= 2001 = 2002 = 2003 = 2004 = 2006 = 2007 = 2008 = 2009 = 2010 = 2011= 2012 = 2014 = 2015 = 2016 = 2017 = 2018 = 2019 = 2020 =
Round One - Conference Quarterfinals
Western Conference
#1 Detroit Red Wings vs. #8 Nashville Predators
Everybody probably expected the President's Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings to blow past the playoff rookie Nashville Predators (making the post season for the first time in their six-year history). However, it didn't quite turn out that way...
GAME ONE: NASHVILLE 1 at DETROIT 3 -April 7
Nashville didn't waste any time scoring their first-ever post season tally, Adam Hall notching one just 16 seconds into the game. The lead stayed until the Red Wings woke up in the third, scoring twice in the first five minutes.
GAME TWO: NASHVILLE 1 at DETROIT 2 -April 10
After playing even most of the game, the Wings trickled out a win on a goal by Mathieu Schneider late in the third. Lang also scored for Detroit and Orszagh tied it in the second for the Preds.
GAME THREE: DETROIT 1 at NASHVILLE 3 -April 11
The Predators pleased their home fans with their first playoff win in history, dominating the Wings on goals by David Legwand (short-handed), Adam Hall, and Scott Hartnell. Brett Hull scored for Detroit.
GAME FOUR: DETROIT 0 at NASHVILLE 3 -April 13
The Predators continued their parade of firsts, pleasing the home crowd with their first-ever playoff shutout - first for the team and first for the wily Tomas Vokoun. He snuffed 41 shots and Steve Sullivan, Vladimir Orszagh and former Red Wing Greg Johnson each scored for the Preds.
GAME FIVE: NASHVILLE 1 at DETROIT 4 -April 15
Henrik Zetterberg, Brett Hull and Brendan Shanahan got the Wings back on track in the first and Lidstrom added salt to the wound in the second. Sergei Zholtok also scored in that period for the Predators. Hull tied Wayne Gretzky for the record for playoff game-winning goals (24).
GAME SIX: DETROIT 2 at NASHVILLE 0 - April 17
The Predators are eliminated and lose their first playoff home game. Ray Whitney and captain Steve Yzerman scored a mere thirty seconds apart in the opening two minutes, Curtis Joseph stopped just 15 shots for his 16th post season shut out and first with Detroit, and the Wings advance to round two.
Red Wings win series 4 games to 2.
#2 San Jose Sharks vs. #7 St. Louis Blues
Bad blood existed between these two teams. St. Louis was defeated by a less-talented but more aggressive San Jose club in 2000 in a huge upset and a year later the Blues got revenge by biting the Sharks in six games. Now, after St. Louis barely made their 25th consecutive post season, the two teams square off in the first round of the playoffs for the third time in five years.
GAME ONE: ST. LOUIS 0 at SAN JOSE 1 (OT) -April 8
Excellent goaltending by Chris Osgood and Evgeni Nabokov kept the game scoreless through three periods, but the Sharks prevailed nine minutes into overtime on Niko Dimitrakos' first-ever playoff goal.
GAME TWO: ST. LOUIS 1 at SAN JOSE 3 -April 10
The Blues embarassed themselves into a loss by parading their star players ( Pronger, Tkachuk) into the penalty box over and over again. Patrick Marleau got the hat trick for the Sharks. Weight finally notched a playoff goal for the Note on a blistering short-handed tally in the third.
GAME THREE: SAN JOSE 1 at ST. LOUIS 4 -April 12
Blues got back on track, getting a hat trick of their own in Mike Sillinger (a late season pickup). Dallas Drake scored the other St. Louis goal and the Sharks' Jonathan Cheechoo scored his first playoff goal.
GAME FOUR: SAN JOSE 4 at ST. LOUIS 3 -April 13
After repeated comeback attempts in the game, St. Louis just could not score enough to win the game or ever have the lead. Sharks' Scott Thornton scored twice along with Korolyuk's game-winner. Blues got another goal from Weight and finally got one from Pavol Demitra. Mike Danton got the Blues on the board in the first.
GAME FIVE: ST. LOUIS 1 at SAN JOSE 3 -April 15
The fat lady sings on the Blues' 25th consecutive playoff stint. Brad Stuart and Mark Smith helped finish off the Blues - Smith getting the game winner. Brian Savage tied it up for St. Louis in the first in the team's final goal of the 03-04 campaign. Mike Ricci got San Jose's insurance talley with 3:38 of the third.
Sharks win series 4 games to 1.
#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 Calgary Flames
Vancouver looked to continue post season success after winning a series the previous year for the first time in a long while. Calgary looked to make the most of their first playoff berth since 1996.
