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ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

What's the best Game 7 in NHL playoff history?

by Ted Bauer

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The Rangers, en route to ending their curse, would play two epic Game 7s in 1994.

BEST GAME 7 IN NHL PLAYOFF HISTORY? TOUGH ONE. WE'LL TAKE THE 1994 EASTERN FINALS BETWEEN THE DEVILS AND RANGERS

What is All-World Power Rankings?

Three of the four Conference semifinal series are headed to seven games: Caps/Pens tonight, and Red Wings/Ducks and Bruins/Hurricanes tomorrow. That's super fun. Because of this Game 7 madness, we decided to attempt to rank the best Game 7s in NHL playoff history ever. The formatting of these lists allows for basically nine slots, and there are way more than nine options, so some got left off. If you disagree, you can (a) comment or (b) e-mail us. Thanks for consideration, friends.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
1 (145) 1994 ECF: DEVILS VS. RANGERS Game 6 of this series was the Mark Messier guarantee. Game 7 went 2OT, and then Stephane Matteau did this. Announcer call on that is fantastic.
2 (102) 1950 CUP FINALS: RED WINGS VS. RANGERS Surprisingly to us, there is video of the Red Wings winning the Cup in OT. Cool thing: 1950 was the first year the team skated around with the Cup after winning, apparently.
3 (84) 1986 CAMPBELL SEMIS: OILERS VS. FLAMES Most people know this as "the Steve Smith wrong goal game." It's pretty much one of the only things Edmonton did wrong in the entirety of the 1980s.
4 (71) 1996 WESTERN SEMIS: BLUES VS. RED WINGS Most people know this as "the Steve Yzerman game-winner after Wayne Gretzky lost the puck." It's a sleeper at No. 4, probably, but it's legitimately a super memorable moment.
5 (920) 1979 WALES CONFERENCE FINALS: BRUINS VS. CANADIENS Don Cherry's final game as Bruins' coach, and it ends with this "too many men on the ice" nonsense. Cherry still won't throw anyone under the bus about what happened here. Good man.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
12 (404) 1994 CUP FINALS: CANUCKS VS. RANGERS This was a great Game 7. You can watch this entire classic online by starting here and going through related videos. Happy childhood memories: how good was Pavel Bure in NHL '94? Answer: he could blaze absolutely anyone down the ice.
28 (99) 1987 PATRICK SEMIS: CAPITALS VS. ISLANDERS They call this one simply "The Easter Epic."

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT WHAT
BRUINS/CANES TONIGHT (Should be fun.)
RED WINGS/DUCKS TONIGHT (You think the Ducks have a shot here?)


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