1916 Stanley Cup Finals The 1916 Stanley Cup Final was played between the National Hockey Association ( NHA ) champion Montreal Canadiens and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association ( PCHA ) champion Portland Rosebuds This was the first time that a best - of - five Cup championship went the distance . Also , the Rosebuds were the first team based in the United States to play for the Cup . The Canadiens defeated the Rosebuds three games to two in the best - of - five game series . Paths to the final . Montreal won the NHA title after finishing the 1915 – 16 regular season in first place with a 16 – 7 – 1 record . Meanwhile , Portland clinched the 1915 – 16 PCHA title with a 13 – 5 record . The series . The games of the series were played at Montreal ' s Montreal Arena as it was the turn of the NHA champions to host the series . This was not the home rink of the Canadiens , but it was larger than their home Jubilee Rink . Games one , three and five were played under NHA rules ; Games two and four were played under PCHA rules . Ernie Johnson ' s share of series revenues was by court order to be paid to the Montreal Wanderers , who he had left while under contract to go to the PCHA . For the entire series , future Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Georges Vézina aided Montreal by posting a 2 . 60 goals - against average . Didier Pitre led the Canadiens in scoring with 4 goals . Game one . Portland arrived by train the day before the game but showed no weariness , recording a shutout . Game two . Despite missing Newsy Lalonde and Jack Laviolette , Montreal behind some heavy checking defeated Portland 2 – 1 to tie the series . Game three . Lalonde and Laviolette played in game three . Lalonde got into a fight with Ernie Johnson , requiring the police to break up the fight . Lalonde and Laviolette were ejected for the game and Eddie Oatman received a major penalty . Pitre was the scoring star , scoring three goals to lead the Canadiens to a 6 – 3 victory . Game four . The Rosebuds then evened the series with a 6 – 5 victory in game four . The Rosebuds took a 3 – 0 lead , only to see the Canadiens tie it and take a 4 – 3 lead . In the third period Portland ' s Fred Harris scored twice and Charlie Uksilla scored once to take a 6 – 4 lead until the last minute when Lalonde scored to make it closer . Game five . In game five , Portland ' s Tommy Dunderdale gave his team a 1 – 0 lead before Skene Ronan tied the game . The seldom - used Goldie Prodger then scored the game and series - winning goal to clinch the Cup for the Canadiens . | player - notes = ‡ also played rover in the Stanley Cup Finals Montreal Canadiens 1916 Stanley Cup champions . non - players = engraving - notes = Even though they officially did not win the Cup during this season , the Rosebuds had the words " Portland Ore . / PCHA Champions / 1915 – 16 " engraved on the Cup after obtaining the trophy from the previous year ' s champions , the Vancouver Millionaires . This was similar to the practice prior to 1915 when the trophy was officially passed on to the winner of the league championship of the previous Cup champion ' s league . After the finals , " Canadian / NHA & World ' s Champions / Defeated Portland / 1915 – 16 " was added to the Cup ( Note that the anglicized , singular form of " Canadiens " was engraved ) .