Throughout the years, May 4 has provided more action in National Hockey League playoff history than a lightsaber duel in space. Multiple hat tricks, the crowing of a champion, and broken records are among the big moments on this date. Let’s begin our daily journey to a galaxy not so far, far, away and relive all the best moments from this date.
Hat Trick Heaven
When you think about the possibilities of who scored the fastest playoff hat trick in Edmonton Oilers’ franchise history, a lot of great names come to mind. You’d probably guess that it belongs to a Hall of Famer like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, or Paul Coffey, and you’d be wrong. Petr Klima set that mark on May 4, 1991, when he scored a natural hat trick during a 5:13 span of the first period of a 7-2 win over the Minnesota North Stars in Game 2 of the Campbell Conference Final.
On May 9, 2009, the top two players in the NHL put on a show during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Both Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin netted a hat trick in the Washington Capitals’ 4-3 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ovechkin completed the first and surprisingly only postseason hat trick of his career with a pair of goals, just 2:29 apart, late in the third period. Crosby’s third goal of the game came in the final minute of regulation, but it wasn’t enough to draw even. It was also the first career postseason hat trick for Crosby, who has scored two more since then.
Devin Setoguchi scored the lone playoff hat trick of his career on May 4, 2011. His third goal came in overtime to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The game-winning goal came moments after he was freed from the penalty box to make up for taking a penalty in overtime.
Kirill Kaprizov scored the first playoff hat trick of his career on May 4, 2022. It came in a 6-2 dismantling of the St. Louis Blues in Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
A Big Date for the Philadelphia Flyers
On May 4, 1976, Reggie Leach scored in his eighth straight playoff game to help the Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 4-2 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals. Leach tied the postseason record for the longest goal-scoring streak, held by Maurice Richard, by tying the game at 2-2 in the second period. The win put the Flyers up 3-1 in the series, which they would close out two nights later to advance to their third straight Stanley Cup Final.
Bill Barber had a huge night for the Flyers on May 4, 1980. He scored four goals in a 5-3 win over the North Stars in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals. They went on to win the series in five games to advance to another Stanley Cup Final.
The Flyers defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 in overtime, in Game 1 of the Wales Conference Finals, on May 4, 1987. Ilkka Sinisalo scored his second goal of the game at 9:11 of overtime for the game-winner.
Speaking of overtime, the Flyers and Penguins played one of the longest games in NHL history on May 4, 2000. Keith Primeau’s first goal of the playoffs finally ended Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the 12:01 mark of the fifth overtime.
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Primeau’s goal came on the 130th shot of the night, sending the fans dedicated enough to sit through the whole game home nearly seven hours after the opening puck drop. This remains the longest game played in the expansion era and the third-longest all time.
New York Rangers Make History
On May 4, 1972, the Rangers hosted their first Stanley Cup Final game since 1940. Defenseman Brad Park scored two goals and added a pair of assists in a 5-2 win over the visiting Bruins. The last time the Rangers were in the Stanley Cup Final, in 1950, their “home” games were played in Toronto because Madison Square Garden was hosting the circus. This would be the only home win of the series for the Rangers, as the Bruins won Game 4 in the Garden and clinched the Cup there as well in Game 6.
Both Messier and Mike Richter made history in the Rangers’ 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils, on May 4, 1997, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Messier skated in his 228th career playoff game, passing Larry Robinson for the most played in league history. His 236 playoff games played remain the third-most behind Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom.
Richter stopped all 32 shots he faced to pick up his eighth career postseason shutout, which, at the time, was the most in Rangers’ team history. He broke the record previously held by Dave Kerr. When he retired, Richter had nine shutouts in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but that record was eventually broken by Henrik Lundqvist, who has 10.
