Just like I did with the first round, I have complied a list of what I believe are the 25 greatest moments in NHL playoff history that have happened in the second round.
I have defined the second round as the round of 8, which has been used since the 1968 playoffs, the first season of the "expansion era" where the NHL doubled from six to 12 teams.
So now that you know what qualifies as the second round, here are the top 25 second round moments in Stanley Cup Playoff history.
25. 2006-Sabres Short Hander
Buffalo right winger Jason Pomenville becomes the first player to end a NHL playoff series with a short-handed goal as he scores the overtime game-winner 2:26 into overtime of Game 5 of the Sabres' series with the Ottawa Senators, to give Buffalo a 3-2 win to clinch the series in five games.
24. 1968-First Playoff Penalty Shot Goal
23. 1977-Fastest Goal in History
Just six seconds into the start of Game 4 of the series between the Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins, LA right winger Don Kozak puts the puck past Bruins goaltender Gerry Cheevers for the fastest goal in Stanley Cup playoff history, to catapult the Kings to a 7-4 win.
The Kings would lose the series in six games.
22. 1983-Middleton Marvels
Bruins right winger Rick Middleton sets the record for most points in a Stanley Cup playoff series as he accounts for 19 points(5 goals, 14 assists) in Boston's seven-game series win over the Buffalo Sabres.
21. 2003-Wild and Crazy Debut
In just their third season in the National Hockey League, the Minnesota Wild made a memorable run as they overcome a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche in the first round as left winger Andrew Brunette scored the game-winner in overtime of Game 7 to end the career of Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy.
The Wild followed up that comeback with another comeback in the second round as they once again rallied from a 3-1 series deficit, this time to defeat the Vancouver Canucks as they outscored Vancouver 16-5 over the last three games, to become the first team in NHL history to win two playoff series in the same postseason after trailing 3-1 in the series.
20. 2015-Rangers Rally
In the second round of the 2014 playoffs, the New York Rangers came back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins.
One year later, the Rangers were in a similar predicament against the Washington Capitals, and once again came back from that deficit as New York center Derek Stepan scored the game and series-winning goal 11:24 into overtime of Game 7, for the 2-1 Rangers victory.
With their comeback against the Capitals, the Rangers became the first team to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win a series in back-to-back postseasons.
19. 1985-Chicago Choke
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| Tony McKegney scored two goals, including the game-tying goal, in the North Stars' 5-4 comeback win over the Chicago Blackhawks. |
It looked the Chicago Blackhawks were on their way to eliminating the Minnesota North Stars as they held a 4-0 lead midway through the second period of Game 5.
But the North Stars would come back to score four unanswered points to tie the game with left winger Tony McKegney scoring the equalizer with 3:17 to go in regulation, forcing the game into overtime where center Dennis Marak scored the game-winner just 1:14 into the extra period, to give Minnesota a 5-4 win, equaling the second greatest deficit overcome to win a NHL playoff game.
However, the Blackhawks would eliminate the North Stars with a 6-5 overtime win in Game 6.
18. 2002-Miracle at Molson
The Carolina Hurricanes were trailing the Montreal Canadians 3-0 after two periods in Game 4 at the Molson Centre in Montreal and were staring down at a 3-1 series deficit.
But the 'Canes scored three goals in the third period to force overtime with Carolina left winger Erik Cole scoring the tying goal with 41 seconds left, then winning the game when defenseman Niclas Wallin scored 3:47 into the overtime period to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 win and tying the series at 2.
Carolina would win the next two games by a combined score of 13-3 to advance to their first ever Conference Finals.
17. 1991-More Minnesota Magic
After the Minnesota North Stars stunned the Chicago Blackhawks, who finished with 38 points more than Minnesota in the regular season, the North Stars move on to the second round where they face with off the St. Louis Blues, who finished only one point behind Chicago in the regular season and were led by Brett Hull, who led the league with 86 goals during the regular season.
But once again the North Stars pull off the huge upset as they knock off the Blues in six games.