GAME ONE: CALGARY 3 at VANCOUVER 5 -April 7
The Canucks were repeatedly told their power play was bad. They showed them and scored four power play goals in this tilt. Brendan Morrison, Martin Rucinsky, Sami Salo and Henrik Sedin got those goals. Flames also got power play goals in Chris Simon and Oleg Saprykin and Krzystof Oliwa got the other Flames tally.
GAME TWO: CALGARY 2 at VANCOUVER 1 -April 9
The Flames cooled off the 'Nucks and Miikka Kiprusoff was outstanding with 25 saves in this tightly-won game. Calgary's star player Iginla scored and rookie Matthew Lombardi potted one 50 seconds later. Markus Naslund got the only Vancouver goal.
GAME THREE: VANCOUVER 2 at CALGARY 1 -April 11
It was Vancouver's turn to win 2-1, this time after relying on backup goaltender Johan Hedberg after Cloutier limped off of the ice in the first. Hedberg made 19 saves and the 'Nucks regained the series lead. Matt Cooke, who was in Todd Bertuzzi's spot, got the game-winning goal in the third.
GAME FOUR: VANCOUVER 0 at CALGARY 4 -April 13
Miikka Kiprusoff comes up big again for the Flames in this shutout. Stephan Yelle, Donovan, and Clark took advantage of the inexperienced Hedberg and Iginla got an emtpy-netter ('Nucks pulled Hedberg with 3 minutes left).
GAME FIVE: CALGARY 2 at VANCOUVER 1 -April 15
Flames put themselves closer to getting to the second round for the first time in 15 years by taking a 3-2 series lead on goals by captain Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy (power play). Henrik Sedin had a power play tally for the 'Nucks.
GAME SIX: VANCOUVER 5 at CALGARY 4 (3OT) -April 17
The 'Nucks were surprised that it had to be the longest game in their history to get the win. Calgary came back from a 4-0 deficit to tie it, but the amazing comeback was in vain as Brendan Morrison scored 2:28 into the third overtime to force a Game 7. Ville Nieminen almost sent the Flames to round two in the second overtime, but hit the crossbar instead of the net. 'Nucks also got goals by Jarkko Ruutu, Daniel Sedin, Brad May and Sanderson. The Comback Kids for the Flames were Saprykin, Nieminen, Gelinas and Clark.
GAME SEVEN: CALGARY 3 at VANCOUVER 2 -April 19
Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye. The Flames burn the 'Nucks and captain Jarome Iginla scores two goals to get his team into round two for the first time in 15 years. He also assisted on Martin Gelinas' power play tally. Cooke scored for Vancouver twice, once right before the final buzzer.
Flames win series 4 games to 3.
#4 Colorado Avalanche vs. #5 Dallas Stars
Colorado would be facing the playoffs for the first time in a decade without Patrick Roy and Dallas looked to get back into the post season swing after losing to Anaheim in Round 2 in 2003.
GAME ONE: DALLAS 1 at COLORADO 3 -April 7
David Aebischer looked like Patrick Roy as he turned away 37 Dallas shots on goal. Peter Forsberg, Alex Tanguay and Joe Sakic scored for Colorado and Niko Kapanen notched one for the Stars, spoiling Abby's possible playoff debut shut out.
GAME TWO: DALLAS 2 at COLORADO 5 -April 9
It was all Avalanche in this tilt (and Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic) as the Stars couldn't keep themselves out of the penalty box.
GAME THREE: COLORADO 3 at DALLAS 4 (OT) -April 12
Dallas got their first win of the series in grand fashion. They rallied and Philippe Boucher scored the tying goal with 4:27 left in regulation to send the game into overtime. 2:11 into the extra period Steve Ott won it on a sweet breakaway goal. Scott Young finally woke up and scored a power play goal to begin the rally.
GAME FOUR: COLORADO 3 at DALLAS 2 (2OT) -April 14
Having enough of those pesky Stars, Colorado decided to get an overtime win for themselves. Marek Svatos, who had only played four regular season games, scored 5:18 into the second overtime period.
GAME FIVE: DALLAS 1 at COLORADO 5 -April 17
The Avalanche poured it on in Game Five. David Aebischer snuffed 21 shots and Forsberg, Hejduk, Sakic, Steve Konowalchuk, and Darby Hendrickson (who had only scored twice in the regular season) score and the 'Lanche order another round.
Avalanche win series 4 games to 1.
Eastern Conference
#1 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #8 New York Islanders
Who would have thought that the long-time league doormats, Tampa Bay, would be #1 seed in the East in 2004? The result of a very long and patient team-building process looked to see what they could do with New York in the first round. The score of 3-0 was very popular in this match up.
