2002 Stanley Cup playoffs
Tournament details
DatesApril 17–June 13, 2002
Teams16
Defending championsColorado Avalanche
Final positions
ChampionsDetroit Red Wings
Runner-upCarolina Hurricanes
Tournament statistics
Scoring leader(s)Peter Forsberg (Avalanche) (27 points)
MVPNicklas Lidstrom (Red Wings)
← 2001
2003 →

The 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League began on April 17, 2002.

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes on June 13, 2002, four games to one, to win their tenth championship in their history. The Carolina Hurricanes were in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their 23-year history, which includes their tenure as the Hartford Whalers. Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. It was the ninth championship for Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman, who announced his retirement after the deciding game of the series. The Phoenix Coyotes played their last playoff games at America West Arena and missed the playoffs until 2010, when they played in Glendale.

The Stanley Cup, awarded to the champion of the NHL.

The 16 teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-seven series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the Stanley Cup. A record 25 shutouts were recorded in the 2002 playoffs and, for the first time since 1991, not a single team was swept in a playoff series. This is the last time that all three Eastern Canada teams made the playoffs together and got past the first round. For the first time since entering the NHL, both teams from the province of Alberta, the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers missed the playoffs in the same season.

Playoff seeds

Eastern Conference

  1. Boston Bruins, Northeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 101 points
  2. Philadelphia Flyers, Atlantic Division champions – 97 points
  3. Carolina Hurricanes, Southeast Division champions – 91 points
  4. Toronto Maple Leafs – 100 points
  5. New York Islanders – 96 points
  6. New Jersey Devils – 95 points
  7. Ottawa Senators – 94 points
  8. Montreal Canadiens – 87 points

Western Conference

  1. Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 116 points
  2. Colorado Avalanche, Northwest Division champions – 99 points (45 wins)
  3. San Jose Sharks, Pacific Division champions – 99 points (44 wins)
  4. St. Louis Blues – 98 points
  5. Chicago Blackhawks – 96 points
  6. Phoenix Coyotes – 95 points (40 wins, 7 points head-to-head vs. Los Angeles)
  7. Los Angeles Kings – 95 points (40 wins, 3 points head-to-head vs. Phoenix)
  8. Vancouver Canucks – 94 points

Playoff bracket

Conference quarterfinals Conference semifinals Conference finals Stanley Cup Finals
            
1 Boston 2
8 Montreal 4
3 Carolina 4
8 Montreal 2
2 Philadelphia 1
7 Ottawa 4
3 Carolina 4
Eastern Conference
4 Toronto 2
3 Carolina 4
6 New Jersey 2
4 Toronto 4
7 Ottawa 3
4 Toronto 4
5 NY Islanders 3
E3 Carolina 1
W1 Detroit 4
1 Detroit 4
8 Vancouver 2
1 Detroit 4
4 St. Louis 1
2 Colorado 4
7 Los Angeles 3
1 Detroit 4
Western Conference
2 Colorado 3
3 San Jose 4
6 Phoenix 1
2 Colorado 4
3 San Jose 3
4 St. Louis 4
5 Chicago 1

Conference quarterfinals

Eastern Conference quarterfinals

(1) Boston Bruins vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens

The Boston Bruins finished first in the Eastern Conference during the regular season with 101 points. The Montreal Canadiens qualified as the eighth seed earning 87 points during the regular season. This was the twenty-ninth playoff series between the Bruins and the Canadiens, with Montreal winning twenty-one of the twenty-eight previous series. They last met in the 1994 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Boston won in seven games.


April 18 Montreal Canadiens 5–2 Boston Bruins FleetCenter Recap  
Saku Koivu (1) – pp – 12:55 First period 10:55 – Joe Thornton (1)
Doug Gilmour (1) – 04:44 Second period 10:30 – pp – Bill Guerin (1)
Donald Audette (1) – 02:18
Donald Audette (2) – 10:00
Gino Odjick (1) – 17:16 		Third period No scoring
Jose Theodore 30 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Byron Dafoe 22 saves / 27 shots
April 21 Montreal Canadiens 4–6 Boston Bruins FleetCenter Recap  
Richard Zednik (1) – 14:22
Richard Zednik (2) – 17:39 		First period 02:12 – Brian Rolston (1)
09:34 – Glen Murray (1)
10:55 – Bill Guerin (2)
11:49 – pp – Brian Rolston (2)
Patrice Brisebois (1) – 14:01 Second period 17:42 – P. J. Axelsson (1)
Doug Gilmour (2) – 15:06 Third period 19:26 – en – Joe Thornton (2)
Jose Theodore 38 saves / 43 shots Goalie stats Byron Dafoe 29 saves / 33 shots
April 23 Boston Bruins 3–5 Montreal Canadiens Molson Centre Recap  
P. J. Axelsson (2) – sh – 08:24 First period 04:54 – pp – Yanic Perreault (1)
Bill Guerin (3) – pp – 07:54
Nick Boynton (1) – 09:04 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 07:04 – Donald Audette (3)
07:57 – Doug Gilmour (3)
11:59 – Saku Koivu (2)
19:59 – en – Joe Juneau (1)
Byron Dafoe 18 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 29 saves / 32 shots
April 25 Boston Bruins 5–2 Montreal Canadiens Molson Centre Recap  
P. J. Stock (1) – 02:49
Bill Guerin (4) – pp – 15:49
Martin Lapointe (1) – pp – 17:17 		First period No scoring
Brian Rolston (3) – sh – 15:46 Second period 14:16 – pp – Richard Zednik (3)
Sergei Samsonov (1) – 14:20 Third period 07:07 – pp – Richard Zednik (4)
Byron Dafoe 26 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 20 saves / 25 shots
April 27 Montreal Canadiens 2–1 Boston Bruins FleetCenter Recap  
Bill Lindsay (1) – 02:27
Oleg Petrov (1) – 15:25 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 10:28 – Sergei Samsonov (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Jose Theodore 43 saves / 44 shots Goalie stats Byron Dafoe 11 saves / 13 shots
April 29 Boston Bruins 1–2 Montreal Canadiens Molson Centre Recap  
Brian Rolston (4) – 07:57 First period 13:56 – pp – Donald Audette (4)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 00:39 – pp – Yanic Perreault (2)
Byron Dafoe 16 saves / 18 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 34 saves / 35 shots
Montreal won series 4–2


(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Ottawa Senators

The Philadelphia Flyers entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Atlantic Division with 97 points. The Ottawa Senators earned the seventh seed with 94 points. This was the first playoff series played between the two franchises. The Flyers scored two goals in this series, which is the lowest total scored by a team in a five-game series in NHL history.


