Detroit Red Wings: Top 5 Playoff Goals Of The Last 5 Years
By John Curran
Oct 17, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk (13) reacts to his goal in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center. The Red Wings defeated the Avalanche 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
In anticipation of the upcoming NHL season, Octopus Thrower continues our Summer series of ranking some of the Detroit Red Wings’ “best of” moments. Today we look back into the Red Wings’ storied 24 year playoff streak and pick out the top 5 playoff goals from the past five NHL postseasons.
#5: Datsyuk Dazzles In Boston
The Detroit Red Wings’ 2013-2014 season was one of the more nerve-racking seasons in recent memory. The team struggled, but managed to grind their way into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference finishing the season with 93 points.
As we all know the NHL postseason is a completely new and different season where as long as you are in it, you’ve got a chance to win it. However, heading into this particular postseason’s first-round match-up against the President Trophy winning Boston Bruins, my gut feeling wasn’t a good one. The Bruins were a well-oiled, big, rough and tough team at this point, and the Red Wings were lucky to have squeaked into the postseason.
But the #5 goal on our list was one of Detroit’s few high-points during their first-round match-up against the Bruins. The Wings came out in game 1 and played like they were meant to be in the postseason and that they weren’t going to be pushed around by the higher-seeded Boston team.
Detroit battled hard and kept the game tied at zero until Pavel Datsyuk busted out his bag of “Datsyukian” tricks and scored late in the third period in only a way that Pavel Datsyuk can do. Datsyuk’s goal would be the only goal of the game and it would be enough to give Red Wings fans hope for the rest of the series.
Next: #4: Glennie Gets A Shorty