GAME ONE: NEW YORK ISLANDERS 0 at TAMPA BAY 3 -April 8
Nikolai Khabibulin is impressive in a shutout and Modin potted two goals in Tampa Bay's winner to open the series. Star Bolts player St. Louis was held to just two shots, but it didn't matter. Andre Roy got the other Tampa goal.
GAME TWO: NEW YORK ISLANDERS 3 at TAMPA BAY 0 -April 10
Turnabout is fair play and New York surprises Tampa with a 3-0 shutout of their own. Rick DiPietro shows up Khabibulin's team with his own snuff out. Jason Blake potted two (one was an empty netter) and Janne Niinimaa got the other goal - his first playoff tally.
GAME THREE: TAMPA BAY 3 at NEW YORK ISLANDERS 0 -April 12
Copy and paste game one here, only change the location. Brad Richards had a goal and two assists and St. Louis finally notched one. Richard also put a biscuit in the basket, dissapointing the Isles' fans.
GAME FOUR: TAMPA BAY 3 at NEW YORK ISLANDERS 0 -April 14
Second verse, same as the first. Fredrik Modin, Ruslan Fedotenko, and St. Louis (shorthanded) scored for the fourth straight 3-0 game of the series. Tampa Bay is very close to winning its second playoff series in club history.
GAME FIVE: NEW YORK ISLANDERS 2 at TAMPA BAY 3 (OT) -April 16
Martin St. Louis send the Bolts to Round Two 4:07 into overtime with a wrister from the left circle. The score was not 3-0 for a change. Tim Taylor and Ruslan Fedotenko made it 2-1 Bolts and Khabibulin, who tied a league record with his third shutout of the series, but his streak ended at 145:9 in the second.
Lightning win series 4 games to 1.
#2 Boston Bruins vs. #7 Montreal Canadiens
Saku Koivu, the amazing cancer-surviving comeback player, looked to lead his underdog team against a rolling Boston team that they have quite a heated playoff history with.
GAME ONE: MONTREAL 0 at BOSTON 3 -April 7
The Bruins took a page from Tampa's first game of their series and defeat the Habs. Rookie Andrew Raycroft stopped 31 shots; Sergei Gonchar, Michael Nylander and Mike Knuble score for the bears and Joe Thornton is glad to be back from an injury.
GAME TWO: MONTREAL 1 at BOSTON 2 (OT) -April 9
It was a night for rookies in New England. Patrice Bergeron got the overtime goal and Andrew Raycroft stopped all but one shot in a real crowd pleaser. Patrice Brisebois got the lone tally for the hapless Habs.
GAME THREE: BOSTON 2 at MONTREAL 3 -April 11
Alex Kovalev scored two first-period goals, one of them the game-winner to get Montreal in action. Andrei Markov potted the other goal for the Habs. Andy Hilbert scored for Boston in his first career playoff game in the first and Brian Rolston got them within one.
GAME FOUR: BOSTON 4 at MONTREAL 3 (2OT) -April 13
Boston won this one on a hand shake. Glen Murray took advantage of a bad mistake by Alex Kovalev to score on a breakaway goal 9:27 into the second overtime period. Kovalev decided to shake his slashed hand to draw a penalty instead of watching where the puck was going. Mike Knuble tied the game for Boston. Michael Nylander and Jiri Slegr also scored for the Bruins. Mike Ribeiro scored 2 and Kovalev had his third goal in two games.
GAME FIVE: MONTREAL 5 at BOSTON 1 -April 15
The Habs staved off elimination in an impressive game where goalie Jose Thoedore shined and cancer-comeback player Saku Koivu had a goal and two assists. Craig Rivet and Richard Zednik also scored for Montreal and Nick Boynton got the lone tally for the Bruins.
GAME SIX: BOSTON 2 at MONTREAL 5 -April 17
Darren Langdon scores for the first time in two years and the Canadiens make it stick. Saku Koivu gets the game-winner and, "Viva la france!" the series is tied. Perreault, Alex Kovalev, and Jan Bulis also scored for Montreal; Sergei Samsonov scored twice for Boston.
GAME SEVEN: MONTREAL 2 at BOSTON 0 -April 19
Richard Zednik scored twice and Jose Theodore, in his first career playoff shutout, stopped all 32 Boston shots. This was the first time in history Montreal overcame a 3-1 deficit in a playoff series and the Bruins were shocked to the core!
Canadiens win series 4 games to 3.
#3 Philadelphia Flyers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils
After winning Stanley Cups in 2000 and 2003, and being in the Finals in 2001, New Jersey certainly is not used to being the underdog. They hoped to regain winning form against a tough Flyers team.
GAME ONE: NEW JERSEY 2 at PHILADELPHIA 3 -April 8
Robert Esche made 37 saves in his first playoff start and Philadelphia Flies to a 3-2 win on goals by Simon Gagne, Jeremy Roenick and Keith Primeau. New Jersey's Patrik Elias and Jan Hrdina made it a close one.