April 17 Ottawa Senators 0–1 OT Philadelphia Flyers First Union Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 07:47 – Ruslan Fedotenko (1)
Patrick Lalime 23 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Roman Cechmanek 35 saves / 35 shots
April 20 Ottawa Senators 3–0 Philadelphia Flyers First Union Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Daniel Alfredsson (1) – 09:32 Second period No scoring
Mike Fisher (1) – 03:53
Jody Hull (1) – 15:57 		Third period No scoring
Patrick Lalime 33 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Roman Cechmanek 23 saves / 26 shots
April 22 Philadelphia Flyers 0–3 Ottawa Senators Corel Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 02:04 – pp – Radek Bonk (1)
19:05 – en – Marian Hossa (1)
19:50 – en – Daniel Alfredsson (2)
Roman Cechmanek 28 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Patrick Lalime 26 saves / 26 shots
April 24 Philadelphia Flyers 0–3 Ottawa Senators Corel Centre Recap  
No scoring First period 19:40 – Wade Redden (1)
No scoring Second period 06:06 – Sami Salo (1)
08:08 – Marian Hossa (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Roman Cechmanek 16 saves / 19 shots
Brian Boucher 6 saves / 6 shots 		Goalie stats Patrick Lalime 28 saves / 28 shots
April 26 Ottawa Senators 2–1 OT Philadelphia Flyers First Union Center Recap  
Daniel Alfredsson (3) – pp – 15:16 First period 03:53 – pp – Dan McGillis (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Martin Havlat (1) – pp – 07:33 First overtime period No scoring
Patrick Lalime 25 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Brian Boucher 25 saves / 27 shots
Ottawa won series 4–1


(3) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (6) New Jersey Devils

The Carolina Hurricanes entered the playoffs as the Southeast Division champions earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference with 91 points. The New Jersey Devils earned the sixth seed with 95 points. Although New Jersey finished the season with a better overall record and a higher point total, Carolina won their division, so they were automatically placed in the top three seeds in the conference and were granted home-ice advantage. This was the second playoff series between these two teams, with the only previous meeting being the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals where New Jersey won in six games.

The Hurricanes knocked off the Devils in six games, winning their first playoff series since relocating from Hartford.


April 17 New Jersey Devils 1–2 Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 08:21 – pp – Rod Brind'Amour (1)
09:43 – Erik Cole (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Patrik Elias (1) – pp – 07:31 Third period No scoring
Martin Brodeur 15 saves / 17 shots Goalie stats Arturs Irbe 34 saves / 35 shots
April 19 New Jersey Devils 1–2 OT Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Bobby Holik (1) – 00:37 Second period 15:05 – pp – Erik Cole (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 15:26 – Bates Battaglia (1)
Martin Brodeur 26 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Arturs Irbe 30 saves / 31 shots
April 21 Carolina Hurricanes 0–4 New Jersey Devils Continental Airlines Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 07:48 – Brian Gionta (1)
09:25 – pp – Brian Rafalski (1)
No scoring Second period 00:58 – pp – Bobby Holik (2)
02:17 – pp – Brian Rafalski (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Arturs Irbe 9 saves / 12 shots
Kevin Weekes 22 saves / 23 shots 		Goalie stats Martin Brodeur 16 saves / 16 shots
April 23 Carolina Hurricanes 1–3 New Jersey Devils Continental Airlines Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 01:16 – Bobby Holik (3)
17:31 – sh – Brian Gionta (2)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Aaron Ward (1) – 17:23 Third period 06:23 – pp – Brian Rafalski (3)
Arturs Irbe 6 saves / 8 shots
Kevin Weekes 13 saves / 14 shots 		Goalie stats Martin Brodeur 23 saves / 24 shots
April 24 New Jersey Devils 2–3 OT Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Bobby Holik (4) – 11:30 Second period 13:44 – Martin Gelinas (1)
Patrik Elias (2) – pp – 11:46 Third period 18:31 – pp – Jeff O'Neill (1)
No scoring First overtime period 08:16 – Josef Vasicek (1)
Martin Brodeur 35 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Kevin Weekes 40 saves / 42 shots
April 27 Carolina Hurricanes 1–0 New Jersey Devils Continental Airlines Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Ron Francis (1) – pp – 10:29 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Kevin Weekes 32 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Martin Brodeur 21 saves / 22 shots
Carolina won series 4–2


(4) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) New York Islanders

The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 100 points. The New York Islanders earned the fifth seed with 96 points. This was the third playoff series between these two teams, the teams split the previous two playoff series. They last met in the 1981 Preliminary Round where New York won in three games.


