The Easter Epic is the nickname given to a National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey game during the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs between the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals . The seventh and deciding game of the Patrick Division semifinals, it was played April 18–19, 1987, at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland , and is so named because the game started on Saturday evening but did not finish until the early hours of Easter Sunday.
58-555: As of 2023 , the game is notable for the following: The game finally ended at the 8:47 mark of the fourth overtime when Pat LaFontaine was able to keep the puck in Washington's zone, firing a slapshot over the glove side of Washington goaltender Bob Mason . The game was included in its entirety on the New York Islanders 10 Greatest Games DVD box set released in 2009. The 1987 Patrick Division semifinals pitted
116-658: A 3–0 series lead in the process. In game four, the Maple Leafs staved off elimination on the back of Mitch Marner 's goal and assist in a 2–1 victory to force a fifth game. With game five tied 2–2 after three periods, the Panthers' Nick Cousins scored in overtime to advance Florida to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in twenty-seven years. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Carolina winning three of
174-585: A 4–1 victory. The Edmonton Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division with 109 points. The Los Angeles Kings earned 104 points to finish third in the Pacific Division. This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and ninth playoff meeting overall between these two rivals with Edmonton winning six of the eight previous series. Edmonton won the previous year's Western Conference first-round series in seven games. These teams split their four-game regular-season series. The Oilers defeated
232-607: A 4–3 victory. Tkachuk scored twice and provided an assist in a high-scoring affair between Florida and Boston in game six, defeating the Bruins 7–5 to force a seventh game. In game seven, after the Panthers rallied a late goal to tie the game, Verhaeghe scored in the subsequent overtime to send Florida to the second round. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished second in the Atlantic Division, earning 111 points. The Tampa Bay Lightning earned 98 points to finish third in
290-486: A 6–3 victory to take a 3–2 series lead. Kailer Yamamoto sealed the Oilers' victory late in game six, scoring with 3:03 left in the third period to win 5–4 and advance to the second round. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Toronto won three of the four games in this year's regular season series. The Panthers defeated the Maple Leafs in five games. Matthew Tkachuk had three assists for
348-613: A decisive Game 7, before a sold-out crowd on Washington's home ice. 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 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time . ESPN was blacked out in the New York City and Washington, D.C. markets, to protect
406-455: A seventh game with a 4–1 victory. game seven saw Oliver Bjorkstrand score twice for Seattle, and coupled with Grubauer's 33-save performance to hold a 2–1 lead, the Kraken advanced to the second round, becoming the first expansion team to triumph over the defending Stanley Cup champions in their inaugural playoff series. The Dallas Stars finished with 108 points to finish second in
464-399: 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 tied at 2–2. Little did anyone know that this game had not even reached its halfway point yet. In the first overtime, Mason and Hrudey thwarted many scoring chances, and the game remained tied. Greg Smith of
522-587: A sixth game with a 3–2 victory. In game six, with the game headed to overtime, Paul Stastny scored for the Hurricanes, sending Carolina to the second round with a 2–1 victory. The New Jersey Devils finished second in the Metropolitan Division with 112 points. The New York Rangers earned 107 points to finish third in the Metropolitan Division. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two rivals with New York winning four of
580-638: The Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975. In similar comeback fashion, just two years earlier, the Islanders became the first team to win a best-of-5 series after trailing 2–0; that series was also against the Caps. Armed with that history, the Islanders staved off elimination, winning 4–2 in Game 5. Their momentum continued, and the Islanders won Game 6, 5–4, at home. This brought the Islanders and Capitals to
638-888: The Sun Belt , with the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final, and the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference final. This was the eighth year in which the top three teams in each division made the playoffs , along with two wild cards in each conference (for a total of eight playoff teams from each conference). The following teams qualified for
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#1732783630488696-509: The Atlantic Division. This was the second consecutive and the second overall playoff meeting between these two teams. Tampa Bay won the previous year's Eastern Conference first-round series in seven games. Toronto won two of the three games in this year's regular season series. The Maple Leafs defeated the Lightning in six games, winning their first playoff series since 2004 . The Lightning scored four power play goals in game one, outscoring
754-466: The Avalanche in game three, defeating 6–4. In game four, with the game tied 2–2 after three periods, the Kraken's Jordan Eberle scored in the overtime period to give Seattle a 3–2 victory with a series tied 2–2. Grubauer made 26 saves for the Kraken in game five, who took a 3–2 series lead with a 3–2 victory. In game six, Artturi Lehkonen scored twice and Toews assisted thrice for Colorado, forcing
812-470: The Capitals had the best chance with seconds left, as his long-range slapshot beat Hrudey, but caught the right goal 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
870-599: The Central Division. The Minnesota Wild earned 103 points to finish third in the Central Division. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous playoff meeting was in the 2016 Western Conference first round , which Dallas won in six games. These teams split their four-game regular season series. The Stars defeated the Wild in six games. In game one, both teams remained tied after three periods and an overtime period; however, at 12:20 of
928-476: The Devils the victory in an 8–4 affair. In game four, the Hurricanes capitalized on a five-goal second period, routing out the Devils 6–1 for a 3–1 series lead. Andersen made 27 saves in game five for the Hurricanes and with an overtime goal by Jesper Fast , Carolina advanced to the Eastern Conference Final with a 3–2 victory. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Dallas won two of
986-498: The Devils, defeating the Rangers 4–0 for a 3–2 series lead. Kreider scored a goal and provided two assists for the Rangers in game six, defeating the Devils 5–2 to force a seventh game. In game seven, Schmid stopped all 31 shots he faced in a 4–0 victory to send the Devils to the second round. The Colorado Avalanche finished first in the Central Division, earning 109 points. The Seattle Kraken earned 100 points to finish as
1044-513: The Islanders in six games. Martin Necas and Brent Burns assisted on both Carolina goals in game one whose team emerged victorious for a 2–1 triumph. The Hurricanes prevented New York from achieving a two-goal comeback in game two by forcing overtime wherein Jesper Fast scored to give Carolina a 4–3 victory. With game three tied at 1–1 and it appearing to head to overtime, in a span of 2:18,
1102-419: The Islanders scored four times within the final four minutes and set a league record for the fastest four goals scored by one team in the playoffs to win the game 5–1. In game four, Seth Jarvis scored twice for the Hurricanes in a 5–2 victory, winning their first playoff road game since game three of the 2021 Eastern Conference second round . Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves for the Islanders in game five, forcing
1160-425: The Islanders' and Capitals' local broadcast outlets. This was the lone game of the night, as the other seven first-round playoff series had already concluded. The Capitals dominated the first period. The game was scoreless through 19 minutes when Washington's 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
1218-541: The Isles were victorious in Game 2, 3–1, sending the series to Long Island tied at one game apiece. At the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum , the Islanders dropped Games 3 (2–0) and 4 (4–1) to fall behind in the series, 3–1. No NHL team had won a series coming back from such a deficit in 12 years; coincidentally, it was the Islanders who performed the feat, climbing out of a 3–0 hole to beat
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#17327836304881276-532: The Kings in six games. Los Angeles came back from a two-goal deficit in game one, and, assisted by captain Anze Kopitar 's goal and three assists, the Kings won 4–3 in overtime by forward Alex Iafallo 's goal. Although the Kings tied game two after being down by two goals, Edmonton forward Klim Kostin 's goal at 2:20 of the third period proved to be the game-winner for the Oilers in a 4–2 affair. In game three,
1334-483: The Maple Leafs in a 7–3 victory. In game two, Maple Leafs captain John Tavares scored a hat trick and Ryan O'Reilly provided four assists for Toronto's 7–2 victory. O'Reilly scored a goal and two assists in the Maple Leafs' game three victory where Morgan Rielly scored the overtime goal in a 4–3 triumph. In game four, the Maple Leafs overcame a three-goal deficit led by two goals from Auston Matthews , and in
1392-420: The Metropolitan Division earning 113 points. New York finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild card earning 93 points. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous playoff meeting was during the 2019 Eastern Conference second round , which Carolina won in a four-game sweep. Carolina won three of the four games in this year's regular-season series. The Hurricanes defeated
1450-522: The Panthers in game one, defeating the Maple Leafs 4–2. In game two, the Panthers overcame a two-goal deficit and with Sergei Bobrovsky 's 35 saves, Florida won 3–2. Game three was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 6; however, due to scheduling conflicts with the Miami Heat and the 2023 Miami Grand Prix , the game was rescheduled to Sunday, May 7. The Panthers emerged victorious in this game, winning 3–2 via Sam Reinhart 's overtime goal, taking
1508-410: The Panthers win game two 6–3. In game three, Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist for Boston defeating Florida 4–2. Hall scored twice and provided two assists in game four for the Bruins, giving Boston a 3–1 series lead with a 6–2 victory. In game five, Carter Verhaeghe assisted on three goals including the Panthers' overtime goal scored by Matthew Tkachuk , keeping Florida alive in the series with
1566-466: The Rangers 5–1 game two victory. In game three, the Devils made a goaltender change and started rookie Akira Schmid , who made 35 saves en route to a 2–1 overtime victory, in which Dougie Hamilton scored the game-winning goal. In game four, Jonas Siegenthaler scored a goal and provided an assist for the Devils for a 3–1 win to tie the series 2–2. In game five, Erik Haula scored twice and notched an assist while Schmid stopped all 23 shots he faced for
1624-525: The Stars, tying the series 2–2 with a 3–2 victory. In game five, Oettinger shut out the Wild stopping all 27 shots in a 4–0 victory to give Dallas a 3–2 series lead. Max Domi and Mason Marchment both scored a goal and provided an assist in game six, moving onto the second round with a 4–1 victory. The Vegas Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific Division and Western Conference earning 111 points. The Winnipeg Jets earned 95 points to finish as
1682-594: The Western Conference's first wild card for their first playoff appearance. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This series also marked the first appearance of a team representing Seattle in the Stanley Cup playoffs in ninety-nine years. The most recent team to represent Seattle before this was the Seattle Metropolitans who lost the PCHA Final in 1924 . Seattle won two of
1740-554: The Western Conference's second wild card. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2018 Western Conference Final , which Vegas won in five games. Vegas won all three games in this year's regular season series. The Golden Knights defeated the Jets in five games. In game one, Blake Wheeler scored a goal and provided two assists for the Jets in their 5–1 victory. Mark Stone provided two goals and an assist for Vegas in game two, tying
1798-645: The defending champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games to win their first playoff series, and the Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road in game six to win their first series since the 2004 Eastern Conference quarterfinals . For the fourth consecutive year, a Florida -based team reached the Stanley Cup Finals. For the first time, the conference finals consisted exclusively of teams located in
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1856-507: The divisions. In the first two rounds, home-ice advantage was awarded to the team with the better seed. Thereafter, it was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record. The Boston Bruins earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team with a record-setting 135 points. Florida earned 92 points to finish as the Eastern Conference's second wild card. This was
1914-568: The end of the second period on. Mason stopped 54 shots, including 36 from the end of regulation until LaFontaine beat him to end the marathon. The Islanders had to regain their composure, as well as their strength, as they advanced to the Patrick Division finals against a rested Philadelphia Flyers squad. They once again fell behind three games to one, and once again tied the series with consecutive victories. However, their luck ran out in Game 7, as Philadelphia won decisively, 5–1, to win
1972-533: The four previous series. They last met in the 2009 Eastern Conference quarterfinals , which Carolina won in seven games. These teams split the four games in this year's regular season series. The Hurricanes defeated the Devils in five games. In game one, Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal assisted twice in the Hurricanes' 5–1 victory. Frederik Andersen made 28 saves in game two, and with Jesperi Kotkaniemi 's two goals, Carolina defeated New Jersey 6–1. Jack Hughes had two goals and assists in game three, granting
2030-400: The fourth overtime period, New York's Ken Leiter carried the puck into the Capitals' zone and sent a pass through the slot . Gord Dineen pinched in and carried the puck around the net for a shot which was blocked out to near the blue line. The deflection bounced to Islander star Pat LaFontaine , who had gone back to the blue line to cover for Leiter. He spun and launched a slapshot toward
2088-406: The game again headed to overtime where Trevor Moore scored for the Kings to win 3–2. The Oilers came back from a three-goal deficit and a one-goal deficit in Game 4 to force overtime then Zach Hyman scored to give Edmonton the 5–4 victory and a series tied 2–2. In game five, the Oilers forced Kings goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to be pulled after tallying four goals on nineteen shots, wrapping in
2146-571: The game remained tied. The scoreless third overtime set up the first quadruple-overtime game since Maurice Richard had scored for the Montreal Canadiens against the Detroit Red Wings 36 years earlier. With both teams exhausted, play was choppy through the first eight minutes of the fourth overtime, the seventh period total. The Capitals had managed only one shot to the Islanders' five. Finally, with eight minutes elapsed in
2204-422: The game. It is still the longest game in Islanders history and was the longest the Capitals had ever played to that point; the Capitals lost a longer game (79:15 of OT in Game 4) to Pittsburgh in the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs . The "Epic" concluded at 1:58 a.m. local time, 6 hours and 18 minutes after the first face-off. Kelly Hrudey stopped 73 shots over the seven periods, including 50 straight from
2262-667: The history of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The longest elimination game mark would be surpassed in 2008 when the sixth and deciding game between the Dallas Stars and the San Jose Sharks took 16 seconds longer than the Easter Epic before the Stars scored to eliminate the Sharks. However, the Islanders still own the distinction of winning the shortest and longest overtime winner-take-all games in playoff history. 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs
2320-428: The net. Mason, screened on the play, never saw the puck as it clanged off the post to his left and into the net for the game-winner. The then-fifth-longest game in NHL history, and longest since 1943, was over after 68:47 of OT (128:47 overall). The Islanders, weary but jubilant, mobbed LaFontaine, and then Hrudey, having won Game 7, 3–2. Washington had not trailed the series up until that point, nor had they trailed in
2378-485: The playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners after setting the league record for the most wins and points in a single regular season. The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2005–06 NHL season , ending the NHL's and major North American sports' longest active playoff streak at sixteen consecutive seasons. The new longest active playoffs streak in major North American sports belonged to MLB 's Los Angeles Dodgers , who qualified for
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2436-468: The playoffs in the same year for the first time since 2007 . For the first time since 1990 and second time since entering the NHL as expansion teams in the 1967–68 NHL season , both Pennsylvania-based teams (the Flyers and Penguins) missed the playoffs in the same season. This postseason marked the second consecutive and fourth time overall that the league played 50 or more games in the opening round of
2494-530: The playoffs since this round was changed to a best-of-seven format in 1987 . In addition, visiting teams in the first round went 31–19 overall to set a new league record for the most road wins in a single round. Among these opening round road victories, the Florida Panthers overcame a 3–1 series deficit to upset the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in seven games, the Seattle Kraken defeated
2552-411: The playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference, for a total of eight teams from each conference. In the first round, the lower seeded wild card in the conference played against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card played against the other division winner, and both wild cards were de facto #4 seeds. The other series matched the second and third-place teams from
2610-430: The playoffs: In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team was at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top three teams in each division made
2668-564: The postseason every year since 2013 . The longest active Stanley Cup playoff streak moved to the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs at seven consecutive seasons after the Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals also had their eight-season playoff streaks end. As a result, this is the first time since 1976 that the longest active playoff streak was less than ten consecutive seasons. The Seattle Kraken became
2726-762: The second fastest NHL expansion team since 1991 to qualify for the playoffs, after the Vegas Golden Knights , and the first to clinch their inaugural playoff appearance in their second season in the league since the Quebec Nordiques in 1981 . The Kraken also became the first NHL exclusive expansion team to make their first playoff appearance in their second season since the Atlanta Flames in 1974 . All three New York metropolitan area teams (the Devils , Islanders and Rangers ) made
2784-463: The second overtime, the Wild's Ryan Hartman scored to give Minnesota a 3–2 victory. Forward Roope Hintz scored a hat trick and defenceman Miro Heiskanen provided four assists for the Stars in game two, defeating the Wild 7–3 to tie the series 1–1. In game three, Mats Zuccarello scored twice and Hartman scored a goal and provided two assists for Minnesota, defeating Dallas 5–1. Hintz assisted thrice and goaltender Jake Oettinger made 32 saves for
2842-437: The second period, but Grant Martin responded for the Capitals, and after two periods, they led 2–1. Washington had outshot New York 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 netminding efforts of Hrudey and Mason. Then, with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Islander legend Bryan Trottier backhanded
2900-481: The second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 1996 Eastern Conference quarterfinals , which Florida won in five games. These teams split their four-game regular season series. The Panthers defeated the Bruins in seven games after being down 3–1 in the series. In game one, goaltender Linus Ullmark made 31 saves to backstop the Bruins in a 3–1 victory. A four-goal third period, coupled with Brandon Montour 's two goals helped
2958-470: The series 1–1 in a 5–2 victory. The Golden Knights prevented the Jets from overtaking a three-goal lead in game three with Michael Amadio scoring in double overtime to win 5–4. In Game 4, Brett Howden scored twice for the Golden Knights to defeat the Jets 4–2 and take a 3–1 series lead. Chandler Stephenson scored twice for the Golden Knights in game five, sending Vegas to the second round with
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#17327836304883016-681: The series. The Flyers went on to defeat the Montreal Canadiens in the Wales Conference finals in six games before eventually losing in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Edmonton Oilers . At the time, the game gave the Islanders franchise the unique accomplishment of having won both the shortest (0:11 in game 3 of 1975 preliminary series vs. the New York Rangers ) and longest overtime series-deciding games in
3074-410: The six previous series. They last met in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final , which New Jersey won in six games. New Jersey won three of the four games in this year's regular season series. The Devils defeated the Rangers in seven games. In game one, Adam Fox assisted four times for the Rangers emerging with a 5–1 victory. Patrick Kane scored a goal and assisted on both of Chris Kreider 's goals in
3132-415: The subsequent overtime, Alexander Kerfoot tipped in a shot to give Toronto a 5–4 victory and 3–1 series lead. The Lightning kept their season alive, being backed by a 28-save performance from Andrei Vasilevskiy in game five for a 4–2 victory. In game six and with overtime required, Tavares scored to send Toronto to the second round with a 2–1 victory. The Carolina Hurricanes finished first in
3190-456: The third-place New York Islanders against the second-place Washington Capitals in a best-of-seven series. It was the fifth consecutive playoff meeting between the teams; the Islanders had won three of the previous four series, but looked to avenge their earliest exit ever from the playoffs at the hands of the Capitals the previous spring. The first two games were played at the Capitals' home arena, Capital Centre. Washington won Game 1, 4–3, and
3248-478: The three games in this year's regular season series. The Kraken defeated the Avalanche in seven games. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 34 saves in game one for the Kraken, defeating Colorado 3–1 for the city of Seattle's first playoff victory since game four of the 1920 Stanley Cup Finals . In game two, the Avalanche overcame a two-goal deficit, spearheaded by Devon Toews third period goal, to win 3–2. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen both scored twice for
3306-502: 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 Isles began to finally take the play from the Caps, outshooting Washington 11–10 in the third overtime. They had the better chances as well, but Mason continued his excellent play as
3364-546: Was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2022–23 season . The playoffs began on April 17, 2023, three days after the end of the regular season, and concluded on June 13, 2023, with the Vegas Golden Knights winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the Florida Panthers four games to one in the Stanley Cup Finals . The Boston Bruins made
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