GAME TWO: NEW JERSEY 2 at PHILADELPHIA 3 -April 10
Alexei Zhamnov scores the game-winner for Philly in another 3-2 win. Jan Hrdina scores again for NJ (who still hadn't had a lead in the series) as well as Brian Gionta. Mark Recchi and Mattias Timander had the other goals for the Flyers.
GAME THREE: PHILADELPHIA 2 at NEW JERSEY 4 -April 12
The Devils get back in it with goals by rookie Paul Martin, Brian Gionta, and Patrik Elias (who got two). Scott Gomez earned three assists and Philly got notches from Roenick and Amonte.
GAME FOUR: PHILADELPHIA 3 at NEW JERSEY 0 -April 14
Robert Esche shows up Martin Brodeur again by snuffing all the New Jersey shots on goal. Esche made 35 saves total. This game puts New Jersey down 3 games to 1, but they know that the Devils come back from that deficit often (they did it twice on their way to a Cup in 2000).
GAME FIVE: NEW JERSEY 1 at PHILADELPHIA 3 -April 17
Robert Esche and the Flyers prevail. His play and a long shot by Danny Markov sends Philly to round two and the Devil is finally defeated. Alexei Zhamnov also scores and Sami Kapanen pots an empty netter. Scott Niedermayer, the lone Devils goal scorer, and his team go home.
Flyers win series 4 games to 1.
#4 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. #5 Ottawa Senators
Fairly evenly-matched, the Sens and Leafs duke it out in an all-Canada playoff series. Familiarity is the story here, as this is the fourth time in five years these teams meet in the playoffs
GAME ONE: OTTAWA 4 at TORONTO 2 -April 8
Sens' Marian Hossa scored twice; Bryan Smolinski and Wade Redden also potted goals for Ottawa in this series-opening win. Nieuwendyk opened the scoring, though, for the Leafs just three minutes into the game and McCabe made it 2-1 later, but ultimately that lead was choked.
GAME TWO: OTTAWA 0 at TORONTO 2 -April 10
Determined not to lose badly again, Eddie Belfour slams the door on the Senators and the game is won for the Leafs on two goals by Gary Roberts.
GAME THREE: TORONTO 2 at OTTAWA 0 -April 12
Belfour made 37 saves for his second straight door-slamming; Joe Nieuwendyk scores again and Mats Sundin got an insurance tally.
GAME FOUR: TORONTO 1 at OTTAWA 4 -April 14
Ottawa's had enough of Belfour's door-slamming and slams him for four goals by Daniel Alfredsson, Marian Hossa, Todd White and Chris Phillips. Roberts got the lone goal for Toronto. Belfour's shutout streak ended at 157:45.
GAME FIVE: OTTAWA 0 at TORONTO 2 -April 16
Belfour decides to start another playoff shutout streak and third period goals by Tie Domi and Joe Nieuwendyk put the Leafs up 3 games to 2. Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson vows his team will not lose to Toronto again!
GAME SIX: TORONTO 1 at OTTAWA 2 (2OT) -April 18
Daniel Alfredsson was right about not losing to Toronto again - at least in regards to Game Six. Mike Fisher scored 1:47 into double overtime to lift the Sens over the Leafs. Leafs' Bryan McCabe scored on a 5-on-3 power play in the first. Zdeno Chara tied it for the Sens.
GAME SEVEN: OTTAWA 1 at TORONTO 4 -April 20
Ed Belfour made 36 saves, the Leafs move on, and the Senators remain 0-4 in playoff series against the Leafs. Alfredsson's promise apparently only applied to Game Six. Joe Nieuwendyk went deuce, Chad Kilger and finally Bryan McCabe scored. Vaclav Varada had the lone tally for the heartbroken Senators.
Maple Leafs win series 4 games to 3.
Round Two - Conference Semifinals
Western Conference
#1 Detroit Red Wings vs. #6 Calgary Flames
The Red Wings are looking all the way to the Finals at this point and look to douse the Flames as qickly as possible. But the Flames have a lot of heart and are on a high from making the second round for the first time in a decade.
GAME ONE: CALGARY 2 at DETROIT 1 (OT) -April 22
Robert Lang put the Wings up 1-0 in the second. But the Flames' Robyn Regehr scored his first playoff goal to tie it late in that period, and at 2:39 in overtime Marcus Nilson scored his first playoff goal to win Calgary their first Game One win of a series since 1989.
GAME TWO: CALGARY 2 at DETROIT 5 -April 24
Steve Yzerman scored twice in the second 2:13 apart and the sleeping giant - Detroit's potent offense - awoke. Yzerman, one of the game's greatest centers ever, was even put on right wing for this tilt! Tomas Holmstrom, Brett Hull, and Nicklas Lidstrom also scored for the Wings. Calgary's Shean Donovan scored and Martin Gelinas got an "oh, by the way" goal with 1:10 left.
