THIS DATE IN HISTORY: MAY 18
1971: The Montreal Canadiens send Jean Beliveau into retirement as a 10-time Stanley Cup winner by rallying from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in Game 7 of the Final.
The packed house at Chicago Stadium roars its approval when Dennis Hull gives the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead late in the first period, and again when Danny O'Shea makes it 2-0 at 7:33 of the second. But the game turns late in the second period when Jacques Lemaire takes a slap shot from near the red line that sails past goaltender Tony Esposito, cutting the margin to 2-1.
"The biggest thing I remember was Jacques Lemaire's goal from the red line," defenseman Jacques Laperriere says. "After that, the momentum switched to our side."
Henri Richard scores late in the second period to make it 2-2 and puts Montreal ahead 3-2 at 2:34 of the third. Rookie goaltender Ken Dryden makes 31 saves, 12 of them in the third period, to help the Canadiens win the Cup for the 17th time.
Though Beliveau is scoreless in Game 7, he finishes the playoffs with 22 points in 20 games, tied for third in the League.
MORE MOMENTS
1973: Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins is named the winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman. It's the first time in League history that a player wins an individual award for six consecutive seasons. Orr ends the 1972-73 season with 29 goals and 101 points; Guy Lapointe of the Canadiens is second among defenseman in each category with 19 goals and 54 points.
1978: Montreal's record streak of 10 straight wins in the Final ends when the Canadiens lose 4-0 to the Bruins at Boston Garden in Game 3. Gerry Cheevers makes 16 saves for the eighth and final playoff shutout of his career. Jean Ratelle sets up first-period goals by Gary Doak and Rick Middleton, and Peter McNab has a goal and an assist in the third period. The loss comes after the Canadiens sweep the Final in 1976 and '77 and win the first two games of this series.
1986: Montreal's Brian Skrudland scores the fastest overtime goal in playoff history when he beats Mike Vernon nine seconds into OT to give the visiting Canadiens a 3-2 victory against the Calgary Flames in Game 2 of the Final. Calgary leads 2-0 early in the second period before goals by Gaston Gingras and David Maley tie the game. The Canadiens win the faceoff to start overtime, and Skrudland finishes a 2-on-1 break by directing a pass from Mike McPhee into the net. Skrudland becomes the first player since Cy Wentworth of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1931 to score the first playoff goal of his career in overtime of the Final.
1990: Jari Kurri of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates his 30th birthday by scoring three goals and assisting on two others in a 7-2 victory against the Bruins at Boston Garden in Game 2 of the Final. Kurri (briefly) becomes the NHL's all-time leading playoff goal-scorer, passing linemate Wayne Gretzky. He also becomes the second player in NHL history (after Gretzky) to have 200 playoff points.
1997: Wayne Gretzky gets his 10th and final playoff hat trick by scoring three times in the New York Rangers' 5-4 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final. Gretzky scores twice in less than two minutes in the first period and completes his hat trick midway through the second. His former Edmonton teammate, Paul Coffey, beats New York goaltender Mike Richter early in the second period to join Larry Murphy as the only defensemen in NHL history to score playoff goals for five different teams.
2008: The Pittsburgh Penguins advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 16 years by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0 at Mellon Arena to win the Eastern Conference Final in five games. Pittsburgh native Ryan Malone scores twice, and Marc-Andre Fleury makes 21 saves. It's the first trip to the Final for the Penguins since they won the Cup in 1992.
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