April 18 New York Islanders 1–3 Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
Kenny Jonsson (1) – pp – 05:57 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 04:03 – Darcy Tucker (1)
08:39 – Tie Domi (1)
19:20 – en – Mats Sundin (1)
Chris Osgood 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 13 saves / 14 shots
April 20 New York Islanders 0–2 Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 03:10 – Alyn McCauley (1)
19:53 – en – Tomas Kaberle (1)
Chris Osgood 24 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 31 saves / 31 shots
April 23 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–6 New York Islanders Nassau Coliseum Recap  
Alexander Mogilny (1) – 07:32 First period 14:34 – pp – Mark Parrish (1)
No scoring Second period 06:01 – pp – Brad Isbister (1)
13:33 – Michael Peca (1)
19:19 – pp – Mark Parrish (2)
No scoring Third period 04:07 – pp – Shawn Bates (1)
04:21 – Dave Scatchard (1)
Curtis Joseph 33 saves / 39 shots
Corey Schwab 5 saves / 5 shots 		Goalie stats Chris Osgood 34 saves / 35 shots
April 24 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–4 New York Islanders Nassau Coliseum Recap  
Alexander Mogilny (2) – pp – 19:44 First period 10:30 – Alexei Yashin (1)
Tomas Kaberle (2) – 19:19 Second period No scoring
Shayne Corson (1) – 16:34 Third period 13:16 – pp – Kip Miller (1)
14:56 – Roman Hamrlik (1)
17:30 – ps – Shawn Bates (2)
Curtis Joseph 19 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Chris Osgood 22 saves / 25 shots
April 26 New York Islanders 3–6 Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
Kip Miller (2) – pp – 19:48 First period 06:29 – Garry Valk (1)
09:34 – Jonas Hoglund (1)
Trent Hunter (1) – 16:39 Second period 07:05 – pp – Bryan McCabe (1)
14:30 – Bryan McCabe (2)
17:18 – Darcy Tucker (2)
Adrian Aucoin (1) – pp – 13:51 Third period 11:05 – pp – Jonas Hoglund (2)
Chris Osgood 11 saves / 15 shots
Garth Snow 17 saves / 19 shots 		Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 16 saves / 19 shots
April 28 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–5 New York Islanders Nassau Coliseum Recap  
Wade Belak (1) – 14:23
Jonas Hoglund (3) – pp – 16:42 		First period 05:07 – pp – Mariusz Czerkawski (1)
13:26 – Alexei Yashin (2)
No scoring Second period 01:35 – pp – Adrian Aucoin (2)
Gary Roberts (1) – pp – 06:41 Third period 03:11 – Kip Miller (3)
03:49 – Mariusz Czerkawski (2)
Curtis Joseph 29 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Chris Osgood 31 saves / 34 shots
April 30 New York Islanders 2–4 Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
Alexei Yashin (3) – pp – 03:41 First period 13:27 – Gary Roberts (2)
No scoring Second period 02:37 – Alexander Mogilny (3)
13:48 – Travis Green (1)
Kip Miller (4) – 04:23 Third period 19:20 – en – Alexander Mogilny (4)
Chris Osgood 26 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 31 saves / 33 shots
Toronto won series 4–3


Western Conference quarterfinals

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Vancouver Canucks

The Detroit Red Wings entered the playoffs as the President's trophy winners, the Western Conference Regular season champions and the Central Division champions with 116 points. The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the eighth seed finishing the season with 94 points. This was the first playoff series between these two teams.

The Red Wings came back from a two-game deficit and eliminated the Canucks in six games.


April 17 Vancouver Canucks 4–3 OT Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 17:51 – Luc Robitaille (1)
Todd Warriner (1) – 00:21
Andrew Cassels (1) – pp – 13:11 		Second period 08:23 – pp – Sergei Fedorov (1)
Trevor Linden (1) – 10:47 Third period 01:55 – Igor Larionov (1)
Henrik Sedin (1) – 13:59 First overtime period No scoring
Dan Cloutier 32 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 22 saves / 26 shots
April 19 Vancouver Canucks 5–2 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Todd Bertuzzi (1) – 10:14 First period No scoring
Andrew Cassels (2) – 07:08
Scott Lachance (1) – 13:13 		Second period 10:30 – Nicklas Lidstrom (1)
Markus Naslund (1) – 18:08
Matt Cooke (1) – en – 18:49 		Third period 10:33 – pp – Steve Yzerman (1)
Dan Cloutier 34 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 15 saves / 19 shots
April 21 Detroit Red Wings 3–1 Vancouver Canucks General Motors Place Recap  
Steve Yzerman (2) – pp – 09:07 First period No scoring
Nicklas Lidstrom (2) – 19:35 Second period 04:38 – pp – Todd Bertuzzi (2)
Brendan Shanahan (1) – 03:18 Third period No scoring
Dominik Hasek 22 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Dan Cloutier 23 saves / 26 shots
April 23 Detroit Red Wings 4–2 Vancouver Canucks General Motors Place Recap  
Jiri Fischer (1) – 03:22
Chris Chelios (1) – pp – 10:12 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 09:50 – Mattias Ohlund (1)
19:28 – pp – Matt Cooke (2)
Steve Yzerman (3) – 00:56
Kris Draper (1) – en – 19:07 		Third period No scoring
Dominik Hasek 22 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Dan Cloutier 11 saves / 14 shots
April 25 Vancouver Canucks 0–4 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 04:02 – pp – Tomas Holmstrom (1)
13:35 – sh – Mathieu Dandenault (1)
15:32 – Boyd Devereaux (1)
18:31 – Sergei Fedorov (2)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Dan Cloutier 6 saves / 9 shots
Peter Skudra 20 saves / 21 shots 		Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 25 saves / 25 shots
April 27 Detroit Red Wings 6–4 Vancouver Canucks General Motors Place Recap  
Tomas Holmstrom (2) – 01:05
Igor Larionov (2) – 04:23 		First period 08:12 – pp – Ed Jovanovski (1)
08:56 – Henrik Sedin (2)
Nicklas Lidstrom (3) – sh – 06:40
Brett Hull (1) – sh – 07:10
Brett Hull (2) – pp – 17:39 		Second period No scoring
Brett Hull (3) – pp – 13:42 Third period 06:55 – Henrik Sedin (3)
17:02 – Matt Cooke (3)
Dominik Hasek 25 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Dan Cloutier 1 save / 3 shots
Peter Skudra 21 saves / 25 shots
Detroit won series 4–2


(2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings

The Colorado Avalanche entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference by winning the Northwest Division with 99 points, winning the tiebreaker with the San Jose Sharks in wins (45 to 44). The Los Angeles Kings earned 95 points during the regular season to finish seventh overall in the Western Conference, losing the tie-breaker in head-to-head points to Phoenix 7–3. This was the second playoff series between these two teams, they last met in the 2001 Western Conference Semifinals, which Colorado won in seven games.