GAME THREE: DETROIT 2 at CALGARY 3 -April 27
Calgary gains an unlikey 2-1 series lead on goals by Jarome Iginla (his first goal of the series), Stephane Yelle and Shean Donovan. Detroit got tallies from Robert Lang and Jiri Fischer.
GAME FOUR: DETROIT 4 at CALGARY 2 -April 29
The Wings got themselves up 2-0 (Kirk Maltby and Boyd Devereaux) but it took Calgary on 18 seconds in the second to eliminate that lead (Martin Gelinas and Ville Nieminen). But Detroit came back again to avoid a perilous 3-1 series trailing. Mathieu Dandenault gave them the lead again and Henrik Zetterberg got an empty-netter.
GAME FIVE: CALGARY 1 at DETROIT 0 -May 1
Miikka Kiprusoff held the puck high above his head after his final save of a 1-0 shutout of the Red Wings. He had to make 31 saves to get that shutout and Craig Conroy's goal in the second helped his team win and go ahead 3-2 in the series. It was the first postseason shutout of the Red Wings in Detroit in 52 games (1997). Detroit's Steve Yzerman was smacked in the left eye with a puck that scratched his cornea and broke the socket; this injury put him out indefinitely.
GAME SIX: DETROIT 0 at CALGARY 1 (OT) - May 3
Miikka Kiprusoff made 38 saves to bring the game to overtime, and Martin Gelinas scored his third series-ending overtime goal 19:13 into the extra period (his second was the goal that eliminated Vancouver weeks before, and his first was with Carolina in 2002 to eliminate the Leafs). Cujo had 43 saves and continues his quest to never win a Stanley Cup.
Flames win series 4 games to 2.
#2 San Jose Sharks vs. #4 Colorado Avalanche
Both teams were sharp in the first round, each one only garnering one loss, but these two have duked it out three times before in the post season. Colorado won two of those series, so the Sharks might be looking for some revenge.
GAME ONE: COLORADO 2 at SAN JOSE 5 -April 22
Sharks bury the Avs as Marleau gets yet another hat trick, scoring two of them in a 94 second span in the second. Sharks' Scott Hannan and Vincent Damphousse also scored. Konowalchuk and Forsberg got power play tallies for Colorado.
GAME TWO: COLORADO 1 at SAN JOSE 4 -April 24
The Avalanche are reduced to nothing more than a snow drift on Sharks goals by Marleau, Cheechoo and Vincent Damphousse. Wayne Primeau got an empty netter and the lone goal scorer for Colorado was Milan Hejduk (which had actually given them a 1-0 lead).
GAME THREE: SAN JOSE 1 at COLORADO 0 -April 26
Evgeni Nabokov seems to be channeling Jean-Sebastien Giguere. He snuffed 33 Colorado shots on goal and shuts them down in their own building to take a stranglehold on the series. Damphousse's fluke goal off of David Aebischer's back in the third made Nabokov's efforts worth it.
GAME FOUR: SAN JOSE 0 at COLORADO 1 (OT) -April 28
Colorado stays alive on a Joe Sakic wrist shot 5:15 into overtime. David Aebischer stops 27 shots for his first playoff shutout and Nabokov stopped 35. Sakic ties with Glenn Anderson for second on the NHL list of playoff overtime goals (5).
GAME FIVE: COLORADO 2 at SAN JOSE 1 (OT) -May 1
San Jose seems to be sitting back a little too comfortably with their series lead. It's starting to look like 2002 all over again when Colorado came back from a series deficit and denied the Sharkies a trip to the Conference Finals. Sakic scored yet again in overtime to keep the Avs afloat.
GAME SIX: SAN JOSE 3 at COLORADO 1 -May 4
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 28 shots and three goals in the second by the Sharks put them in the conference finals - finally - for the first time in their history. Vincent Damphousse, Marcel Goc and Jonathan Cheechoo got those goals for the Sharks. Milan Hejduk had the lone Avs tally and their dreams of becoming the third team in NHL history to come back from being down 3-0 in a series are crushed.
Sharks win series 4 games to 2.
Eastern Conference
#1 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #7 Montreal Canadiens
The Bolts will try to continue to roll with great goaltending from Khabibulin and sniping offense by players like St. Louis. But beware, Tampa, the Canadiens will be playing their hearts out.
GAME ONE: MONTREAL 0 at TAMPA BAY 4 -April 23
Vincent Lecavalier wakes up to score two goals and an assist, Nikolai Khabibulin makes 21 saves for his fourth playoff shutout, and the Bolts take Game One. Ruslan Fedotenko got the first goal and Dimitry Afanasenkov got the last one.
