This Day in Hockey History – May 4, 1991 – Caps for Klima

May 4, 2020

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Although Petr Klima didn’t seem too happy when he was traded by the Detroit Red Wings to the Edmonton Oilers (on November 2, 1989), he soon had two of his biggest playoff moments there. On May 15, 1990, he scored in triple overtime to end the longest Stanley Cup Final game. Having taken Game 1 this way, the Oilers went on to win the championship in five games. The following season, Edmonton made it back to the conference finals. In Game 2 on May 4, 1991, Klima set a franchise record for the quickest natural hat trick.

When the 1990-91 regular season ended, Edmonton finished eleventh overall (with 80 points). Surprisingly, by the time they had eliminated the Calgary Flames and the Los Angeles Kings, for the conference finals, the Oilers faced Minnesota. The North Stars had finished in sixteenth-place (with 68 points) but had managed to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues, which had finished the season first and second in the league (with 106 and 105 points, respectively).

Even though the conference finals began at Edmonton’s Northlands Coliseum, the visitors continued their conquests. The North Stars won Game 1 on May 2 with a score of 3-1. Going into Game 2, Edmonton’s Charlie Huddy explained, “There’s no doubt that we were a bit scared going into this game. We knew going into Minnesota down two games would have been tough.”

Whether or not that was the motivation, the Oilers dominated the game right from the first period. After allowing Minnesota a power-play goal in under two minutes, Edmonton answered with four goals before the first intermission. They would only allow one more goal (a shortie) from the Stars about halfway into the next period before using the rest of the game to score thrice more. The final score was 7-2. According to Coach John Muckler, “We definitely tried to play at a high tempo all the way through the game. We turned it up.”

Of course, the first three Edmonton goals were all by Klima, giving him the tying score and the game-winner. “The first game, I missed a breakaway and other chances,” admitted Klima. “I’ve got to do my job. My job is to put the puck in the net. I had my legs tonight. I felt great before the game.” He sure started great, taking the second shot on net of the night forcing goalie Jon Casey to dive “to stop the puck as it was about to bounce over the line.” That was the only time Klima missed.

For his first goal, at 6:14, Klima “sent a 20-footer past Casey after a good rush by Charlie Huddy.” The follow-up came at 8:23 when Klima “raced past Shawn Chambers after a terrific pass from Joe Murphy on the next shift and sent a shot over Casey’s arm.” To complete the hat trick, at 11:27 he “took Esa Tikkanen’s feed of the period and deked Casey.” Center Ken Linseman (who was credited with an assist on the third goal) commented, “I thought he was going to get six the way he was going. He told me in the morning he was going to show who the best Czech was, too. He told me he was going to get three goals.”

It only took Klima a span of 5:13 to make the hat trick, the quickest in Oilers history. That beat the former Edmonton record of 10:41 that Wayne Gretzky needed to score a hat trick back on April 17, 1983. “He beat Gretz’ record by five minutes? Unreal,” exclaimed teammate Huddy. “I don’t know if guys realize he’s as fast as he is, the way he changes direction. He catches a lot of guys standing still. He so smooth with the puck, too.”

Klima was the 21st NHLer to score a hat trick in one period. Eight players managed the feat that season alone. Although not all in the same period, Klima had three other hat tricks earlier that season and two other playoff hat tricks (with Detroit in 1988). During the regular season, he had led his team in goals (40) and was just one point shy of leading its scoring. “Petr had a great season. He’s been our game-breaker,” Coach Muckler complimented. “He’s got exceptional speed. His defensive game has improved a great deal. He’s sticking to the team concept. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and it hasn’t hurt his offense.”

Just two days after the big victory, the series moved to Minnesota, where the home team got its revenge with a score of 7-3. The North Stars did not let the Oilers win another game, ending the series 4-1. Despite their near sweep, Minnesota lost 4-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final.

As for Klima, he played another two seasons in Edmonton before being traded to Tampa Bay on June 16, 1993. After a few more years, he returned to Edmonton briefly during the 1996-97 season and then finished his NHL playing career where it started, Detroit.