Stepan still gets ‘goose bumps’ about Game 7 OT goal with Rangers

It's possible someone on the Vancouver Canucks will feel Monday something only 26 other NHL players have felt -- what it’s like to score a Game 7 overtime goal at home.

"The dream is good, but it doesn't hold a candle to the actual thing," former New York Rangers center Derek Stepan said. "We're still talking about it."

David Pastrnak found out in the first round of Stanley Cup Playoffs when he scored 1:54 into overtime for the Boston Bruins against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 at TD Garden on May 4.

There is a chance someone on the Canucks can do it Monday, with Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena in Vancouver (9 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN).

Alexandre Burrows is the only Canucks player to score a Game 7 overtime goal in Vancouver, doing it at 5:22 against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 26, 2011, to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.

Stepan did it for the Rangers on May 13, 2015, sending them into the Eastern Conference Final by scoring at 11:24 of Game 7 against the Washington Capitals.

Other than Pastrnak, the only active players to score a Game 7 overtime goal on home ice are Artemi Panarin, Johnny Gaudreau, Pat Maroon and Barclay Goodrow.

Panarin did it for the Rangers against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round in 2022, Gaudreau for the Calgary Flames against the Stars in the first round in 2022, Maroon for the St. Louis Blues against the Dallas Stars in the 2019 second round and Goodrow for the San Jose Sharks against the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2019 first round.

"I just got goose bumps," Stepan said when talking about his goal. "It's something people still come up to me and talk about. Obviously, I was in a great spot, and I took advantage of it."

Stepan left no doubt with his goal.

The play started six seconds earlier, when the Rangers got a face-off in the right circle of the offensive zone after the Capitals iced the puck.

Stepan, a right-handed shot, took the face-off on his strong side against Capitals forward Eric Fehr. Stepan won the face-off with the help of right wing Jesper Fast, who darted in from the left side and pushed the loose puck back to defenseman Keith Yandle.

As Yandle got the puck, Stepan backpedaled away from it to go between the circles and eventually into the left circle, Chris Kreider went wide around the right circle and to the front of the net, and Fast went to the high slot.

Yandle quickly moved the puck to Dan Girardi at the point, and the latter ripped a one-timer toward Washington goalie Braden Holtby. The rebound came off Holtby and out to Stepan in the left circle, where he settled the puck on his stick and whipped a wrist shot into the net.

"I bet I tried rolling out on that face-off play maybe 20 times through the series and nothing ever came perfect like that, and sure enough in Game 7 in overtime it lands right on my tape," Stepan said. "It wasn't like we designed that play. I just knew that sometimes when you get against a matchup, they're going to try to block the shot and I was getting myself lost and if something bounces out to me, I knew I'd be all alone.

“Sure enough, out of all the times for it to happen, it was in Game 7 in overtime. Pretty cool. Rather be lucky than good."

He celebrated his goal in the corner of the rink, jumping up and down, his back going into the glass. Fast got to him first. Then Kreider. Yandle and Girardi next.

The Rangers poured over the boards from the bench, and goalie Henrik Lundqvist skated as fast as he could from the other end to the celebration.

"It's hard to explain, but it's way better than the dream," Stepan said. "The dream ends after the goal, but in reality you get to go home and be at home and be around people you love and talk about it, and there's no better feeling."

Stepan, who retired after last season and lives in Minnesota, said he still has people coming up to him to talk about the overtime goal he scored in Game 7 against the Capitals.

"The amount of people that come up to me and talk to me about it that are Ranger fans, it's pretty cool," he said. "It's something that I hold really close to my heart, and it's for good reason. Those people gave me a ton, so to be able to give them something like this, it's only fair as a tradeoff, in my opinion."

It someone does it Monday, it'll be the 50th Game 7 overtime goal in NHL history, the 27th for the home team.

"It's something I'll never forget," Stepan said. "Ranger fans, one day they'll have something that will be bigger than it, but I hope they never forget about it."