This Day in Hockey History – April 28, 1992 and 2009 – Fedorov Gets the Better Of
Sergei Fedorov may have been born on December 13, but he made April 28 his day – twice. Seventeen years apart, at opposite ends of his career, he scored the game-winning goal at the end of a playoff game to lengthen his team’s postseason. In 1992, only his second season with his first NHL team (since defecting from Russia in 1990), the Detroit Red Wings, Fedorov ended the sudden-death overtime to force a Game 7. In 2009, in his final season with his last NHL team, the Washington Capitals, he got the go-ahead goal as Game 7 wound down.
In both years, Fedorov’s team ended the regular season first in the division. The Red Wings topped the Norris Division with 98 points (43-25-12), and the Capitals topped the Southeast Division with 108 points (50-24-8). Detroit first faced the Minnesota North Stars, and by April 28, Game 6, they were trailing the series with two wins to Minnesota’s three. In 2009, Washington had caught up to the New York Rangers to force a Game 7.
The goaltenders battled through Game 6 at the Met Center in 1992, keeping the score at 0-0 at the end of regulation. After 16:13 of overtime, Fedorov took a shot. As he said, “The puck went in and came back right away. I didn’t know for sure, but I thought that it was pretty much in. The referee did a good job. He went to the other side of the arena while they looked at the replay.” His teammate, Paul Ysebaert, adamantly stated, “I was sure it was no good. I was out there when Sergei shot it, I had a bird’s-eye view, and I was sure it hit the crossbar and came out.”
The goal judge seemed to agree as he shook his head, but he was overruled by Paul Ryan, the video judge. After watching the instant replay and seeing the puck hit the frame inside the net behind Jon Casey, officials ruled it a goal. This was the very first time in the NHL that a video review ruled for an decision overtime goal. Waiting by the officials for the results, Captain Steve Yzerman said, “I wanted to come back to the bench shaking my head and fake everybody out.” However, as soon as he heard the news, he spun to his bench raising his arms. “But I guess I was too excited to hide it.” Yzerman continued, “That was the most exciting game our team has played since I’ve been here. I know I’ll remember it for a long time.”
The 1-0 goal gave Detroit goalie Tim Cheveldae his second consecutive shutout, totaling 144:46 since he had last had a goal scored on him. Cheveldae commented, “I just went out and tried to play my own style. . . . I was actually pretty calm. I just tried to stay focused from the start to the end, and it worked.”
On April 28, 2009, Fedorov and the Capitals played Game 7 on home ice at the Verizon Center. The series until that point had been interesting. According to the Baltimore Sun, “The Capitals switched goalies after one game. There were two suspensions and an alleged biting incident.” The opponents had each scored one goal in the first period, and the goalies had blocked all comers after that. Finally, in the last five minutes of the game, Fedorov “snagged the puck at the Washington blue line, blasted through the neutral zone and snapped a shot . . . past goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s glove.” The aftermath may have been the loudest that arena ever heard. The Capitals were able to maintain the 2-1 lead until time expired. They were finally able to advance to the second round for the first time since 1998, when the Red Wings swept them in the Stanley Cup finals. Fedorov, at 39, was the oldest NHL player to score a Game-7 winner. Thanks to Fedorov’s timely goals, his teams advanced to the next round.
Unfortunately, in those two seasons, the story ended there. In 1992, Detroit was swept by the Chicago Blackhawks in the Division finals, and in 2009, Washington lost the semi-finals (4-3) to the Pittsburgh Penguins. That did not mean that Fedorov went without any hardware. During the 1990s, he earned the Frank J. Selke Trophy twice and the Hart Memorial Torphy and Ted Lindsay Award once each. With him on the team, Detroit won the Stanley Cup three times before Fedorov signed with Anaheim in 2003. He was traded to Columbus in 2005 and then to Washington in 2008. Fedorov returned to his Russian roots upon leaving the NHL in 2009. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.
Additional Sources:
- “Instant Life,” Detroit Free Press, 29 April 1992, pp. 1C, 4C-5C. Tarik El-Bashir, “Federov ices series for Caps in Game 7,” Baltimore Sun, 29 April 2009, pp. D1 and D3.
- https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/twenty-years-strong/c-293704924