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| Mike Modano led the North Stars with seven points(3 goals, 4 assists) in their upset over the St. Louis Blues. |
16. 1984-Good Friday Massacre
The rivalry between the Montreal Canadians and Quebec Nordiques reaches a boiling point as fourteen fights, including two bench-clearing brawls, one toward the end of the second period and one before the start of the third period of Game 6, which was being played on Good Friday.
In all, 252 penalty minutes were issued and 11 players were ejected as the Canadians scored five goals in the third period to win the game 5-3 to eliminate the Nordiques in a game that became known as the "Good Friday Massacre".
15. 1976-Sittler Sizzles
Maple Leafs center Darryl Sittler ties a NHL playoff record as he scores five goals to lead Toronto a 8-5 win in Game 6 to force a Game 7 with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers, which the Flyers would win 7-3.
14. 1988-Sundstorm Scorches Capitals
Devils center Patrik Sundstorm breaks Wayne Gretzky's record of most points in a playoff game as Sundstorm accounts for eight points, 3 goals and 5 assists, to lead New Jersey to a 10-4 win in Game 3 of their series with the Washington Capitals which the Devils would win in seven games.
13. 2008-Stars Sink Sharks
Stars left winger Branden Morrow tips in Stephane Robidas' pass behind Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov for the game-winning goal, 9:03 into the fourth overtime period, ending the eighth longest game in NHL history to not only Dallas give a 2-1 victory over San Jose, but also earn a trip to the Western Conference Finals as they wrap up their series with the Sharks in six games.
12. 1988-Bruins End Curse of the Canadians
After 18 straight postseason series defeats, including six in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Boston Bruins win a playoff series over the Montreal Canadians as they knock off the Habs in five games, for their first series win against Montreal in 45 years.
11. 2009-Crosby and Ovechkin Duel
Two of the greatest players in the post-lockout era(that's since the 2005-06 season when the NHL came back after cancelling the previous regular season), Penguins center Sidney Crosby and Capitals right winger Alexander Ovechkin both score hat tricks in Game 2 of the Penguins-Capitals series, but is Ovechkin's team who comes with the 4-3 win as a second period goal from Washington center Dave Steckel proved to be the difference as the Capitals took a 2-0 series lead, only to have Pittsburgh come back to win the series in seven games.
10. 1971-Canadians Comeback
Entering their series with the Boston Bruins, the Montreal Canadians were heavy underdogs as the Bruins had finished the regular season with a then-record 121 points and had scored 399 goals, while Montreal's starting goaltender for the playoffs, Ken Dryden, had only played in six games entering the postseason.
It seemed the "Big Bad Bruins" were going to march to an easy series victory as they won Game 1 by the score of 3-1 and held a 5-1 lead in the second period of Game 2.
But the Canadians would come back with six unanswered goals, five of them in the third period with the game-winner coming courtesy of left winger John Ferguson with 4:37 left in the third period which was followed by Frank Mahovlich's insurance goal with 72 seconds left to give Montreal a shocking 7-5 win.
The comeback was the turning point in the series as the Canadians would go on to upset the Bruins in seven games.
9. 2017-Quack Attack
The Edmonton Oilers seemingly had Game 5 of their series against the Anaheim Ducks locked up as they lead 3-0 with 3 1/2 minutes to go in the third period.
That is when the Ducks took out goaltender John Gibson for an extra attacker and were able to score two goals in 35 seconds to cut the lead to 3-2 with 2:41 to go in regulation.
Then, the Ducks tied the game when Anaheim right winger Richard Rackell scored on the equalizer with 15 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
It would take more than one overtime period for the Ducks to complete their miracle comeback as Corey Perry notched the game-winner 6:57 into the second overtime period, giving the Ducks an improbable 4-3 win and a 3-2 series lead.
The Ducks would win the series in seven games.
8.1989-Super Mario
Heading into Game 5 of their series against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Penguins were not sure their superstar center, Mario Lemieux, would play because of a sore neck.
Lemieux did play and all he did was tie five NHL playoff records as with most goals in one period(4 in the first period), most points in one period(4 in the first period), most assists in one period(3 in the second period), most goals in one game(5) and most points in one game(8) to lead the Penguins to a 10-7 win, giving them a 10-7 win over the Flyers.
