Our end-of-decade celebration takes to the ice, where the NHL takes center stage. The decade saw six different teams hoist the Stanley Cup – including three for the first time ever – a partial-season lockout (an NHL staple!) and an influx of talent as good as we’ve ever seen.
Out of the over 13,000 games, here are the 10 that stood out the most from the 2010s:
10) Feb. 11, 2011:
There were far more close, and meaningful, regular season games, but none were more memorable. The game between the Islanders and Penguins set numerous NHL records: 65 total penalties totaling 346 minutes, 21 game misconducts and 15 fighting majors.
There were two brawls, including one that saw Pittsburgh goaltender Brent Johnson skate the length of the ice to fight with New York goalie Rick DiPietro – Johnson threw a one-punch knockout that would sideline DiPietro for six weeks.
Oh, by the way, the Isles throttled the Pens 9-3.
9) 2011 Eastern Conference Final, Game 7:
In a series that saw finals of 5-2, 6-5, 5-3 and 5-4, goals were hard to come by in Game 7 between the Bruins and Lightning. A scoreless game through two periods, Tim Thomas and Dwayne Roloson matching each other shot-for-shot. Finally, at the 12:27 mark of the third, Nathan Horton – who earlier in the playoffs scored the Game 7 overtime winner against Montreal – again played the role of hero. His goal proved enough for Thomas, who stopped all 24 shots to lift Boston to the Final and, eventually, a championship.
8) 2015 Western Conference Final, Games 4 & 5:
These two go hand-in-hand. Game 2 went to triple overtime, a 3-2 Chicago win, but Anaheim took the 2-1 series lead with a 2-1 victory in Game 3. In Game 4, the Ducks scored three goals in less than a minute to take a 4-3 lead, before Patrick Kane tied it for the Blackhawks and Antoine Vermette won it in OT.
Then in Game 5 the script flipped – Anaheim took a 3-0 first period lead, led 4-2 with less than two minutes left, and Jonathan Toews scored twice in a 72-second span to tie it up and send it to OT. There, it took all of 45 seconds for Matt Beleskey to save the day and lift the Ducks to the 5-4 win.
7) 2019 Western Conference Semifinals, Game 7:
In last place as late as January, St. Louis went on a tear, storming into the playoffs and beating Winnipeg in six games in Round One. Trailing 3-2 to Dallas, the Blues won Game 6 to force a do-or-die Game 7 at home.
A pair of first period goals held up all the way through 80 minutes, as the two sides went to double overtime tied at one. Jordan Binnington made a spectacular save earlier in the frame for the Blues, who would eventually go on to win it on Patrick Maroon’s game-winner to advance. Of course, St. Louis would soon be in another Game 7, beating Boston at TD Garden for the franchise’s first Cup.
6) 2019 Western Conference Quarterfinal, Game 7:
The Golden Knights were on their way to another playoff series win in just their second year, when a controversial major penalty changed everything. Up 4-1, Cody Eakin was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a cross check that looked innocuous enough, but ended with San Jose’s Joe Pavelski bleeding as his head bounced off the ice.
The controversial major gave the Sharks all the life they’d need, as they scored four times over the course of the five-minute power play to take the lead, with the game ultimately going to overtime. With less than two minutes left in the first OT, Barclay Goodrow won it for the Sharks, who moved on and gave Vegas fans their first dose of heartbreak.
5) 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game 7:
Trailing the series 3-1, Toronto managed to force a Game 7 against rival Boston with a pair of 2-1 victories, and it looked like the Leafs were on their way to completing the comeback.
A pair of Cody Franson goals gave Toronto the 2-1 lead heading to the third, and within six minutes they’d extend it to a 4-1 lead. Then, it all fell apart. Nathan Horton scored with just over 10 minutes to play. Then, with an extra attacker on, Milan Lucic made it a 4-3 game with less than 90 seconds to go. With 51 seconds left Patrice Bergeron tied it to force overtime. By that point, the Bruins had all the momentum, and Bergeron capped a miracle comeback with the series-clinching goal in OT.
4) 2013 Stanley Cup Final, Game 6:
Chicago held a 3-2 series lead on Boston heading to Game 6 at TD Garden, with the game tied at one heading to the third period. A Milan Lucic goal put the Bruins ahead, when calamity ensued. With an extra attacker on the ice, the Blackhawks tied the game with 1:06 left on a Bryan Bickell shot, seemingly to force overtime.
Not so fast. Just 17 seconds after Bickell tied it, Dave Bolland poked home a rebound to give the Blackhawks the stunning 3-2 lead, ultimately the win and the Stanley Cup.
3) 2014 Olympic gold medal game:
The only game on our list without a single NHL player, but it’s perhaps the fiercest rivalry in hockey. The US and Canadian women’s teams are the best in the sport, and their 2014 final in Sochi was legendary.
The Americans led 2-0 with less than five minutes to play. Brianne Jenner got Canada on the board with less than 3:30 to play, then Marie-Philip Poulin tied it up with less than a minute left in regulation. Poulin would then score the gold medal-winning goal for Canada at the 8:10 mark of overtime.
2) 2014 Western Conference final, Game 7:
The Kings won the Stanley Cup in a more-eventful-than-you’d-think five-game series against the Rangers, winning once in overtime and twice in double-OT. But to get there, LA had to best the defending champion Blackhawks, winning Game 7 in Chicago to boot.
Trailing 2-0 less than nine minutes in, Jeff Carter and Justin Williams scored 51 seconds apart to tie the game, then 12 seconds later Patrick Sharp gave the Blackhawks the lead right back heading into the first intermission, 3-2. In the second period the two teams traded goals, with Chicago leading 4-3 entering the third. Marian Gaborik tied the game at the 12:43 mark to force overtime, where Alec Martinez’s game-winner sent the Kings to the Final.
1) 2010 Olympic gold medal game:
That’s right, the best hockey game of the decade featured a couple dozen NHL players, but didn’t come in an NHL game. Team Canada vs. Team USA for the gold medal in Vancouver, and it lived up the hype. Late in the third period the Americans were trailing 2-1 when Zach Parise tied it up with 25 seconds left in regulation forcing overtime.
Then, in a career full of legendary moments, Sidney Crosby’s defining goal came in OT, when he took a Jarome Iginla pass and flung it into the back of the net for the 3-2 gold medal-winning score – the “Golden Goal”. An estimated 67 percent of Canada watched the game.
