The Top 10 Stanley Cup Playoff Upsets In NHL History

#10 Mighty Ducks deny stacked Red Wings of a chance at second straight Cup- 2003 Western Conference Quarter-Finals

The 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs has some wild moments. Another first round series from 2003 is bound to make this list. However, we will talk about this one to start. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are one of the many example of a team going on an unexpected playoff run.

In 2002-03, the aforementioned team from the Los Angeles metropolitan area were trying to form into a respectable franchise. After they ironically lost in the first round to Detroit in 1999, Anaheim missed the playoffs for the next three seasons. In the process, three different men claimed the role as the bench boss.

In the offseason, the franchise hired Mike Babcock as head coach. The move payed off immediately as he led the Ducks to their first ever 40 win season. The team had some talent such as Petr Sykora, Steve Rucchin, and an aging but still effective Adam Oates. The main face of the franchise however was Paul Kariya, the teams’ first ever entry draft pick.

Kariya had another superstar like campaign, posting 25 goals and 56 assists for 81 points, which was more than enough to lead the team in scoring. Sykora led the team in goals with 34. However, even with the names I mentioned, the backbone of the team was the starting netminder, Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Giguere, had a fantastic regular season, posting a .920 save percentage and 8 shutouts, good for second in the NHL that year. More on him later. Detroit on the other hand, was coming off a championship from the previous year. They still had their embarrassment of riches on the roster.

The team was littered with hall of fame talent. Steve Yzerman led a group that consisted of Sergei Fedorov, Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios,  Nicklas Lidström, and Igor Larionov. They even featured a young Pavel Datsyuk, who was in his second season, and a rookie by the name of Henrik Zetterberg.

Because of the amazing roster of skaters, along with the steady goaltending of Curtis Joseph and Manny Legace, the Red Wings were able to finish first in the Central Division and obtained 110 points in the regular season. Everyone expected the Wings to sweep the floor with the Ducks, go on another deep run, and win a second straight Stanley Cup.

When the series began, it was clear that Anaheim was not going to be satisfied with just making the playoffs, especially one man. Remember Jean-Sebastien Giguere? He captivated the NHL with his amazing playoff performance. He stood on his head and became an example of a hot goalie carrying a team.

In game 1, Brendan Shanahan scored on the power play just 4:15 into the contest. The goalie took that blow and ran with the rest of the series, Adam Oates tied the game in the late stages of the first frame and it remained tied. Overtime was needed to decide a winner. It didn’t take until the third overtime for the deadlock to be broken when Paul Kariya gave Anaheim the first win.

In game 2, Giguere gave up 2 goals in the second period and stopped everything else. Jason Krog and Steve Thomas would end up giving the Ducks their second and third goals in the game to give them a 3-2 win. Anaheim led 2-0 in the series.

When the series shifted to the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, the Ducks fed off their home crowd. Samuel Pahlsson and Stanislav Chistov scored to put Anaheim up 2-0. A late goal by Tomas Holmström wasn’t enough to mount a comeback. Anaheim stood on the verge on sweeping the the champs. In game 4 Steve Rucchin scored the series winner in overtime to send Detroit home. They would end up making the Stanley Cup Final before falling to New Jersey.

#9: Minnesota North Stars take down blistering Blackhawks offense- 1991 Norris Divison Semi-Finals

The 1990-91 Minnesota North Stars and their Cinderella run is a cautionary tale for top teams to never overlook their early playoff opponents. By all measures, this run should’ve never happened. Minnesota finished the regular season with a losing record. To be exact they had a 27-39-14 mark, which was just one spot ahead of last place in the Norris Division.

This was beginning of Bob Gainey’s long stint with the organization as both a head coach and later as the general manager with the team. In his rookie season as a head coach, his squad wasn’t too impressive in any major statistical category. The North Stars were in the bottom portion of the league when it came to scoring goals as they placed 15th.

Their defense was pretty decent as they ranked 10th in goals against. Minnesota had a small collection of good players on the team as Dave Gagner had the best season of his carrer, putting up 40 goals and 42 assists. Brian Bellows and Brian Propp has over 70 points during the regular year.

Neal Broten was a good passer of the puck and set up teammates for scoring opportunities. Ulf Dahlén and a 20 year old Mike Modano scored 21 and 28 goals respectively. However, even though they had some good players, it wasn’t even close to how loaded the Chicago Blackhawks were.

