April 21 is a busy day in the history of the National Hockey League. We’ve seen the defense shine on the offensive stage, some big hat tricks, and many other memorable Stanley Cup playoff moments on this date. Plus, one of Toronto’s many legends began on this date.
Bill Barilko’s legend
Defensive Bill Barilko has played for the Toronto Maple Leafs for five seasons and has been a member of the Stanley Cup champion team for a short time in the NHL. At the age of 24, he was the biggest moment in the league on April 21, 1951.
In Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final, Barilco beat the Montreal Canadiens in less than three minutes in overtime and gave the Maple Leafs a fourth championship in the last five seasons. This was the 9th Stanley Cup franchise, which was the most in NHL history at the time. It remains the only Stanley Cup final in league history, with every game in the series being decided in overtime.
Unfortunately, that was the last step and goal of Barilko’s career and life, who died later that summer in a plane crash. On August 26, 1951, he returned home from a fishing trip in northern Quebec, and the single-engine plane he was on disappeared. The wreckage was not discovered until June 1962. The fatal combination of pilot errors, bad weather and too much cargo is believed to be the cause of the crash.
Gord Downie and his band’s tragic hips bring the story of Barilko back to life 30 years later. Their song “Fifty Mission Cap” describes his mysterious disappearance and becomes one of their most popular songs, while showing Barilko’s story to a new generation of fans. It is still being played during pre-match skateboarding at the Maple Leafs home game.
The defenseman’s approximate
On Barilko’s overtime goal anniversary, a handful of Blue Line players had a success in the playoffs, which was appropriate. On April 21, 1978, then-Chicago Blackhawks guard Bob Murray received three assists in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup quarterfinals. Unfortunately for Murray, the Blackhawks lost 4-3 to the Boston Bruins in overtime.
On April 21, 1985, Chris Chelios defeated two assistants from Quebec Nordic in Game 2 of the Adams Division Finals 6-4. Chelios scored two goals and 10 points in nine playoff games in the spring.
Brian Leeetch played a big game with the New York Islanders on April 21, 1994. He had a goal and three assists to lead the New York Rangers to win 5-1 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. They continued to sweep the city’s competitors into the historic Stanley Cup title.
Brent Seabrook scored his third playoff goal in his career on April 21, 2015. This time, he beat the Nashville Predators in the first round in Game 4 just one minute.
The Blackhawks won six games in six games, winning the third Stanley Cup in five seasons.
On April 21, 2024, Cale Makar recorded his 50th playoff assist in his Game 62 and became the third fastest defender in NHL history, behind Bobby Orr (59 games) and Al Macinnis (61 games). He also grabbed his 66th professional playoff point, breaking a draw with Sandis ozolinsh in franchise history with a defensive player. In the end, his three-pointer was his eighth finish in the playoffs, which was just the tenth defensive player in NHL history.
Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Roman Josi collected his 32nd professional playoffs on the opening goal of the series against Canucks in Nashville, surpassing Ryan Ellis and Ryan Johansen, the most in Predators’ history.
In the same game, the Canucks scored twice in 12 seconds, two fastest goals in Chartered playoff history.
Throw your hat
In addition to the excellent performances of the defensive players, this date also saw some playoff hat tricks. Johnny Bucyk tied for the NHL record on April 21, 1974 for the Bruins. In the second game of the Stanley Cup semi-final, he played all his goals against the Blackhawks 8-6.
Bucyk became the first player since 1969 teammate Phil Esposito, scoring three powerful goals in a playoff. Syd Howe of the Detroit Red Wings first achieved this feat in 1939. Black Hawks captain Jonathan Toews is the latest player to enter the Stanley Cup in 2010.
On April 21, 1985, Brian Propp was second in two career hat tricks against the Islanders in Game 2 of the Patrick Division Final. His teammate Tim Kerr added goals and three assists to a 5-2 victory.
John Druce is the difference between the Washington Capitals in a 6-3 win over the Rangers on April 21, 1990. He scored goals in Game 2 of Patrick’s Division Finals, the only playoff hat trick in his career.
Steve Yzerman won a hat-trick on April 21, 1999, leading the Red Wings to defeat Anaheim’s powerful Ducks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final Eight 5-3. It was his fourth postseason hat-trick in his career and set the most record in team history. He tied for three points with Norm Ullman. Yzerman’s four playoff hat tricks tied him for sixth on the NHL’s all-time roster.
Odd number and ending
After the 1937-38 season, the Canadians and the Red Wings played nine games in Europe, the first time in the league to play outside North America. The first of these matches was played on April 21, 1938, with Toe Blake scoring in overtime, giving Montreal a 5-4 victory. The match was played in front of 8,000 fans at the Earls Court of England. The team played three games at Earl’s Court, three more games in Brighton, England and Paris, France.
