Today in NHL History April 18th

1942: The Toronto Maple Leafs completed the greatest comeback in Stanley Cup history with their fourth straight victory after losing the first three games of the Final to the Detroit Red Wings. Leafs goaltender Turk Broda provided the heroics, allowing the Red Wings only seven goals in the last four games, including this 3-1 series-ending victory.

1959: Montreal Canadiens left winger Marcel Bonin scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal at 9:55 of the second period en route to a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Six. This victory ended the series and gave Montreal the fourth of its record five straight Stanley Cup titles.

1963: In Game Five of the 1963 Final, Toronto Maple Leafs center Dave Keon scored two shorthanded goals against the Detroit Red Wings, setting a single-game playoff record. Keon’s heroics led Toronto to a 3-1 Cup-winning triumph over Detroit. It marked the second of three straight Stanley Cups for the Leafs.

1968: Milan Marcetta scored two goals and two assists and Dave Balon had a goal and three assists in the Minnesota North Stars' 9-4 playoff win against the Kings, in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Quarter-Finals, in Los Angeles.....St. Louis Blues beat the Flyers 3-1 in the seventh (and final) game of their Quarter-Final series -- the first playoff series win in St. Louis' first NHL season. The Blues advanced to the finals, where they lost to Montreal.

1972: Rod Gilbert scored twice in the final period to lead the Rangers to a 5-3 win at Chicago, in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals.

1987: Pat LaFontaine scored the dramatic game-winning goal at 8:42 of the fourth overtime period in Game Seven of the Patrick Division Semifinal versus Washington. Islanders' goalie Kelly Hrudey made 73 saves for the victory.

1992: Larry Robinson tied Gordie Howe's all time record for most years in the playoffs when he appeared for the 20th year, in the Kings' 3-1 loss to Edmonton. He also extended his own NHL record for consecutive playoff appearances.

1993: Pittsburgh Penguins won 6-3 over the Devils at the Civic Arena to tie an NHL record with their 12th consecutive playoff victory. The record was set in 1984-85 by the Edmonton Oilers. Mario Lemieux scored two goals and two assists.....Defenseman Darryl Sydor scored 16 seconds into the game, and Jimmy Carson added two goals to give the Kings a 6-1 win at Calgary, in Game 1 of the Smythe Division Semi-Finals.

1994: The San Jose Sharks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit in Game One of their Western Conference Quarter-final series to become the first club since the 1975 New York Islanders to win the first Stanley Cup playoff game in franchise history. Since the Islanders defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 on April 8, 1975, seven clubs had lost their playoff debuts prior to San Jose’s win.....The New York Rangers posted their second consecutive 6-0 shutout to open the Stanley Cup playoffs against the New York Islanders. The Rangers became the first club to open the postseason with consecutive shutouts since the Buffalo Sabres defeated Montreal 1-0 and 3-0 in 1983.....Vancouver goalie Kirk McLean recorded the first of his four 1994 playoff shutout (and the third of his playoff career) as the Canucks won 5-0 at Calgary, in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarter-Finals.

1996: Brian Bellows scored the winning goal at 9:05 of overtime as the Lightning won 2-1, at Philadelphia in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals, for Tampa Bay's first all-time playoff victory.

1997: Red Wings' Larry Murphy became the first defenseman to score playoff goals for 5 different NHL teams, as Detroit won 2-1 over the visiting St. Louis Blues, in Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarter-Finals.....Boston Bruins fired head coach Steve Kasper, one week after the Bruins' 1996-97 season ended, after the team missing the playoffs for the first time since 1967. He was later replaced by Pat Burns.

1998: Peter Bondra scored his 50th goal of the season for the second time in his career (the fourth NHL player to reach 50 goals in 1997-98) in the Capitals 4-3 win against the Hurricanes, in North Carolina.

1999: Wayne Gretzky got his final point (2,847) of his NHL career on an assist when the Rangers lost 2-1 in overtime against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, in the Rangers' final game of the season.

2001: Kings capped a comeback from a 3-goal deficit with 3 goals in the final 6:02 of the game. Then rookie Eric Belanger's OT goal at 2:36 won it, as Los Angeles beat the visiting Detroit Red Wings 4-3, in Game 4 of the West. Conference Quarter-Finals.....Colorado's Patrick Roy became the first goaltender in NHL history to play in 200 playoff games, and picked up his 125th playoff victory as the Avalanche won 5-1 against the Canucks, in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarter-Finals, in Vancouver.