The team in Chi-town were the best team in the NHL in ’91. They had a loaded squad that featured Jeremy Roenick, Steve Larmer, Chris Chelios, Michel Goulet, Steve Thomas, and the man who posted the best save percentage for starters in the league that year, Ed Belfour.

The Blackhawks were a juggernaut to say the least. The very controversial Mike Keenan led the aforementioned group to a 106 point mark. It was the most successful regular season for the team since the NHL adopted the 80 game schedule in 1974-75.

This amazing year gave them the top spot in the Clarence Campbell Conference. Favoring the Blackhawks even more in this series, was the fact that in the prior season, they eliminated these same North Stars in seven games. So prior history was not on Minnesota’s side.

At the start of game 1, things were appearing in the way that everyone expected. Thirteen seconds end, Jeremy Roenick scored to give Chicago the early advantage. However, things took a turn a bit after as Dave Gagner and Brian Bellows found Mark Tinordi and Neal Broten for two consecutive power play goals. Then, Chicago would seize momentum as Doug Wilson scored a power play goal of his own near the end of the first frame to tie it.

Then Dirk Graham gave the Blackhawks the 3-2 lead nine minutes into the second. In the third period, Neal Broten notched his second goal of the game to tie six and a half minutes in. In overtime, Minnesota was on the man advantage again and Brian Propp had ended the contest at the 4:14 mark.

In games 2 and 3, the Blackhawks returned the blow that received in game 1. Roenick turned up his play as he scored a goal and assisted on three others in game 2. When the series shifted to the Metropolitan Sports Center in Minnesota, the North Stars blistered out of the gate, as they scored 5 goals in the first period. However, they would take their foot off the gas pedal and collapsed at home. Chicago would dominated in the last two periods and would ultimately win 6-5, giving them a 2-1 series lead.

In game 4, the North Stars would shake off the recent collapse and put together a great all around effort. In the second period the team created a three goal advantage as Neal Broten, Mike Craig, and Mark Tinordi all pitched in. Starting goalie Jon Casey would backstop their way to a 2-2 series tie when he stopped 16 of 17 shots against.

Game 5 saw the North Stars put out their best performance yet, shutting out the opponent and blowing them out in the process, winning 6-0, embarrassing Chicago’s stingy defense. In game 6, Minnesota closed out the series as they won 3-1. Brian Bellows had a part in all three goals scored and they shocked the best team that year.

The North Stars continued their Cinderella run, making to the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Penguins in six games. Although Chicago was embarrassed here, they would go on to make the Stanley Cup Final the next season. They would sweep two playoff series in the process before getting swept themselves against the Penguins.

#8: 14 win Chicago Black Hawks shock Toronto- 1938 Stanley Cup Final

Like I stated in part one, I wanted to try and stay away from the Original 6 era and before as much as possible. However, few exceptions had to be made and this is one of the few. The 1937-38 Chicago Black Hawks arguably had the greatest playoff in the pre Original 6 era and this has to be included on the list.

Coming into the 1937-38 season, Chicago was regarded as one of the worst teams in the small league. After winning the franchises’ first cup in 1934, they had collapsed. The next two years saw them get eliminated in the Quarter-Finals round. Then in 1936-37, they finished in last place in the American Division with a 14-27-7 record.

In 1937-38, the Black Hawks were led by a new head coach in Bill Stewart. The new bench boss did little to change the fortunes of the team, at least in the regular season, as they finished two points ahead of Detroit for last place in the American Division. This was good enough enough to squeak into the postseason.

In the postseason, the Black Hawks got to the Stanley Cup Finals by going through Montreal in the Quarter-Finals, then the New York Americans in the Semi-Finals. Both of those series were in a best of three format and both went the distance. The best thing Chicago has going for them was leading scorer Paul Thompson, who was the only 20 goal scorer on the roster.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s opponent in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Toronto Maple Leafs were expected to destroy the Black Hawks. Toronto was such an overwhelming favorite that NHL president Frank Calder gifted the Stanley Cup to the Leafs before the series started.

They had finished 20 points better then Chicago in the regular season standings and they had a huge collection of Hall of Fame talent. This included Gordie Drillon, Syl Apps, Red Horner, Busher Jackson, and the team’s netminder, Turk Broda.

