As far as the Boston Bruins were concerned, they would have prefered anybody but Scott Walker scoring the overtime goal in Game Seven that ended their season.
But it was Walker, who delivered the knockout blow Thursday, scoring late in the first overtime to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 win and add insult to injury.
In Game Five, Walker sucker punched Boston’s Aaron Ward but drew no suspension from the league.
Thursday marked the first time the Hurricanes had been involved in a Game Seven overtime since the franchise relocated from Hartford.
It was Boston’s fourth Game Seven sudden death and first since 1983, when Brad Park scored at 1:52 to eliminate the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2.
Thursday’s game got us to thinking about some of the memorable Game Seven overtimes in the expansion era. We start with the infamous “too-many-men-on-the-ice” game three decades ago at the Montreal Forum.
May 5, 1979 — Canadiens 5, Bruins 4. Boston is less than two minutes away from ending Canadiens’ dynasty. But coach Don Cherry can’t execute a proper line change, resulting in a power play for Montreal. Guy Lafleur ties it and Yvon Lamebert scores 9:33 into overtime. Canadiens go on to beat Rangers in the Finals for their fourth straight Cup.
May 2, 1985 – Quebec 3, Montreal 2. Also at the Forum, Peter Stastny tallied 2:22 into overtime as the upstart Nordiques stun the heavily-favored Canadiens in the latest installment of “La Guerre Civil” (the so-called The Civil War between the two bitter Quebec rivals).
April 29, 1986 Montreal 2, Hartford 1. Once again at the Forum, Claude Lemieux scores 5:55 into sudden death in the Adams Division finals as the Canadiens end the Whale’s Cinderella run. Montreal wins a record 10 overtime games that season and goes on to win an unexpected Cup in Patrick Roy’s rookie campaign.
April 17, 1987 New York Islanders 5, Washington 4. In Washington, The “Easter Epic” ends after 2 o’clock on Eastern morning as New York’s Pat LaFontaine scores 8:47 into the fourth overtime, capping the longest Game Seven in NHL history.
May 1, 1993 New York 4, Pittsburgh 3 In the Steel City, David Volek scores 5:16 into overtime as the Islanders dethrone the two-time champion Penguins, who were led by Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.
May 27, 1994 New York Rangers 2, New Jersey 1. Next to the Cup win 2 1/2 weeks later on June 14, a day no Rangers fan will ever forget. After the Devils stunned the MSG crowd by tying the game with seven seconds left in regulation, Stephane Matteau scores the most famous goal in Rangers’ history on a wraparound 4:24 into double overtime. The goal is forever immortalized by the call of Rangers broadcaster Howie Rose, who keeps screaming, “Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!” Rangers go on to defeat Vancouver to win their first Cup in 54 years.
