A pair of historic Stanley Cup champions were crowned on this date. May 19 has also seen some great individual efforts by Hall of Fame defensemen and goaltenders.

Champions Crowned

On May 19, 1974, the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 1-0, in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, to become the first expansion team to win a championship. Rick MacLeish deflected a shot from the point for the game’s only goal, late in the first period.

Bernie Parent picked up his second career playoff shutout by making 30 saves. He also wins the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the most valuable player of the playoffs. The Hall of Fame goaltender went 12-5 with a 2.02 goals-against average during the 1974 Stanley Cup playoffs.

A decade later, the Edmonton Oilers ended one dynasty and started another. On May 19, 1984, they beat the New York Islanders 5-2, in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. The win gave them their first Stanley Cup win and ends the Islanders’ four-year reign as league champions. The Oilers are the first team from the defunct World Hockey Association to win the Stanley Cup as they went on to win four of the next five championships.

Wayne Gretzky, who was held without a goal in the 1984 Stanley Cup Final versus the Islanders, scored two first-period goals in the series-clinching win. The Islanders’ 19 straight playoff series wins is still the NHL record.

Big Day for Blueliners

On May 19, 1979, defenseman Serge Savard was the hero for the Montreal Canadiens. He scored the winning goal at 7:25 of overtime in a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers, in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Another Canadiens defenseman made big news ten years later. On May 19, 1989, Larry Robinson became the first player in NHL history to play in 200 Stanley Cup playoff games, as the Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 in overtime, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Paul Coffey, who was a member of the 1984 Oilers, made history on May 19, 1996. He became the highest goal-scoring defenseman in Stanley Cup playoff history by scoring a pair of goals. Unfortunately, it came in a losing effort as the Detroit Red Wings lost 3-2, in overtime, to the Colorado Avalanche, in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. His power-play and shorthanded goal moved him ahead of Denis Potvin on the all-time list for defensemen.

Great Feats in Goaltending

May 19, 1995, saw a pair of big-time goaltending performances. Wade Flaherty made 56 saves to help the San Jose Sharks a 5-4 overtime win over the Flames, in Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Ray Whitney scored less than two minutes into the second overtime to get the Sharks into the next round.

The Vancouver Canucks also advanced out of the Western Conference Quarterfinals on that night. Kirk McLean made 41 saves to lead the Canucks to a 5-3 win at the St. Louis Blues, in Game 7 of their opening-round series.

Patrick Roy tied an NHL record, on May 19, 2000, with his 15th career playoff shutout as the Avalanche won 2-0 over the visiting Dallas Stars, in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final. Rookie defenseman Martin Skoula had assists on both of Colorado’s goals.

A year later, on May 19, 2001, Martin Brodeur recorded his second consecutive playoff shutout in the New Jersey Devils’ 5-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final. This was Brodeur’s fourth shutout of the 2001 postseason and the 12th of his career.

On May 19, 2016, Martin Jones led the Sharks to a 3-0 win over the Blues, in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final. Jones stopped all 22 shots he faced to earn his second consecutive shutout over St. Louis.

Odds & Ends

Stephane Matteau continued the Rangers magical playoff run on May 19, 1994. He scored six minutes into double overtime to give the Rangers a 3-2 win over the Devils, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. This would not be the last double-overtime goal scored by Matteau in this memorable series.

On May 19, 2004, the Flames advanced to their first Stanley Cup Final in 15 years with a 3-1 win over the visiting Sharks, in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. Jarome Iginla scored his 10th goal of the playoffs and Martin Gelinas picked up the game-winner.

The Red Wings advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, on May 19, 2008, by beating the Dallas Stars 4-1, in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk, Dallas Drake and Henrik Zetterberg all score for the Red Wings as goaltender Chris Osgood made 28 saves. Datsyuk’s last 11 goals, nine in 2008 and two in 2007, were all scored on the road.

Chris Kreider did all the scoring in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final on May 19, 2012. Kreider finds the back of the net three times during the third period of the Rangers’ 3-0 victor against the Devils. This outburst gave him five goals in the postseason, which tied the record for the most playoff goals scored by a player who had not played in a regular-season game yet.

The Chicago Blackhawks played the longest game in their long franchise history on May 19, 2015. Marcus Kruger scored at the 16:12 mark of the third overtime to give them a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final.

Happy Birthday to You

A total of 24 current and former NHL players were born on May 19. The most notable of them include Carey Wilson (58), Marc Bureau (54), Mark Janssens (52), Jason Botterill (44), Michael Leighton (39), Jack Skille (33), Evgeny Kuznetsov (28), Connor Hellebuyck (27) and Oliver Kylington (23).

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