There were a few notable events that happened prior to the start of the series. Chicago goalie Mike Karakas was out for game 1 because of a tow injury he sustained in the Semi-Finals. So to compensate, Toronto allowed the Black Hawks to used their own minor league goalie, Alfie Moore. Moore was in the IAHL playing for the Pittsburgh Hornets. He came in for game 1 and played well, helping Chicago clinching a 3-1 win. Captain Johnny Gottselig scored twice including one on the power play.

Game 2 saw Toronto dominate as Gordie Drillon and George Parsons scored two goals each and they tied up the series with a 5-1 win. Game 3 saw the return of Mike Karakas in net for Chicago. He ended up playing with a steel toe guard in his skates to protect his injured toe. He would end up winning game 3 for them as Carl Voss and Doc Romnes scored put them up 2-1 in the series.

In game 4, the hockey world witnessed the completion of a shocking result. In Chicago Stadium, the Black Hawks ended up clinching the Stanley Cup when they won 4-1. Mike Karakas played in the title clinching game. However, since Frank Calder gave the Cup to Toronto before the series started, it wasn’t presented to the Black Hawks after they won the game. Big mistake.

The 1938 Black Hawks remain the team with the worst winning percentage among all Stanley Cup champions. It would quickly seem like a fluke though. The very next season saw them finish with another subpar record of 12-28-8. They missed the postseason.

#7: Montreal comes back from 3-1 deficit against Washington- 2010 Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals

The Washington Capitals have had a long and frustrating history of playoff disappointment’s. Being a Caps fan has been nothing but torture. The franchise wasn’t taken seriously in the postseason until they finally broke through and won the Stanley Cup in 2018.

Tons of people expected them choke time and time again and many point to this series in particular as the pinnacle of Capitals coming short in the playoffs. This could be regarded as the worst playoff loss in the teams’ 47 season history.

The 2009-10 Washington Capitals enjoyed their most successful regular season in franchise history. They finished 54-15-13 for a total of 121 points. This culminated in winning the relatively garbage Southeast Division and the President’s Trophy.

The talent of the team is already well-known. Of course, they had franchise faces Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Each registered 100 point seasons and Ovechkin had his typical 50 goal season. However, the Caps had a good supporting cast that featured Mike Green, Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich, and Thomas Fleischmann. They also got solid goaltending from Jose Theodore, Semyon Varlamov, and even Michal Neuvirth.

The Habs meanwhile weren’t as deep in their lineup when compared to their first round playoff opponent. The top three centers were also the three leading scorers as Tomas Plekanec, Scott Gomez, and Mike Cammalleri each tallied at least 50 points. Brian Gionta, though was the team’s leading goal scorer with 28.

Montreal also had a good goaltending tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price. Both of them played almost equally throughout the regular season as Halak played 45 games and Price played 41 games. Because of the goaltending and a defense that was nearly in the top 10 in goals against, it was reasonable to think an upset was possible.

The Capitals, as they’ve been for many years, were the top offensive team in the league. Scoring goals at incredible rates was their plan for success. Throughout the first four games of the series they did just that. In game 1, Montreal stole home ice from Washington, at least for the moment, when Thomas Plekanec scored in overtime to give the Canadiens a 3-2 win.

Jaroslav Halak, who would get the starting nod over Carey Price, preformed capably, as he stopped 45 of 47 shots against him. However, over the next three games, the Canadiens seemed to have fallen apart defensively. In game 2, Washington won 6-5, which included an overtime winner of their own, coming from the stick of Nicklas Backstrom.

When the series shifted to Montreal for the next two meetings, the offensive onslaught continued for the Capitals. In the second period of game 3, the Capitals flipped the switch after a scoreless opening frame. A shorthanded goal by Boyd Gordon ignited 3 more goals to put Washington up 4-0. The game was effectively put away after that period and the Caps would take the 2-1 series lead.

In game 4, Carey Price was subbed in to the starting duties for Montreal but that didn’t change anything. The Capitals would end up winning the contest 6-3 to put themselves on the brink of advancing to the second round. Everyone expected the series to end in game 5 when the Caps went back home. However, that would not be the case. The Canadians buckled down, only allowing one goal to Alex Ovechkin in the third period. Halak who came back in, made 37 saves as he backstopped Montreal to a game 5 victory.

