The Top 10 Overtime Goals in NHL Playoff History

Originally published in Rinkside in 2007

By Lucas Aykroyd

Although NHL fans have embraced the excitement of using shootouts to decide regular season games after overtime, it’s highly unlikely that penalty shots will ever replace the traditional unlimited sudden-death format of the playoffs. There are just too many once-in-a-lifetime plays, pulse-pounding marathons, and memories of joy and heartbreak that have accumulated since Montreal’s Odie Cleghorn became the first post-season OT scorer with his 4-3 winner versus the Seattle Metropolitans on March 30, 1919. So let’s save the elimination shootouts for the Olympics and IIHF World Championships. This is a different tradition.

Admittedly, playoff overtime is tough on the eyes. You can end up bleary-eyed from staying up late to watch a triple-OT thriller, or from celebrating an unexpected win. You can weep your eyes out after your team allows a softie versus an underdog opponent. Or you can simply pick your eyeballs up off the carpet after one of hockey’s superstars makes an incredible move at supersonic speed and tallies the decisive sudden-death goal.

But you’ll surely agree it’s all worthwhile as you check out Rinkside’s countdown of the top 10 overtime goals in playoff history.

Now, you may not agree with every goal that made the list, or the ranking order. Likely, you’ll question the absence of some of your favorites. Overall, we’ve aimed to feature goals that had special significance or value beyond being a deciding goal. So, Detroit fans, that’s why you won’t find Pete Babando’s weak, screened backhander from 1950 or Tony Leswick’s dump-in from center ice that deflected in off Doug Harvey’s glove in 1954, even though both OT goals gave the Wings the Stanley Cup in a seventh game. Applying similar logic, we’ve excluded Henri Richard’s 1966 Cup-clincher for Montreal against Detroit, where the puck bounced in off his body.

Let the countdown (and the arguments) begin.

10. THE MIRACLE ON MANCHESTER

Imagine trailing 5-0 against one of the most talented teams ever and rallying for a 6-5 overtime victory. That impossible-sounding scenario became reality for the Los Angeles Kings on April 10, 1982 when rookie winger Daryl Evans tallied the winner versus the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers 2:35 into OT in Game Three of the Smythe Division semi-finals.

After Doug Smith won the faceoff in Edmonton’s end, Evans got the puck and drove it over Grant Fuhr’s shoulder, giving the Kings a 2-1 series lead. This miraculous climax to the greatest comeback in NHL playoff history occurred at the old Fabulous Forum on L.A.’s Manchester Boulevard. The Kings would ultimately win the best-of-five series 3-2.

Evans had been called up for the last 14 games of the regular season after playing for Kings coach Don Perry the year before with the IHL’s Saginaw Gears. The 21-year-old Toronto native enjoyed a great post-season start, too. “In the first game against Edmonton, I got a lot of ice time, played the power play, had two goals and two assists, and we won the game 10-8,” he recalled. In this era of wide-open hockey, anything could happen, even though the Oilers had finished 48 points ahead of L.A., with Gretzky racking up a league-record 212 points.

If the Kings hadn’t responded to Perry’s exhortation to go out and win the third period of Game Three when trailing 5-0 after two, Evans never would have become a hero: “I was ejected for fighting with 9:56 left in the third period, along with some other players who got 10-minute misconducts for standing around and watching. The only way I could get back in the game was if we did go to overtime. Guys like Jerry Korab and Mike Murphy started to take their gear off in the dressing room, and I remember still sitting there with my gear on, hoping we might get back into it.” Steve Bozek tied the game with five seconds left in regulation.

Evans believes that wiping the smirks off the faces of Edmonton coach Glen Sather and his young, talented crew actually benefited the Oilers long-term: “That one little step backwards really straightened them out. They probably learned more from losing that series than they would if they’d won it.” Edmonton would win five Stanley Cups between 1984 and 1990.

9. A PENNSYLVANIA EPIC

The longest overtime game in modern-day NHL history was settled on a nice goal by a guy who had historically underachieved in the playoffs. In his tenth NHL campaign, Keith Primeau had recorded 20 goals or more in the regular season five times, but had only scored seven times in 78 post-season games, despite spending much of that span with powerhouse Detroit teams. However, the hulking 28-year-old center earned a special place in the hearts of Philadelphia Flyers fans for what he did against their Pennsylvania rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in Game Four of the 2000 Eastern Conference semi-finals on May 4, 2000.

In the fifth overtime, Primeau powered down right wing, cut inside on Pittsburgh defenseman Darius Kasparaitis, and flung a high shot from the faceoff circle past Ron Tugnutt for the winner at 12:01.

In a way, it was a merciful end. The teams were totally exhausted at 2:35 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The only two previous longer overtimes were Detroit’s 1-0 win over the Montreal Maroons on a Modere “Mud” Bruneteau goal on March 24, 1936 (116 minutes and 30 seconds) and Toronto’s 1-0 victory over Boston on a Ken Doraty goal on April 3, 1933 (104 minutes and 46 seconds). This win helped the Flyers to a six-game series triumph, though they fell to New Jersey in the Conference Finals.

