Ranking the Top Single-Game Performances of the 2016 NHL Playoffs So Far

Since the 2016 NHL playoffs began on April 13, we've been treated to 85 postseason games in the first three rounds.

The San Jose Sharks and the Pittsburgh Penguins have been the two highest-scoring teams in this year's playoffs, which should make for plenty of big plays and highlight-reel goals as they face each other in the Stanley Cup Final.

Hockey is a team game, and the playoff journey is a marathon, but plenty of individual moments stand out—players showing their skill and will to keep their teams' Stanley Cup dreams alive.

Here are some of the biggest individual game performances we've seen through the first three rounds of this year's postseason. Who else has made an impression on you?

Date: Wednesday, April 13

Situation: Round 1, Game 1 vs. Detroit Red Wings

His Performance: No Steven Stamkos? No Anton Stralman? No problem for the Tampa Bay Lightning, thanks to Nikita Kucherov.

After the Bolts reached the Stanley Cup Final last season, plenty of questions swirled around the roster as the 2016 playoffs got underway. Having team captain Stamkos and top-pairing defenseman Stralman both sidelined by long-term health issues looked like it would limit how deep the Lightning would be able to go this year.

On opening night, Kucherov and his teammates served notice that they were going to be just fine. Kucherov was named first star, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the Lightning's 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. 

Kucherov quickly accumulated eight points in five games by the time the Lightning eliminated the Wings, and he ranked fourth in playoff scoring with 19 points in 17 games when his team was sent packing by Pittsburgh on May 26.

Date: Friday, April 22

Situation: Round 1, Game 5 vs. Florida Panthers

His Performance: Thomas Greiss did not have the pedigree of his opponent, Roberto Luongo, but he proved he came to play when he stopped 47 of 48 shots to set the stage for a 2-1 double-overtime win by the New York Islanders in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Florida Panthers.

Coming into 2015-16, his first year with the Islanders, the 30-year-old had never appeared in more than 25 regular-season NHL games and had a grand total of 40 minutes of playoff experience. Strong play and a late-season injury to No. 1 netminder Jaroslav Halak launched Greiss into a starter's role, where he proved he was up for the challenge.

In the first round, Greiss earned three overtime wins for his team. The last two both went to two extra frames, with Greiss' most spectacular effort coming in Game 5. He posted a .979 save percentage while making 47 stops, including an Aleksander Barkov penalty shot with the game on the line at 7:19 of the first overtime.

The win put the Islanders up 3-2 in the series, setting the table for a series win in front of their home fans in their first-ever playoff series at the Barclays Center.

Date: Sunday, April 24

Situation: Round 1, Game 6 vs. Minnesota Wild

His Performance: Captain Jamie Benn scored a goal and added two assists, and the Dallas Stars would need them all as they held on to eliminate the Minnesota Wild from the first round of the playoffs by a score of 5-4 in Game 6 of their series.

Benn assisted on first-period goals by John Klingberg and Patrick Sharp, with the Stars building an early 3-0 lead. He then chipped in his fourth of the playoffs in the final minute of the middle frame. The Wild made a final push with three goals in the third before Alex Goligoski potted what would be the eventual game-winner.

Benn's three points capped off a first round in which he appeared on the scoresheet in every game, accumulating 10 points. With the physical intensity he displayed against the Wild, Benn showed he was built for playoffs.

Date: Thursday, May 12

Situation: Round 2, Game 7 vs. Nashville Predators

His Performance: Through 18 games in the first three rounds of the playoffs, Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks is averaging an incredible 1.33 points per game. His 24 points are already more than the 2015 postseason leading scorers, Patrick Kane and Tyler Johnson, who each had 23, and Couture still has one more round to add to his stats.

Couture's best games in the postseason have been the Sharks' three elimination efforts. He had three assists in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Kings and a goal and two assists in Game 7 against the Nashville Predators and Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues.

Each of those games was an inarguable knockout punch—6-3 against the Kings, 5-0 against the Preds and 5-2 against the Blues. The Nashville game gets the nod as Couture's best because it's the only time in the playoffs so far that the Sharks have faced elimination.

He didn't factor into the scoring until the 36-second mark of the second period, when he extended the San Jose lead to 3-0. Couture then assisted on goals by Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau in the third period to help seal the win, and he was named the game's first star.

The Sharks' offensive depth is impressive, but Couture deserves recognition for leading the charge in his team's most important games.

Date: Monday, May 16

Situation: Eastern Conference Final, Game 2 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

His Performance: After taking an offensive backseat to some of his teammates during the first two rounds of the playoffs, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby announced he had come to play when he scored the overtime game-winner at the 40-second mark of the extra frame. The 3-2 win tied the Eastern Conference Final series with the Tampa Bay Lightning at 1-1.

The win gave the Penguins a split on home ice through the first two games of the series and lit a fire under Crosby, who also tallied the game-winners in Games 3 and 6 as Pittsburgh moved toward a seven-game series win.

By the end of the third round, Crosby had climbed into a tie for eighth place in playoff scoring with 15 points. He looks like he's hitting his stride with the most important games of the year about to be played.

Date: Tuesday, May 17

Situation: Western Conference Final, Game 2 vs. St. Louis Blues

His Performance: With his San Jose Sharks on the road in a 1-0 series hole, goaltender Martin Jones stopped all 26 shots he faced in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final, allowing his team to return home to the Shark Tank with a split and setting the stage for a series win.

Jones set the tone for the game early on, denying sniper Vladimir Tarasenko after he broke loose in the slot at the 1:41 mark of the first period. Just 26 seconds later, Tommy Wingels opened the scoring for the Sharks, who cruised to a 4-0 win in Game 2 and then rode a second shutout by Jones to a 3-0 home win in Game 3.

Date: Thursday, May 26

Situation: Eastern Conference Final, Game 7 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

His Performance: Playing in the first Game 7 of his career, 24-year-old rookie winger Bryan Rust scored both goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final in seven years.

Rust was an unlikely hero on a Penguins team that features scoring stars like Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel. He gave Pittsburgh an early home-ice edge, opening the scoring just 1:55 into the first period. He then followed up with what proved to be the game-winning goal a mere 30 seconds after Jonathan Drouin tied the game midway through the second period.

Game 7 was the second multigoal game of the playoffs for Rust, who is showing a knack for stepping up in important situations. He also scored twice when the Penguins eliminated the New York Rangers from the postseason in the fifth game of Round 1.

Date: Monday, April 25

Situation: Round 1, Game 7 vs. Chicago Blackhawks

His Performance: No single goal has been bigger so far in 2016 than Troy Brouwer's Game 7 dagger, which eliminated the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks from this year's playoffs.

The goal advanced the St. Louis Blues to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in four years, and it came against the team that Brouwer had won the only Stanley Cup of his career with (2010).

It also served as an offensive catalyst for the big right winger—the first of a career-high eight goals and 13 points in the postseason.

He's not quite at Justin Williams' level yet, but Brouwer established himself as a big-time playoff performer this year, starting with the goal that knocked out the Blackhawks.