In game 6, Mike Cammalleri continued his great performance by scoring two goals in the opening period. Montreal would win 4-1 and suddenly a firm grip hold on the series for Washington suddenly turned into a do or die game 7 at home. In game 7, Halak would have an amazing performance , saving 41 shots against him. A power play goal by Marc-Andre Bergeron late in the first and a Dominic Moore wrist shot in the third period gave Montreal a 2-0 lead. They would eventually hold on to win the series in seven games.

Montreal would eventually make a run to the Eastern Conference Finals. They would get through the Pittsburgh Penguins in another seven game series in the second round. However, their magic would end with the next series against the Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

#6: Sharks Get First Playoff Series Win Ever Against Detroit- 1994 Western Conference Quarter-Finals

For some reason, when it comes to expansion NHL teams, they blossom in their third year of existence. There are several examples of this happening including one right here. The San Jose Sharks came into the NHL for the 1991-92 season and needless to say, they were terrible. Usually expansion teams don’t really do well in their first few years and there was no exception with the Sharks.

Throughout their first two campaigns, they were the worst team in the NHL. Their play was so bad that to this day, those early iterations of San Jose are regarded as one of if not the worst teams ever to grace NHL ice. Through the first two years they only won a combined 28 games. However, for year three, they decided to make a couple of changes. Kevin Constantine took over as head coach and Bob Errey became the team captain.

The addition of Constantine immediately payed dividends as the Sharks jumped up to the middle of the pack in goals against. The franchise also brought in some new blood for the 1993-94 season. Sergei Makarov arrived and provided the team with some much needed offense as he became their leading scorer with 68 points.

There were also the additions of Igor Larionov, Todd Elik, Jeff Norton, and a young Ray Whitney. Each contributed in making the sharks a somewhat deep team. The team also saw growth from young guns such as Sandis Ozolinsh, Johan Garpenlov, and Pat Fallon. The Sharks also saw young Russian goalie Arturs Irbe develop into a capable starter. So the team improved a lot in regards to the roster.

With these additions the Sharks jumped up to 33 wins. This was good enough to get them into a playoff spot for the firs time ever. They’re reward? Well, the had to go up against the Detroit Red Wings. It was here where the Wings were starting to develop into a true contender. After years of mediocrity in the 70s’ and 80’s, Detroit had turned things around, as they started to sprinkle hall of fame talent throughout the roster.

Obviously, the Wings were led by Steve Yzerman, who was in the prime of his career. He had plenty of help. Sergei Fedorov had his best year with120 total points. Detroit also had Ray Sheppard, Paul Coffey, Slava Kozlov, Dino Ciccarelli, Keith Primeau, Nicklas Lidström, Vladimir Konstantinov, Steve Chiasson, and Chris Osgood.

They were a blistering team offensively as they scored the most goals in the league. It’s also important to note that the 1993-94 season was also the first for the great Scotty Bowman as head coach of the Red Wings. Even though San Jose had a rapid improvement, Detroit was expected to sweep the Sharks easily. It wasn’t even close when comparing the two teams on paper.

The idea of a sweep would quickly be proven wrong. In game 1, the Sharks quickly ran their way to a 3-0 first period lead. The second period was dominated by Detroit as they brought themselves to within one. They would eventually tie it in the third but the Sharks scored a few more goals to win 5-4.

Detroit would win the next two games in the series. This would include a 4-0 shutout in game 2. In games 4 and 5 San Jose would score a combined 10 goals and put the Wings on the brink of elimination. However, in game 6 Detroit would end up manhandling the confident Sharks by a score of 7-1.

In a do or die game 7 the Sharks would end up getting the upper hand. Jamie Baker would end up breaking a 2-2 tie in the third period. The Sharks would hold on to win game 7. Arturs Irbe was the main catalyst in this stunner as he played great in goal when the Sharks needed him to. San Jose would end up losing in the semi-finals to Toronto seven games. Detroit would end up going through a few more years of playoff frustration before finally starting their true dominance in 1997 with a Stanley Cup.

