Today in Hockey History: April 29 – Hockey Writers – Hockey History

Yesterday in Hockey History: April 28

Tomorrow in Hockey History: April 30

If you’re a fan of a good Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, then April 29 is your day. This date in the history of the National Hockey League has given us a lot of drama. Let’s take our daily trip back in time and enjoy all the good times you had on this date.

You Gotta Love Those Game 7s

On April 29, 1978, Lanny McDonald scored an overtime goal to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. The win was the road team’s first in the series as the home teams had won all six games up to that point.

Claude Lemieux was one of the clutch playoff players in NHL history. It seemed that whenever his team needed a big goal, he was there to provide it. He started the streak as a rookie on April 29, 1986. He scored an early goal in overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 victory against the Hartford Whalers in Game 7 of the Adams Division Final. He scored the first overtime goal in Game 7. Lemieux finished that postseason with 10 goals, including four game-winners, as the Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup. His 19 game-winning goals in the postseason are tied for third most in league history.

Goaltender Ken Wregget became a hero in Philadelphia on April 19, 1989. He was called into action when starter Ron Hextall was scratched in the last minute, due to injury, in Game 7 of the Patrick Division Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Wregget made 39 saves in a 3-1 win to advance the Flyers to the next round. His only exception was Mario Lemieux’s second-period goal.

On April 29, 1994, Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque became the Boston Bruins’ all-time leader in playoff games played with 146. He scored a goal to lead the Bruins to a 5-3 victory over the Canadiens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

On April 29, 1997, there was a trio of memorable Game 7s. In Buffalo, Derek Plante became the first NHL player to score the game-tying third-period and series-winning goal in Game 7. After drawing the Sabers even with the Ottawa Senators with 6:29 to play, he finished the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by scoring again in overtime.

Todd Marchant scored the game-winning goal at 12:26 of overtime and added an assist, as the Edmonton Oilers won Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals 4-3 over the Dallas Stars.

The final Game 7 that night was in the west as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim won their first playoff series in franchise history by beating the Phoenix Coyotes 3-0. Dave Karpa, Steve Rucchin, and Joe Sacco scored while Guy Hebert made 31 saves to earn his first shutout of the season.

On April 29, 2002, Chris Drury and Alex Tanguay scored 54 seconds apart to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Patrick Roy took 21^St the playoff shutout of his incredible career.

Ben Bishop took the field on April 29, 2015, making 31 saves in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round. Defensemen Braydon Coburn and Anton Stralman scored as the Lightning marched to their second Eastern Conference title in franchise history.

Odds & Ends

On April 29, 1965, Elmer “Moose” Vasko scored his second playoff goal (in seven seasons), and Doug Mohns had a goal and an assist in the third period to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory over the Canadiens in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Canadiens went on to win Game 7 two days later in Montreal. They won all four games played at the Forum in the series by a combined score of 15-2, including three straight shutouts.

Defenseman Pat Stapleton set a Blackhawks team record on April 29, 1973, when he assisted on all three of Chicago’s first-period goals in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately for him and his team, the Canadiens won the tournament 8-3.

On April 29, 1992, the Sabers set a team record with nine goals in a 9-3 win over the Bruins in Game 6 of the Adams Division Semifinals. Pat LaFontaine led Buffalo with two goals and two assists.

Dino Ciccarelli became the first player in NHL history to score a postseason hat trick for three different teams on April 29, 1993. After previously scoring hat tricks with the Minnesota North Stars and Washington Capitals, he did it again with the Red Wings. He lit the lamp three times on the power play in Detroit’s 7-3 win over the Maple Leafs in Game 6 of the Norris Division Semifinals.

Later that night, Greg Adams sent the Vancouver Canucks to the Smythe Division Finals with an overtime goal. His second goal of the night, 4:30 into overtime, gave the Canucks a 4-3 series victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 6 of their series.

The 1994–95 regular season ended on April 29, 1995, after the season started late due to a 103-day lockout by the owners. The Red Wings won the 1995 Presidents Cup defeating the Stars 4-2 on the day Sid Abel’s number 12 was retired. It reached the Stanley Cup finals before being defeated by the New Jersey Devils.

Benn Ferriero scored just one Stanley Cup playoff goal in his short NHL career, and it was a big one. April 29, 2011, his 24th^th Birthday, scored a goal in overtime to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the Red Wings in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Overtime wins were nothing new for the Sharks, at the time, as four of their five playoff games came in regulation.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a monster game for the Ottawa Senators on April 29, 2017. His second overtime goal was his fourth of the night in a 6-5 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 2 of their second-round series. His second goal of the night pulled the Senators within one goal with just over three minutes to play. He completed his hat trick by tying the game with just 1:02 left in regulation.

Andrei Vasilevskiy added another milestone to his career on April 29, 2021, when he won his 30th game of the season after shutting out the Dallas Stars 3-0. With the win, he became the first goaltender in Lightning history to have four straight 30-win seasons.

As Brad Marchand has already done many times in his career, he reached another milestone in 2021. This was the sixth consecutive 60-point season. With it, he became the first Bruin to do it since Hall-of-Famer Ray Bourque (13 seasons, 1981-94).

Shortly after recording his 10th game-winning goal of the season, Auston Matthews did it again in a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on April 29, 2021 when he scored 11, tying Tod Sloan (1955-56) for second in franchise history.

On April 29, 2022, Moritz Seider scored 50 points and became only the fifth defenseman to do so in the past 32 years. He joined Quinn Hughes (53, 2019-20), Cale Makar (50, 2019-20), Vladimir Malakhov (52, 1992-93) and Nicklas Lidstrom (60, 1991-92) in the feat.

That same night, the Arizona Coyotes played their last game at the Gila River Arena after 19 seasons as a resident. They played the 2022-23 season at Arizona State University (later named Mullett Arena) where they had a record of 21-15-5. In fact, most of their wins have come at home as they have only seven wins in the 4,600 capacity arena.

On April 29, 2023, John Tavares scored a goal in overtime and the Maple Leafs won a Stanley Cup Playoff series for the first time since 2004 with a 2-1 win over the Lightning in Game 6. Their last playoff series win came in seven games against the Senators in the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

That same night, the Rangers forced a Game 7 against the Devils with Chris Kreider scoring his 16th goal in a potential shutout, tying Mark Messier for the most in NHL history.

On April 29, 2024, the Panthers beat the Lightning 6-1 to advance to the second round of the 2024 Playoffs. Captain Aleksander Barkov led the way with a shorthanded goal, becoming the fifth player in Panthers history to score one in the playoffs.

happy Birthday to you

Former Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews turns 38 today. When he officially retires, there is no doubt that his number 19 will be hanging in the United Center. He won the Calder, Conn Smythe, and Selke Trophy to go along with captaining three Stanley Cup winning teams. He is sixth in scoring in Blackhawks franchise history, with 883 points and fifth with 1,067 games played.

Other notable players celebrating birthdays today are Serge Bernier (79), Doug Shedden (65), Bruce Driver (64), Jim Benning (63), Curtis Joseph (59), Dan Girardi (42), Brandon Dubinsky (40), Tristan Jarry (31), Radim Zohorna (30) and Jacob Larsson (29).

*Originally created by Greg Boysen