Most interesting last day in regular season

[alko]

Where was decided about playoff teams, scoring winners etc...

What was the most interesting last day in the history?

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[brachyrynchos]

April 11 2010, Rangers vs Flyers, winner goes to the playoffs, loser goes home. Rangers had a 1-0 lead, Flyers tied it in the 3rd. Game ends up going to a shootout, with Brian Boucher making the save on Olli Jokinen for a Flyers 2-1 victory.
April 3 1988 the Devils needed to beat Chicago to make the playoffs. John Maclean ties it up for the Devils in the 3rd and went on to score the Overtime winner, the Devils made the playoffs for the first time.

 

[alko]

Peter Bondra scored 2 goals in the last game of 1997/1998 Caps regular season. Caps won 2:1, Bondra scored an PP and SG. It was his 51. and 52. goal and he tied Teemu Selläne in scoring race. But Finnish Flash had fewer games.

 

[Bexlyspeed]

2007 NY Isles (with backup goaltender Wade Dublywicz) Beat the devils in the shootout to knock out the rangers and leafs and make the playoffs.

 

[blood gin]

2007 NY Isles (with backup goaltender Wade Dublywicz) Beat the devils in the shootout to knock out the rangers and leafs and make the playoffs.

Was happy for the Isles that day. It was 2-0 forever and the Devils were just going through the motions. Game meant nothing for them. Then they scored two very late goals (one with what may have been 2 seconds left) to tie.

Dubliewicz looked like some IT tech support guy they threw pads on. He looked small, slow, overwhelmed, but somehow made the saves

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

2007 NY Isles (with backup goaltender Wade Dublywicz) Beat the devils in the shootout to knock out the rangers and leafs and make the playoffs.

Nope RANGERS were already in, they knocked the Habs and Leafs out.

 

[bobholly39]

In 2015 the art ross race going into the last game of the season had Crosby at 84 points, Tavares at 84 points and Benn at 83 points

as far as i remember Benn hadn't really been a favorite or in the lead for the art ross at any point in the season...just a quiet season near the leaders.

Going into the last game, Crosby was facing Buffalo (who was abysmal and being lit up every night). Tavares had a tougher last game (forget who). So the expectation was Crosby would easily put up multiple points vs Buffalo and likely distance Tavares.

In the end?

Crosby and Pittsburgh are shutout last game.
Tavares has 2 points
and Benn comes out of nowhere with 4 points to take the Ross

Lots of movement, and quite a bit unexpected, in the scoring race on the last day/game of the year. Was kind of cool.

 

[NewUser293223]

02/03?

From the Art, Maurice and maybe even Hart perspective, Foppa and Duke blacked Naslund's trophy shelf.

 

[mrhockey193195]

2007 NY Isles (with backup goaltender Wade Dublywicz) Beat the devils in the shootout to knock out the rangers and leafs and make the playoffs.

Nope RANGERS were already in, they knocked the Habs and Leafs out.

Yep, Habs and Leafs. Right after the Habs and Leafs played each other, and I think it was a 6-5 comeback win for Montreal? Epic game, both teams and their fans going beserk thinking that the winner was in, and the loser was out. And then the Isles decide - nope, you're both out!

 

[Bexlyspeed]

Nope RANGERS were already in, they knocked the Habs and Leafs out.

woops, I guess I let my hatred for the rags fog my memory : )

 

[Bexlyspeed]

In 2015 the art ross race going into the last game of the season had Crosby at 84 points, Tavares at 84 points and Benn at 83 points

as far as i remember Benn hadn't really been a favorite or in the lead for the art ross at any point in the season...just a quiet season near the leaders.

Going into the last game, Crosby was facing Buffalo (who was abysmal and being lit up every night). Tavares had a tougher last game (forget who). So the expectation was Crosby would easily put up multiple points vs Buffalo and likely distance Tavares.

In the end?

Crosby and Pittsburgh are shutout last game.
Tavares has 2 points
and Benn comes out of nowhere with 4 points to take the Ross

Lots of movement, and quite a bit unexpected, in the scoring race on the last day/game of the year. Was kind of cool.

I was at the game, it was Isles vs Columbus. it was a rough game, but we were sure Tavares had it sewn up.
the last regular season game at Nassau Coliseum, isles Lose, Benn wins the Art Ross

 

[frisco]

1972-Flyers need a tie or win to get in, and/or a Penguin tie or loss. Gerry Meehan scores with four seconds left as Sabres defeat the Flyers by one goal. Pens win and tie Philly in points and finish ahead on tiebreaker (most goals).

