Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils: Best Game 7 Wins In Franchise History

By Nick Villano

The New Jersey Devils pose with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in game seven of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals at Continental Airlines Arena on June 9, 2003 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Ducks 3-0 to win the Stanley Cup. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images/NHLI)
The New Jersey Devils pose with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in game seven of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals at Continental Airlines Arena on June 9, 2003 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Ducks 3-0 to win the Stanley Cup. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images/NHLI) /
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New Jersey Devils celebrate their double overtime win. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /

4. 2012 VS. Florida Panthers

The Devils made a miraculous run to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, but if just one bounce did not go their way, then it would have ended in the first round. The Devils were favored against the division-winning Florida Panthers, but they put up a massive fight as Martin Brodeur was looking older than he ever did. It eventually led to a 3-2 series lead after Jose Theodore shut the Devils out in Game 5, but two amazing overtime victories led to the good guys moving on.

The first came on the stick of Travis Zajac. After missing most of the regular season, Zajac was finally healthy in time for the playoffs. The Devils blew a 2-0 lead and didn’t score again until overtime. There, the Panthers came so close off the stick of Dmitry Kulikov and a scramble in front of the Devils net led to a break the other way. There, Ilya Kovalchuk gave the puck to Zajac, and he found a hole to send this to Game 7.

That Game 7 was very stressful. Again, the Devils went out to a 2-0 lead, and again, the Devils blew that lead. Only this time, the Devils blew that lead in the third period. Marcel Goc scored with just four minutes left in the game to tie things up. It eventually went to overtime.

There, a future legend would play hero for the first time. Well, it did take second overtime for that to happen. After veterans Brodeur and Theodore kept it scoreless, rookie Adam Henrique put the game on his stick. Standing at the top of the zone, he threw a seeing-eye puck through traffic and into the back of the net. The Devils would beat the Flyers and the Rangers before losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the Final. However, if something goes wrong in Game 7, the Devils season ends early.

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