The Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand etched his name in the history books on Saturday night as he became the seventh player in NHL history to register five or more goals in multiple Stanley Cup Finals.
Brad Marchand makes history in the ongoing Stanley Cup Finals
The 37-year-old scored his ninth goal of the postseason in the first period during Game 5 against the Edmonton Oilers. It was Brad Marchand who broke the deadlock as he scored the opening goal of the game to give the Panthers early lead.
A look at the first goal.
Brad Marchand scored one goal in Game 1, had two goals in Game 2, again one in Game 3, had zero goals in Game 4 and scored twice in Game 5.
Here's a look at the second goal of the night for Brad Marchand.
With two goals, Brad Marchand becomes the first player to pull off the singular feat since Mario Lemieux did it while leading his team Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992.
The 37-year-old forward joined the likes of Lemieux, Montreal Canadiens greats Jean Beliveau (1956 & 1965), Bernie Geoffrion (1955 & 1958), Maurice Richard (1944 & 1951), Jack Darragh of the Ottawa Senators (1920 & 1921) and Frank Foyston of the Seattle Metropolitans (1919 & 1920).
It worth noting that Brad Marchand is the only player on the list who has pulled off the feat with two separate teams and that too, 15 years apart.
On the other hand, the Great One, Wayne Gretzky was never able to score five goals in a Stanley Cup Final. He managed to register seven goals in the 1984-85 season but was never able to replicate his goal tally again.
Brad Marchand achieves another singular feat in Stanley Cup Finals
With two goals in the Game 5 of the ongoing Stanley Cup Finals, Brad Marchand became the first player since Esa Tikkanen to score six goals in the Stanley Cup Finals. Tikkanen did it back in the 1988 season.
Tikkanen registered the feat with Edmonton Oilers as the franchise's last Stanley Cup Final of the Wayne Gretzky era. Since then, no player was able to score six or more goals in a Stanley Cup Final series.
The feat makes it much more historic when you look at the players who have come and gone during this time. Players like Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Joe Sakic or Patrick Kane were all unable to reach the historic mark.
The record for most goals during the Stanley Cup Finals stands with Babe Dye, who scored nine goals during the 1921-1922 Stanley Cup Final series. He was playing for Toronto St. Pats. Alf Skinner scored eight tallies in 1918 while playing for the Toronto Arenas.