Lord Stanley's Top Game 7s

With the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins to decide the Stanley Cup finals tonight, David Schoenfield takes a look at the best Game 7s in NHL championship history for ESPN. Some highlights:

• 1950: Red Wings 4, Rangers 3 (2 OT). Pete Babando’s goal 8½ minutes into the second overtime capped a series that saw the last four games decided by one goal, three of them OT.
• 1994: Rangers 3, Canucks 2. New York hangs on in front of a delirious crowd to end the franchise’s 54-year Cup drought.

• 1971: Canadiens 3, Blackhawks 2: Chicago coughed up an early 2-0 lead, with one of Montreal’s goals coming on Jacques Lemaire’s slap shot from center ice.
• 2004: Lightning 2, Flames 1: After OT in Game 5 and double-OT in Game 6, Tampa Bay took an early lead and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin stood on his head late to make it stand up.

For the full list, and other Game 7 superlatives, click the link below.
(More NHL playoffs stories.)