Ranking the Top Single-Game Performances of the 2017 NHL Playoffs So Far

When the Stanley Cup playoffs are complete, our strongest memories will be of the recurring motifs from the two-month stretch—the many comebacks, the scorers and goaltenders who stayed on top of their games, and the all-too-frequent video reviews.

Hockey's a team sport, but there have been a few occasions in this year's playoffs where players seized control of the moment and determined the outcome of a particular game almost single-handedly.

That's what this piece is all about. 

The top single-game performances have been ranked based on two primary criteria: what the player did, and the impact of his performance on his team's playoff run. High stakes equal high rankings, with bonus points for being an unlikely hero.

What has been your favourite individual performance of the playoffs so far?

6. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Scores 4 Against Rangers

Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images

Date: Saturday, April 29

Situation: Round 2, Game 2 vs. New York Rangers

His Performance

On the Ottawa Senators website, Jean-Gabriel Pageau is listed as the team's smallest forward at 5'10" and 180 pounds. 

Known more for his faceoff prowess than his scoring skills, Pageau turned heads in the hockey world when he scored four goals—including a natural hat trick and the double-overtime game-winner—in Ottawa's 6-5 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 2 of their second-round series.

Pageau also scored two goals in the last 3:19 of the third period to erase a 5-3 Rangers lead and force overtime. After winning their first two games at home, the Senators went on to beat New York in six before falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final. 

Pageau's four-goal night was the first in the NHL playoffs since Johan Franzen turned the trick as part of a six-point outing in the Detroit Red Wings' lone win of their second-round series against the San Jose Sharks in 2010—a 7-1 blowout in Detroit.

If not for Pageau's epic performance, Erik Karlsson certainly would have earned a nod for his outstanding playoffs for Ottawa—leading all defensemen after three rounds with 18 points. Averaging 28 minutes and seven seconds of ice time per game despite playing with fractures in his foot, Karlsson bookended Ottawa's second-round series by scoring the winning goals against the Rangers in Games 1 and 6.

5. Leon Draisaitl Saves the Season with 5-Point Outing

Codie McLachlan/Getty Images

Date: Sunday, May 7

Situation: Round 2, Game 6 vs. Anaheim Ducks

His Performance

The Oilers may have lost their second-round series to the Anaheim Ducks, but they didn't go down without a fight.

Rather than being crushed by the Game 5 double-overtime loss that pushed them to the brink of playoff elimination, Edmonton came out with guns blazing in Game 6 at Rexall Place, led by a career-defining performance by Leon Draisaitl.

Still just 21 years old, the big German stepped out from the shadow of Connor McDavid with a five-point performance in Edmonton's 7-1 bounce-back win. Draisaitl got a nervous crowd on its feet when he opened the scoring on a breakaway at 2:45 of the first period, then followed up with his second goal of the game just 4:37 later.

By the end of the first period, the Oilers had built a 5-0 lead that would prove to be impossible for the Ducks to erase. By the end of the second, Draisaitl had recorded his first career hat trick. It couldn't have come at a better time—forcing Game 7 and keeping the Oilers alive to fight another day.

4. Chris Kunitz Turns Back Time

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

Date: Thursday, May 25

Situation: Round 3, Game 7 vs. Ottawa Senators

His Performance

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are leading the playoff scoring race and rookie Jake Guentzel's 10 goals lead all postseason performers. But the Pittsburgh Penguins might not be gunning for their second straight Stanley Cup if it hadn't been for a breakout performance by veteran winger Chris Kunitz in Game 7 against Ottawa.

In a do-or-die game, the 37-year-old, who had ridden shotgun with Crosby during the 2009 playoffs, came out of nowhere to fuel the Penguins' win. Now in the twilight of his NHL career, Kunitz scored his first two goals of the playoffs, including the game-winner in overtime—the first time he'd lit the lamp since February 16 in a season where he'd tallied just nine regular-season goals.

Crosby's decision to include his alternate captains Kunitz and Malkin when he accepted the Prince of Wales Trophy after beating Ottawa speaks volumes abut the long and successful run that the trio has enjoyed together in Pittsburgh. In 2014, Kunitz's bond with his captain was even strong enough to help earn him a slot on Canada's Olympic team.