April 18 Los Angeles Kings 3–4 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period 19:51 – Alex Tanguay (1)
Bryan Smolinski (1) – pp – 10:52
Zigmund Palffy (1) – 14:20 		Second period 04:22 – Steven Reinprecht (1)
Zigmund Palffy (2) – 03:25 Third period 01:06 – pp – Joe Sakic (1)
14:26 – Greg de Vries (1)
Felix Potvin 27 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 26 saves / 29 shots
April 20 Los Angeles Kings 3–5 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
Adam Deadmarsh (1) – 07:23
Mikko Eloranta (1) – 13:13 		First period 07:01 – Joe Sakic (2)
15:37 – pp – Joe Sakic (3)
Jason Allison (1) – 08:43 Second period 11:05 – Peter Forsberg (1)
16:45 – Steven Reinprecht (2)
No scoring Third period 08:45 – Chris Drury (1)
Felix Potvin 33 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 28 saves / 31 shots
April 22 Colorado Avalanche 1–3 Los Angeles Kings Staples Center Recap  
Brad Larsen (1) – 06:01 First period 00:19 – Zigmund Palffy (3)
No scoring Second period 00:43 – Jason Allison (2)
08:29 – Zigmund Palffy (4)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Patrick Roy 15 saves / 18 shots Goalie stats Felix Potvin 30 saves / 31 shots
April 23 Colorado Avalanche 1–0 Los Angeles Kings Staples Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Steven Reinprecht (3) – 05:57 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Patrick Roy 32 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Felix Potvin 24 saves / 25 shots
April 25 Los Angeles Kings 1–0 OT Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Craig Johnson (1) – 02:19 First overtime period No scoring
Felix Potvin 26 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 22 saves / 23 shots
April 27 Colorado Avalanche 1–3 Los Angeles Kings Staples Center Recap  
No scoring First period 01:21 – Jason Allison (3)
06:44 – Brad Chartrand (1)
Riku Hahl (1) – 09:37 Second period 06:19 – Bryan Smolinski (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Patrick Roy 17 saves / 20 shots Goalie stats Felix Potvin 23 saves / 24 shots
April 29 Los Angeles Kings 0–4 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 05:08 – Chris Drury (2)
06:02 – Alex Tanguay (2)
17:32 – Steven Reinprecht (4)
No scoring Third period 16:47 – en – Adam Foote (1)
Felix Potvin 23 saves / 26 shots
Jamie Storr 0 saves / 0 shots 		Goalie stats Patrick Roy 23 saves / 23 shots
Colorado won series 4–3


(3) San Jose Sharks vs. (6) Phoenix Coyotes

The San Jose Sharks entered the playoffs as the Pacific Division champions earning the third seed in the Western Conference with 99 points, losing the tiebreaker with the Colorado Avalanche in wins (45 to 44). The Phoenix Coyotes earned the sixth seed with 95 points, winning the tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Kings in head-to head points (7 to 3). This was the first and to date only playoff series between these two teams.


April 17 Phoenix Coyotes 1–2 San Jose Sharks Compaq Center Recap  
No scoring First period 06:48 – pp – Vincent Damphousse (1)
Daniel Briere (1) – 02:53 Second period 05:02 – Patrick Marleau (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Sean Burke 25 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Evgeni Nabokov 21 saves / 22 shots
April 20 Phoenix Coyotes 3–1 San Jose Sharks Compaq Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Daymond Langkow (1) – 05:31 Second period No scoring
Daniel Briere (2) – pp – 01:39
Shane Doan (1) – 14:59 		Third period 14:19 – Marco Sturm (1)
Sean Burke 27 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Evgeni Nabokov 20 saves / 23 shots
April 22 San Jose Sharks 4–1 Phoenix Coyotes America West Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 01:06 – Shane Doan (2)
Patrick Marleau (2) – 03:40
Adam Graves (1) – 05:38 		Second period No scoring
Scott Thornton (1) – 07:20
Mike Ricci (1) – 07:43 		Third period No scoring
Evgeni Nabokov 35 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Sean Burke 31 saves / 35 shots
April 24 San Jose Sharks 2–1 Phoenix Coyotes America West Arena Recap  
Mike Rathje (1) – pp – 12:23
Mike Ricci (2) – 14:39 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 09:27 – Radoslav Suchy (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Evgeni Nabokov 29 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Sean Burke 22 saves / 24 shots
April 26 Phoenix Coyotes 1–4 San Jose Sharks Compaq Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Mike Johnson (1) – ps – 19:45 Second period 10:24 – Patrick Marleau (3)
13:24 – Adam Graves (2)
No scoring Third period 05:20 – Vincent Damphousse (2)
15:24 – Marco Sturm (2)
Sean Burke 15 saves / 19 shots Goalie stats Evgeni Nabokov 22 saves / 23 shots
San Jose won series 4–1


(4) St. Louis Blues vs. (5) Chicago Blackhawks

The St. Louis Blues entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Western Conference with 98 points. The Chicago Blackhawks earned the fifth seed with 96 points. This was the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams; with Chicago winning seven of the nine previous series. They last met in the 1993 Norris Division Semifinals, where the Blues swept the series in four games. Chicago won this year's five-game regular season series earning seven of ten points.


