5 of the Best Moments From the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Another great edition of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs is nearing its conclusion. The 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs were filled with memorable series and moments throughout. With so many moments to choose from, here are five of the best moments throughout this year’s postseason.

*Note: These moments are not in order of rank but rather in order of the round in which these moments occurred.

Rangers and Penguins Go To Triple Overtime

The Rangers Penguins series was one of the best of the first round, and it started with a bang. The Penguins had to overcome two second period deficits to tie the game at three a piece. A controversial no-goal call against Kappo Kakko of the Rangers late in the third period kept the score knotted at three heading into overtime. After a wildly entertaining first and second overtime period, the game had another layer of drama added to it. 

Casey DeSmith suffered an injury towards the end of the second overtime, forcing third-string goalie Louis Domingue to come in. Despite coming into the game cold (and fresh off a meal of spicy pork and broccoli), Domingue brought the Penguins into a third overtime. It was there that Evgeni Malkin got one past Igor Shesterkin for the victory. Despite the loss, Shesterkin made history with his 79 saves being the second most in a single playoff game. This game was a true classic, and one that won’t soon be forgotten. 

Jake Oettinger’s Game 7 Performance

The Calgary Flames won game seven against the Dallas Stars in the first round, but Jake Oettinger was the talk of the town afterwards. A 50 save performance in regulation kept the game tied at two a piece heading into overtime. Oettinger’s dominance continued in overtime, making 14 saves throughout to keep the Stars alive despite the tremendous performance from the Flames offensive attack. Unfortunately, much like Igor Shesterkin in his 79 save performance, Oettinger did not get to celebrate his dominance. Johnny Gaudreau scored a game winner to send the Flames to the second round. Despite the loss, Oettinger’s performance was a great personal achievement. His 64 saves were the ninth most in a single game and his work throughout the first round has helped cement his as the Stars goalie of the future.

The Entire Battle of Alberta

There’s a true argument to be made that this was the most entertaining round of the entire postseason. Which is why it’s hard to pick a single memorable game or moment from this series for the list. The whole series was wild and was chock full of memorable occurrences. Amongst the most notable games from this series was game one. This game saw the Oilers come back from down 5-1 to tie the game at 6-6 in the third. The Flames answered with three goals of their own to hit a whopping total of 15 goals in the game. What followed this game were four high scoring, back and forth affairs between both teams. That also came with the dominating performances of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane. This is what made this series so much fun to watch for the entirety of the NHL fanbase and why it can’t be defined by a single game or moment. 

Kadri’s Hat Trick

Nazem Kadri was the subject of a lot of controversy in game four of the Avalanche’s second-round series. He collided with Blues goalie Jordan Binnington in game three and injured him for the rest of the series. What followed was a series of inexcusable racist insults and death threats hurled toward Kadri in the aftermath. However, Kadri responded to these insensitive remarks by scoring his first career playoff hat trick in game four. Two of those goals came at critical moments in the game. His first goal gave the Avalanche their first lead of the game at 2-1 and his last goal staved off a Blues comeback in the third. This road victory he helped secure was also incremental for the team, giving the Avalanche a commanding 3-1 lead in the eventual series win.

Avalanche Sweep the Oilers in the Western Conference Finals

The Avalanche reached the Stanley Cup Finals in dominating fashion, by sweeping the Edmonton Oilers in the conference finals. Per NHL.com, they’re only the third team to do so over the last decade and the first since the Bruins did so in 2019. What was especially memorable about this sweep is how the Avalanche won the final game. They entered the third period of game four in enemy territory down two goals. However, they outscored the Oilers 4-2 in the third to force overtime. Once there, Artturi Lehkonen scored the series-clinching goal just over a minute into the overtime period. It was a tremendous performance all in all to bring the Avalanche to their first cup final since 2001. 

Credits

Featured image courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times via Getty Images

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