1990-Penguins need a point against the Sabres. Lemieux comes back after back injury and missing 30+ games. Krupp scores in OT as Buffalo ends Pens playoff hopes (no loser point). Pens do get fifth pick and draft Jagr the next season, though. PIttsburgh's next playoff miss is 2002.

My Best-Carey

 

[Brodeur]

2007 NY Isles (with backup goaltender Wade Dublywicz) Beat the devils in the shootout to knock out the rangers and leafs and make the playoffs.

That was part of a nutty Saturday/Sunday. Going into the final weekend, the standings were:

Canadiens: 90 points (42-33-6)
Islanders: 90 points (39-30-12 )
Maple Leafs: 89 points (39-31-11)

As fate would have it, the Canadiens and Leafs played head-to-head in their season finale.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - Boxscore - April 07, 2007 - ESPN

In an extremely entertaining game, Montreal had a 5-3 lead midway through the 2nd period but Toronto rallied with three goals to get the necessary regulation win to stay in the playoff hunt. They needed the Islanders to lose in their finale.

New York Islanders vs. New Jersey Devils - Boxscore - April 08, 2007 - ESPN

With the game being meaningless for the Devils, they gave Marty Brodeur the night off and put in Scott Clemmensen. As mentioned, the Devils were going through the motions but managed to tie the game with one second left in regulation which gave Toronto a glimmer of hope. Game went to shootout and that's when shootout specialist Viktor Kozlov paid off for the Islanders.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

02/03?

From the Art, Maurice and maybe even Hart perspective, Foppa and Duke blacked Naslund's trophy shelf.

it's bigger than that. no team other than colorado had won the northwest division (and before it existed, the pacific) since 1996. it was supposed to be a changing of the guard.

on the other hand, what if naslund didn't choke in the last game and the canucks get the #3 seed, leaving colorado in #4? colorado gets to play the flu decimated blues team and almost certainly wins. then maybe with some momentum going they take minnesota, end anaheim's cinderella run, and...?

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

In 2015 the art ross race going into the last game of the season had Crosby at 84 points, Tavares at 84 points and Benn at 83 points

as far as i remember Benn hadn't really been a favorite or in the lead for the art ross at any point in the season...just a quiet season near the leaders.

Going into the last game, Crosby was facing Buffalo (who was abysmal and being lit up every night). Tavares had a tougher last game (forget who). So the expectation was Crosby would easily put up multiple points vs Buffalo and likely distance Tavares.

In the end?

Crosby and Pittsburgh are shutout last game.
Tavares has 2 points
and Benn comes out of nowhere with 4 points to take the Ross

Lots of movement, and quite a bit unexpected, in the scoring race on the last day/game of the year. Was kind of cool.

I remember that. I was so pissed Crosby was shutout. But Crosby WOULD let that happen lol

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

I also remember the last day of the 09-10 season. Crosby 49 goals OV and stamkos with 50. Crosby also make Sedin fans shit there pants with 5 points before the second period was done was classix

 

[blood gin]

April 11 2010, Rangers vs Flyers, winner goes to the playoffs, loser goes home. Rangers had a 1-0 lead, Flyers tied it in the 3rd. Game ends up going to a shootout, with Brian Boucher making the save on Olli Jokinen for a Flyers 2-1 victory.
April 3 1988 the Devils needed to beat Chicago to make the playoffs. John Maclean ties it up for the Devils in the 3rd and went on to score the Overtime winner, the Devils made the playoffs for the first time.

Daneyko of all people scored in that game.

 

[Brodeur]

NHL Hockey Scores - NHL Scoreboard - ESPN

Season finale in 2006 was fun as a Devils fan. Midway through that first post-lockout season, the Devils were languishing (in part due to Patrik Elias being out with Hep A). But when he came back (and some of the older guys were jettisoned), New Jersey went on a second half run and won 10 straight games headed into the season finale.

Standings into that last day:

1. Hurricanes: 112 points (52-21-8)
2. Senators: 111 points (51-21-9)
3. Rangers: 100 points (44-25-12)
4. Sabres: 108 points (51-24-6)
5. Devils: 99 points (45-27-9)
6. Flyers: 99 points (44-26-11)
7. Canadiens: 93 points (42-30-9)
8. Lightning: 92 points (43-32-6)

All eight teams had clinched, but everybody but Buffalo wasn't locked into a particular seed. Since the season got started late due to the lockout, it was an unusual season finale which ended on a Tuesday. So all the games were happening somewhat concurrently, so every goal seemed to create a different playoff matchup.

New Jersey Devils vs. Montreal Canadiens - Boxscore - April 18, 2006 - ESPN

The Devils in particular were playing in Montreal. Alex Kovalev scored with 6 minutes left in the second period to give Montreal a 3-0 lead. I remember thinking "Darn, but at least they made the playoffs" as it looked like they'd be playing @Philadelphia in round 1. With nine minutes left in the third, the Devils were down 3-1 and scored three times to win.

So in a span of a few mintues, it went from: @Philadephia, to maybe @ Buffalo, to suddenly hosting the Rangers in round 1.

It's an interesting game of "what if" to think of what might have happened with different matchups. Buffalo beat Carolina on the last day of the season which allowed Ottawa to leapfrog and seize the top seed. Buffalo suffered a ton of injuries on its blue line in the Eastern Conference Final and lost in game 7 against Carolina.

But would things have been different had they played Carolina in round 2, then possibly faced the winner of Ottawa/New Jersey?

 

[c9777666]

1996

Two games on the final Sunday literally ended up determining every first round matchup. I posted about this a while back:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threa...changed-the-playoff-picture-entirely.2153695/


Basically, going into the last day of the season, the standings:

East

Pittsburgh- 102 Points (49-28-4)
Philadelphia- 101 Points (44-24-13)
NY Rangers- 96 Points (41-26-14)
Florida- 90 Points (40-31-10)
Montreal- 90 Points (40-32-10)
Boston- 89 Points (39-31-11)
Washington- 89 Points (39-31-11)
Tampa Bay- 88 Points (38-31-12)
New Jersey- 86 Points (37-33-12)


West

Detroit- 129 Points (61-13-7)
Colorado- 104 Points (47-24-10)
Chicago- 93 Points (40-28-13)
Toronto- 80 Points (34-36-12)
Calgary- 79 Points (34-37-11)
St. Louis- 79 Points (32-34-15)
Vancouver- 79 Points (32-35-15)
Winnipeg- 78 Points (36-39-6)


In the East, Tampa Bay had actually clinched on the final Saturday because New Jersey famously lost to last-place Ottawa. And the standings were so ridiculously tight- Tampa Bay was 2 points out of 4th/5th, Pittsburgh/Philadelphia were battling for the top spot, Florida could have fallen from 4th to 6th, Boston/Montreal/Washington could have gone from 4th to 7th.

Three East games were played with big playoff impact- Penguins/Bruins, Flyers/Lightning, Rangers/Panthers (All actually on Fox).

Florida beat the Rangers 5-1, which allowed them to lock up the #4 seed and home ice.

Philadelphia beat Tampa Bay 3-1, which ended up being big because it would have knocked out the Lightning had the Devils taken care of business vs. the Senators.

But the game with the biggest impact: Boston 6, Pittsburgh 5.

The Flyers had stolen the 1 seed from Pittsburgh, Boston leapt from a potential 7 seed to a 5 seed, dropped Montreal to a 6 seed and Washington to a 7 seed.

Had the Penguins won or tied, they would have been the 1 seed over the Flyers as long as they got a point. Boston, meanwhile, would have stayed the 6 seed instead of jumping to 5 (They could have dropped to 7th had Tampa Bay won and Boston lost).

A Bruins loss would have tied Boston the Capitals with the same record, same points- and while they actually had split the season series, Boston would have dropped below the Caps on the goal differential tiebreaker. A tie would have gotten them 90 points and they would have finished with one less win than Montreal.

If Pittsburgh got a point, the first round would have been:

Pittsburgh/Tampa Bay
Philadelphia/Washington
NY Rangers/Boston
Florida/Montreal


In the West, all 8 playoff teams were in. 1-2-3 were all set seeding wise (Winnipeg had knocked out Anaheim in their last regular season home game, Tkachuk scored goal #50).

The rest of the West below them was a mess.

Toronto had beaten Edmonton 6-3 and Calgary got shutout by Vancouver 5-0 on Saturday.

The Blues could have leapt to 4th place with a win but hypothetically could have fallen to 8th.