April 18 Chicago Blackhawks 2–1 St. Louis Blues Savvis Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Kyle Calder (1) – 02:42 Second period 01:34 – pp – Pavol Demitra (1)
Alexander Karpovtsev (1) – 16:50 Third period No scoring
Jocelyn Thibault 34 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Brent Johnson 19 saves / 21 shots
April 20 Chicago Blackhawks 0–2 St. Louis Blues Savvis Center Recap  
No scoring First period 02:53 – pp – Doug Weight (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 12:48 – Scott Mellanby (1)
Jocelyn Thibault 23 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Brent Johnson 26 saves / 26 shots
April 21 St. Louis Blues 4–0 Chicago Blackhawks United Center Recap  
Jamal Mayers (1) – 01:48
Scott Mellanby (2) – pp – 13:26 		First period No scoring
Pavol Demitra (2) – pp –

01:03
Scott Young (1) – sh – 19:10

Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Brent Johnson 12 saves / 12 shots Goalie stats Jocelyn Thibault 13 saves / 17 shots
Steve Passmore 6 saves / 6 shots
April 23 St. Louis Blues 1–0 Chicago Blackhawks United Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Pavol Demitra (3) – 18:43 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Brent Johnson 27 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Steve Passmore 24 saves / 25 shots
April 25 Chicago Blackhawks 3–5 St. Louis Blues Savvis Center Recap  
No scoring First period 19:43 – pp – Scott Mellanby (3)
Steve Thomas (1) – 04:34
Kyle Calder (2) – pp – 12:43
Steve Sullivan (1) – 13:03 		Second period 14:21 – Scott Young (2)
19:57 – Chris Pronger (1)
No scoring Third period 06:23 – Jamal Mayers (2)
15:56 – Keith Tkachuk (1)
Steve Passmore 26 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Brent Johnson 32 saves / 35 shots
St. Louis won series 4–1


Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference semifinals

(3) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens

This was the sixth playoff series between the two teams; with Montreal winning all five previous playoff series. They last met in the 1992 Adams Division Semifinals where Montreal defeated the Hartford Whalers in seven games. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.


May 3 Montreal Canadiens 0–2 Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 03:49 – Ron Francis (2)
17:42 – Erik Cole (3)
Jose Theodore 26 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Kevin Weekes 19 saves / 19 shots
May 5 Montreal Canadiens 4–1 Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
Saku Koivu (3) – 07:25
Andrei Markov (1) – 16:51 		First period No scoring
Doug Gilmour (4) – pp – 01:03 Second period 19:53 – Rod Brind'Amour (2)
Bill Lindsay (2) – en – 18:49 Third period No scoring
Jose Theodore 45 saves / 46 shots Goalie stats Kevin Weekes 12 saves / 15 shots
May 7 Carolina Hurricanes 1–2 OT Montreal Canadiens Molson Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 09:03 – Saku Koivu (4)
Bates Battaglia (2) – 03:24 Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 02:26 – Donald Audette (5)
Kevin Weekes 18 saves / 20 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 33 saves / 34 shots
May 9 Carolina Hurricanes 4–3 OT Montreal Canadiens Molson Centre Recap  
No scoring First period 10:46 – Andreas Dackell (1)
11:54 – Yanic Perreault (3)
No scoring Second period 10:55 – Sergei Berezin (1)
Sean Hill (1) – pp – 03:57
Bates Battaglia (3) – 12:43
Erik Cole (4) – 19:19 		Third period No scoring
Niclas Wallin (1) – 03:14 First overtime period No scoring
Kevin Weekes 7 saves / 9 shots
Arturs Irbe 10 saves / 11 shots 		Goalie stats Jose Theodore 36 saves / 40 shots
May 12 Montreal Canadiens 1–5 Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 03:17 – Martin Gelinas (2)
No scoring Second period 02:13 – Rod Brind'Amour (3)
Karl Dykhuis (1) – 14:32 Third period 03:40 – pp – Ron Francis (3)
11:18 – Tommy Westlund (1)
16:13 – Bates Battaglia (4)
Jose Theodore 26 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Arturs Irbe 30 saves / 31 shots
May 13 Carolina Hurricanes 8–2 Montreal Canadiens Molson Centre Recap  
Erik Cole (5) – 00:25
Erik Cole (6) – 03:33
Sean Hill (2) – pp – 07:55
Josef Vasicek (2) – 14:58
Kevyn Adams (1) – 18:15 		First period 19:49 – Stephane Quintal (1)
Bates Battaglia (5) – pp – 05:57
Sean Hill (3) – pp – 12:17
Jeff O'Neill (2) – 19:52 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 05:44 – pp – Donald Audette (6)
Arturs Irbe 31 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 8 saves / 13 shots
Stephane Fiset 16 saves / 19 shots
Carolina won series 4–2


(4) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (7) Ottawa Senators

This was the third consecutive playoff meeting and third postseason match-up between these two teams; with Toronto winning both previous series. Toronto won the previous year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in a four-game sweep. Ottawa won three of the five games in this year's regular season series. Before 2021, this was the most recent all-Canadian playoff series that was played after the opening round of the playoffs.