GAME TWO: MONTREAL 1 at TAMPA BAY 3 -April 25
Vincent Lecavalier scored notched two for the second straight game and on their fifth straight post season victory Tampa takes a 2-0 series lead. Fredrik Modin got the other Bolts goal and the Habs finally got a goal in the series from none other than Saku Koivu.
GAME THREE: TAMPA BAY 4 at MONTREAL 3 (OT) -April 27
The Bolts are one win away from their first conference finals in team history. Lecavalier sent the game to OT with only 16.5 seconds left and Brad Richards, on his second goal of the night, won it in OT. Stillman also scored for the Bolts and Montreal got goals from Kovalev, Ryder, and Brisebois.
GAME FOUR: TAMPA BAY 3 at MONTREAL 1 -April 29
Tampa completes the only sweep of the playoffs so far on front of the Montreal fans. Niklas Sundstrom put the Habs up 1-0, but Vincent Lecavalier tied it up with a lucky bounce; Brad Richards scored his second straight game-winning goal, and the Bolts strike into Round Three. Modin capped it with an empty-netter.
Lightning win series 4 games to 0.
#3 Philadelphia Flyers vs. #4 Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto was eager to play the second round, but not the Flyers. Philly won the season series against the Leafs by a combined score of 17-4 and ousted Toronto from the first round in 2003. If they continue that kind of dominance, it should be a cake walk for the City of Brotherly Love.
GAME ONE: TORONTO 1 at PHILADELPHIA 3 -April 22
Tony Amonte, Simon Gagne, and then Marcus Ragnarsson put the biscuits in the basket for Philly and Toronto's lone goal belonged to Alexander Mogilny as the Flyers fly to a Game One win.
GAME TWO: TORONTO 1 at PHILADELPHIA 2 -April 25
Flyers take a commanding 2-0 series lead on great goaltending by Robert Esche and a timely goal by Alexei Zhamnov. Donald Brashear also tallied for Philly. Leafs got Mats Sundin back, but it didn't matter as Domi scored the team's only goal.
GAME THREE: PHILADELPHIA 1 at TORONTO 4 -April 28
Philly was uncharacteristicly undisciplined and Tie Domi and the Leafs took advantage of it to get a very important win. Alexander Mogilny scored on a breakaway and he was followed by Alexei Ponikarovsky, Chad Kilger and Darcy Tucker. Tony Amonte had the lone Flyer's goal.
GAME FOUR: PHILADELPHIA 1 at TORONTO 3 -April 30
Mats Sundin notched two as the Leafs even things up in Toronto. Darcy Tucker got the other Leaf's goal and Gary Roberts had two assists. Belfour moved into a tie with former Islanders great Billy Smith with his 88th career playoff victory. Simon Gagne had the lone tally for Philly.
GAME FIVE: TORONTO 2 at PHILADELPHIA 7 -May 2
Philly opened up a can of whoopass on the luckless Leafs in this rout. The Flyers went up 3-2 in the series on captain Keith Primeau's hat trick and Michal Handzus's two goals. Belfour allowed six goals on 18 shots before being yanked in favor of Trevor Kidd. Mark Recchi and Branko Radivojevic also scored for Philly and Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts scored for Toronto. The ass-whooping was costly for Philly, as Robert Esche and defenseman Vladimir Malakhov went down with injuries.
GAME SIX: PHILADELPHIA 3 at TORONTO 2 (OT) -May 4
Coach Ken Hitchcock told his team to go for it in overtime and they did. Jeremy Roenick beat Belfour on the short side on a 2-on-1 break 7:39 into OT and the Flyers are in the Conference Finals. The Leafs, however, rallied from 2-0 in the third to tie it up, but it wasn't enough. Mats Sundin and Karel Pilar got those goals. Radovan Somik also scored for the Flyers.
Flyers win series 4 games to 2.
Round Three - Conference Finals (Stanley Cup Semifinals)
Western Conference
#2 San Jose Sharks vs. #6 Calgary Flames
Like the previous season, the Western Conference Finals features an unlikely matchup. The Sharks are there for the first time in history and the Flames return to the third round for the first time since 1989 (where they won the Cup).
GAME ONE: CALGARY 4 at SAN JOSE 3 (OT) -May 9
Flames defenseman Steve Montador scored to take Game One with 1:17 left in the first overtime period after a rare bad line change by the Sharks. Alexander Korolyuk got the Flames into overtime. Craig Conroy scored twice. Mike Ricci and Todd Harvey scored for the Sharks. Kiprusoff was busy, stopping 49 of 52 shots, the Sharks' record for shots on goal in a single game.
