Easter Epic - Game 7

Game 7

With national television audiences watching in both the United States on ESPN (with Mike Emrick and Bill Clement on the call) and in Canada on Hockey Night in Canada (with Bob Cole and Harry Neale on the call), Game 7 began shortly after 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. (ESPN was blacked out in the New York City and Washington D.C. markets, to protect the Islanders and Capitals broadcast outlets.) This was the lone game of the night, because the other seven series were finished.

The first period was dominated by the Capitals, but the game was scoreless through nineteen minutes, when Mike Gartner beat Islander goaltender Kelly Hrudey to give the Capitals the lead after one period, 1–0.

Patrick Flatley tied the score at 1 midway through the second period, but Grant Martin responded for the Capitals, and after 2 periods, they led 2–1. Washington had outshot the Islanders to this point 25–10, and carried the play for most of the first forty minutes.

The game remained 2–1 through most of the third period, thanks to the strong efforts of Hrudey and Capital goalie Bob Mason.

Then, with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Islander legend Bryan Trottier backhanded a shot between Mason's pads - thanks in part to a strap breaking on one of Mason's pads. A frantic final minutes produced no further scoring, and the game went into sudden death overtime. Little did anyone know that this game hadn't even reached its halfway point yet.

In the first overtime, many scoring chances were thwarted by Mason and Hrudey, and the game remained tied. Greg Smith of the Capitals had the best chance with seconds left, as his long range slap shot beat Hrudey, but caught the right post and bounced away.

As the game moved on into the second overtime, the players began to show fatigue. Short bursts of action were replaced by longer periods of slow play. Hrudey continued to shine, stopping 17 shots in the second overtime session alone; Mason contributed nine more saves and was aided by a shot that hit the post by Randy Wood.

The scoreless second overtime set-up the first triple-overtime game since Pete Stemkowski had scored for the New York Rangers against the Chicago Blackhawks 16 years earlier.

Slowly, the Islanders began to finally take the play from the Capitals, and outshot the Capitals 11–10 in the third overtime. They had the better chances as well, but Mason continued to shine as the game remained tied. For the first time since March 27, 1951, an NHL game was headed into the fourth overtime.