Odds & Ends
On May 4, 1969, the Canadiens won their eighth straight Stanley Cup Final game over the St. Louis Blues, 2-1, two win their second consecutive championship. The Blues took a 1-0 lead into the third period before Ted Harris and John Ferguson scored in the first three minutes of the final frame. Serge Savard won the Conn Smythe Trophy, becoming the first defenseman to win the postseason’s MVP award.
Two years later, the Canadiens were on the short end of the stick in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Jim Pappin scored early in the second overtime period to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 2-1 road win. The Canadiens went on to win the series in seven games.
Bobby Orr made NHL history on May 4, 1972, when he scored a goal to break the career record for defensemen playoff goals. His 17th postseason tally came in only his 47th playoff game. He broke the mark set by Red Kelly, who scored 16 goals in 94 playoff games. His 26 playoff goals are good enough to be tied for 12th place on the all-time list among defensemen.
Another Bruins milestone was reached on May 4, 1978, when Rick Middleton scored twice, including the 800th goal in franchise playoff history. He also added an assist as the Bruins won 7-5 against the visiting Flyers in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals.
On May 4, 1989, Alexander Mogilny became the first NHL draftee to defect from the Soviet Union to North America to play in the league. When he made his debut with the Buffalo Sabres that fall, he wore number 89 to represent both the year he came to the United States and the place he was selected in the draft. He wore that number his entire career.
The Los Angeles Kings fired head coach Tom Webster on May 4, 1992, after three seasons behind the bench. He was later replaced by Barry Melrose, who took the team to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final.
The Vancouver Canucks continued their run to the Stanley Cup Final on May 4, 1994. Pavel Bure scored two goals, and Kirk McLean recorded his second shutout of the playoffs in their 3-0 road win against the Dallas Stars in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
On May 4, 1998, the Nashville Predators officially became the NHL’s 27th franchise when their final terms and conditions were completed by the league. They made their league debut on October 10, 1998, losing 1-0 to the Florida Panthers.
The Capitals beat the Rangers 1-0, in overtime, on May 4, 2013, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Mike Green scored the game’s lone goal eight minutes into the extra session. He became just the sixth defenseman in NHL history to score an overtime goal in a 1-0 playoff game.
After winning his first NHL game in his previous start, Sabres’ netminder Michael Houser, who had played in the ECHL for most of the 2020-21 season, won his second-straight game when his team prevailed 4-3 in a shootout on May 4, 2021. With the victory, he became the first Sabres goalie to win his first two starts since Mika Noronen did it on Oct. 5 and 7, 2000.
On that same night, Canucks forwards Brock Boeser and Tanner Pearson recorded their 200th point and 500th game in the NHL respectively in what ended up as a 4-1 loss to the Oilers.
Pyotr Kochetkov started his first playoff game on May 4, 2022, in a 5-2 win over the Bruins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. With it, he became the third-youngest goalie in Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history to make his playoff debut, behind Kay Whitmore and Cam Ward.
Continuing the trend of goaltenders on this date in 2022, Andrei Vasilevskiy won his 50th game in the playoffs in 83 games when the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Maple Leafs 5-3 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Only six goalies have reached the mark in fewer games in NHL history.
Finally, Mike Smith joined the fun when he posted a 30-save shutout in Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Los Angeles Kings. He became the 10th goalie age 40 or older to do so.
On May 4, 2023, Auston Matthews had an assist in the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 loss against the Panthers to extend his point streak to eight games and tied the longest playoff run in Toronto history.
Later that night, Joe Pavelski tied Steve Payne (1981) as the only players in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history with five goals in a two-game span in the postseason.
Happy Birthday to You
A total of 27 current and former NHL players were born on May 4. The most notable are Leon Rochefort (85), Fred Stanfield (80), Kevin Todd (56), John Madden (51), Matthew Barnaby (51), Kent Huskins (45), Andrew Raycroft (44), Derek Roy (41), Devin Dubnyk (38), James van Riemsdyk (35), Aaron Dell (35), Joe Hicketts (28), and Logan Cooley (20).