GAME TWO: CALGARY 4 at SAN JOSE 1 -May 11
Things get dire for the Sharks as they get roasted by the Flames. Shean Donovan, Marcus Nilson and Ville Nieminen each potted a goal and an assist for Calgary - two of those goals coming on their first three shots. Nilson broke a Flames record by scoring just twenty seconds in. Suddenly Nabokov is looking more like the next Roman Turek instead of the next JS Giguere. Alyn McCauley got the lone goal for the Sharkies. Iginla got the 4th Calgary goal.
GAME THREE: SAN JOSE 3 at CALGARY 0 -May 13
Nabokov made 34 saves, Alexander Korolyuk tallied twice in the final minutes and the Sharks show the Flames they're not done yet. Vincent Damphousse made it 1-0 in the second.
GAME FOUR: SAN JOSE 4 at CALGARY 2 -May 16
Home ice advantage doesn't seem to have a lot to do with this series. Sharks evened things up with a dominating win where Mike Rathje started things off with a long shot that pin-balled around until it bounced off Kiprusoff's glove and in. Jarome Iginla answered with a flukey goal of his own. But sloppy play by the Flames and Kippy in a second period debacle allowed goals by Cheechoo, Damphousse (a power play goal ten seconds after Cheechoo scored), and Marleau. Simon got Calgary's other goal later.
GAME FIVE: CALGARY 3 at SAN JOSE 0 -May 17
Again, the road team prevails in this shutout by Calgary. Jarome Iginla, Marcus Nilson and Craig Conroy scored and Miikka Kiprusoff snuffed 19 shots to earn him his fourth shutout of the '04 post season.
GAME SIX: SAN JOSE 1 at CALGARY 3 -May 19
"The Eliminator" Martin Gelinas scores the series-winning goal for the third straight time at the Pengrowth Saddledome as the Flames cook up some Shark soup and get into the Cup Finals for the first time since 1989. San Jose is ousted at the hands of Gelinas and goals by Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy. Alyn McCauley got the lone goal for the Sharkies.
Flames win series 4 games to 2.
Eastern Conference
#1 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #3 Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa is a rookie to the third round, but the Flyers have been there many times. Both teams were tough to beat so far, which made for a grinding, long, and entertaining series.
GAME ONE: PHILADELPHIA 1 at TAMPA BAY 3 -May 8
The Bolts continue to roll with only one loss in the post season (Game Two of the first round). Tampa improves to 9-1 in the playoffs on goals by Dave Andreychuk, Brad Richards, and Chris Dingman. The Flyers, who allowed the goals on bad and failed clearing attempts, only got a goal from Handzus.
GAME TWO: PHILADELPHIA 6 at TAMPA BAY 2 -May 10
The Flyers came out and did what they do best: kick ass. The first three goals were scored on their first five shots, which crumbled the "Bulin Wall" and sent him to the bench. Six different Flyers players got those goals: John LeClair, Mark Recchi, Sami Kapanen (SH), Jeremy Roenick, Michal Handzus, and Mattias Timander. Ruslan Fedotenko and Martin St. Louis got third period power play goals for Tampa.
GAME THREE: TAMPA BAY 4 at PHILADELPHIA 1 -May 13
Lightning bolts by Cory Stillman, Ruslan Fedotenko, Lecavalier, and Brad Richards put Game Two's debacle behind them in an impressive turn-around performance. Keith Primeau notched one for the flyboys, who lost at home in the playoffs for the first time.
GAME FOUR: TAMPA BAY 2 at PHILADELPHIA 3 -May 15
Philly didn't let injuries to Ragnarsson or his replacement stop them from knotting up the series. Tampa's Fredrik Modin opened up the scoring, but the Flyers came back and got goals by John LeClair, Keith Primeau, and Mark Recchi. Vincent Lecavalier scored with 33 seconds left to make things interesting.
GAME FIVE: PHILADELPHIA 2 at TAMPA BAY 4 -May 18
Tampa's power play zaps the flyboys and the Bolts take a 3-2 series lead. They scored three power play goals in the first 28, two of them by Brad Richards and one by Ruslan Fedotenko to open it up. Tim Taylor got an empty netter with 15 ticks left in the game. Flyers' Patrick Sharp gets his first-ever playoff goal and Handzus began Philly's unsucessful comeback.
GAME SIX: TAMPA BAY 4 at PHILADELPHIA 5 (OT) -May 20
Amidst a sea of orange - the playoff frenzied Philadelphia crowd - Simon Gagne scored 18:18 into overtime, his second goal of the tilt, to force a Game Seven. Overtime would not have even happened though had captain Keith Primeau not scored with only 1:49 left in regulation in one of the most dramatic sports games Philly citizens have ever witnessed. Vincent LeCavalier got the first notch, Philly came back and took the lead on goals by Gagne and Primeau; LeCavalier scored again to tie it 2-2. Sami Kapanen made it 3-2 Philly in the second, but then Ruslan Fedotenko scored his two goals for Tampa to make it 4-3.