May 2 Ottawa Senators 5–0 Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
Martin Havlat (2) – pp – 07:44
Radek Bonk (2) – pp – 09:04
Shane Hnidy (1) – 11:44 		First period No scoring
Todd White (1) – 01:42
Daniel Alfredsson (4) – pp – 10:39 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Patrick Lalime 27 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 28 saves / 33 shots
May 4 Ottawa Senators 2–3 3OT Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
No scoring First period 04:46 – Travis Green (2)
08:20 – Darcy Tucker (3)
Sami Salo (2) – 07:52 Second period No scoring
Mike Fisher (2) – 02:49 Third period No scoring
No scoring Third overtime period 04:30 – Gary Roberts
Patrick Lalime 39 saves / 42 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 54 saves / 56 shots
May 6 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–3 Ottawa Senators Corel Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 06:49 – Magnus Arvedson (1)
Gary Roberts (4) – 16:44
Travis Green (3) – 19:26 		Third period 10:14 – Magnus Arvedson (2)
16:25 – Daniel Alfredsson (5)
Curtis Joseph 26 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Patrick Lalime 26 saves / 28 shots
May 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1 Ottawa Senators Corel Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Alyn McCauley (2) – 06:17
Alyn McCauley (3) – pp – 17:17 		Second period 02:15 – pp – Wade Redden (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Curtis Joseph 24 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Patrick Lalime 22 saves / 24 shots
May 10 Ottawa Senators 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
Wade Redden (3) – 07:22 First period 19:42 – pp – Gary Roberts (5)
Marian Hossa (3) – pp – 07:13 Second period No scoring
Daniel Alfredsson (6) – 17:59
Radek Bonk (3) – en – 19:25 		Third period 12:34 – Alyn McCauley (4)
Patrick Lalime 26 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 17 saves / 20 shots
May 12 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 Ottawa Senators Corel Centre Recap  
Bryan McCabe (3) – pp – 13:01
Gary Roberts (6) – pp – 17:20 		First period 01:05 – Marian Hossa (4)
04:39 – Daniel Alfredsson (7)
Gary Roberts (7) – 13:09 Second period 19:35 – Todd White (2)
Alexander Mogilny (5) – 04:28 Third period No scoring
Curtis Joseph 20 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Patrick Lalime 15 saves / 19 shots
May 14 Ottawa Senators 0–3 Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 11:49 – pp – Alexander Mogilny (6)
No scoring Third period 05:14 – Alexander Mogilny (7)
14:04 – Bryan McCabe (4)
Patrick Lalime 24 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 19 saves / 19 shots
Toronto won series 4–3


Western Conference semifinals

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) St. Louis Blues

This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams; with Detroit winning four of the six previous series. They last met in the 1998 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Detroit won in six games. Detroit won this year's five-game regular season series earning seven of ten points.


May 2 St. Louis Blues 0–2 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 07:40 – Pavel Datsyuk (1)
No scoring Second period 19:04 – sh – Brett Hull (4)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Brent Johnson 18 saves / 20 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 23 saves / 23 shots
May 4 St. Louis Blues 2–3 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 02:46 – Steve Yzerman (4)
18:28 – Brett Hull (5)
No scoring Second period 11:53 – Luc Robitaille (2)
Scott Mellanby (4) – 00:47
Scott Mellanby (5) – 19:19 		Third period No scoring
Brent Johnson 28 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 35 saves / 37 shots
May 7 Detroit Red Wings 1–6 St. Louis Blues Savvis Center Recap  
Pavel Datsyuk (2) – 06:08 First period 05:41 – Keith Tkachuk (2)
19:03 – pp – Scott Mellanby
No scoring Second period 17:22 – pp – Keith Tkachuk (3)
No scoring Third period 01:53 – Keith Tkachuk (4)
09:26 – sh – Pavol Demitra (4)
15:08 – Jamal Mayers (3)
Dominik Hasek 11 saves / 16 shots
Manny Legace 1 save / 2 shots 		Goalie stats Brent Johnson 27 saves / 28 shots
May 9 Detroit Red Wings 4–3 St. Louis Blues Savvis Center Recap  
Brendan Shanahan (2) – 13:33
Jiri Fischer (2) – 16:05 		First period 04:24 – pp – Scott Young (3)
Tomas Holmstrom (3) – 02:35 Second period No scoring
Steve Yzerman (5) – pp – 03:05 Third period 17:06 – pp – Scott Mellanby (7)
18:30 – Keith Tkachuk (5)
Dominik Hasek 33 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Brent Johnson 19 saves / 23 shots
May 11 St. Louis Blues 0–4 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 04:42 – Jiri Fischer (3)
09:57 – pp – Tomas Holmstrom (4)
No scoring Third period 16:57 – Brendan Shanahan (3)
19:18 – en – Brendan Shanahan (4)
Brent Johnson 26 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 16 saves / 16 shots
Detroit won series 4–1


(2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (3) San Jose Sharks

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 1999 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Colorado won in six games. Colorado won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points.