Primeau finally shook his reputation as a playoff dud for good in 2003-04, when his 16 points in 18 games led Philly to the conference finals versus Tampa Bay.

8. BURE’S BEAUTY

Hoping to rally from a 3-1 series deficit in the NHL playoffs is like investing all your money in precious metals: you might strike it rich occasionally, but usually you’ll pay the price. So the circumstances for Pavel Bure’s spectacular sudden-death goal versus Calgary in Game Seven of the 1994 Western Conference quarter-finals on April 30, 1994 made it all the more golden.

The Flames, heavily favoured to oust the Canucks, had grabbed a 3-1 series lead. But then Vancouver rallied with back-to-back overtime victories on goals by Geoff Courtnall and Trevor Linden. In Game Seven’s first extra session, Vancouver goalie Kirk McLean made a jaw-dropping pad save on Robert Reichel, whom Theoren Fleury set up on a 3-on-1 rush.

Bure’s clincher at 2:20 of the second overtime was pure artistry. Dave Babych sent a D-to-D pass to Jeff Brown at Vancouver’s blueline, and Brown sprang the “Russian Rocket” through the neutral zone with a perfect feed. Skating at warp speed, Bure split the Calgary defense, deked out netminder Mike Vernon, and put the puck in before throwing away his stick and gloves in sheer ecstasy. The Canucks marched on to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell to the New York Rangers in a classic seven-game struggle.

The most talented right wing in Vancouver history scored 437 regular season and 35 playoff goals in his NHL career, but none was more memorable than this one.

7. ONE GREAT SHOT

In 1988, many hockey observers expected the Stanley Cup to remain in the Canadian province of Alberta, but favored the Calgary Flames to win it all, instead of the defending champion Edmonton Oilers.

Wayne Gretzky had scored “only” 149 points for the Oilers that year, his lowest total since his rookie campaign. There was also a perception that Edmonton’s defense lacked skill and depth after Paul Coffey was traded to Pittsburgh in November 1987 (although that seems silly retrospectively with guys like Kevin Lowe, Steve Smith, and Marty McSorley on board). The Flames, meanwhile, were on the rise, with a league-best 105 points and career seasons for Hakan Loob, Mike Bullard, and Gary Suter.

But you should never count Gretzky out, and the Great One proved why on April 21 in Game Two of the 1988 Smythe Division finals, scoring his greatest overtime goal ever in a wild “Battle of Alberta” tilt.

The Oilers led the series 1-0 after the Saddledome opener, but Calgary had a huge chance to tie it up when Mark Messier took a penalty in the extra frame in Game Two. That wasn’t to be. Masterfully opportunistic, Gretzky got behind the Calgary defense in the neutral zone, raced down left wing over the blueline, and unloaded a perfect slapshot over the Mike Vernon’s glove for the 5-4 winner at 7:54. Afterwards, he told the Calgary ice makers that they could “take the ice out,” meaning the series wasn’t coming back to the Saddledome. He was right. Edmonton swept Calgary in four straight games and proceeded to claim its final Stanley Cup of the Gretzky era.

6. SUDDEN-DEATH HILL

Scoring a playoff hat trick is always special, but the kind Mel Hill achieved shortly before World War II was and remains absolutely unique. The Boston winger is the only NHLer ever to score three overtime winners in one playoff series. Sure, there are plenty of overtime games in today’s NHL (20 in 2006 alone), but it could be decades before we see Hill’s feat repeated (considering Daniel Briere was the only guy to notch two OT goals last year, in two different series).

The 25-year-old Manitoban’s goal in Game Seven of the semi-finals versus the New York Rangers had something in common with his previous ones from the first two games: it was set up by future Hart Trophy winner Bill Cowley. Midway through the third overtime, Hill parked himself in front of the net and banged home Cowley’s pass from the corner. After this, he would always be known as “Sudden-Death Hill.” Boston’s Milt Schmidt called this April 2, 1939 epic “the greatest game he ever played in.” The Bruins, also buoyed by the great goaltending of rookie Frank Brimsek, went on to beat Toronto for the Cup in five games.

5. ONE HULL OF AN ENDING

The last Stanley Cup victory of the 20th century was also the most controversial. Both Dallas and Buffalo fans will never forget where they were when Brett Hull scored on Dominik Hasek at 14:51 of triple overtime to give the Stars their first championship on June 19, 1999.

“The Golden Brett,” who would finish his career as the League’s third-highest goal-scorer of all time with 741, had never won a Cup before either. But all the talk was about how his left skate was planted in the crease when he capitalized on the rebound. By a strict interpretation of the NHL’s crease violation rule at the time, many people felt the goal should have been disallowed. But Ken Hitchcock’s Dallas troops poured off the bench to celebrate, and the Sabres never got the review they wanted. For Buffalonians, this Game Six tragedy was even more bitter than the four straight Super Bowl losses the NFL’s Bills suffered earlier in the 1990’s.