However, the Flyers would win the next two games to win the series.
7. 2003-Mighty Duck Marathon
Anaheim left winger Petr Sykora scores the game-winning goal, 48 seconds into the fifth overtime period of Game 1 of the Mighty Ducks' series against the Dallas Stars, to end the fourth longest game in NHL history as the Ducks win 4-3, on their way to a six-game series win over the Stars.
6. 1996-Yzerman's Blue Line Bomb
Early in the second overtime of a scoreless Game 7 with the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings center Steve Yzerman steals the puck from Blues center Wayne Gretzky(yes, Gretzky played for the Blues)in the center of the ice and proceeds to skate into the St. Louis zone where he fires a shot toward the goal from the blue line, which is 60 feet from the goal.
Amazingly, the puck bounces off the post and into the net for the game-winning goal as the Red Wings win the game 1-0 and move on to the Western Conference Finals.
5. 1993-Isles Shock Pens
The two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins were excepted to roll to their third straight Stanley Cup as they complied 119 points during the regular season, which a record 17-game winning streak.
The Penguins won their first round series over the New Jersey Devils in five games and were heavy favorites against the New York Islanders, who had finished 32 points behind Pittsburgh, with 87 in the regular season.
The pesky Islanders forced a Game 7 in Pittsburgh where in overtime with the game tied 3-3, left winger David Volek put the puck past Penguins goalie Tom Barrasso to give New York a shocking 4-3 win, ending the Penguins' dreams of a three-peat.
4.1986-The Own Goal
The fact that the Edmonton Oilers, the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions and had finished the regular season with 119 points, were in a Game 7 with the Calgary Flames, who finished with 89 points, was pretty shocking, but it wasn't shocking as what happened in the third period.
With 14:49 to go in regulation and the game tied 2-2, Edmonton rookie defenseman Steve Smith had the puck behind his goalie Grant Fuhr's net, when Smith tried to make a pass, only to have it bounce off the leg of Fuhr and into the back of the net for a Flames goal.
While Calgary's Perry Brazen was credited with the goal, the "own goal" proved to be the difference as the Oilers lost 3-2, marking the first time they would not be in the Finals since 1982.
3. 2000-5 Overtimes on 5/5
Actually the headline is a bit of a misnomer as the game began on May 4th, but Game 4 between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins doesn't end until 2:30 in the morning on May 5th, 12:01 into the fifth overtime period when Flyers center Keith Primeau's wrist shot beats Pittsburgh goalie Ron Tugnett, ending the third longest game in NHL history as the Flyers win 2-1.
Philadelphia would win the next two games to win the series.
2. 1975-Islanders Come Back From The Dead
After losing Game 3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, it seemed like the season was over for the New York Islanders as were down 0-3 in the series.
But the Islanders stormed back to win the next three games, forcing a Game 7 back in Pittsburgh where the Islanders' captain, Ed Westfall, scored the only goal of the game on a backhander with 5:18 to go in the third period, to give New York the 1-0 victory and complete the shocking comeback as the Islanders became the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to win a series after being down.
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| Islanders goaltender Chico Reisch stopped all 30 shots in New York's Game 7 win to complete their comeback from a 0-3 series deficit. |
The Islanders would be the last team to accomplish this feat until 2010 when...
1. 2010-Broad Street Bounce Back
The Philadelphia Flyers became the third team in NHL history to come back from 0-3 deficit to a win playoff series as they rallied back to beat the Boston Bruins.
The comeback began with a 5-4 overtime win in Game 4 as Philadelphia left winger Simon Gagne scored the game-winner 14:40 into the extra period, which was followed by a easy 4-0 win in Game 5, and then a 2-1 win in Game 6, to force a Game 7 back in Boston, where it looked like the Flyers' comeback was running out of gas as they fell behind 3-0 just 14 minutes into the game.
However, the Flyers slowly chipped away at the lead with a James van Riesmdyk goal in the first period, and two Philly goals in the second period to tie the game going into the third period, where Gagne scored on a power play with 7:08 to go, which proved to be the game-winner as the Flyers won the game 4-3 to complete their historic comeback.
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