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{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{current sport}}
{{Short description|none}}
[[Image:NHL-SC 6863.gif|right|thumb|200px|The NHL unveiled a new [[logo]] for the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.]]
{{infobox hockey tournament season
The '''2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs''' for the [[National Hockey League]] began on [[April 21]], [[2006 in sports|2006]]. The finals are scheduled to conclude on [[June 19]]. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, have played [[Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff|best-of-7 series]] for conference quarterfinal, semifinal and championships, and then the conference champions will play a best-of-7 series for the [[Stanley Cup]]. As of [[June 17]], 2006, the [[Edmonton Oilers]] and [[Carolina Hurricanes]] are tied at three games apiece in the Stanley Cup Finals.
|title=Stanley Cup playoffs
|image=2006StanleyCupPlayoffs.png
|year=2006
|dates=April 21 –<br>June 19, 2006
|num_teams=16
|defending_champions=[[2005–06 Tampa Bay Lightning season|Tampa Bay Lightning]]<br>''{{small|(notwithstanding the cancelled [[2004–05 NHL season|2004–05 season]])}}''
|winners=[[2005–06 Carolina Hurricanes season|Carolina Hurricanes]]
|second=[[2005–06 Edmonton Oilers season|Edmonton Oilers]]
| stat_leader_title = Scoring leader(s)
| stat_leader_player =[[Eric Staal]] (Hurricanes)
| stat_leader_value =28 points
| award_title = [[Most valuable player|MVP]]
| award =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] (Hurricanes)
| prev_season =[[2004 Stanley Cup playoffs|2004]]
| next_season =[[2007 Stanley Cup playoffs|2007]]
}}


The '''2006 Stanley Cup playoffs''' for the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) championship began on April 21, 2006, following the [[2005–06 NHL season|2005–06 regular season]]. This was the first playoffs since [[2004 Stanley Cup playoffs|2004]] due to the [[2004–05 NHL lockout]] that cancelled the previously scheduled season. The 16 teams that qualified, seeded one through eight from each conference, played [[Best-of-seven playoff|best-of-seven series]] with re-seeding after the Conference quarterfinals. The conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the [[Stanley Cup]].
While the [[2005-06 NHL season]] introduced a shootout to break ties after 5 minutes of 4-on-4 [[overtime (sports)|overtime]], the Stanley Cup Playoffs retains its traditional method of unlimited periods of 20-minute, 5-on-5 [[overtime (ice hockey)|overtime]] to break ties.

The Finals concluded on June 19 with the [[Carolina Hurricanes]] winning the Stanley Cup, defeating the [[Edmonton Oilers]] in the [[2006 Stanley Cup Finals|final series]] four games to three. Carolina [[goaltender]] [[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] was awarded the [[Conn Smythe Trophy]] as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. The [[Edmonton Oilers]] would miss the playoffs each year thereafter until [[2017 Stanley Cup playoffs|2017]]. This was also the last time until [[2023 Stanley Cup playoffs|2023]] that the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]] missed the playoffs. The [[St. Louis Blues]] missed the playoffs for the first time since [[1979 Stanley Cup playoffs|1979]], ending a 25–season playoff streak, the third longest in NHL history. The current longest playoff streak moved to the [[Detroit Red Wings]] at 15 consecutive seasons. This was additionally the first time in history that the [[Blackhawks–Blues rivalry|Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues]] missed the playoffs in the same season.

While the 2005–06 season introduced a shootout to break ties after five minutes of four-on-four [[overtime (ice hockey)|overtime]], the Stanley Cup playoffs retained their traditional format of unlimited 20-minute periods of five-on-five sudden-death [[overtime (ice hockey)|overtime]] to break ties.

The Western Conference made history in the first round when all four series were won by the lower-seeded teams (conversely, all four series in the Eastern Conference were won by the higher-seeded teams). The eighth- and lowest-seeded Oilers proceeded to win the Western Conference and participate in the Stanley Cup Finals. Four Canadian teams qualified for the playoffs this year, this total was not equaled again until [[2013 Stanley Cup playoffs|2013]] and not exceeded until [[2015 Stanley Cup playoffs|2015]] with five.

==Playoff seeds==
The top eight teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs. The top three seeds in each conference were awarded to the division winners; while the five remaining spots were awarded to the highest finishers in their respective conferences.

The following teams qualified for the playoffs:

===Eastern Conference===
#[[2005–06 Ottawa Senators season|Ottawa Senators]], Northeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 113 points
#[[2005–06 Carolina Hurricanes season|Carolina Hurricanes]], Southeast Division champions – 112 points
#[[2005–06 New Jersey Devils season|New Jersey Devils]], Atlantic Division champions – 101 points (46 wins)
#[[2005–06 Buffalo Sabres season|Buffalo Sabres]] – 110 points
#[[2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers season|Philadelphia Flyers]] – 101 points (45 wins)
#[[2005–06 New York Rangers season|New York Rangers]] – 100 points
#[[2005–06 Montreal Canadiens season|Montreal Canadiens]] – 93 points
#[[2005–06 Tampa Bay Lightning season|Tampa Bay Lightning]] – 92 points