“I don’t understand what the video judge is doing,” Hasek beefed afterwards. “Maybe he was in the bathroom. Maybe he was sleeping. Maybe he doesn’t know the rule.”

The rule was removed the following year, and in 2002, Hasek and Hull found themselves teammates with the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings. Was that awkward?

“We talked for about two minutes one off-day in Colorado and, other than that, we’ve never talked about it,” Hull said. “What are you going to say?”

4. TRIPLE-OVERTIME SPECIAL

This goal was so good that Igor Larionov later named his wine company after it: Triple Overtime. Detroit’s legendary Russian center, at age 41, became the oldest player ever to score in the Stanley Cup Finals in Game Three versus Carolina in 2002. After tallying once in regulation, he picked up the puck in the 65th extra minute, cleverly sifted past Carolina defenders, and lifted a backhander over Hurricanes netminder Arturs Irbe. Detroit never looked back after this 3-2 win on June 9, capturing the Cup in five games with a roster stacked with future Hall-of-Famers.

“This, I think, is the biggest goal of my career,” Larionov told reporters afterwards, saying it outstripped his opening marker in the Soviet Union’s 8-1 thrashing of Canada in the 1981 Canada Cup final.

3. THE LAST GOAL HE EVER SCORED

After the Challenger shuttle disaster in 1986, President Ronald Reagan quoted a poem called “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. during his eulogy to the deceased astronauts. It said in part: “I have slipped the surly bonds of earth…to touch the face of God.” Those sentiments could easily have been echoed in Bill Barilko’s case.

In the unique 1951 Stanley Cup Finals, where every game was settled in overtime, the 24-year-old defenseman from Timmins, Ontario pinched in during the first sudden-death period of April 21’s Game Five and slammed a high shot over Montreal goalie Gerry McNeil. He flew through the air after tripping over a teammate’s skate, and then the celebration was on.

Tragically, Barilko didn’t fly high for long. Just over four months later, he boarded a small plane piloted by a friend in Northern Ontario after a fishing trip. The plane crashed, and the wreckage was only found in 1962. The Tragically Hip, a well-known Canadian rock band, paid tribute to this forever-young hero in their 1992 song “Fifty-Mission Cap.”

2. DAWN OF A DYNASTY

If you adhere to the strictest definition of “dynasty” (winning three straight titles), then the New York Islanders are the last true NHL dynasty, with their four Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983. But until Bob Nystrom’s famous OT Cup-winner versus the Philadelphia Flyers at Nassau Coliseum on May 24, 1980, it seemed the men from Long Island would always be known as talented choke artists. Despite boasting stars like Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, and Denis Potvin, they had been eliminated in the semi-finals four out of the five previous years.

Nystrom, a gritty Swedish-born, Western Canada-trained winger, changed all of that at 7:11 of sudden-death in Game Six. Rushing toward the Philadelphia net, he stuck out his stick and tipped a feed from John Tonelli past Pete Peeters. Jubilation was mingled with relief for the Islanders, who had squandered a 4-2 lead in the third period. “We had to do it the hard way,” Nystrom told Sports Illustrated. “For the past three years we’ve been doing things the hard way. Did you really think we’d change now?”

1. NUMBER FOUR FLIES

Likely, the 1970 Stanley Cup-winning goal wouldn’t be so famous if there wasn’t that incredible photo of Bobby Orr flying through the air after ousting the St. Louis Blues. But the photo exists, and nobody will ever forget what the great Boston defenseman (to some, the greatest hockey player of all time) did in a 4-3 win on May 19, 1970.

Orr converted a give-and-go play with Derek Sanderson, who was stationed behind the goal line. The Parry Sound native made a beeline for the front of the net and buried the puck past goalie Glenn Hall, just 40 seconds into overtime. Almost simultaneously, Blues defenseman Noel Picard tripped Orr, who joyfully realized he had completed Boston’s four-game sweep before he hit the ice.

“Honest, I really don’t know how it went in,” Orr told reporters afterwards. He didn’t need to explain it. Some magical overtime goals simply transcend words.

Five More Fabulous Finishes

May 18, 1986: Brian Skrudland scores the fastest overtime goal in NHL history, giving the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames in Game Two of the Finals.

April 18, 1987: In quadruple overtime, Pat LaFontaine tallies the 3-2 winner versus Washington’s Bob Mason to lift the New York Islanders to victory in Game Seven of the first round.

April 16, 1991: At 6:58 of overtime, Esa Tikkanen’s slapshot beats Mike Vernon to give Edmonton a 5-4 triumph over Calgary in the first round.

May 14, 1993: David Volek of the New York Islanders scores to eliminate the defending champion Stanley Cup Penguins in sudden-death in Game Seven of the second round.

June 10, 2000: Jason Arnott scores in double overtime for the New Jersey Devils, who win their second Stanley Cup with a 2-1 Game Six victory over Dallas.