May 21: Canadiens win Cup for fourth straight season

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: May 21
1979:The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup for the fourth consecutive season and the sixth time in the 1970s by defeating the New York Rangers
4-1 in Game 5
of the Final at the Forum.

The game is tied 1-1 entering the second period, but Montreal's
Jacques Lemaire
scores a power-play goal at 1:02,
Bob Gainey
makes it 3-1 midway through the period and Lemaire scores again at 18:49. The Canadiens limit the Rangers to four shots in the third period and 15 for the game, making life easy for goalie
Ken Dryden
.
The Canadiens win the Cup for the 22nd time in their history. It's the last game for Lemaire, Dryden and captain
Yvan Cournoyer
; all three retire before the start of the 1979-80 season.
MORE MOMENTS
1981:
Butch Goring
scores two goals in the first period to help the
New York Islanders defeat the Minnesota North Stars 5-1
at Nassau Coliseum in Game 5 of the Final and win the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive season.
Billy Smith
makes 24 saves but faces 10 shots after the first period. Goring is voted winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after scoring 10 goals and finishing with 20 points in 18 games.

1991:The Pittsburgh Penguins get the jump on the North Stars in Game 4 of the Final at Met Center by
scoring three goals during a two-minute span
in the first 2:58.
Kevin Stevens
scores 58 seconds into the game,
Ron Francis
makes it 2-0 at 2:36 and
Mario Lemieux
beats
Jon Casey
22 seconds later. The early three-goal lead sparks Pittsburgh to a series-tying 5-3 victory.
1992:Stevens, a Boston-area native, scores four goals, three in a 5:55 span of the first period, and the
Penguins defeat the Bruins 5-1
at Boston Garden. The victory gives Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 Wales Conference Final.
1993:
Jari Kurri
scores his 100th career playoff goal to help the Los Angeles Kings
defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2
in Game 3 of the Campbell Conference Final at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Kurri reaches the milestone by scoring a shorthanded goal 9:26 into the second period.
1995:
Mike Vernon
makes 15 saves in a 6-0 victory
by the Detroit Red Wings against the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals at Joe Louis Arena. It's the fourth NHL playoff shutout for Vernon but his first since 1989.
Sergei Fedorov
has a goal and three assists for Detroit.
2009:Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins becomes the third player in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to score the first goal of the game six times in one playoff year. Crosby
opens the scoring 1:51 after the opening faceoff
and the Penguins defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 7-4 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at Mellon Arena. Evgeni Malkin scores three goals for the Penguins, who go on to sweep the series.
2014:The Los Angeles Kings score
five goals in the third period
to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final at United Center. The Kings become the second team in NHL history and the first in 23 years to win a playoff game by four or more goals in a game it trailed after two periods. The Blackhawks lead 2-0 late in the second period, but a goal by Justin Williams with 1:46 remaining gives Los Angeles some life. Jeff Carter scores three times during the third period, helping Los Angeles win in Chicago for the first time in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games. It's the first time a team wins by four or more goals when trailing after two periods since 1991, when the Boston Bruins score six third-period goals to overcome a 1-0 deficit in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Hartford Whalers.

2016:Jake Allen makes 31 saves and the St. Louis Blues even the Western Conference Final at two wins each with a
6-3 victory against the San Jose Sharks
at SAP Center. It's Allen's first start of the 2016 playoffs. Troy Brouwer and
Kyle Brodziak
score two goals apiece for the Blues.
2018:The Washington Capitals get two goals by T.J. Oshie and 24 saves by Braden Holtby in a
3-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning
in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at Capital One Arena, evening the best-of-7 series 3-3. Oshie opens the scoring at 15:12 of the second period and wraps up the win by putting the puck into an empty net with 50 seconds remaining in the third period. The shutout is Holtby's first of 2017-18, regular season or playoffs.
2019: The St. Louis Blues advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1970 by
defeating the San Jose Sharks 5-1
at Enterprise Center to win the Western Conference Final in six games. David Perron scores 1:32 into the game to give St. Louis a quick lead and four other players also score to back a 25-save performance by rookie goalie Jordan Binnington. The Blues advance to the championship round after being in
last place in the NHL standings on the morning of Jan. 3
.