Breaking a record set by the Great One is quite the accomplishment, and a very unlikely player did just that on this date. One of the National Hockey League’s charter teams has had plenty of reasons to celebrate, while two legendary goaltenders had memorable games, and the hockey world lost another legendary Montreal Canadien as well. Let’s begin our daily trip back through time to take a look at all the moments, happy and sad, that April 22 has given us.
The Hockey World Mourns Another Great Loss in Guy Lafleur
On April 22, 2022, the hockey world lost another great when it was reported that Hall-of-Famer and Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur had passed away; just a week after it had lost Mike Bossy to a long battle with lung cancer. The 70-year-old was arguably one of the flashiest players of his time as he was often seen streaking down the ice with his long blonde hair flowing in the wind as he blew past his opponents. Part of the dynasty years of the Canadiens that saw them win five Stanley Cups overall and four straight between 1975 and 1979, he was probably the most exciting player of the decade.
Along with the Stanley Cups, he won three Art Ross Trophies (1976, 1977, 1978) as the league’s leading scorer, two Hart Trophies (1977, 1978) as the MVP, three Lester B. Pearson Trophies (1976, 1977, 1978) as the best player according to his peers and finally a Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after he scored nine goals and 26 points in 14 games during the Canadiens’ 1977 Stanley Cup win. By the time he left the Canadiens in 1984-85, he was second in goals (518), first in assists (728) and points (1,246) and fourth in power-play goals with 139. He was also the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals and 100 points in six consecutive seasons. All those records still stand today.
Related: One for the Ages: Guy Lafleur’s 1989-90 NHL Season
Lafleur’s No. 10 was, of course, retired by the Canadiens on Feb. 16, 1985, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) also honored him by retiring his No. 4 after he recorded 233 goals and 379 points in only 118 games for an insane 3.21 points per game. He also was clutch in the playoffs as he scored 47 goals and 86 points in 29 games.
Needless to say, the world lost a great person and hockey player on April 22, 2022. The man they called “The Flower” will never be forgotten.
Toronto Maple Leafs Magic
April 22 is a big date in the franchise history of the Maple Leafs. In 1945, they beat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup, but the championship did not come without its fair share of drama.
The Maple Leafs made an epic comeback in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final by losing the first three games of the series to the Red Wings before beating them in Game 7. Three years later, Detroit nearly returned the favor.
Toronto stormed out to a 3-0 series lead thanks to three straight shutouts by goaltender Frank McCool. The Red Wings finally solved McCool and won the next three games to force a seventh and deciding game to be played on their home rink.
With the game tied 1-1 in the third period, defenseman Babe Pratt scored the Cup-clinching goal for the Maple Leafs, adverting disaster. They became the first road team to win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, a feat that isn’t repeated until the Montreal Canadiens won the 1971 Stanley Cup in Chicago.
On April 22, 1962, the Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to win the championship. This was the first of three straight Cup wins for Toronto.
Darryl Sittler had himself quite the night on April 22, 1976. He tied an NHL record by scoring five goals in an 8-5 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. He became the third player in league history to score five goals in a playoff game and the first to do it not wearing a Canadiens uniform.
Newsy Lalonde was the first player to score five goals in a playoff game in 1919 against the old Ottawa Senators. Maurice Richard equaled that mark against the Maple Leafs in 1944. Reggie Leach, who was on the losing end to Sitller that night, matched the five goals just a couple of weeks later in a game against the Boston Bruins. Mario Lemieux was the last player to have five goals in a playoff game, doing it in 1989, also against the Flyers.
Patrik Sundstrom’s Night of a Lifetime
There are few things left in hockey that can make a long-time fan stand up and take notice. However, breaking one of Wayne Gretzky’s records a sure-fire way to get your name on the marquee. That is exactly what Sundstrom did for the New Jersey Devils on April 22, 1998.
Sundstrom had the greatest offensive night in Stanley Cup playoff history in the Devils’ 10-4 whitewashing of the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the Patrick Division Final. The 26-year-old Swedish-born center had three goals and five assists to have the first eight-point night ever in the postseason.
He scored two goals in the second period before completing the hat trick in the final frame. He assisted on defenseman Anders Carlsson’s goal before getting helpers on all four of Mark Johnson’s goals. It was an awful night for Washington goaltenders Clint Malarchuk and Pete Peeters, who allowed 10 combined goals on just 31 shots against.
