The San Jose Sharks have played in 12 game 7s in franchise history. Here are the five games that stick out the most.
The San Jose Sharks have played in 12 game 7s in franchise history. Here are the five games that stick out the most.
The San Jose Sharks have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs 21 times and played in 12 game sevens.
April 30, 1994 Sharks @ Red Wings
Arguably the greatest upset in NHL history. The 8th-seeded Sharks took on the powerhouse one-seed Detroit Red Wings.
The Sharks finished the season with a 33-35-16 record for 82 points, while the Red Wings finished 46-30-8 for 100 points. Nobody expected the Sharks even to push this series to seven games.
Scotty Bowman was the head coach, Steve Yzerman was the captain, and Chris Osgood was the starting goalie for the Red Wings.
The winged wheel boasted six Hall of Famers, including Mark Howe, Paul Coffey, Nick Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, and more.
Fedorov finished the regular season with 120 points, which put him second in the league in scoring to Wayne Gretzky. Detroit boasted the most goals as a team in the entire league that season with 356.
Yet that didn't scare the Sharks, who were in their first postseason as a team since their inception. Not to mention the season before was arguably the worst season by any team in NHL history, with a record of 11-71-2.
The Red Wings forced a game seven with a 7-1 blowout. The writing seemed to be on the wall for Team Teal, yet the goal by Jamie Baker will live on in infamy.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGJbz2bVCfg[/embed]
At 13:25 of the third period, Baker became an unlikely hero for San Jose. He capitalized on a bad turnover by Osgood and scored what ended up being the game-winning goal.
The Sharks would move on to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in round two where they would lose in game seven.
May 19, 1995 Sharks @ Flames
The very next season, the Sharks were back in the playoffs as underdogs taking on the Calgary Flames.
The Flames were led by Theo Fleury and Phil Housley. San Jose had taken a 2-0 series lead but lost three straight and needed to save their season in game six and did so with a 5-3 win in San Jose.
In double overtime, Sergei Makarov threw a puck to the net that Ray Whitney would deflect in. Again as the underdog, the San Jose Sharks would prevail and move on to the next round.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWaviZ62DWI[/embed]
The Red Wings would get their revenge on San Jose with a 4-0 sweep.
April 24, 2000 Sharks @ Blues
Again as a heavy underdog, the San Jose Sharks took it to the St. Louis Blues in game seven.
The Blues were the best defensive team in the NHL that season, giving up 125 goals all season. Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis led the defense core for St. Louis.
The Sharks would give the Blues a taste of their own defensive medicine with a 3-1 victory in game seven.
Owen Nolan had six goals in the seven-game series and scored what would eventually be the game-winning goal at 19:49 of the first period. With his iconic slapshot, Nolan powered one from center ice.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-e1VBccoSM[/embed]
April 30, 2014 Kings @ Sharks
Sharks fans want to forget 2014, but it is iconic, so it must be included in this list.
It was only the fourth time in NHL history that a team down 3-0 in the series came back to win it. The Los Angeles Kings not only beat San Jose in game seven, they demolished them 5-1.
51-22-9 was the Sharks' record that season, and they looked primed for a deep cup run.
Patrick Marleau and Joe Thronton were in their prime. Tomas Hertl was a rookie. Joe Pavelski was still in teal.
Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, and Mr. Game 7 Justin Williams would not be denied, however.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead just 28 seconds into the second period on a goal from Matt Irwin, but that would be the last bit of joy in the San Jose Sharks season.
Two goals in the second and one early in the third before LA potted two empty net goals to solidify their spot in the second round.
To make matters worse, the Kings would go on to beat the New York Rangers to win the Stanley Cup.
April 23, 2019 Golden Knights @ Sharks
Sharks fans today know this game seven very well. This game was so iconic it deserved its own article. Click here to read.