#5: Minnesota Wild Ends Era in Colorado- 2003 Western Conference Quarter-Finals

Hey look! It’s another team that reaches unbelievable heights in their third season of existence. This time we are talking about the Minnesota Wild. In 2002-03 the incumbent Wild had already gained the affection of the Minnesotans. They had quickly forgotten about the bitter departure of the North Stars although they went through typical expansion team woes.

Led by Jacques Lemaire as head coach, Minnesota had surprisingly found themselves in a playoff spot at the end of the regular season. They finished the year with a record of 42-29-10-1 for a total of 95 points. As far as their roster is concerned it was really thin talent wise.

The main weapon for the Wild was winger Marian Gaborik who was growing into a superstar in the NHL. In the regular season, he tallied 30 goals and 35 assists for a total of 65 points. However, the rest of the team was lacking of any offense. There were some notable names on the team like Pascal Dupuis, Andrew Brunette, Wes Walz, Sergei Zholtok and an aging Cliff Ronning.

The biggest reason to Minnesota’s success however was the two goaltenders. Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson posted phenomenal numbers. Roloson was the starter and nabbed a .927 save percentage while Fernandez posted a .924 save percentage. It is safe to say they were a defensive oriented team as they gave up the fourth fewest goals in the league.

Colorado was a completely different story. While Minnesota was filled with grinders and players who were considered spare parts of other teams, Colorado had an array of hall of fame talent. Joe Sakic was still in town along with Peter Forsberg, who had the best season of his career. Rob Blake was the main man on the backend. Derek Morris, Greg de Vries, and Adam Foote were also mainstays for the defense group. Milan Hejduk, Alex Tanguay and Steve Reinprecht were also main contributors.

Patrick Roy was nearing the end of his career but was still great. He played in 63 games that year and had a stupendous .920 save percentage and 5 shutouts. Even though the Wild had a great defense they weren’t expected to even compete with the Avalanche. Although the Wild won game 1 by a score of 4-2, Colorado would win the next three games to put Minnesota on the brink. Events were happening the way people saw them happening.

However, it seemed as if Colorado took their foot off the gas or Minnesota raised their level of play. Facing elimination in game 5, the Wild played a great road game. In the first period a young Willie Mitchell scored to give his team a 1-0 lead. After the end of the second, they added onto their slim lead. Filip Kuba scored on the power play and they Pascal Dupuis netted his first of the series to put the Wild up 3-0. Colorado would surge on a late charge but it would not be enough as they lost 3-2.

In game 6, Richard Park would end up getting his moment in the sun. After two scoreless periods, Park and Marian Gaborik would end up getting the Wild a two goal lead. The Avalanche would storm back to tie it and overtime was needed. At the 4:22 mark of the first overtime, Richard Park would score on a breakaway and win it for Minnesota to force a game 7.

In the final game, both teams alternated goal during the second and third periods. After regulation, the game was tied at two. For the second straight contest, overtime was needed to determine a winner. Nearly three and a half minutes into overtime, Andrew Brunette skated into the offensive zone, got past a few defenders and backhanded a shot past Patrick Roy for the series winner.

The Wild would end up getting past Vancouver in the second round. Once again they were down 3 games to 1 and they would come back to clinch that series. The miracle run would end against Anaheim in the Western Conference Finals. They got swept. This would be Patrick Roy’s last series as he would retire shortly after and the dominance of the Avalanche came to an end.

#4: Rat Throwing Panthers Take Down Feared Flyers- 1996 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

Okay, this is the last time we’re going to talk about a third year expansion team making believers in the playoffs. However, you can’t see a list of the greatest playoff upsets and expect the 1996 Florida Panthers to be excluded. Unlike other expansion teams, the Florida Panthers had immediate success as a franchise.

During the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, their first two as a franchise, the Cats performed capably. They were a single point shy of reaching the playoffs in both years. However, no one could’ve imagined what would’ve happened in year three.

The team started the year by firing inaugural head coach Roger Nielson. This was a very controversial move at the time as Nielson had laid the groundwork for Florida’s great defensive structure. In his place, Doug MacLean stepped in as the bench boss. Just like with the 2003 Minnesota Wild, the team was mostly made up of grizzled veterans.

Of course there was captain Brian Skrudland who became the heart and soul of the team. The Panthers also sported Rob Niedermayer, Robert Svehla, Jody Hull, Dave Lowry, Johan Garpenlöv, Stu Barnes, Bill Lindsay, Tom Fitzgerald, Gord Murphy and rookie defenseman Ed Jovanovski.