St. Louis tied Chicago on the last Sunday (also on FOX) getting them to 80 points guaranteeing no worse than 6th.

The game that would effectively decide everything was Anaheim/Winnipeg, a game that could have been winner take all had the Jets not won that reg. season home finale.

A Jets win vs. the Ducks: 80 points, as many as Toronto/St. Louis, but with 2 more wins:

Detroit/Vancouver
Colorado/Calgary
Chicago/St. Louis
Winnipeg/Toronto

A Jets tie vs. the Ducks: 79 points, but more wins than Calgary/Vancouver):

Detroit/Vancouver
Colorado/Calgary
Chicago/Winnipeg
St. Louis/Toronto


Neither happened. Paul Kariya scored twice, reaching the 50-goal plateau.

Those 2 games- PIT/BOS and ANA/WPG- basically ended up in the first round matchups being what we got and that if Pittsburgh/Winnipeg had gotten at least 1 point, everything would have changed

 

[The Panther]

1990-Penguins need a point against the Sabres. Lemieux comes back after back injury and missing 30+ games. Krupp scores in OT as Buffalo ends Pens playoff hopes (no loser point). Pens do get fifth pick and draft Jagr the next season, though. PIttsburgh's next playoff miss is 2002.

Just to nitpick, Mario missed only 21 games. But I also remember that game, and I remember Coffey being on the ice when Krupp scored, and looking dejected (Coffey did assist on Mario's game-tier in the 2nd period, however).

Man, that was a horrible game for the Pens to lose in OT. They'd made the playoffs the year before for the first time in ages, and then to need only 1 point in the last game of the season -- at home, no less -- and then to lose it overtime, and get nothing... You'd think once they got it into overtime, they'd just stack 5 men in front of the net and clear pucks!

 

[Sticks and Pucks]

April 11 2010, Rangers vs Flyers, winner goes to the playoffs, loser goes home. Rangers had a 1-0 lead, Flyers tied it in the 3rd. Game ends up going to a shootout, with Brian Boucher making the save on Olli Jokinen for a Flyers 2-1 victory.

And the Flyers go all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals that year.

it's bigger than that. no team other than colorado had won the northwest division (and before it existed, the pacific) since 1996. it was supposed to be a changing of the guard.

on the other hand, what if naslund didn't choke in the last game and the canucks get the #3 seed, leaving colorado in #4? colorado gets to play the flu decimated blues team and almost certainly wins. then maybe with some momentum going they take minnesota, end anaheim's cinderella run, and...?

Yes, in one day Naslund lost the Art Ross, Rocket Richard, Hart, AND division. He basically lost his potential legacy that day.

I don't know if I agree with the momentum argument for Colorado. I'd say when they had a 3-1 lead on Minnesota and on a three game win streak that they had all the momentum in the world. Yet, they still couldn't put Minnesota away. 37-year-old Patrick Roy having to play 3 games in 4 nights probably had something to do with it. But Vancouver had to play three games in four nights in games 5, 6, and 7 in the second round against Minnesota as well.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Yep, Habs and Leafs. Right after the Habs and Leafs played each other, and I think it was a 6-5 comeback win for Montreal? Epic game, both teams and their fans going beserk thinking that the winner was in, and the loser was out. And then the Isles decide - nope, you're both out!

Actually it was a 6-5 comeback win for the Leafs and they eliminated the Canadiens from playoff contention. The game took place on my birthday and it was a fun present seeing Montreal get knocked out by Toronto, even though the Leafs were knocked out the next day.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Yes, in one day Naslund lost the Art Ross, Rocket Richard, Hart, AND division. He basically lost his potential legacy that day.

yeah, totally weird to think that one regular season game could be the difference between HHOF and not even close.

same way the sedins punched both of their HHOF tickets on april 10, 2010.

I don't know if I agree with the momentum argument for Colorado. I'd say when they had a 3-1 lead on Minnesota and on a three game win streak that they had all the momentum in the world. Yet, they still couldn't put Minnesota away. 37-year-old Patrick Roy having to play 3 games in 4 nights probably had something to do with it. But Vancouver had to play three games in four nights in games 5, 6, and 7 in the second round against Minnesota as well.

interesting. i wonder why the wild had the advantage in back-to-back situations. it's not like they were a young team; other than gaborik and mitchell, their best players were dwayne roloson, cliff ronning, andrew brunette, and wes walz. that's an average age of 33 years old.

i wonder why it was that both series had 3 in 4 situations though. seems odd. the denver nuggets' season ended before the avs series, the timberwolves don't play in the same arenas as the wild, and the canucks are their arena's sole occupant. must have been a scheduling fluke?

