June 7: Red Wings sweep Flyers, end 42-year Stanley Cup drought

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: June 7
1997: The Stanley Cup returns to Hockeytown for the first time in 42 years.

The Detroit Red Wings complete a sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers
with a 2-1 victory
in Game 4 of the Final at Joe Louis Arena to win their first championship since 1955.
Nicklas Lidstrom
scores late in the first period to put the Red Wings up 1-0, and
Darren McCarty
makes it 2-0 at 13:02 of the second. Goalie
Mike Vernon
makes 26 saves, allowing only a goal by
Eric Lindros
with 15 seconds remaining in the third period.
One year after being benched for Detroit's final 10 playoff games, Vernon wins the
Conn Smythe Trophy
as postseason MVP with a 16-4 record, a 1.76 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.

MORE MOMENTS
1976:
Denis Potvin
of the New York Islanders ends
Bobby Orr
's eight-year lock on the
Norris Trophy
when he's voted as the NHL's top defenseman for the 1975-76 season. Islanders center
Bryan Trottier
wins the
Calder Trophy
as the League's top rookie.

1989:
Wayne Gretzky
becomes the first player in NHL history to take home the same award nine times when he's voted as winner of the
Hart Trophy
as MVP. This one comes after his first season with the Los Angeles Kings; the previous eight come with the Edmonton Oilers.

1993:
John LeClair
scores at 14:37 of overtime to give the
Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win
against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4 of the Final at the Forum in Inglewood, California. It's the Canadiens' NHL-record 10th straight playoff overtime win. LeClair beats goalie
Kelly Hrudey
to become the second player in NHL history to score an overtime goal in back-to-back games during the Final, joining
Don Raleigh
of the New York Rangers in 1950.

1994:The Rangers move within one win of their first Stanley Cup championship since 1940 by
defeating the Vancouver Canucks 4-2
at Pacific Coliseum in Game 4 of the Final. After Vancouver takes a 2-0 lead, defenseman
Brian Leetch
scores his 10th goal of the 1994 playoffs and assists on New York's other three goals, giving the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
2001:
Patrick Roy
gets his playoff-record 19th career shutout in a
4-0 victory
by the Colorado Avalanche against the New Jersey Devils in Game 6 of the Cup Final. With a full house of 19,040 at Continental Airlines Arena rooting for the Devils to complete their run to a second straight championship, Roy makes 24 saves and defenseman
Adam Foote
has a goal and two assists. Colorado evens the best-of-7 series 3-3.
2004: The Tampa Bay Lightning
the Calgary Flames 2-1 in Game 7
of the Final at St. Pete Times Forum to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since entering the NHL in 1992.
Ruslan Fedotenko
scores once in each of the first two periods for the Lightning, enabling them to survive a power-play goal by the Flames'
Craig Conroy
midway through the third. Tampa Bay goalie
Nikolai Khabibulin
makes 16 saves. The victory is especially sweet for Lightning captain
Dave Andreychuk
, who's played an NHL-record 1,759 games (regular season and playoffs) during his 22 NHL seasons before winning the Cup.

2006:Cam Ward becomes the first rookie goalie to earn a shutout in the Final since Roy with the Canadiens in 1986 when the Carolina Hurricanes
defeat the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 in Game 2
at RBC Center. Center Matt Cullen assists on three of the five goals by Carolina, which takes a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
2013:The Pittsburgh Penguins are swept in a playoff series for the first time since 1979 when they
lose 1-0 to the Boston Bruins
in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at TD Garden. Defenseman Adam McQuaid scores 5:01 into the third period, and goalie Tuukka Rask makes 26 saves. Pittsburgh's streak of 45 consecutive playoff series without being swept is the second-longest in NHL history, behind only the Canadiens' run of 56 series from 1953 through 1980.
2014:Dustin Brown scores at 10:26 of the second overtime to give the Kings
a 5-4 victory
against the Rangers in Game 2 of the Final at Staples Center. New York leads 2-0 after one period and 4-2 after two, but the Kings get third-period goals by
Dwight King
and former Rangers forward
Marian Gaborik
to tie it and force overtime. The Kings become the third team in NHL history to overcome two-goal deficits and win consecutive games in the Final. They also become the first team in NHL history to win three straight games in one playoff year after not leading for even one second of playing time in any of them.
2018:The Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup for the first time since entering the NHL in 1974 when they defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 at T-Mobile Arena in Game 5 of the Final. The Capitals trail 3-2 after two periods, but goals by Devante Smith-Pelly and Lars Eller midway through the third period give Washington the win. Alex Ovechkin, who scores his team single-year record 15th goal in the second period, is voted winner of the
Conn Smythe Trophy
as playoff MVP.