This Day in Hockey History – May 30, 1998 – Berube’s First in 59th

May 30, 2019

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Apparently, good things come to those who wait. After six postseasons in the span of ten years, left winger Craig Berube finally scored his first playoff goal on May 30, 1998, in his twelfth NHL season.

Berube’s NHL career began in 1986, when he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers. After some trading at the beginning of the 90s, he ended up with the Washington Capitals as of June 1993. He remained with them until he was traded back to the Flyers in March 1999. However, he was not finished with Washington and signed with them in July 2000. He bounced to two more teams in 2001 before signing with Philadelphia’s AHL team, the Phantoms, in November 2003.

During his 17-season NHL career, Berube’s teams reached the playoffs nine times. He only scored one assist during those playoffs, back on April 21, 1993, when his Calgary Flames defeated the Los Angeles Kings 9-4 in the Smythe Division semi-finals. Berube, known more for fighting than scoring, then scored one goal in each of his last three postseasons, in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

At the beginning of the 1997-98 postseason, the Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins (4-2) and the Ottawa Senators (4-1) to face the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference finals. After being shutout in the opening game, the Capitals then scraped through two overtime wins.

Game 4 took place at Buffalo’s Marine Midland Arena. With a blank scoreboard going into the third period, it seemed another overtime battle may have ensued. Instead, after Washington’s Dale Hunter won the faceoff, his defenseman Phil Housley sent the puck back to Berube. At 2:34 into the final session, Berube scored his first ever playoff goal with a “blast made it through a screen and under Hasek’s right arm.” Berube explained, “[Housley] made a great drop pass to me and I just had time to shoot. I really didn’t look, I just shot as hard as I could, and it went in.” As the only forward in NHL history to pass 50 playoff games scoreless, Berube finally tallied in his 59th playoff game.

About 11 minutes later, Berube’s teammate, Joe Juneau, added a short-handed goal. Although the Sabres had 30 shots on goal compared to the Capitals’ 19, Washington’s Olaf Kolzig came out with a shutout. He was the ninth goaltender to have four shutouts in the same postseason. “Olie’s been strong. He made some saves tonight in the first and second periods that were unbelievable,” praised Berube. “He gives us a chance to win every night and that’s the key.” Unsurprisingly, Berube, Kolzig, and Juneau were named the three stars of the game.

It took another loss at home followed by another win in Buffalo to take the Capitals into the Stanley Cup finals for the first time. There, Berube and his team were swept by the Detroit Red Wings, who had just won the championship the previous season. In their 44-season history, the Capitals have only ever returned to the Stanley Cup finals once, in 2017-18, when they won their only championship to date.

Recently, Berube has turned his attention to coaching. He led his first NHL team, the Flyers, in 2013-14 and 2014-15. During the current 2018-19 season, Berube took over as head coach of the St. Louis Blues and is leading them through their first Stanley Cup finals since their first three seasons as a franchise.