 

[Doctor No]

I don't think it's the most interesting by any means, but the last day of the 1969-70 NHL season was pretty interesting. Quoth Wikipedia:

Canadiens/Rangers tiebreaker

The last two playoff berths in the East Division were contested by three teams entering the final weekend of the season. The Detroit Red Wings were in third place with 93 standings points, followed by the Montreal Canadiens with 92 and the New York Rangers with 90.[1]All three were scheduled to play home-and-home contests on April 4 and 5, with the Red Wings and Rangers facing each other and the Canadiens going up against the first-place Chicago Blackhawks. The Red Wings captured the third seed with a 6–2 win over the Rangers at the Olympia on Saturday night. The Canadiens needed just one victory to clinch the fourth and final berth, but failed to do so in a simultaneous 4–1 loss to the Blackhawks at the Montreal Forum.

That set up the scenario in which a New York win and a Montreal loss would give each team identical 38–22–16 records. At that time, the next tiebreaker was goals scored in which the Canadiens held a 242–237 advantage before action on April 5. The Rangers also had to outscore the Canadiens by at least five goals in order to qualify for the postseason.[2]

The Rangers and Red Wings were scheduled to play a nationally televised 2 pm ET Sunday match at Madison Square Garden. Roy Edwards was supposed to have been Detroit's starting goaltender, but his "headaches and chest pains" forced coach Sid Abel to press Roger Crozier back into service for the second time in 18 hours. The Rangers peppered Crozier with a franchise-record 65 shots on goal en route to a 9–5 triumph and a four-goal lead over Montreal. New York coach Emile Francis even replaced his goalie Eddie Giacomin with an extra attacker when the score reached 9–3, but it only resulted in a pair of empty-net goals for the Red Wings.[2]

Later that evening at the Chicago Stadium, the Canadiens either had to win or score at least five goals in defeat, but were up against a Blackhawks team needing a victory to clinch top seed in the divisional playoffs. With Montreal trailing 5–2 and desperate for three more goals with 9:16 remaining in the third period, coach Claude Ruel pulled his netminder Rogie Vachon for an extra attacker. The Canadiens surrendered five empty-net goals in a 10–2 defeat and missed the postseason for the only time within a 46-season span from 1949
to 1994.[3] Montreal's Yvan Cournoyer commented on the Red Wings' effort in the afternoon, bitterly stating, "Those guys have no pride."[2]

Prior to the following season, the NHL established head-to-head results as the second tiebreaker after wins and ahead of goals-for.[2] Goal differential eventually replaced goals-for as the third tiebreaker beginning with the 1984–85 campaign.[4] With the Toronto Maple Leafs finishing below the Canadiens in the East Division cellar, 1969–70 marked the first time no Canadian team advanced to the Stanley Cup playoffs. By the time a recurrence of this happened 46 years later in 2016, the number of Canada-based franchises had grown to seven.[2]

(Bolded by me)

 

[Sticks and Pucks]

interesting. i wonder why the wild had the advantage in back-to-back situations. it's not like they were a young team; other than gaborik and mitchell, their best players were dwayne roloson, cliff ronning, andrew brunette, and wes walz. that's an average age of 33 years old.

i wonder why it was that both series had 3 in 4 situations though. seems odd. the denver nuggets' season ended before the avs series, the timberwolves don't play in the same arenas as the wild, and the canucks are their arena's sole occupant. must have been a scheduling fluke?

I think there are a couple reasons that I can think of:

1) There is probably less energy that needs to be expended in playing the trap system versus the up tempo system that both the Avs and Canucks played.

2) Goaltending: In the Avs series, Dwayne Roloson started the first four games and Manny Fernandez started the last three games. So Fernandez was probably pretty well rested compared to Patrick Roy. In the Canucks series, Dwayne Roloson was the one who finished the series. But basically, the Wild were running an actual two goalie system which is rare in the playoffs.

As for the scheduling, I don't know about Colorado but I believe there was a concert or string of concerts at GM Place in Vancouver which pushed back the date for game 5. That caused the 3 games in 4 nights schedule.