The 1994 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were making the club's second Finals appearance, their first coming during their Cinderella run of , and the Rangers were making their tenth appearance, their first since . The Rangers, despite losing a 3–1 series lead, ended their then record 54-year championship drought with a victory in Game 7 to claim the long-awaited Stanley Cup. It was their fourth championship in franchise history.
The Hockey Night in Canada broadcast of the deciding game seven attracted an average Canadian audience of 4.957 million viewers, making it the most watched CBC Sports program in history to that time. The next Stanley Cup Final with games played in Canada was in , and the next to go the full seven games was in .
The Rangers' victory marked the start of what is currently 32 consecutive Stanley Cup championships for American-based teams, as the most recent Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup is the Montreal Canadiens, who did so in .
Paths to the Finals
Vancouver Canucks The Canucks entered the playoffs seeded seventh in the Western Conference, and overcame a three-games-to-one deficit against the second-seeded Calgary Flames, winning the final three games in overtime with Game 7 ending in double overtime as Pavel Bure scored the winning goal on a breakaway to upset the Flames. They then upset the fourth-seeded Dallas Stars in the second round in five games. In the Conference Finals, the Canucks upset the third-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs in five games to capture their second Western Conference title. This was the Canucks’ first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final since 1982, where they were previously swept by the Rangers’ cross-town rivals in the New York Islanders.
New York Rangers The Rangers entered the playoffs with the league's best record, then swept their New York-area rival New York Islanders and then beat the Washington Capitals in five games, before falling behind three games to two in the Eastern Conference Finals against their Hudson River rivals, New Jersey Devils. They then won Game 6 by a 4–2 score after team captain Mark Messier publicly guaranteed a victory and then scored a third-period hat trick. The Rangers then won Game 7 by a 2–1 score on Stéphane Matteau's goal in double overtime, prompting the call of "Matteau, Matteau, Matteau!" by Rangers radio announcer Howie Rose. It was Matteau's second double overtime goal of the series.
Game summaries This series brought together two assistant coaches who were teammates on the other Canucks team to reach the Finals: Rangers assistant coach Colin Campbell and Canucks assistant coach Stan Smyl, who served as team captain then, as Kevin McCarthy was injured.
It was the second straight Finals that featured a former Edmonton Oilers captain trying to become the first person to win a Stanley Cup as captain on two different teams. The previous year, Wayne Gretzky, who captained the Oilers to the first four of their five Stanley Cups in the 1980s, captained the Los Angeles Kings to the finals, which they lost to the Montreal Canadiens. Here, it was Mark Messier of the Rangers, who captained the Oilers to the last of their five, in .
The Rangers players had a decided edge in Finals experience, with seven players from the 1990 Oilers, including Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jeff Beukeboom, Adam Graves, Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, and Esa Tikkanen. One 1990 Oiler, Martin Gelinas, was playing for the Canucks. Overall, the Rangers had eleven players with previous Finals appearances, compared to the Canucks' five. In addition, three of the Rangers (Messier, Anderson, and Lowe) were each making their seventh appearance in the Stanley Cup Final (each having made their first six with Edmonton).
With the Rangers having 112 points in the regular-season standing and the Canucks 85, the 27-point difference was the largest point differential between two teams in the Stanley Cup Final since 1982, when there was a 41-point difference between the New York Islanders (118) and the Canucks (77).
Game one
The Rangers scored early and led 2–1 late in the third period before Martin Gélinas tied the game with 1:00 to play in regulation time. It was the third time in eight games that the Rangers had surrendered a last-minute tying goal. The Rangers were all over the Canucks in overtime, but goaltender Kirk McLean made 52 saves on the night. In the last minute of the first overtime, Brian Leetch hit the crossbar at one end, and the Canucks went down to score the winner at the other on an odd-man rush by Greg Adams, as the Rangers, once again, lost a series opener at home in overtime.
Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1stNYRSteve Larmer (6)Alexei Kovalev (10) and Brian Leetch (18)03:321–0 NYR 2ndNone3rdVANBret Hedican (1)Greg Adams (7) and Jyrki Lumme (8)05:451–1NYRAlexei Kovalev (6)Brian Leetch (19) and Sergei Zubov (10)08:292–1 NYRVANMartin Gelinas (5)Cliff Ronning (5) and Sergio Momesso (4)19:002–2 OTVANGreg Adams (6)Cliff Ronning (6) and Pavel Bure (11)19:263–2 VAN Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st NYR Jay Wells Cross-checking 01:47 2:00 VAN Trevor Linden Tripping 02:27 2:00 VAN John McIntyre Roughing 08:50 2:00 VAN Murray Craven Slashing 10:35 2:00 NYR Jeff Beukeboom Interference 15:54 2:00 2nd NYR Mark Messier Hooking 00:20 2:00 NYR Doug Lidster Tripping 08:49 2:00 NYR Kevin Lowe Roughing 08:50 2:00 VAN Geoff Courtnall Interference 13:18 2:00 VAN Sergio Momesso Goaltender interference 16:15 2:00 NYR Jeff Beukeboom High-sticking 19:34 2:00 3rd None OT NYR Greg Gilbert Roughing 09:31 2:00 VAN Sergio Momesso Roughing 09:31 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT Total 10 5 7 9 31 15 9 13 17 54
Game two
The Rangers evened the series with a 3–1 victory before the series shifted west.
Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1stNYRDoug Lidster (1)Unassisted06:221–0 NYRVANSergio Momesso (3)Cliff Ronning (7) and Bret Hedican (4)14:041–12ndNYRGlenn Anderson (2)Mark Messier (14)11:42 2–1 NYR3rdNYRBrian Leetch (7)Unassisted19:553–1 NYR Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st VAN Murray Craven Tripping 02:03 2:00 NYR Doug Lidster Interference 07:44 2:00 VAN Tim Hunter Roughing 10:21 2:00 VAN Tim Hunter Misconduct 15:26 10:00 NYR Glenn Anderson Interference 16:55 2:00 2nd VAN Jeff Brown Hooking 00:20 2:00 NYR Stephane Matteau Holding 06:12 2:00 NYR Adam Graves Tripping 10:35 2:00 VAN Shawn Antoski Roughing 13:58 2:00 NYR Esa Tikkanen Goaltender interference 17:08 2:00 3rd NYR Doug Lidster Interference 01:43 2:00 NYR Alexei Kovalev High-sticking 04:32 2:00 VAN Gerald Diduck High-sticking 04:32 2:00 NYR Stephane Matteau Roughing 15:29 2:00 VAN Jeff Brown Roughing 15:29 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 10 6 13 29 14 13 13 40
Game three
The Canucks came storming out in front of their home fans and Pavel Bure scored on his first shift to give them the early lead. But late in the period, with the score tied 1–1, Bure hit Jay Wells in the face with his stick and cut him, leading to a major penalty and Bure's expulsion from the game. Alexei Kovalev scored a breakaway shorthanded goal, which was featured on the cover of NHL 95. Glenn Anderson scored on the ensuing power-play and the Rangers then cruised to a 5–1 victory.
Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1stVANPavel Bure (14)Trevor Linden (12) and Greg Adams (8)01:031–0 VANNYRBrian Leetch (8)Unassisted13:391–1NYRGlenn Anderson (3)Sergei Nemchinov (4) and Jeff Beukeboom (5)19:192–1 NYR2ndNYRBrian Leetch (9)Esa Tikkanen (4) and Jeff Beukeboom (6)18:323–1 NYR3rdNYRSteve Larmer (7)Unassisted00:254–1 NYRNYRAlexei Kovalev (7) – ppAdam Graves (5) and Mark Messier (15)13:035–1 NYR Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st NYR Jay Wells Cross-checking 02:54 2:00 NYR Glenn Anderson Roughing 05:42 2:00 VAN Tim Hunter Charging 05:42 2:00 VAN Jyrki Lumme Holding 09:57 2:00 NYR Craig MacTavish Holding 15:04 2:00 NYR Brian Leetch Tripping 17:56 2:00 NYR Kevin Lowe High-sticking 18:12 2:00 NYR Mark Messier Roughing 18:12 2:00 VAN Sergio Momesso Roughing 18:12 2:00 VAN Cliff Ronning High-sticking 18:12 2:00 VAN Pavel Bure High-sticking – major 18:12 5:00 VAN Pavel Bure Game misconduct 18:12 10:00 2nd NYR Kevin Lowe Roughing 05:34 2:00 NYR Mark Messier Roughing 16:28 2:00 VAN Shawn Antoski Roughing 16:28 2:00 3rd NYR Esa Tikkanen Hooking 03:13 2:00 VAN Bret Hedican Holding 05:34 2:00 VAN John McIntyre Holding 07:58 2:00 NYR Craig MacTavish Holding 09:46 2:00 VAN Sergio Momesso Cross-checking 11:42 2:00 VAN Martin Gelinas Roughing 16:35 2:00 VAN Shawn Antoski Cross-checking 19:19 2:00 VAN Shawn Antoski Roughing 19:19 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 11 5 9 25 9 10 6 25
Game four
In the fourth game, the Canucks again jumped out to an early lead, this time 2–0, before Mike Richter and Brian Leetch took over the game. Richter made some key saves to keep the game within reach, including one on a penalty shot against Pavel Bure, and Leetch picked up a goal and three assists as the Rangers won 4–2 to take a commanding 3–1 series lead. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1stVANTrevor Linden (10) - ppJyrki Lumme (9) and Jeff Brown (9)13:251–0 VANVANCliff Ronning (5)Pavel Bure (12) and Murray Craven (8)16:192–0 VAN 2ndNYRBrian Leetch (10)Craig MacTavish (4) and Greg Gilbert (3)04:032–1 VANNYRSergei Zubov (5) – ppMark Messier (16) and Brian Leetch (20)19:442–2 3rdNYRAlexei Kovalev (8) – ppBrian Leetch (21) and Sergei Zubov (11)15:053–2 NYRNYRSteve Larmer (8)Sergei Zubov (12) and Brian Leetch (22)17:564–2 NYR Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st VAN Geoff Courtnall Elbowing 03:11 2:00 NYR Jeff Beukeboom High-sticking 06:35 2:00 NYR Adam Graves Holding 13:02 2:00 NYR Mark Messier Boarding – major 14:17 5:00 VAN Trevor Linden Holding the stick 15:07 2:00 VAN Geoff Courtnall Interference 17:54 2:00 NYR Esa Tikkanen Roughing 18:45 2:00 2nd NYR Doug Lidster Holding 01:13 2:00 NYR Brian Leetch Tripping 06:31 Penalty shot VAN Jeff Brown Tripping 07:19 2:00 NYR Doug Lidster Holding 16:58 2:00 VAN Greg Adams Boarding 18:55 2:00 3rd NYR Bench (served by Joe Kocur) Too many men on the ice 03:53 2:00 VAN Jyrki Lumme Holding 04:48 2:00 NYR Esa Tikkanen Roughing 10:42 2:00 VAN Gerald Diduck Roughing 10:42 2:00 NYR Mark Messier Slashing 11:29 2:00 VAN Martin Gelinas Roughing 14:31 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 8 8 11 27 8 12 10 30
Game five
Most who entered Madison Square Garden for the fifth game thought they were going to see the Rangers win the Cup that night. New York had already set the date for a victory parade. However, the celebration plans got ahead of the work at hand. After a scoreless first period, Jeff Brown opened the scoring eight minutes into the second period. Vancouver added onto their lead to make with goals in the first two minutes of the third period before the Rangers responded with three goals of their own to lend hope with eleven minutes to play. However, the tie lasted all of 29 seconds before Dave Babych gave Vancouver the lead again to start a run of three unanswered goals for the Canucks to send the series back to Vancouver.