Sundstrom broke the record of seven points, set by Gretzky in 1985, a mark he matched in 1987. He did not hold the record by himself for very long as Lemieux had an eight-point game in 1989, but the duo still shares it. In case you are wondering, Sundstrom had 26 points in 37 playoff games, so 31% of them came in this game.
A Pair of Islander Streaks
On April 22, 1983, the New York Islanders set an NHL record by winning their 14th consecutive playoff series when they knocked the New York Rangers out of the Patrick Division Final. Goaltender Billy Smith made 28 saves while Butch Goring was the difference maker with a pair of goals. The Islanders went on to win an incredible 19 straight playoff series before their streak was snapped by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1984 Stanley Cup Final.
The Islanders ended another streak 33 years later when they beat the Florida Panthers on April 22, 2016. Alan Quine scored in double overtime to give the Islanders a 2-1 win in Game 5 of their first-round series. This ended a streak of 11 straight losses by the Islanders in Game 5 of a postseason series. Their last victory in a Game 5 came against the Flyers in 1987.
Odds & Ends
On April 22, 1971, the Minnesota North Stars became the first expansion team to beat an “Original 6” franchise in a playoff game. Their big win came over the Canadiens in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals. Former Canadiens forward Danny Grant had three assists in Minnesota’s 6-3 victory in Montreal. Until this game, the 1967 expansion teams were 0-17 versus “Original 6” teams in the postseason.
In the same game Sittler scored five goals, on April 22, 1976, Flyers forward Dave Schultz set a modern-era record by picking up 42 penalty minutes. He received a minor, two five-minute majors, a 10-minute misconduct, and a pair of game misconducts. His record was matched by Deryk Engelland, who racked up 42 penalty minutes as a member of the Calgary Flames in 2015 versus the Vancouver Canucks.
Ken Dryden set two high-water marks on April 22, 1979, when he took the ice for the Canadiens against the Maple Leafs in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. First, he became the first goaltender to play in 100 playoff games.
With the 5-4 overtime victory, he also became the NHL’s all-time winningest playoff goalie with 72 wins. He broke the old record of 71 held by Canadiens’ legend Jacques Plante. Dryden retired with 80 wins in just 112 games, which are still the sixth-most in league history.
Speaking of Hall of Fame goaltenders, Patrick Roy played in his final NHL game on April 22, 2003. Andrew Burnette scored in overtime to lead the underdog Minnesota Wild past the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. A month later, Roy retired with four Stanley Cups and a record 151 Stanley Cup Playoff wins.
On April 22, 2018, Jake Guentzel and Sean Couturier became the first set of opposing players to score five points in the same playoff game. Guentzel was just the third player ever to score four consecutive goals in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 8-5 win over the Flyers to advance out of the Eastern Conference First Round. Couturier had a hat trick and two assists in the losing effort while playing with a torn ligament in his knee.
On April 22, 2021, Aleksander Barkov became the first Panthers player to have six 20-goal seasons in his career when he potted his 20th against the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-2 victory. He passed Olli Jokinen and Nathan Horton, who each had five.
On that same night, Jared Bednar coached his 360th game for the Colorado Avalanche, passing Bob Hartley for second in Colorado/Quebec Nordiques history behind Michel Bergeron (634). His team was able to give him a victory too, as they won 4-2 over the Blues.
Finally, to close out the day in Vancouver, rookie Tim Stutzle recorded his 25th point of the season in a 3-0 shutout victory over the Canucks to become the seventh 19-year-old in Ottawa Senators’ history to hit that particular milestone. He joined Alexandre Daigle, Brady Tkachuk, Martin Havlat, Wade Redden, Radek Bonk and Erik Karlsson in the feat. Connor Brown also got in on the fun, as he set a Sens record with his 10th goal in the month of April when he scored his 17th goal of the season in the third period.
Happy Birthday to You
There are 26 former and current NHL players who were born on this date. Among them are Peter Zezel (57), Zarly Zalapski (54), Dan Cloutier (46), Chandler Stephenson (28), Madison Bowey (27) and Eeli Tolvanen (23).
*Originally constructed by Greg Boysen and updated by Matthew Zator