The Miracle on Ice.
The Washington Capitals' two big series-clinchers in their 2018 Stanley Cup run. The Boston Bruins' epic 4-1 Game 7 comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs. These are all examples of some of the greatest games in hockey history.
But is it time to add Sunday's Stadium Series encounter between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning to the history books? I say yes.
But what makes a game iconic? Is it a miraculous comeback? High stakes? A memorable moment that stands the test of time? All of these?
Let's think of some examples using these defining characteristics. Game 7 of the 2013 first round series between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs has a lot of the aforementioned characteristics. We see the miraculous comeback in the form of Boston erasing a 4-1 deficit in the final ten minutes of the game. The high stakes factor has an easy answer: whoever wins advances to play the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs. The memorable moment arguably belongs to Patrice Bergeron's overtime goal to complete the comeback and etch Game 7 into the history books for both the right and wrong reasons (Leafs fans I'm sorry).
A more recent example is the Winnipeg Jets' Game 7 triumph over the St Louis Blues in the opening round of last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite being down 3-1 with two minutes to play, a goal from Vladislav Namestnikov brought the Jets within a goal of the Blues before Cole Perfetti tipped a shot home with just under two seconds left in the game. The iconic moment and epic comeback both fit into that passage; Winnipeg would end up winning the game 4-3 in double overtime.
On to the 2026 Stadium Series. Heading into Sunday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins were both in different yet somewhat similar positions. On one hand, Tampa Bay was battling the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens for the lead in the Atlantic Division; a loss would bring Boston within three points of the Lightning for the division lead, while a win would give Tampa Bay a multi-game cushion over the second-place Detroit Red Wings. On the other, the Tampa Bay Lightning are firmly within the playoff picture while Boston is working on extending their advantage on the likes of the Florida Panthers for the final Eastern Conference playoff spots.
In all, the stakes were high heading into the Stadium Series.
But the chaos would begin as soon as the puck dropped.
Eleven seconds into the game, Brandon Hagel would give the Tampa Bay Lightning the early 1-0 lead off of a snap shot. That goal would go down as the fastest first goal in the history of NHL outdoor games.
Iconic moment? We already got it.
From there, the Bruins would almost completely dominate the next nineteen minutes of game time. With just under nine minutes to go in the game, Alex Steeves would tie the game at one after a Tampa Bay turnover, while Morgan Geekie would give the Boston Bruins the 2-1 lead just four minutes later. Then, with about two minutes left in the first period, Viktor Arvidsson would convert a Boston power play to make it 3-1 for the Bruins.
Almost two-and-a-half minutes into the second, Matthew Poitras - who was just called up to the Bruins' roster - would extend the Boston lead to 4-1. Morgan Geekie would make the score 5-1 with just about half of the game played.
But just as the game shifted to its second act, the momentum would almost entirely shift to Tampa Bay's side.
Just over halfway into the game, Oliver Bjorkstrand would score on the power play to give Tampa Bay some form of life and make the score 5-2.
Tampa Bay would remain on the power play due to subsequent roughing penalties accrued by the Bruins prior to the goal. But just thirty seconds post-goal, a scrum would start following a sequence in front of Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman's crease.
And yes, Jeremy Swayman got involved, pouncing on a Tampa Bay player like an actual bear (Bruins are bears). That drew the ire of Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who would handle the situation as well as you'd expect a superstar goaltender to handle it: in a goalie fight. Say what you will about who fought better, but I think Vasllevskiy dominated the fight, southpawing Swayman and keeping the Anchorage native well out of striking distance.
The Swayman vs Vasilevskiy tilt was the second goalie fight to occur in the span of about two weeks, the other fight being the Sergei Bobrovsky vs Alex Nedeljkovic bout in the Florida Panthers - San Jose Sharks game. These were the first goalie fights in the NHL since 2020.
Another iconic moment right there.
And by this point in the game, Tampa Bay had all the momentum.
Just after yet another penalty accrued by Jeremy Swayman, this one for putting the puck out of play on a clearance that looked more like an attempted ping pong serve than a hockey play, Tanner Jeannot would once again send Tampa Bay to the two-man advantage courtesy of an interference penalty off of a faceoff.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, lightning would strike twice to punish Boston for their infringements. That also took the form of Tampa Bay's two power play goals, scored by Darren Raddysh and Nick Paul. By now, Tampa Bay was within a goal of the Bruins and any advantage that the Bruins had in this game almost completely vanished.
Just over halfway through the third period, Nikita Kucherov would score on a slapshot to tie the game at five and formally erase Boston's lead.
Tampa Bay's push would continue in overtime. Despite seemingly scoring the game-winning goal, the Bruins would get called back for interference back in the Boston zone. A hooking call with just thirty seconds left in overtime would once again give Tampa Bay the power play, but they would ultimately be unable to convert their advantage.
In the shootout, Jake Guentzel would get the lone score to give the Tampa Bay Lightning the win over the Boston Bruins.
Comeback complete. Another part of my "iconic game formula."
The completed comeback would also represent the first time that Tampa Bay had come back from four goals down and won.
As a result of Tampa Bay's win, the Lightning would extend their lead on the Detroit Red Wings for the Atlantic Division lead (though the Red Wings would close that advantage with a 2-0 win over Colorado on Monday). While the Bruins would pick up the overtime point, their inability to pick up a second point meant that they would lose some ground on teams like the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets, all of whom are chasing Boston for the final playoff spot.
With the above in mind, it's definitely possible to classify the 2026 Stadium Series as iconic. From the four goal comeback to the goalie fight, fans should be able to look back on this game ten or fifteen years later and still be able to remember this game as one of the greatest games of all time.