May 1 San Jose Sharks 6–3 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
Mike Ricci (3) – 06:13
Teemu Selanne (1) – 10:35 		First period No scoring
Teemu Selanne (2) – 11:28 Second period 14:33 – pp – Chris Drury (3)
17:57 – Greg de Vries (2)
Patrick Marleau (4) – 12:34
Scott Thornton (2) – 15:20
Bryan Marchment (1) – en – 19:54 		Third period 16:33 – Peter Forsberg (2)
Evgeni Nabokov 27 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 17 saves / 22 shots
May 4 San Jose Sharks 2–8 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period 08:54 – Rob Blake (1)
Patrick Marleau (5) – 15:09 Second period 01:38 – Rob Blake (2)
08:36 – Peter Forsberg (3)
10:19 – pp – Joe Sakic (8)
13:50 – Greg de Vries (3)
Stephane Matteau (1) – 03:30 Third period 10:21 – pp – Milan Hejduk (1)
11:59 – Eric Messier (1)
12:11 – Dan Hinote (1)
Evgeni Nabokov 20 saves / 28 shots
Miikka Kiprusoff 2 saves / 2 shots 		Goalie stats Patrick Roy 29 saves / 31 shots
May 6 Colorado Avalanche 4–6 San Jose Sharks Compaq Center Recap  
Rob Blake (3) – 00:59 First period 14:40 – Scott Thornton (3)
Rob Blake (4) – 08:56
Alex Tanguay (3) – pp – 15:49
Peter Forsberg (4) – 18:49 		Second period 03:20 – Owen Nolan (1)
05:36 – Adam Graves (3)
No scoring Third period 03:31 – pp – Teemu Selanne (3)
13:26 – pp – Patrick Marleau (6)
19:44 – en – Owen Nolan (2)
Patrick Roy 34 saves / 39 shots Goalie stats Evgeni Nabokov 29 saves / 33 shots
May 8 Colorado Avalanche 4–1 San Jose Sharks Compaq Center Recap  
Rob Blake (5) – 05:26
Joe Sakic (5) – 12:36 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 00:29 – pp – Teemu Selanne (4)
Joe Sakic (6) – 02:45
Milan Hejduk (2) – en – 18:58 		Third period No scoring
Patrick Roy 19 saves / 20 shots Goalie stats Evgeni Nabokov 21 saves / 24 shots
May 11 San Jose Sharks 5–3 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Marco Sturm (3) – 12:07
Niklas Sundstrom (1) – 15:38 		Second period 13:40 – Peter Forsberg (5)
14:57 – Mike Keane (1)
18:05 – Joe Sakic (7)
Mike Ricci (4) – 05:59
Teemu Selanne (5) – 09:04
Owen Nolan (3) – en – 19:57 		Third period No scoring
Evgeni Nabokov 18 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 22 saves / 26 shots
May 13 Colorado Avalanche 2–1 OT San Jose Sharks Compaq Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Steven Reinprecht (5) – 15:41 Second period 15:17 – Marcus Ragnarsson (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Peter Forsberg (6) – 02:47 First overtime period No scoring
Patrick Roy 21 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Evgeni Nabokov 27 saves / 29 shots
May 15 San Jose Sharks 0–1 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 17:50 – Peter Forsberg (7)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Evgeni Nabokov 22 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 27 saves / 27 shots
Colorado won series 4–3


Conference finals

See also: NHL conference finals

Eastern Conference final

(3) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (4) Toronto Maple Leafs

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The Hurricanes advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time in their 23rd season (fifth in Carolina) after entering the league in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers. This was Toronto's fourth appearance in the Conference Finals, they last appeared in the Conference Finals in 1999, which they lost to the Buffalo Sabres in five games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.

The Hurricanes defeated the Maple Leafs in six games. Martin Gelinas' overtime goal in Game 6 sent Carolina to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history. To date this series remains as the lowest scoring six-game playoff series in NHL history.


May 16 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1 Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
Alexander Mogilny (8) – 07:02 First period 03:23 – pp – Jeff O'Neill (3)
Jonas Hoglund (4) – pp – 12:45 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Curtis Joseph 31 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Arturs Irbe 22 saves/ 24 shots
May 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2 OT Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Alyn McCauley (5) – 19:52 Third period 07:31 – Bret Hedican (1)
No scoring First overtime period 13:42 – Niclas Wallin (2)
Curtis Joseph 31 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Arturs Irbe 26 saves / 27 shots
May 21 Carolina Hurricanes 2–1 OT Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
Ron Francis (4) – pp – 05:15 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 19:26 – pp – Bryan McCabe (5)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Jeff O'Neill (4) – 06:01 First overtime period No scoring
Arturs Irbe 20 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 15 saves / 17 shots
May 23 Carolina Hurricanes 3–0 Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
Jaroslav Svoboda (1) – pp – 19:32 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Sami Kapanen (1) – 11:41
Ron Francis (5) – pp – 17:35 		Third period No scoring
Arturs Irbe 31 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 12 saves / 15 shots
May 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0 Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
Darcy Tucker (4) – pp – 18:32 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Curtis Joseph 27 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Arturs Irbe 18 saves / 19 shots
May 28 Carolina Hurricanes 2–1 OT Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Jeff O'Neill (5) – 09:36 Third period 19:38 – Mats Sundin (2)
Martin Gelinas (3) – 08:05 First overtime period No scoring
Arturs Irbe 35 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Curtis Joseph 33 saves / 35 shots
Carolina won series 4–2


Western Conference final

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (2) Colorado Avalanche

This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Colorado winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 2000 Western Conference Semifinals with Colorado winning in five games. This was Detroit's seventh Conference Finals appearance. They last went to the Western Conference Final in 1998, where they defeated the Dallas Stars in six games. This was Colorado's fourth consecutive and eighth appearance in the Conference Finals. They last went to the Western Conference Final in the previous year, which they won against the St. Louis Blues in five games. Detroit won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

Game seven of this series, is the most one-sided game seven score in NHL history.


