On this day in 2006… Ales Hemsky scores game-winner as Oilers beat Red Wings in first round

The Oilers snuck into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference and they matched up against the Detroit Red Wings, a team who had cruised to the Presidents’ Trophy with a 58-16-8 record.

Detroit won Game 1 at home with a goal in double-overtime from Kirk Maltby but the Oilers battled back with a win in Game 2 to head back to Edmonton tied 1-1 in the series. Edmonton pulled ahead with a double-overtime win of their own in Game 3 and the Red Wings responded with a series-tying win in Game 4. Back in Detroit for Game 5, the Oilers pulled out a 3-2 win to put the Red Wings on the verge of elimination.

Things looked good for the Red Wings in Game 6 as they led the Oilers by a score of 2-0 after two periods of play. Fernando Pisani scored a pair of goals early in the third period but Johan Franzen put the Red Wings up back on top shortly after.

Late in the third period, Red Wings forward Dan Cleary took an interference call and Ales Hemsky capitalized to tie the game at 3-3. With just over one minute left to go on the clock, Hemsky scored again to give the Oilers the lead…

The Oilers slammed the door in the final minute of play and completed the shocking series win over the heavily-favoured Red Wings. Edmonton received goals from 10 different players over the course of the series and goaltender Dwayne Roloson turned aside 221 of the 238 shots that he faced.