Today in NHL History April 16th

1939: Goaltender Frank Brimsek, alias “Mr. Zero”, allowed only one goal, his sixth in five Stanley Cup final games against Toronto, to lead the Boston Bruins past the Maple Leafs 3-1 to win the 1939 championship.

1949: The Toronto Maple Leafs swept the Detroit Red Wings to become the first NHL team to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles (1947-49). The 3-1 series-ending victory also marked the Leafs’ ninth straight win in Final action.

1953: Assisted by linemate Maurice “Rocket” Richard, Elmer Lach scored the only goal in Game Five at 1:22 of overtime, and goalie Gerry McNeil blanked the Boston Bruins for the second time in three outings as the Montreal Canadiens earned the 1953 Stanley Cup championship.

1954: Tony Leswick’s Stanley Cup-winning tally was the second overtime goal ever scored in the seventh game of a Final series. Leswick, who notched the decisive goal at 4:29 of overtime in Detroit’s 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game Seven, matched the feat first accomplished by former Red Wings left winger Pete Babando in 1950.

1961: The Chicago Black Hawks earned their first Stanley Cup championship since 1938 and their third title since joining the NHL in 1926-27. The Black Hawks downed Detroit 5-1 to take the best-of-seven Final four games to two.

1964: Detroit's Alex Delvecchio scored with 17 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Red Wings a 4-3 win over Toronto in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, in Detroit.

1970: Bobby Orr became the first defenseman in NHL history to score goals in four straight playoff games, when he scored twice as Boston won beat the Rangers 4-1 in New York, in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Quarter-Finals.

1972: Kevin O'Shea (with an assist from his brother Danny) scored at 10:07 of overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 win over the North Stars, in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Quarter-Finals, in Minnesota.

1980: Clark Gillies scored after 62 seconds of overtime to give the Islanders a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Quarter-Finals.

1990: Bobby Clarke left his post as General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers. He later was named the GM of the Minnesota North Stars.

1991: Edmonton's Esa Tikkanen scored a hat trick, including the winner at 6:58 of overtime and added an assist as the Oilers won 5-4 at Calgary, in Game 7 of the Smythe Division Semi-Finals. Edmonton came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the game.

1992: Brett Hull became just the second player in NHL history to score 70+ goals in three consecutive seasons when the Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3 in St. Louis.....Mike Gartner picked up his 500th career NHL assist in a Rangers' 7-1 win over Pittsburgh to become the first player in NHL history to get his 500th goal, 500th assist, 1,000th point and 1,000th NHL game all in the same season.

1998: Chicago defenseman Chris Chelios appeared in his 1,000th career NHL game, in the Blackhawks' 1-1 tie against the visiting New Jersey Devils. Chelios became the 128th player to appear in 1,000 NHL games.

2000: Doug Weight scored his 1st career playoff hat trick to lead the Oilers to a 5-2 win over the visiting Dallas Stars, in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarter-Finals. The victory ended a streak of 9 straight Oilers' playoff losses to the Stars.

2001: Raymond Bourque set an NHL record for most years in the playoffs (21) by appearing for the Colorado Avalanche in Game Three of their best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final series against Vancouver. Bourque, who made his playoff debut in 1980 with Boston, passed the mark established by NHL great Gordie Howe.

2004: Toronto's Ed Belfour became the sixth NHL goaltender to record 14 playoff shutouts, in a 2-0 win over the visiting Ottawa Senators, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals.