This Day in Hockey History – April 24, 1993 – Ray and May Day

Overtime goals made all the difference in the 1992-93 playoffs for the Prince of Wales Conference. On April 24, Ray Ferraro scored his third overtime goal in three games to give the New York Islanders a 3-1 lead over the Washington Capitals in the Patrick Division semi-finals. That same day, Brad May’s overtime goal allowed the Buffalo Sabres to sweep the Boston Bruins in the Adams Division.

Both series saw the underdogs overcome. At the end of the regular season, the Bruins led the Adams Division and were in second place overall with 109 points. The Sabres (with 86 points) trailed to finish fourth in the division and fifteenth in the NHL. While Boston had won 18 of its final 21 games, the Sabres had lost all of their final seven. Meanwhile the Capitals came in second in the Patrick Division with 93 points, which dropped them to tenth overall. The Islanders had just one point more than Buffalo, which tied them with the Devils just below the Caps.

Having suffered a break and torn ligaments in his ankle, Ferraro only played about half the season. While he only had 14 goals in his 46 games, he went on to lead his team in points during playoffs with 13 goals. May played the entire season but only had 13 goals at the end, and even though he was only in his second NHL season at the time, he never was a high goal scorer.

During these division semi-finals, both of these series had three overtime games within the first four played. After Washington won the first game in regulation, the Islanders won the next three in overtime, and Ferraro played a key role in each game-winner. In Game 1 (on April 18), Ferraro launched the whole series with the first goal at 5:56 of the first period. To win Game 2 (on April 20), Ferraro assisted Brian Mullen in scoring the game-winner at 14:50 of the second overtime session. The series then moved to New York, where in Game 3 (on April 22) the Islanders came from behind to tie in the final 45 seconds. Ferraro netted the overtime goal after 4:46.

Game 4 was played at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on April 24. Although Washington took a 3-0 lead, they allowed the Islanders to catch up. Pat Flatley, with an assist from Ferraro, scored at 14:14 of the third for the tie. Then it was a slog as no one scored for the rest of regulation, all of the first overtime session, and over five minutes of the second.

Ferraro and his coach spoke of the stress waiting for each overtime period to begin. “When you have a chance to think, you tend to slap yourself around a little bit,” explained Ferraro. After all, he pointed out, “If you’re a nervous type of guy, overtime is not going to make you more relaxed. … Make a mistake in the 65th minute, you pack your bag and go home for the day.” Coach Al Arbour said of his role for his players, “Overtime is much harder on them. They’re doing all the work. You’re just sending them out there.”

Fortunately for the Isles, the odds were in their favor. Arbour’s team had never lost in the seven times they’d gone into overtime. They hadn’t lost during overtime in the playoffs since 1985 and had a 28-7 record for playoff games that went into overtime. Considering how this game would prove no different, they had gone 176:20 minutes in overtime without giving up a single goal.

Continuing his streak, at 5:40 of the second overtime (and after 85 minutes of playing time), Ferraro “accepted a pass from Claude Loiselle in the slot and wristed a 15-foot shot between Rick Tabaracci’s legs.” Loiselle said after, “Ray kind of scared me when he screamed at me. I was thinking of shooting the puck.” Ferraro remarked, “There are some times you probably should be panicking, but it never seems to be that time with us.” 

Of his overtime success, he said, “I’m having the time of my life right now. … I’ve dreamt about this stuff all my life, and it doesn’t happen.” It had been 54 years since anyone had had such an impact during overtime games. Back in 1939, Boston’s Mel Hill had the overtime game-winner for Games 1, 3, and 7.

Meanwhile, the 1992-93 Bruins were not having the same success. While they were able to keep coming back from behind in Game 1 (on April 18) and Game 3 (on April 22), they were shut out 4-0 in Game 2 (on April 20). The Sabres won in overtime thanks first to Bob Sweeney’s goal at 11:03 and then to Yuri Khmylev’s at just 1:05 into overtime.

Having played the first two games at Boston, Game 4 was the second played at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. For the first time the entire series, the Bruins took the lead, when Cam Neely “went diving headlong into the crease and popped in a loose puck” during a power play at 2:19 of the first period. However, the Bruins gave up their lead by allowing Buffalo to bring the score to 5-5 in the third period.

Unlike the Isles, the Sabres had no past successes to bolster themselves going into overtime. They hadn’t won a seven-game series in 13 years and had not managed to beat Boston in any of the previous five series when they’d been matched up. Meanwhile, the Bruins hadn’t been kicked out of playoffs so quickly since 1987.

Still, it hadn’t quite been five minutes when Pat LaFontaine tripped and as he fell onto his side was able to send a pass to May. By himself, May skated into the zone, ducked around the two Boston defensemen (including Ray Bourque), and “snapped a short wrist shot by Andy Moog.” 

Moog was pretty morose saying, “I didn’t come up with the big save when the club needed it to keep the pressure off.” And further, “It’s a pretty empty feeling to know that we’re underachievers but we have to face facts.” The Bruins had been swept in the semi-finals the season before, so this was their eighth consecutive playoff loss. Even worse, they became the first NHL team to win 50 regular-season games only to be swept out of the playoffs. To add salt to the wound, the Boston Globe pointed out that on the same day, the Providence Bruins had been eliminated from the AHL’s first round (by the Springfield Indians in a 4-2 series).

However, all of Buffalo celebrated. The game is best remembered for Rick Jeanneret’s famous play-by-play: “Here’s May going in on goal. He shoots, he scores! May Day! May Day! May Day! May Day! May Day! Brad May, wins it in overtime!” Having been with the Sabres almost from their beginnings, this was his most iconic moment.

After April 24th, although the Caps came back to win Game 5, the Islanders took the series by winning Game 6. This was the first playoff series they had won since they defeated the Capitals back in 1987. The Isles needed seven games to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the division finals. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens swept the Sabres and then went on to eliminate the Islanders as well before advancing to win the Stanley Cup Final. The 1992-93 playoffs had a total of 28 overtime games, the most of any playoff season in NHL history.

Additional Sources:

• Mike Commito, Hockey 365: Daily Stories from the Ice (Toronto: Dundurn, 2018), kindle edition.
• Frank Brown, “For Islanders, overtime’s again right time,” New York Daily News, 25 April 1993, pp. 40-41.
• Colin Stephenson, “It’s Isles time after time,” New York Daily News, 25 April 1993, p. 41.
• Kevin Paul Dupont, “Sabres Send Bruins Packing” and “Time called to think it over,” Boston Globe, 25 April 1993, pp. 49 and 58.
• “Sabres sweep Bruins,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 25 April 1993, pp. 1E and 5E.
• https://records.nhl.com/records/playoff-team-records/overtime/most-overtime-games-one-season-playoff