However, the main backbone of the team was goalie John Vanbiesbrouck. When examining his career, it is easy to say that his best hockey was with the Panthers, even though he had won a Vezina Trophy with the Rangers. The man known as “Beezer” was the first major face of the franchise.

The player that would give the calling card to the team that year was Scott Mellanby. Right before the team’s first home game, a rat found it’s way into the cramped Miami Arena locker room. Mellanby in an effort to get rid of the fear in the room, hit the rat with his stick like a slap shot. The rat bounced of the wall and died. Then that same night against the Flames, he scored two goals while there were hairs of the rat stuck onto his stick tape.

The next morning in the Miami Herald, Vanbiesbrouck was quoted as describing the night for Mellanby as a “rat-trick”. A few nights later, a fan through a toy plastic rat on the ice and like that a tradition was born. By the time Florida made the playoffs hundreds of toy rats hit the ice after each goal was scored.

The Panthers quickly made work in the playoffs. In their first ever playoff series, they dispatched the Boston Bruins easily in the first round. They won the first three games before closing the series out in 5. Their second round opponent would be the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers were led by Eric Lindros who was the face of the franchise. In 1995-96, he had his best season scoring 47 goals and logging 115 points in the regular season. He was flanked by John LeClair and Mikael Renberg in what was know as the famous “Legion of Doom” line. There was also Rod Brind’Amour, Pat Fallon, Eric Desjardins, Joel Otto and starting goalie Ron Hextall.

In Philadelphia’s first round matchup, they took out the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Needless to say the Panthers had a lot to deal with in this matchup. In game 1, the Panthers made a big statement. In the CoreStates Spectrum, Florida made it a point that they wouldn’t get shoved around easily. Ed Jovanovski laid some big hits on Lindros and the Cats won 2-0 off of goals from Stu Barnes and Dave Lowry.

Philly would end up winning games 2 and 3 to take a 2-1 series lead. In game 4 at the Miami Arena, Rob Niedermayer scored two goals in the opening frame, including one on the power play. The Flyers would tie it up at 2 but then Florida regained the lead off a Stu Barnes goal with six seconds remaining in the second period.

After Mikael Renberg tied it up late in the third, the game had to go to overtime. Four minutes in the Panthers would tie up the series when Dave Lowry deflected in an Ed Jovanovski shot from the blue line. Game 5 was the same story. In a low scoring affair, Stu Barnes tied the game at 1 in the third period. The contest would not extend to one but two overtime periods. Eight minutes into the second overtime Mike Hough found a lose puck in front of a cluttered Ron Hextall and won it for Florida.

In game 6, the Cats dominated. They scored three unanswered goal to open the scoring sheet and would hold on to win 4-1. The Panthers eliminated the highly favored Flyers and went on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. They would advance to the Stanley Cup Finals before getting swept by Colorado.

#3: New York Islanders impedes Penguins Potential Three Straight Cups- 1993 Patrick Division Finals

As the Pittsburgh Penguins entered the 1992-93 season, they had only one thing in mind. That was to make history. The squad from the Steel City was on the verge of becoming only the third franchise since the expansion of 1967 to win three consecutive Stanley Cups. The first two were the Montreal Canadiens who won from 1975-75 to 1978-79 and the New York Islanders who won from 1979-80 to 1982-83. Bothe of those teams actually won four Cups in a row.

The Penguins were returning the main core back for another crack at the Cup. Of course, the two main guys leading the way were Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jágr. Accompanying those two with at least 90 points were Kevin Stevens, Ron Francis, and Rick Tocchet. Defenseman Larry Murphy was also able to net in an 85 point season from the backend. Joe Mullen and Shawn McEachern were also able to put up solid numbers.

Pittsburgh also had a great goalie tandem with Tom Barrasso as the started and Ken Wregget as the backup. Scotty Bowman was the head coach and the Pens would end up racing towards to the still best regular season in franchise history.  The team was in the top 5 for goals for and against. In the opening round, they took out the New Jersey Devils in five games, which included a 7-0 romp in game 2.

