How One Game Changed NHL History Forever

A ripple effect is "a situation in which one event produces effects which spread and produce further effects," as defined by Cambridge Dictionary.

If one is looking for an example of such a phenomenon in sports, it's hard to think of a more perfect one than the Chicago Blackhawks' 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 11, 2023.

This game was pretty important in its own right, as the Blackhawks ultimately knocked the Penguins out of the playoffs and ended their 16-year playoff appearance streak, the longest in the NHL at the time. However, that pales in comparison to the impact this game had the league at large.

With the Penguins out of the playoff picture, the Florida Panthers ended up claiming the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and never looked back.

After falling behind 3-1 in their first-round series against the Boston Bruins, who set NHL records with 65 wins and 135 points in the regular season, the Panthers won three straight games to pull off one of the most shocking upsets in league history. They then made short work of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes to complete their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.

Of course, their story doesn't end there. The Panthers made it back to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, and this time, they finished the job with a Game 7 victory over the Edmonton Oilers to capture their first championship in franchise history despite nearly blowing a 3-0 series lead. Now, they're looking to go back-to-back in a Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Oilers.

If Chicago doesn't upset Pittsburgh in that game, it's very possible that Florida doesn't develop into the juggernaut it is today, instead making more rash offseason changes after missing the playoffs in a year with sky-high expectations. On the other side of the coin, teams such as Boston and Toronto may not end up making the changes they did after losing to Florida, with the latter notably firing general manager Kyle Dubas.

That's not the end of it, though. The extra two points the Blackhawks picked up with this win bumped them down from the best odds to win the draft lottery to only the third best. It ended up being a blessing in disguise, as they won the lottery and the right to select Connor Bedard, the most hyped prospect since Connor McDavid eight years prior.

Speaking of the draft, the Montreal Canadiens were also affected by this result. They had the Panthers' 2023 first-round pick, which would've been in the lottery if the Panthers had missed the playoffs, but instead ended up at No. 31 overall. They ultimately traded that pick to the Colorado Avalanche on draft night as part of a package for forward Alex Newhook.

These are just some examples of teams who were impacted the most by this result, but it's impossible to overstate how important it was. Had Pittsburgh won this game instead, the NHL may be unrecognizable today.