team playoff record by picking up four assists in the 6-1 win to give the Red Wings a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Speaking of team playoff records, on April 23, 2002, Steve Yzerman became Detroit’s all-time leading postseason scorer. He scored a goal and added an assist in a 4-2 win at the Vancouver Canucks, in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals to break Gordie Howe’s Red Wings’ record of 158 playoff points.
Yzerman retired with 70 goals, 115 assists, and 185 points in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He remains the Red Wings’ all-time leader in goals and points, but Nicklas Lidstrom passed him up with 129 postseason assists.
More Memories for Wayne Gretzky
While Wayne Gretzky is most remembered for his time with the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, he had a pair of big games for other teams on this date. On April 23, 1996, he had three assists as the St. Louis Blues beat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs to give the Blues a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference Quarter-Final series.
One year later, Gretzky was playing for the Rangers as they hosted the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. He set an NHL record by scoring the ninth postseason hat trick of his legendary career. The natural hat trick came within a span of 6:23 of the second period and was all New York needed for a 3-2 win. All three goals came at the expense of former Rangers netminder John Vanbiesbrouck.
Lightning Strikes Thrice
On April 23, 1992, the Tampa Bay Lightning named Terry Crisp the first head coach in franchise history. He was just three years removed from winning the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1989. He went 142-204-45 before being let go 11 games into the 1997-98 season.
Crisp was behind the Lightning bench when they hosted the Philadelphia Flyers, on April 23, 1996, for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. A record crowd of 28,183 was in attendance at the ThunderDome in St. Petersberg, FL. Unfortunately, they left disappointed as John LeClair scored a pair of power-play goals in the Flyers’ 4-1 victory.
On April 23, 2004, Nikolai Khabibulin shut out the Montreal Canadiens, 4-0, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Just 15 days earlier, he blanked the New York Islanders in the first game of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. With his performance against the Canadiens, Khabibulin became the first goaltender to record a shutout in Game 1 of back-to-back playoff series in the same year. He had five shutouts that postseason as the Lightning went on to win the Stanley Cup.
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Bob Baun scored one of the most memorable goals in Maple Leafs’ playoff history on April 23, 1964. His shot from just inside the blue line fluttered past goaltender Terry Sawchuk to give Toronto a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. Baun scored the goal with a broken bone in his leg suffered by blocking a shot from Howe in the third period. The Maples Leafs won Game 7 to clinch their third straight Stanley Cup.
On April 23, 1972, Hockey Canada announced an eight-game series between the best Canadian-born NHL players and the Soviet National Team. The two national teams played their epic set of games, known as the “Summit Series,” later that September.
The Minnesota North Stars named Herb Brooks their head coach on April 23, 1987. He became the first and only Minnesota native to coach the North Stars. He only spent the 1987-88 season behind the bench and was relieved of his duties after a disappointing 19-48-13 record.
Kevin Stevens of the Pittsburgh Penguins became just the third player in NHL history on April 23, 1991, to score the game-winning goals in three straight games of the same playoff series. His third game-winner came in a 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 4 of the Patrick Division Final.
One year later, Scotty Bowman made history when he led the Penguins to a 6-4 decision over the Capitals in Game 3 of the Patrick Division Semifinals. The win was the 115th in Bowman’s career, putting him past Al Arbour for the most in NHL postseason history. Mario Lemieux factored in on all six goals, scoring three of them and earning assists on the other three.
On April 23, 1994, Tony Amonte scored four goals in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 5-4 win over the Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. He joined Denis Savard as the only Blackhawk to score four goals in a playoff game. Savard’s big night also came at the expense of the Maple Leafs in 1986.
The Canadiens set a new NHL
record on April 23, 1998, with an overtime win in Pittsburgh. Benoit Brunet
scored to beat the Penguins 3-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference
Quarterfinals. It was Montreal’s 14th straight postseason overtime
win.
Patrick Roy became the first NHL goaltender to record 20 career playoff shutouts on April 23, 2002. The historic blanking came in a 1-0 win over the Kings in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. He finished his career with 23 career Stanley Cup Playoff shutouts, one behind Martin Brodeur for the most in league history.
Related: Patrick Roy: A Legendary Legacy
On that same night, Blues’ netminder Brent Johnson shut out the Blackhawks 1-0 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. He became the first goaltender in NHL history to earn a shutout in each of his first three career postseason victories.
It wasn’t all bad news on
this date for the Capitals. On April 23, 2018, they eliminated the Columbus
Blue Jackets with a 6-3 win in Game 6 of their first-round series. They became
the first team in league history to win a best-of-seven matchup after losing
the first two games in overtime on home ice. The momentum from those four-straight
wins carried over as the Capitals went on to win their first Stanley Cup in
franchise history that June.
On April 23, 2019, the San Jose Sharks knocked the Vegas Golden Knights out of the first round in one of the most controversial and memorable Game 7s ever played. The Sharks were down 3-0, midway through the third period, when Cody Eakin was given a five-minute major for cross-checking.
The Sharks scored four times on the major power play to take a 4-3 lead. Logan Couture scored twice, with Tomas Hertl and Kevin Leblanc adding to the onslaught. Jonathan Marchessault forced overtime in the final minute of regulation before Barclay Goodrow ended the series late in the extra session. San Jose overcame a 3-1 series deficit for the first time in franchise history.
Kirill Kaprizov added to his impressive rookie season on April 23, 2021, when he scored the seventh power-play goal of his young career in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. With it, he set a franchise rookie record.
On April 23, 2022, Anthony DeAngelo set the Carolina Hurricanes record for assists by a defenseman in a single season with his 41st.
On that same night, David Pastrnak hit the 500-point plateau in only his 508th game. Only Bobby Orr (396 games) and Ray Bourque (484 games) did it in fewer games in Bruins history.
To continue the theme of 500, Joe Pavelski hit 500 assists in his career in a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on this date in 2022.
Quinn Hughes hit a milestone of his own on April 23, 2022, as he set the Vancouver Canucks record for assists by a defenseman in a season with his 56th. Unfortunately, it came in a loss as his team fell to the Flames 6-3.
Finally, to close out the night, Anze Kopitar grabbed his 700th assist against the Anaheim Ducks in a 4-2 win. He became only the second player in Kings’ history to do so, joining Marcel Dionne (757) in the feat.
Happy Birthday to You
Tony Esposito leads a talented group of players who are celebrating birthdays today. The Hall of Fame goaltender recorded the sixth and final playoff shutout of his career on April 23, 1982, in a 2-0 Blackhawks win over the Blues, in Game 6 of the Norris Division Finals.
Other notable players born on this date include Gregg Sheppard (74), Reggie Leach (73), Wayne Merrick (71), Ryan Walter (65), Claude Julien (63), Alain Chevrier (62), Patrick Poulin (50), Willie Mitchell (46), Pat Maroon (35), Matt Tennyson (33) and Sheldon Dries (29).
*Originally constructed by Greg Boysen