GAME SEVEN: PHILADELPHIA 1 at TAMPA BAY 2 -May 22
Tampa Bay emerges from a tight, low-scoring game to become a Stanley Cup finalist for the first time in their twelve year history. Ruslan Fedotenko - a former Flyer - and Fredrik Modin scored to stake a 2-0 lead and the Bolts held off the Flyers after Kim Johnsson made it 2-1 in the seocond. Khabibulin finished with 22 saves including beauties against LeClair and Handzus to send Philly home.
Lightning win series 4 games to 3.
Round Four - Stanley Cup Finals
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Calgary Flames
The Lightning are in the Finals for the first time and Calgary returns for the first time since '89. Both were tough teams to beat in the first three rounds and had never faced each other in the playoffs before, so how this round would play out was anybody's guess.
GAME ONE: CALGARY 4 at TAMPA BAY 1 -May 25
The Flames continue to be Road Warriors and take the Stanley Cup Finals Game One for a 1-0 series lead. It all started with a flukey goal by Calgary defenseman Andrew Ference, continued with an unlikely shorthanded tally by Iginila, and Stephane Yelle made it 3-0. Martin St. Louis got a power play goal for the Bolts, but lightning would not strike twice - or three times for that matter. Flames' Chris Simon capped the game with their fourth goal of the night.
GAME TWO: CALGARY 1 at TAMPA BAY 4 -May 27
The Bolts even this Finals series with an impressive bounce-back win, despite a parade to the penalty box. Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis each had a goal and an assist - the other two Lightning tallies came from Ruslan Fedotenko and Dan Boyle. Ville Nieminen scored a power play goal for the Flames in the third.
GAME THREE: TAMPA BAY 0 at CALGARY 3 -May 29
Miikka Kiprusoff snuffs all of Tampa's 21 shots and Calgary takes a 2-1 series lead. Chris Simon scored a power play goal, the game-winner, for the playoff-frenzied Calgary home crowd. Jarome Iginla also scored a power play goal late in the third to seal the victory, and along the way fought hitherto unforseen tough guy Vincent Lecavalier.
GAME FOUR: TAMPA BAY 1 at CALGARY 0 -May 31
Brad Richards scored his seventh game-winning goal this postseason, which set a new NHL single-season playoff record. The Bolts remain 8-0 in the post season when he scores (they were 22-0-2 in the regular season when he did). Khabibulin stopped all of Calgary's shots for yet another postseason shutout and Tampa ties up the series.
GAME FIVE: CALGARY 3 at TAMPA BAY 2 (OT) -June 3
It took an OT to decide this tilt and Calgary came up winners off an overtime goal by Oleg Saprykin. The Flames led two different times on goals by Gelinas and Iginla. But the Lightning came back twice on goals by St. Louis and Modin. Now the Flames would like nothing more than to win the Stanley Cup in front of their home crowd in Game Six.
GAME SIX: TAMPA BAY 3 at CALGARY 2 (2OT) -June 5
No matter how much so many Calgary fans wanted it, no matter how many players wanted it, no matter how many hockey fans the world-over wanted it (except in Tampa), it was just not in the stars for the Flames to take home Lord Stanley's Cup in front of their home crowd in an exciting, action-packed Game Six. The opposite of Game Five, the Lightning scored first and third, with Calgary coming back twice, and failing to convert in overtime. Brad Richards scored twice for Tampa, who are still 9-0 when he scores, and the Flames got goals from Chris Clark and Marcus Nilson (all those tallies came in the second period). It was little Martin St. Louis, though, that scored a goal - his first shot of the game in fact - just 33 seconds into the second overtime to force a Game Seven back in Tampa.
GAME SEVEN: CALGARY 1 at TAMPA BAY 2 -June 7
The Four Horsemen are saddling up. Ruslan Fedotenko scored a power play goal for the Bolts in the first period, then followed that up with an even strength goal in the second to stake his team to a 2-0 lead. Craig Conroy's screened power play goal in the third was Calgary's lone tally. The "Bulin Wall," making spectacular save after spectacular save, withstood almost constant pressure from a Flames team that would not give up in the third. Andreychuk, 40, after 22 seasons, 1,759 regular season games, and 162 playoff games, finally gets to raise Lord Stanley's Cup above his head.
Lightning win series 4 games to 3.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING WIN THE STANLEY CUP
Conn Smythe Trophy
most valuable player in the 2004 playoffs: Brad Richards (TB); 12 goals and 14 assists in 23 games.
Source: nhl.com