April 26: Islanders complete historic playoff comeback

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: April 26
1975: The New York Islanders become the second team in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to win a best-of-7 series after losing the first three games when they
defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0
in Game 7 of the Quarterfinals at the Civic Center.

The Penguins outplay the Islanders through the first two periods but can't score. New York captain
Ed Westfall
scores the only goal of the game when he takes a pass from defenseman
Bert Marshall
and lifts a backhand shot that beats goalie
Gary Inness
with 5:18 remaining in the third period.
Glenn Resch
makes 30 saves for the first playoff shutout in Islanders history and the first by a rookie in a Game 7.
"We were down 3-0] here and they wrote us off, which just proves what great players we have," coach Al Arbour says afterward. "They never heard of the word quit."
The Islanders duplicate the feat of the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, whose seven-game victory in the Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings is the only previous instance when a team wins a series after losing the first three games.
**MORE MOMENTS**
**1977:**
[Ken Dryden
becomes the fourth goalie in NHL history with 50 victories in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the first to do so with the Montreal Canadiens. The milestone comes when he makes 19 saves in a
3-0 win against the Islanders
at the Forum in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals.
1983:
Glenn Anderson
scores four goals and
Mark Messier
gets three for the Edmonton Oilers in an
8-2 victory
against the Chicago Blackhawks at Northlands Coliseum in Game 2 of the Campbell Conference Final. It's the third time in playoff history that two players on the same team each scores three or more goals. Anderson scores twice in the first and third periods; Messier scores two goals in the first before completing his hat trick at 15:09 of the third.

1988:The Boston Bruins defeat the Canadiens in a playoff series for the first time in 45 years.
Steve Kasper
and
Cam Neely
each score two goals in a
4-1 victory
at the Forum as Boston wraps up the Adams Division Final in five games. It is the first playoff series win for the Bruins against the Canadiens since 1943, ending Montreal's streak of 18 consecutive victories against Boston.

1993:For the second time in NHL history, players from opposing teams score at least three goals in the same playoff game. Washington Capitals defenseman
Al Iafrate
scores three goals in a
6-4 victory against the Islanders
in Game 5 of the Patrick Division Semifinals in Landover, Maryland. All four New York goals are scored by center
Ray Ferraro
, the overtime hero in the previous two games of the series.
2010:Jaroslav Halak makes 53 saves for the Canadiens in a
4-1 victory against the Capitals
at Bell Centre in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. It's the most saves by a goalie in a non-overtime playoff win in the NHL's expansion era. Halak stops all 18 shots he faces in the first period and is perfect on 14 shots in the second. He stops 21 of 22 in the third period, allowing a goal by Eric Fehr with 4:50 to play.

2011: In his first Game 7 start since May 2000,
Brian Boucher
makes 26 saves in the Philadelphia Flyers'
5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres
at Wells Fargo Center The gap of 10 years and 11 months between Game 7 starts is the longest by any goalie in NHL history. Boucher's previous Game 7 appearance was the Flyers' 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils in the 2000 Eastern Conference Final.
On the same night, the Vancouver Canucks assure that the Blackhawks won't repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
Alexandre Burrows
scores his second goal of the game at 5:22 of overtime to give the Canucks a
2-1 victory against the Blackhawks
in Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals at Rogers Arena.
2012:The New York Rangers win Game 7 of a playoff series for the first time since the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. Goals by defensemen Dan Girardi and Marc Staal are enough to give New York a
2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators
at Madison Square Garden in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
On the same night, rookie center Adam Henrique scores his second goal of the game at 23:47 of overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a
3-2 win against the Florida Panthers
in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in Sunrise, Florida. Henrique becomes the second player in NHL history to score his first two playoff goals in the seventh game of the same series. He joins
Claude Lemieux
of the 1986 Canadiens as the only rookies to score an overtime goal in Game 7.
2014:Nathan MacKinnon becomes the second-youngest player in NHL history to score in overtime during the playoffs when his goal at 3:27 of OT gives the Colorado Avalanche a
4-3 victory
against the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round. MacKinnon is 18 years, 237 days old; the only player younger than that to score a playoff overtime goal is
Don Gallinger
of the Boston Bruins, who is 17 years, 339 days old when he
scores against the Canadiens
on March 21, 1943.

2018:The Vegas Golden Knights become the first team in NHL history to win its first five playoff games by
defeating the San Jose Sharks 7-0
at T-Mobile Arena in Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round. Marc-Andre Fleury makes 33 saves and becomes the 14th goalie in NHL history to have three shutouts through his team's the first five games in a playoff year. Seven players score for the first-year Golden Knights, who stay unbeaten after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the first round.
2019: Jordan Staal scores 4:04 into overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a
1-0 win
against the Islanders in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Barclays Center. It's the first 1-0 game in the playoffs since the
St. Louis Blues defeat the Blackhawks
on April 13, 2016. Petr Mrazek makes 31 saves for the shutout.