On the other side of the spectrum were the New York Islanders. They weren’t a bad team but they were mediocre at best and just squeaked into the postseason. The glory days of the 80s’ were long gone but legendary coach Al Arbour was still in charge of running the ship. The great thing about this group was they could score quite a ton. The finished 6th in total goals so they could match the Pens blow for blow on offense.

Their defense was fine. It was nothing amazing but it could get the job or limiting scoring chances done. Needless to say the defense was capable. The face of the team was high scoring centerman Pierre Turgeon who tallied 58 goals and 74 assists for 132 points. The forward core also consisted of several more options offensively.

This group included Steve Thomas, Derek King, captain Pat Flatley and Benoit Hogue. The backend also had a good amount of depth. Vladimir Malakov and Jeff Norton provided 50 point season and Uwe Krupp, Darius Kasparaitis, and Tom Kurvers provided some physicality and grit. The starting goalie spot was in good hands with Glenn Healy. In the opening round, New York took out the Washington Capitals in six games, which included three straight thrilling wins in overtime for the Isles.

When the series got started, the Islanders made many eyebrows raise when they went into Pittsburgh and stole a win. The game 1 victory included two shorthanded goals, one by Ray Ferraro, who by this point was on a tear in the playoffs, and Benoit Hogue. The final score was 3-2.

Pittsburgh would end up winning the next two games. Game 2 was a 3-0 shutout for Tom Barrasso. Game 3 would end up seeing the Pens take back home ice advantage in the Nassau Coliseum, winning the affair 3-1. Big guns Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis would score a goal each in the win.

In game 4, the Islanders would tie up the series at two games a piece. It was a high scoring contest that was tied at 5 in the third period before Derek King netted the winner at the 12:11 mark. In game 5, the Penguins put New York on the brink of elimination following a two goal performance from Mario Lemieux and a 6-3 win.

In game 6, Steve Thomas scored a power play and even strength goal. They would tie up the series and force a scary game 7 for the Penguins. Game 6 would end up in a 7-5 score and by this point I’m sure the Pens were a bit rattled and alarmed that the opposition was with them in a series  that should’ve been a cakewalk. Game 7 would end up going to overtime after the game was tied late by Rick Tocchet.

Just five minutes into the first overtime, David Volek would have his career defining moment as he scored in overtime to complete the upset. The Islanders won 4-3. In flash Pittsburgh’s potential dynasty would end and the superstar tandem of Lemieux and Jagr would never win a Stanley Cup again together. They would get close in 1996 but lost to the Florida Panthers again in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Islanders would lose to the eventual champion Montreal Canadiens in 5 games. They would only make the playoffs one more time during a dormant 1990s decade.

#2: LA Kings Miracle on Manchester- 1982 Smyth Division Semi-Finals

Up until recently this series was regarded as the greatest upset in postseason history and for good reason. The fact that this even happened still remains a mystery, especially for individuals like me who weren’t around to witness this.

In 1981-82, the Edmonton Oilers were entering their third season in the NHL after merging from the WHA a few years earlier. By the time this season had begun, the franchise put together an exciting young core of players. Wayne Gretzky was entering his fourth pro season and had tons of developing talent to ride along with him.

Individuals like Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, and Kevin Lowe. Each player was coming into their own and in 1981-82, the set the NHL on fire. In an era where scoring was at an all time high, the Oilers became the poster child for high octane 80s’ offense. They scored a league high 417 goals. The Oilers had finished first in the Clarence Campbell Conference and were considered a prime candidate to dethrone the Islanders as champions, if they reached the Finals.

Meanwhile, Edmonton’s first round playoff opponent was the Los Angeles Kings. The team had dipped in wins and had a lackluster regular season. They had gone down from 43 wins the previous season to 24 in this campaign. However, thanks to 15 ties, the Kings were able to generate just enough points to nab the last playoff spot in the Clarence Campbell Conference. There was a drastic difference of over 40 points between the two teams.

Now the Kings had some talent on their roster. There was a super young Larry Murphy on defense, Marcel Dionne, and Dave Taylor. Bernie Nicholls also came up from the minors and debuted on the NHL scene. However, this wasn’t enough to match the loaded roster the Oilers had. It wasn’t even close. This series should have seen Edmonton run away with a sweep. However, it didn’t happen that way.