Kunitz's current contract expires at the end of this season, so the nine-year alliance may soon be coming to an end. If his three-point night in Game 7 against the Senators is Kunitz's last personal hurrah, it's a solid sign-off for his time in Pittsburgh.

3. Pekka Rinne Opens Playoffs with Shutout

David Banks/Associated Press

Date: Thursday, April 13

Situation: Round 1, Game 1 vs. Chicago Blackhawks

His Performance

Would the Nashville Predators be playing in the Stanley Cup Final today if Pekka Rinne hadn't pitched back-to-back shutouts to start the playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks?

With three Stanley Cups in the last six years and holding down first place in the Western Conference, the Blackhawks came into the playoffs as a confident team—looking to correct its first-round loss to St. Louis in 2016 and challenge for another title.

Enter Rinne, who was the difference in Nashville's 1-0 win in Game 1 at the United Center and then followed up with 30 saves, another shutout and two assists in his team's 5-0 win in Game 2.

Coming into the playoffs as the second wild-card team in the Western Conference, the Preds completed their sweep in Nashville, jump-starting their unlikely run to the Final. The Blackhawks and their fans never recovered from two home playoff games where their contagious goal song, "Chelsea Dagger," didn't even play once.

2. Corey Perry Crushes the Oilers in Double Overtime

Harry How/Getty Images

Date: Friday, May 5

Situation: Round 3, Game 5 vs. Anaheim Ducks

His Performance

The turning point that tipped the Ducks/Oilers series in Anaheim's favor was Corey Perry's double-overtime goal in Game 5, which capped off a stunning late-game rally by the Ducks on home ice.

In a playoff year when late-game comebacks have been commonplace, this one was still extraordinary. The Oilers built a 3-0 lead in the second period, then saw it evaporate during the last 3:16 of regulation time.

Ryan Getzlaf started the rally with his eighth goal of the playoffs and ninth point of the series, then Perry assisted on the two follow-up goals that made Anaheim the first team in NHL history to force a playoff overtime with three straight goals and so little time on the clock, according to Dan Arritt of NHL.com.

After the late outburst, it took 26:57 of overtime hockey before Perry took a pass in the slot from Getzlaf, then slid the puck past Cam Talbot. The win gave Anaheim a 3-2 edge in the series and ultimately set them up to advance to the Western Conference Final against Nashville.

If the final outcome had gone the other way, the game-breakers would have been Edmonton's goaltender Talbot, who stopped 60 of 63 shots in 86:57 of game action before Perry delivered the game-winner, and Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson, who logged a playoff-high 44:58 of ice time after his teammate Andrej Sekera was injured early in the first period on his third shift of the game.

1. Colton Sissons Scores Hat Trick to Defeat the Ducks

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Date: Monday, May 22

Situation: Round 3, Game 6 vs. Anaheim Ducks

His Performance

When the Nashville Predators lost their top two centers to injury after Game 4 of the Western Conference Final, there was concern about whether the team would be able find ways to generate enough offense to keep its storybook playoff run alive.

At that moment, Nashville's series against Anaheim was tied 2-2 and the Preds were coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ducks on home ice.

The Ducks proved the doubters wrong with a 3-1 win in Anaheim in Game 5, then put an exclamation point on the series and punched their ticket to their first-ever Stanley Cup Final with a 6-3 win in Game 6.

The celebration didn't start in Music City until the 14-minute mark of the third period, when journeyman Colton Sissons completed his first-ever playoff hat trick and broke a 3-3 deadlock.

Before Johansen was injured, Sissons had collected six points in 14 games and ranked 10th in ice time among Nashville forwards, averaging 13:42 per game. Asked to step up and make a bigger contribution without Johansen in the lineup, Sissons has averaged 18:08 and has five points in his three subsequent games, including that series-clinching Game 6 hat trick.

Sissons will need to keep contributing at this high level if the Predators hope to have a chance of hanging with the defending champs from Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Final.

All stats courtesy of NHL.com.