For the 12th time in franchise history, the Edmonton Oilers will play in Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Playoffs series, when they take on the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Monday (May 20).
Edmonton forced this winner-take-all contest by tying the second round series at three wins apiece with a 5-1 triumph over Vancouver at Rogers Place on Saturday (May 18).
Related: Oilers Force Game 7 Against Canucks
The Oilers are 7-4 all-time in Game 7, including 3-3 on the road and 2-1 in Round 2 of the postseason. Edmonton’s winner-take-all history ranges from the infamous to the iconic.
Over the course of Edmonton’s 11 prior Game 7s, many heroes have emerged for the Oilers and become immortalized in franchise history. Here are the top seven:
7. Mike Smith
In the Oilers’ most recent Game 7 outing, goaltender Mike Smith backstopped Edmonton to a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Place on May 14, 2022.
Smith was sharp from start to finish, stopping all 29 Kings’ shots to earn Edmonton’s second-ever Game 7 shutout. The veteran goalie made 11 saves in each of the second and third periods, as Edmonton clung to a 1-0 lead for much of the second half of the game.
6. Connor McDavid
Connor McDavid factored in all the scoring during Edmonton’s 2-0 Game 7 victory over the Kings in 2022, assisting on Cody Ceci’s game-winner in the second period, before scoring a massive insurance goal on a tremendous individual effort with just 3:53 remaining in the third.
With more than 18,000 fans on edge watching the Oilers trying to hang on for victory, McDavid took the puck and drove behind the Kings net on a delayed penalty. He then tried a wrap-around that was stopped by Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, but gathered the rebound and backhanded the puck into the back of the net with 3:53 left on the clock, sending Rogers Place into a frenzy.
5. Grant Fuhr
Goaltender Grant Fuhr played in five Game 7s with the Oilers, compiling a 3-2 record. The Hall-of-Famer was between the pipes for Edmonton’s first-ever Game 7, a 7-4 victory over the Calgary Flames in the 1984 Smythe Division Final at Northlands Coliseum on April 22,1984.
But Fuhr’s greatest Game 7 performance came in the 1987 Stanley Cup Final, when he bounced back after allowing a goal just 1:41 into the first period and went on to make 19 saves in Edmonton’s championship-winning 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Northlands Coliseum on May 31, 1987.
4. Jari Kurri
Finnish winger Jari Kurri notched the game-winning goal (and thus championship-clinching goal) in Edmonton’s Game 7 victory over Philadelphia in the 1987 Stanley Cup Final.
Kurri is Edmonton’s all-time franchise leader in Game 7 points, with a total of five goals and four assists. He played in five Game 7s as a member of the Oilers and had at least one point in all of them, including two goals and an assist against the Flames in 1984.
3. Todd Marchant
On April 19, 1997, Todd Marchant authored one of the Oilers’ most unforgettable moments, when he scored the overtime goal in Game 7 of the first round against the Dallas Stars at Reunion Arena. The highlight reel play saw the speedy Oilers forward blow past Dallas defenders, causing a Grant Ledyard wipeout, to break in alone on netminder Andy Moog before burying the puck at 12:26 of sudden death.
That was one of two Game 7s Marchant played in while with the Oilers. He also scored a goal the following year, when Edmonton defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 in Game 7 of the 1998 Western Conference first round at Denver’s McNichols Sports Arena.
2. Esa Tikkanen
Half a dozen years before Marchant’s moment, Esa Tikkanen became the first Oilers player to score in overtime of Game 7, when at 6:58 of sudden death he wired a 40-footer through goaltender Mike Vernon to give Edmonton a 5-4 win over the Flames at the Olympic Saddledome. The series-winner capped off an incredible night for Tikkanen, who had three goals and four points, both of which stand as franchise Game 7 records.
As a member of the Oilers, Tikkanen suited up for Game 7 on five occasions, including the 1987 Stanley Cup Final against the Flyers.
1. Curtis Joseph
Netminder Curtis Joseph won both of his Game 7 starts for the Oilers, against Dallas in 1997 and the Avalanche in 1998. He’s the only Oilers goalie with Game 7 victories in consecutive postseasons.
While “CuJo” made history against the Avalanche on May 4, 1998, when he stopped all 31 shots faced to become the first Oilers goalie with a Game 7 shutout, Joseph will always be most remembered for his remarkable play 12 months earlier, when his incredible diving blocker save robbed Stars superstar Joe Nieuwendyk of the series-winning goal and set the stage for Marchant’s magical moment, which came just moments later.
Not since 1998 in Denver have the Oilers won a Game 7 on the road. That could change with the emergence of a new Oilers hero at Rogers Arena on Monday night.