Game 1 was just absolute insane. It was such a high scoring game. You would think teams in the playoffs would play harder on defense however not in this case. The game was at eight goals a piece in the third. Charlie Simmer would get the game winner at the 14:56 mark of the period and after an empty netter, the Kings won 10-8 and stole the first game. However, this wasn’t the game that LA shocked people.

Game 2, saw the a much more calmer outing and the Oilers would end up winning 3-2 in overtime to tie the best of five series. When the action shifted to the Great Western Forum, the Oilers had a chance to put the Kings on the brink of elimination. And two periods in, it looked like they would. The Oilers led 5-0. Then, the Kings would flip the switch and make the greatest single game comeback ever. A quick goal by Jay Wells started an onslaught by LA. They would score four unanswered goal to pull within one. With five seconds remaining Steve Bozek tied the game on the power play.

In overtime, the Kings would complete the comeback. Two and a half minutes into the first overtime, the Kings won a faceoff to the left of Grant Fuhr. Daryl Evans came over, took a slap shot on a loose puck and sent it past the future hall of fame goalie to win it 6-5. The shocking turn of fate became known as the “Miracle on Manchester”. Because of the furious comeback, the Oilers were on the brink of elimination.

Edmonton would tie up the series in game 4 to shift the action back to Edmonton for a do or die game 5. In the first period of the final game, Charlie Simmer got his team going with two quick goals and the Kings would never look back. They won the game 7-4, leaving the highly favored Oilers stunned. The Kings would lose to the Canucks in five games in the next round. For the Oilers there was a but of playoff frustration they still had to go through but they would become the dominant force in the NHL of the 1980’s.

#1: Columbus Blue Jackets Sweep Tampa For First Playoff Series Win- 2019 Eastern Conference First Round

The Tampa Bay Lightning might now be known as the current juggernaut in the NHL with back to back Stanley Cups. However, the summer before they won the first Cup, they were known for choking in the playoffs to an unexpected opponent.

In 2018-19, the Lightning tied the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings record for the most regular season wins with 62. However, another similarity is their inability to win in the postseason. At least, Detroit can say they made the Conference Final and lost to a team that was just as good as they were. The same can’t be said for the Lightning.

Tampa owned the winner of the Vezina and Hart trophies as Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nikita Kucherov dominated in their respective fields. They were a loaded group as they were joined by franchise icon Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Tyler Johnson, Yanni Gourde and others. Jon Cooper was the runner up in the Jack Adams award voting and they ran away with the President’s Trophy.

The Columbus Blue Jackets were a solid team. John Tortorella behind the bench led them to 47 wins. Artemi Panarin was the team’s superstar, and he had great teammates in Sergei Bobrovsky, Cam Atkinson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Seth Jones, and Zach Werenski. However, the Jackets were no where close to the depth that Tampa had, especially at center.

The Lightning were expected to sweep Columbus as they became a consensus pick to make a deep run in the postseason. As game 1 progress, things were looking that way. Tampa Bay had built a 3-0 first period lead off the back of Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli, and Yanni Gourde. But then, it seemed as if the Lightning tool their foot off the gas pedal. The Jackets scroed four unanswered goals to win 4-3.

After the collapse, the President’s Trophy winners were already dead in the water. The team didn’t even get off the bus for game 2. The Blue Jackets took a 2-0 first period lead and never looked back, winning 5-1 and taking a 2-0 series lead. Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 24 shots. When the series shifted to Nationwide Arena, the hits kept on coming.

After a scoreless first period, Matt Duchene started the second off with a band as he scored at the 1:44 mark. That immediately proved to be the game winner. Oliver Bjorkstrand cushioned the advantage with a power play goal and they would win 3-1.

In game 4, on the verge of making some stunning history, Columbus kept on piling goals against the best goalie in the league. Columbus would take a 3-1 lead but Tampa stormed back to tie the game. However, it wouldn’t be for long as Bjorkstrand immediately answered and it proved to be the game winning goal. They would add on three more empty netter and the sweep was official. The Blue Jackets had done to the Lightning what was expected to happen to them.

This was a massive embarrassment for the Lightning franchise. However this might have been a blessing for them as well. The shocking end to the 2019 season is what propelled them in the team they have been since. The Jackets would get knocked out of the playoffs the next round against the Boston Bruins in six games.