In the 2003-04 NHL season, three teams were battling late for last place and the guarantee of drafting at worst 2nd overall in 2004 as well as the best odds at winning the lottery and drafting 1st. The Pittsburgh Penguins were awful for most of the year, but went on a late run to make it close, while the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals were neck and neck with each other for most of the season in the basement. At this point, only the worst five teams were in the lottery for the 1st overall draft pick, incentivizing teams to lose if they knew they were bad. The 2004 NHL Draft would be headlined by future All-Stars, forwards Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, while the next best prospect, defenseman Cam Barker, was thought at the time to be a future top blueliner.
Finishing lower in the standings clearly meant better odds at the 1st overall pick and Alex Ovechkin, so losing down the stretch was just fine for the Blackhawks' management. Game 81 and 82, on the road against the Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars, would be pivotal in deciding their lottery placement.
In Game 81, Chicago grabbed a 1-0 lead over Phoenix after a Tuomo Ruutu goal with just over three minutes left in the 2nd period. The score remained the same late into the 3rd period, looking as if the Blackhawks would win and grab two points in the standings, but with 59 seconds left, Coyotes defenseman Paul Mara scored to tie the game and send it into OT, and Krys Kolanos scored a power play goal to win it in the OT for Phoenix. The Blackhawks grabbed a single point before losing to Dallas in regulation in Game 82.
As it turned out, the Penguins would win their last two games to put them at 58 points for the year, and the Capitals finished the season with 59 points. The Blackhawks also finished with 59 points but were 2nd in the 2004 Draft Lottery due to having fewer wins (20 versus 23) than the Capitals. Washington then won the lottery to move up from 3rd to 1st, proceeding to select Alex Ovechkin. Pittsburgh moved back to 2nd, drafting Evgeni Malkin. Chicago moved down from 2nd to 3rd, drafting Cam Barker, who ended up being a bust as a Blackhawk before being traded to Minnesota for Nick Leddy in 2010.
Had the Blackhawks lost the Phoenix game in regulation, they would've ended up with 58 points, sliding into the 1st lottery slot as they had 20 wins versus Pittsburgh's 23 wins, and moving down to 2nd after the lottery to draft Malkin. Had they not allowed the late goal and won then, or won in OT, they would've finished with 60 pts, in the 3rd lottery slot, which means they would've won the lottery to draft Ovechkin.
Ovechkin and Malkin have been two of the top players of their generation, as Malkin has won three Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh and has over 1,000 career points while Ovechkin has won one in Washington while putting up 655 career goals to this point. Put either in Chicago, and the NHL is changed forever. Would Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane end up as Blackhawks, where does Nicklas Backstrom, a career Capital, play? How do the fortunes of the Blackhawks, Capitals, and Penguins change?
It is hard to say how things may have changed, but the Blackhawks' OT loss to the Coyotes on April 3, 2004, almost exactly 15 years ago, had an incredible impact on the short and long term future of the NHL.
