The Boston Bruins are currently battling for their sixth Stanley Cup championship, but regardless of whether the B's are unable to take out the Canucks for their first title in 39 years, the man who proved pivotal to their last two Cups will have another victory to call his own.
After nearly two months and six rounds of voting, Bobby Orr's famous overtime goal to clinch the 1970 Stanley Cup was picked by hockey fans as the greatest moment ever in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the NHL's History vs. History bracket.
The bracket, which began with 64 of the greatest moments in playoff history, featured events both recent and ancient, with famous goals such as Patrick Kane's Cup-clincher last spring and legendary comebacks such as Toronto's rally from a 3-0 series deficit in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final. As fans voted on one event against another through each round, the 64 moments were finally pared down to a final four of Orr's legendary goal, Mark Messier's guarantee before Game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, Steve Yzerman's double overtime winner in Game 7 of the 1996 Western Conference Semifinals and Raymond Bourque winning his first Stanley Cup championship in his final NHL game after 22 years as one of the League's premier defensemen.
In the end, Orr faced off with Bourque for the greatest moment in playoff history, a matchup that in one sense was a win-win situation for Boston fans, as much of the Bruins faithful had been cheering for Bourque's Colorado Avalanche in their 2001 Stanley Cup victory over New Jersey. Bourque had spent nearly 21 full seasons of his Hall of Fame career with Boston, which included two trips to the Stanley Cup Final, before finally lifting the Cup with Colorado.
Still, Orr's iconic score proved supreme. The famous goal, in which Orr beat St. Louis goalie Glenn Hall 40 seconds into overtime in Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup Final has been etched into the fabric of League history for both its championship clinching significance, as well as the theatrics of Orr flying through the air after beating Hall, a result of getting tripped up by Blues defenseman Noel Picard as he began to celebrate.
The visual of Orr flying in front of the St. Louis net is one of the most famous images in sports history and was immortalized with a statue outside TD Garden on the goal's 40th anniversary last May. The 1970 Stanley Cup championship was Boston's first in 29 years.
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