This Date in Playoff History: May 26

1987: Flyers right wing Rick Tocchet beat Oilers goalie Grant Fuhr for the game-winning goal as Philadelphia beat the Oilers 4-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final trimming Edmonton's series lead to 3-2. The Flyers were able to push Edmonton to a seventh game with a 3-2 win in Game 6, but the Oilers won the series with a 3-1 win in the seventh game. Tocchet finished second on the team with 11 goals and third with 21 points in 26 playoff games that season. This series also marked one of the few times that a player on the losing team, in this case Philadelphia goalie Ron Hextall, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff most valuable player.  

1988: The Oilers became the first team to win 11 home playoff games in one season when they beat the Bruins 6-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, clinching their fourth Cup in five seasons. Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second time in four seasons, scored the game-winning goal and led the League with 31 assists and 43 points in 19 playoff games that season. This was Gretzky's last game with the Oilers before he was traded to the Kings in arguably hockey's most memorable trade.

1995: Devils center Neal Broten scored with just 1:24 left in the first overtime period as New Jersey beat Pittsburgh 2-1 in Game 4 of their second-round series, giving the Devils a 3-1 series lead. Two nights later, former New Jersey right wing Claude Lemieux, who led the Devils in the series with 7 points, scored the game-winning goal as the Devils eliminated the Penguins in five games.  The Devils would beat the Flyers in six games in the next round and swept the Red Wings in four games with Broten scoring the game-winning goal in Game 4 to capture their first Cup in franchise history.

2001: Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy recorded his 18th career playoff shutout blanking New Jersey 4-0 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Even though Colorado won two of the first three games, they were still trailing 3-2 heading into Game 6 in New Jersey, but they were where able to beat the Devils 4-0 and return back to Colorado to win Game 7, 3-1, capturing their second Cup in six seasons. Roy and Devils goalie Martin Brodeur share the NHL record for playoff shutouts with 23. 

2008: Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood recorded his 13th career playoff shutout and his second in two games stopping all 22 Penguins shots as Detroit beat Pittsburgh 3-0 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final taking a 2-0 series lead. The Penguins would win two of the next three games pushing the series to a sixth game in Pittsburgh, but Detroit proved too much for the Penguins and won their fourth Cup in 12 seasons. The Red Wings started the playoffs with Dominik Hasek as their starting goalie, but Osgood took over when Hasek faltered in the first round and the Predators were able to tie the first-round series at two games apiece after the Red Wings took a 2-0 lead. 

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