May 18 Colorado Avalanche 3–5 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Joe Sakic (8) – pp – 02:48 First period 18:48 – pp – Tomas Holmstrom (5)
Milan Hejduk (3) – 13:36 Second period 16:29 – Brett Hull (6)
Alex Tanguay (4) – pp – 18:00 Third period 01:18 – Darren McCarty (1)
12:44 – Darren McCarty (2)
15:55 – Darren McCarty (3)
Patrick Roy 25 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 24 saves / 27 shots
May 20 Colorado Avalanche 4–3 OT Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Alex Tanguay (5) – pp – 02:59 First period 09:37 – Boyd Devereaux (2)
Peter Forsberg (8) – 07:33 Second period 14:08 – sh – Kirk Maltby (1)
Greg de Vries (4) – 05:26 Third period 13:25 – pp – Nicklas Lidstrom (4)
Chris Drury (4) – 02:17 First overtime period No scoring
Patrick Roy 30 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 22 saves / 26 shots
May 22 Detroit Red Wings 2–1 OT Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period 15:54 – Rob Blake (6)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Luc Robitaille (3) – 05:20 Third period No scoring
Fredrik Olausson (1) – 12:44 First overtime period No scoring
Dominik Hasek 20 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 40 saves / 42 shots
May 25 Detroit Red Wings 2–3 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period 07:50 – Steven Reinprecht (6)
Sergei Fedorov (3) – sh – 06:20 Second period No scoring
Brett Hull (7) – 19:57 Third period 00:45 – Joe Sakic (9)
16:43 – Chris Drury (5)
Dominik Hasek 19 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 31 saves / 33 shots
May 27 Colorado Avalanche 2–1 OT Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Steven Reinprecht (7) – 17:11 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 00:54 – pp – Steve Yzerman (6)
Peter Forsberg (9) – 06:24 First overtime period No scoring
Patrick Roy 26 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 27 saves / 29 shots
May 29 Detroit Red Wings 2–0 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
Brendan Shanahan (5) – 19:21 First period No scoring
Darren McCarty (4) – 13:27 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Dominik Hasek 24 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Patrick Roy 26 saves / 28 shots
May 31 Colorado Avalanche 0–7 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 01:57 – Tomas Holmstrom (6)
03:17 – Sergei Fedorov (4)
10:25 – Luc Robitaille (4)
12:51 – Tomas Holmstrom (7)
No scoring Second period 04:41 – Brett Hull (8)
06:28 – pp – Fredrik Olausson (2)
No scoring Third period 16:09 – pp – Pavel Datsyuk (3)
Patrick Roy 10 saves / 16 shots
David Aebischer 13 saves / 14 shots 		Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 19 saves / 19 shots
Detroit won series 4–3


Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 2002 Stanley Cup Finals

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Detroit made their twenty-second Finals appearance; their most recent appearance came in 1998 where they swept the Washington Capitals in four games. Carolina made their first Finals appearance in their twenty-third season since entering the league in 1979–80. The Hurricanes franchise had last played in a championship series when they were known as the New England Whalers in the WHA in 1978 where they were swept by the Winnipeg Jets. Detroit won both games in this year's regular season series.


June 4 Carolina Hurricanes 3–2 OT Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 15:21 – pp – Sergei Fedorov (5)
Sean Hill (4) – pp – 03:30
Jeff O'Neill (6) – 19:10 		Second period 10:39 – Kirk Maltby (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Ron Francis (6) – 00:58 First overtime period No scoring
Arturs Irbe 23 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 23 saves / 26 shots
June 6 Carolina Hurricanes 1–3 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Rod Brind'Amour (4) – sh – 14:47 First period 06:33 – sh – Kirk Maltby (3)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 14:52 – pp – Nicklas Lidstrom (5)
15:05 – Kris Draper (2)
Arturs Irbe 27 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 16 saves / 17 shots
June 8 Detroit Red Wings 3–2 3OT Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 14:49 – Josef Vasicek (3)
Igor Larionov (3) – 05:33 Second period No scoring
Brett Hull (9) – 18:46 Third period 07:34 – Jeff O'Neill (7)
Igor Larionov (4) – 14:47 Third overtime period No scoring
Dominik Hasek 41 saves/ 43 shots Goalie stats Arturs Irbe 50 saves / 53 shots
June 10 Detroit Red Wings 3–0 Carolina Hurricanes Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Brett Hull (10) – 06:32 Second period No scoring
Igor Larionov (5) – 03:43
Brendan Shanahan (6) – 14:43 		Third period No scoring
Dominik Hasek 17 saves / 17 shots Goalie stats Arturs Irbe 24 saves / 27 shots
June 13 Carolina Hurricanes 1–3 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Jeff O'Neill (8) – pp – 18:50 Second period 04:07 – Tomas Holmstrom (8)
14:04 – pp – Brendan Shanahan (7)
No scoring Third period 19:15 – en – Brendan Shanahan (8)
Arturs Irbe 24 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Dominik Hasek 16 saves / 17 shots
Detroit won series 4–1


Player statistics

Despite getting eliminated by the Red Wings in the Western Conference Final, Colorado forward Peter Forsberg led the playoffs in points with 18 assists and 9 goals. Brett Hull of the Detroit Red Wings led the playoffs with ten goals.

Skaters

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Peter Forsberg Colorado Avalanche 20 9 18 27 +8 20
Steve Yzerman Detroit Red Wings 23 6 17 23 +4 10
Joe Sakic Colorado Avalanche 21 9 10 19 -2 4
Brendan Shanahan Detroit Red Wings 23 8 11 19 +5 20
Gary Roberts Toronto Maple Leafs 19 7 12 19 +6 56
Sergei Fedorov Detroit Red Wings 23 5 14 19 +4 20
Brett Hull Detroit Red Wings 23 10 8 18 +1 4
Ron Francis Carolina Hurricanes 23 6 10 16 –2 6
Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit Red Wings 23 5 11 16 +6 2
Alyn McCauley Toronto Maple Leafs 20 5 10 15 +3 4

Goaltending

These are the top seven goaltenders based on goals against average with at least four games played.

GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); SO = Shutouts

Player Team GP W L SA GA GAA Sv% TOI SO
Patrick Lalime Ottawa Senators 12 7 5 332 18 1.39 .946 777:44 4
Kevin Weekes Carolina Hurricanes 8 3 2 180 11 1.62 .939 407:34 2
Arturs Irbe Carolina Hurricanes 18 10 8 480 30 1.67 .938 1078:17 1
Martin Brodeur New Jersey Devils 6 2 4 145 9 1.42 .938 381:08 1
Roman Cechmanek Philadelphia Flyers 4 1 3 109 7 1.85 .936 226:39 1
Brent Johnson St. Louis Blues 10 5 5 252 18 1.83 .929 590:15 3
Dominik Hasek Detroit Red Wings 23 16 7 562 45 1.86 .920 1454:42 6

See also

Preceded by2001 Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup playoffs Succeeded by2003 Stanley Cup playoffs
Categories