Unlikely Important Game Heroes?

[DitchMarner]

Radek Faksa scored the series-winning goal in game seven of this year's first round Dallas/Vegas series the other night.

Barclay Goodrow also had a game seven winner (his was in overtime) against Vegas; his goal came in the first round of the 2019 playoffs when he was on San Jose.



Who are some other depth guys or supporting cast guys that have come up big in the post season?

Click to read more...

 

[Henry Miller]

Max Talbot springs to mind. Scored 2 goals in a 2-1 game 7 win in the Stanley Cup Finals if I’m remembering correctly

 

[buffalowing88]

Brad May

 

[MadLuke]

 

[Ace36758]

Nic Wallin was the first that came to mind. 4 goals in his postseason career, 3(!) of them OT winners, and the other was a game winner.

 

[The Panther]

Max Talbot springs to mind. Scored 2 goals in a 2-1 game 7 win in the Stanley Cup Finals if I’m remembering correctly

Yes, and this is the one that always stands out to me. How rare is it for a depth guy to score not one but two goals in game 7 of the Finals? (or game 7 of any series)

 

[norrisnick]

Yes, and this is the one that always stands out to me. How rare is it for a depth guy to score not one but two goals in game 7 of the Finals? (or game 7 of any series)

Not rare enough....

 

[seventieslord]

Look no further than game 7 of the 2003, 2004, and 2009 finals.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Yvon Lambert scored the winning goal in OT in that mythical Montreal-Boston Game 7 in 1979.

 

[seventieslord]

Mike Foligno
Randy Wood
Garry Valk
Nikolai Borschevsky
Travis Green
Cory Cross

All scored playoff overtime goals for the Leafs in the past 32 years. All but Cross were in game 5 or later.

 

[ES]

Joel Kiviranta with his hat trick including OT winner in game 7 against Avs.

 

[McGarnagle]

Hands of Stone Dan Paille scored the OT winner in game 2 of the 2013 finals

 

[DitchMarner]

Nic Wallin was the first that came to mind. 4 goals in his postseason career, 3(!) of them OT winners, and the other was a game winner.

Ah, yes. The legendary playoff OT sniper Wallin. That man had more career playoff OT goals than Howe, Lemieux, Ovechkin, Crosby and McDavid combined!

 

[DitchMarner]

Have to mention David Volek's Game Seven OT winner against Pittsburgh in the 1993 playoffs...




He had three seasons where he scored between 56 and 60 points, but by '93 he was near the end of his NHL run and coming off a season in which he had just 21 points.

 

[buffalowing88]

Hands of Stone Dan Paille scored the OT winner in game 2 of the 2013 finals

No player pissed me off with the puck on his stick more than Paille. Just zero skill offensively.

 

[Michael Farkas]

No player pissed me off with the puck on his stick more than Paille. Just zero skill offensively.

Bad news, friend. The stats just don't back you up here...and even though we all saw Daniel Paille fight off the puck like it was coming for his wallet, unfortunately, he was evidently a top forward in the NHL.

2007-08, among forwards with at least 820 minutes of 5v5 time (10+ per game):

Daniel Paille finished 29th in the NHL in goals/60 at 0.98. That makes him a #1 forward in terms of goals.

Getting just a 3rd round pick for him in 2009 is possibly the worst move in Buffalo Sabres history. As Paille almost singlehandedly won the Bruins the Cup in 2011...

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Michael Ryder's glove save

 

[Michael Farkas]

Michael Ryder's glove save

This is a great one that doesn't really show up on a scoresheet.

 

[MadLuke]

And well in the theme of the thread, Ryder is maybe not the name you pick to make this kind of play before the game for a team with Chara and co...

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

And well in the theme of the thread, Ryder is maybe not the name you pick to make this kind of play before the game for a team with Chara and co...

Yeah, before the 2011 run Ryder was really unpopular among fans and seen as a lazy, underachieving and overpaid. He really transformed the fan opinion of him that year with strong defensive effort and 17 pts in 25 games

 

[McGarnagle]

Yeah, before the 2011 run Ryder was really unpopular among fans and seen as a lazy, underachieving and overpaid. He really transformed the fan opinion of him that year with strong defensive effort and 17 pts in 25 games

Ryder is the perfect example of a guy who would just coast through the regular season and then turn it on for the playoffs. Like Jake Debrusk now. You want to strangle him for most of the year, curse how lazy and streaky he is, then he'll score 4 pivotal goals to pretty much win you a playoff series.

No player pissed me off with the puck on his stick more than Paille. Just zero skill offensively.

He was just so good at every other aspect of the game if he had any hands he'd have been a star. There were more than a handful of times on the PK that he'd create a turnover at the point and I'd go "Breakaway! ...never mind, it's Paille" as he'd softly push it into the goalie's breadbasket.

Bad news, friend. The stats just don't back you up here...and even though we all saw Daniel Paille fight off the puck like it was coming for his wallet, unfortunately, he was evidently a top forward in the NHL.

2007-08, among forwards with at least 820 minutes of 5v5 time (10+ per game):

Daniel Paille finished 29th in the NHL in goals/60 at 0.98. That makes him a #1 forward in terms of goals.

Getting just a 3rd round pick for him in 2009 is possibly the worst move in Buffalo Sabres history. As Paille almost singlehandedly won the Bruins the Cup in 2011...

Single-handedly winning the cup is a new one, but I will say that he did single-handedly turn the Bruins's PK from one of the worst in the league to an elite unit when they acquired him early in the 2010 season. Legitimately, the second they got him it was night and day, a complete 180. Quite possibly one of the best PKing forwards of all time. And his defensive stability on the 4th line kept them from getting hemmed in and if anything freed Shawn Thornton up to run around and do Shawn Thornton things.

 

[Super Fadio Bro]

Max Talbot springs to mind. Scored 2 goals in a 2-1 game 7 win in the Stanley Cup Finals if I’m remembering correctly

Yes and he scored the GTG goal in Game 5 of the year prior under a minute left.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

In 31 playoff games for Luleå, the only goal stay-at-home defenseman Robin Jonsson ever scored was a game 7 OT goal to deny Djurgården a reverse sweep in the 2010 quarterfinals, which would have been a historical first for the SHL (and something yet to be done, as of 2024).

This series was also Mark “In the Park” Owuya’s coming out party.

 

[buffalowing88]

Ryder is the perfect example of a guy who would just coast through the regular season and then turn it on for the playoffs. Like Jake Debrusk now. You want to strangle him for most of the year, curse how lazy and streaky he is, then he'll score 4 pivotal goals to pretty much win you a playoff series.


He was just so good at every other aspect of the game if he had any hands he'd have been a star. There were more than a handful of times on the PK that he'd create a turnover at the point and I'd go "Breakaway! ...never mind, it's Paille" as he'd softly push it into the goalie's breadbasket.


Single-handedly winning the cup is a new one, but I will say that he did single-handedly turn the Bruins's PK from one of the worst in the league to an elite unit when they acquired him early in the 2010 season. Legitimately, the second they got him it was night and day, a complete 180. Quite possibly one of the best PKing forwards of all time. And his defensive stability on the 4th line kept them from getting hemmed in and if anything freed Shawn Thornton up to run around and do Shawn Thornton things.

Oh my God, we are the same. I have never seen an elite draft pick who supposedly had all the tools just become so meek. I absolutely drank about 12 beers solely because of him in my lifetime. Thanks a lot, Paille.

 

[seventieslord]

Just uploaded this because not many people have seen it/remember it: