April 25: Lemieux ties playoff records with five goals, eight points

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: April 25
1989:
Mario Lemieux
puts on arguably the greatest offensive performance in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Lemieux ties playoff records by scoring five goals and finishing with eight points, powering the Pittsburgh Penguins to a
10-7 victory
against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of the Patrick Division Final at the Civic Center.
Lemieux scores three times in the first 6:55, setting a playoff record for the fastest three goals from the start of a game. He scores his fourth of the game at 17:09 of the first period, tying the mark for the most goals in a period, and matches the record for goals in a playoff game with five when he scores into an empty net with 37 seconds remaining. Lemieux also has three second-period assists; his eight points tie the single-game playoff record set by
Patrik Sundstrom
of the New Jersey Devils one year earlier. His five goals match the mark set by
Maurice Richard
and equaled by
Darryl Sittler
and
Reggie Leach
.
"I've had a lot of great games," he says, "but under a lot of pressure like that, a key game for the team, I think that was one of the best."
MORE MOMENTS
1964:
Johnny Bower
becomes the first goalie in playoff history to have a shutout in Game 7 of the Final by making 33 saves in the Toronto Maple Leafs'
4-0 victory
against the Detroit Red Wings at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Andy Bathgate
, acquired from the New York Rangers two months earlier, scores the Cup-winning goal 3:04 into the game, and Toronto ices it when
Dave Keon
,
Red Kelly
and
George Armstrong
score in the third period. It's the
third straight Stanley Cup championship
for the Maple Leafs.

1972:
Bobby Orr
has three assists in the Boston Bruins' 5-3 victory
against the St. Louis Blues
at St. Louis Arena in Game 4 of the Semifinals, completing a four-game sweep. Orr finishes the first two rounds of the playoffs with 15 assists, the most ever by a defenseman in one playoff year. He breaks the mark set by
Pat Stapleton
of the Chicago Blackhawks and
J.C. Tremblay
of the Montreal Canadiens one year earlier.

1985:
Wayne Gretzky
has the second seven-point playoff game of his career. Gretzky scores three goals and sets up four more to power the visiting Edmonton Oilers to an
8-3 victory against the Winnipeg Jets
in Game 4 to complete a sweep of the Smythe Division Final. He scores two goals in the first period, then completes his hat trick with a shorthanded goal into an empty net midway through the third. Three of his four assists come on goals by
Jari Kurri
. Gretzky matches the single-game record he set two years earlier.

1996:
Mike Gartner
completes the first playoff hat trick of his NHL career when he scores 7:31 into overtime to give the Maple Leafs a
5-4 victory
against the Blues in Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals at Maple Leaf Gardens. Gartner scores once each in the first and second periods, then gives Toronto the victory by scoring a power-play goal against
Jon Casey
.

2008: The Penguins rally from three goals down to
defeat the Rangers 5-4
at Mellon Arena in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Rangers enter the game with a 93-1 record when leading by at least three goals in a playoff game, having lost only to the Canadiens on
April 6, 1967
. The Penguins win for only the second time in 48 playoff games when they trail by three or more goals.
Exactly one year later, they do the same thing against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, allowing the first three goals of the game before
rallying to win 5-3
.
2012:
Joel Ward
scores at 2:57 of overtime to lift the Washington Capitals to a
2-1 win
against the Bruins at TD Garden in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Washington coach Dale Hunter becomes the first person in NHL history to score a Game 7 overtime goal and coach a team to a Game 7 overtime victory. Washington and Boston become the first teams to play a seven-game series in which every game is decided by one goal.

2015:Corey Crawford is perfect in a relief role and gives the Chicago Blackhawks the chance to rally for a series-clinching
4-3 win against the Nashville Predators
in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at United Center. Crawford relieves starting goalie Scott Darling after the Predators take a 3-1 lead in the first period and made 13 saves, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane score to get the Blackhawks even before defenseman Duncan Keith gets the game-winner with 3:48 remaining in the third period.
2016:The Blackhawks' hopes of repeating as Stanley Cup champions are ended by one of their former players when Troy Brouwer scores a third-period goal that gives the Blues a
3-2 victory against the Blackhawks
in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round at Scottrade Center. Brouwer, a member of Chicago's 2010 Cup-winning team, scores his first playoff goal in 24 games, since May 8, 2013. The Blues advance past the first round for the first time since 2012.

2018: The Bruins become the first team in NHL history to trail three times before winning a Game 7. Boston enters the third period at TD Garden trailing Toronto 4-3 but scores four unanswered goals for a
7-4 win
that puts the Bruins into the second round for the first time since 2014. The 11 combined goals in the deciding game of the Eastern Conference First Round are tied for the third-most in a Game 7, and the Bruins tie the Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings for the most Game 7 wins in NHL history with their 14th.
2019:Charlie Coyle scores the tying goal with 4:35 remaining in the third period and the game-winner at 5:15 of overtime to give the Bruins a
3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets
in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at TD Garden. Coyle joins Patrice Bergeron (2013 against Toronto) as the only players in Bruins history to score the tying goal of a playoff game within the final five minutes of the third period and get the overtime winner.