The NHL did not return to Europe until 1959, when the Bruis and the Rangers played 23 games, including games in England, Switzerland, France, Belgium, West Germany and Austria. Bobby Hull, Ed Litzenberger, Eric Nesterenko and Blackhawks’ Pierre Pilote took part in the month-long trek, so the Wanderers got some help.
Gordie Howe made hockey history on April 21, 1978 in the World Hockey Association game between his Hartford Whalers and the Edmonton Oilers. He scored in the first class just minutes after he found out he had become his grandfather. Mark and Ginger Howe’s first son Travis made Gordie the first grandfather to play professionally in hockey history.
On April 21, 1988, Wayne Gretzky scored a brief goal in overtime, defeating Calgary’s Flame in Game 2 of the Smythe Division final. He is just the third player in league history, winning the speed of overtime in the playoffs. Gretzky’s goal came just 10 days after Brent Sutter scored a second goal for the Islanders. Tomas Hertl became the ninth player to do for the San Jose Sharks this date in 2019.
Defensive Larry Robinson scored three assists on April 21, 1989, leading the Canadiens to defeat Adams’ third Bruins in the Division Final 5-4. With the victory, Pat Burns became the first head coach in NHL history to win the first seven Stanley Cup playoff games of his career. The Canadian kept making it to the Stanley Cup finals before losing to the Flames in six games.
Related: The NHL’s Most Indestructible Playoff Record
Bryan Trottier became the second player in NHL history to compete in the professional playoffs on April 21, 1992. At the time, he and Robinson were the only two players to accomplish this feat. Now, 21 players have participated in at least 200 Stanley Cup playoffs. Trottier’s 221 games are 10Th most.
The Tampa Chargers held their first ever Stanley Cup playoff game on April 21, 1996. The record’s 25,945 crowd squeezed into Thunderdome in St. Petersburg, Florida, to watch the Chargers beat the Flyers 5-4, thanks to a goal from Alex Selivanov. Tampa Bay became the first series in NHL history to win the first two playoff games in overtime.
Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn became the first pair of brothers to score in seven games on April 21, 2008. Carey Price made 25 saves to bring the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
On April 21, 2014, Darcy Kuemper started the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in the Minnesota field. He scored 22 saves in an overtime win over the Colorado Avalanche. Since Normie Smith in 1936, he became the first goalkeeper to win a 1-0 overtime victory at the start of the playoffs.
Brandon Hagel is just the second rookie in Blackhawks history who scored multiple overtime goals in the season against the Nashville Predators on April 21, 2021. Another rookie was Seabrook in 2005-06.
In the same game, Predators forward Ryan Johansen competes in his 700th NHL game. In 2010, Blue Jackets ranked fourth overall in 2010, playing for only two teams in his career.
Similar to what he did in 2021-22, Kirill Kaprizov also broke the franchise when he broke the rookie. Back on April 21, 2021, he broke the field rookie goal record when he finished 19th, after Marian Gaborik in 2000-01. The 25-year-old Russian now has the team’s all-time record of goals in a season, with 47 points and 108 points.
Ultimately, to end the night of 2021, the Vegas Golden Cavaliers played tickets in their fourth contact playoffs, becoming the fourth team in NHL history, doing so in every single season of each of the league’s first four seasons. They joined the Edmonton Oilers, 1980-92. New York Rangers, 1927-35; and St. Louis Blues, No. 6, 1968-73.
On April 21, 2022, Casey Desmith stopped 52 shots in the closed-door field 4-0 on March 9, 2004, 45 times by Jean-Sebastien Aubin.
Meanwhile, in Tampa Bay, Steven Stamkos recorded the 954th career as the all-time leading scorer for Tampa Bay Lightning, passing Martin St. Louis. It finished with a victory over Maple Leaf 8-1.
Patrick Kane is a milestone tonight, scoring his 430th professional goal among the American-born skaters to score for his seventh trip to Bill Guerin. Unfortunately, he is the only one to lose 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings to the Blackhawks 4-1.
Eventually, in San Jose, the St. Louis Blues extended their score to a team-record 14 games. Pavel Buchnevich scored two points and Robert Thomas ranked 20th in the victory.
Happy birthday to you
Today, a pair celebrates their birthdays in the Hall of Fame. Goalkeeper Ed Belfour is 60 years old. For the fifth time in history, he won 484 wins from the Blackhawks, Sharks, Dallas Stars, Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers. In addition to winning the Stanley Cup in 1999, he also won the Calder Trophy and a pair of Vezina Trophy in 1991.
Belfour’s former teammate in Michel Goulet’s Chicago is celebrating his 64th birthday. In 1998, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, scoring 548 goals and 1,153 points for the Nordic and Blackhawks in 1,089 games.
Other notable players celebrating another trip to the Sunshine include Nick Beverly (78), Steve Vickers (74), Vincent Lecavalier (45), and Alexander Edler (39).
*Originally built by Greg Boysen
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