===Western Conference===
#[[2005–06 Detroit Red Wings season|Detroit Red Wings]], Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, [[Presidents' Trophy]] winners – 124 points
#[[2005–06 Dallas Stars season|Dallas Stars]], Pacific Division champions – 112 points
#[[2005–06 Calgary Flames season|Calgary Flames]], Northwest Division champions – 103 points
#[[2005–06 Nashville Predators season|Nashville Predators]] – 106 points
#[[2005–06 San Jose Sharks season|San Jose Sharks]] – 99 points
#[[2005–06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season|Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]] – 98 points
#[[2005–06 Colorado Avalanche season|Colorado Avalanche]] – 95 points (43 wins)
#[[2005–06 Edmonton Oilers season|Edmonton Oilers]] – 95 points (41 wins)


==Playoff bracket==
==Playoff bracket==
In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with [[home advantage|home ice advantage]] played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners [[Seed (sports)|seeded]] 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.
{{NHLBracket | RD1=Conference Quarterfinals
| RD2= Conference Semifinals
| RD3= Conference Finals
| RD4= Stanley Cup Finals
| group1= Eastern Conference
| group2= Western Conference


The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
| RD1-logo05=[[image:Ottawa_Senators.gif|thumb|10px]]
| RD1-seed05='''1'''
| RD1-team05='''[[Ottawa Senators|Ottawa]]'''
| RD1-score05='''4'''
| RD1-seed06=8
| RD1-team06=[[Tampa Bay Lightning|Tampa Bay]]
| RD1-score06=1


<onlyinclude>{{#invoke:transcludable section|main|section=Bracket|text=
| RD1-seed01='''2'''
{{16TeamBracket|RD1-RD2-path=0
| RD1-team01='''[[Carolina Hurricanes|Carolina]]'''
| RD1=[[2006 Stanley Cup playoffs#Conference quarterfinals|Conference quarterfinals]]
| RD2=[[2006 Stanley Cup playoffs#Conference semifinals|Conference semifinals]]
| RD3=[[2006 Stanley Cup playoffs#Conference finals|Conference finals]]
| RD4=[[2006 Stanley Cup Finals|Stanley Cup Finals]]
| RD2-group1=[[Eastern Conference (NHL)|Eastern Conference]]
| RD2-group2=[[Western Conference (NHL)|Western Conference]]
| RD1-seed1=1
| RD1-team01='''Ottawa'''
| RD1-score01='''4'''
| RD1-score01='''4'''
| RD1-seed02=7
| RD1-seed2=8
| RD1-team02=[[Montreal Canadiens|Montreal]]
| RD1-team02=Tampa Bay
| RD1-score02=2
| RD1-score02=1
| RD1-seed3=2

| RD1-seed03='''3'''
| RD1-seed03=2
| RD1-team03='''[[New Jersey Devils|New Jersey]]'''
| RD1-team03='''Carolina'''
| RD1-score03='''4'''
| RD1-score03='''4'''
| RD1-seed04=6
| RD1-seed4=7
| RD1-team04=[[New York Rangers|NY Rangers]]
| RD1-team04=Montreal
| RD1-score04=0
| RD1-score04=2
| RD1-seed5=3

| RD1-seed07='''4'''
| RD1-team05='''New Jersey'''
| RD1-team07='''[[Buffalo Sabres|Buffalo]]'''
| RD1-score05='''4'''
| RD1-seed6=6
| RD1-team06=NY Rangers
| RD1-score06=0
| RD1-seed7=4
| RD1-team07='''Buffalo'''
| RD1-score07='''4'''
| RD1-score07='''4'''
| RD1-seed08=5
| RD1-seed8=5
| RD1-team08=[[Philadelphia Flyers|Philadelphia]]
| RD1-team08=Philadelphia
| RD1-score08=2
| RD1-score08=2
| RD1-seed9=1

| RD1-seed15=1
| RD1-team09=Detroit
| RD1-score09=2
| RD1-team15=[[Detroit Red Wings|Detroit]]
| RD1-score15=2
| RD1-seed10=8
| RD1-seed16='''8'''
| RD1-team10='''Edmonton'''
| RD1-team16='''[[Edmonton Oilers|Edmonton]]'''
| RD1-score10='''4'''
| RD1-score16='''4'''

| RD1-seed11=2
| RD1-seed11=2
| RD1-team11=[[Dallas Stars|Dallas]]
| RD1-team11=Dallas
| RD1-score11=1
| RD1-score11=1
| RD1-seed12='''7'''
| RD1-seed12=7
| RD1-team12='''[[Colorado Avalanche|Colorado]]'''
| RD1-team12='''Colorado'''
| RD1-score12='''4'''
| RD1-score12='''4'''
| RD1-seed13=3
| RD1-team13=Calgary
| RD1-score13=3
| RD1-seed14=6
| RD1-team14='''Anaheim'''
| RD1-score14='''4'''
| RD1-seed15=4
| RD1-team15=Nashville
| RD1-score15=1
| RD1-seed16=5
| RD1-team16='''San Jose'''
| RD1-score16='''4'''
| RD2-seed01=1
| RD2-team01=Ottawa
| RD2-score01=1
| RD2-seed02=4
| RD2-team02='''Buffalo'''
| RD2-score02='''4'''
| RD2-seed03=2
| RD2-team03='''Carolina'''
| RD2-score03='''4'''
| RD2-seed04=3
| RD2-team04=New Jersey
| RD2-score04=1
| RD2-seed05=5
| RD2-team05=San Jose
| RD2-score05=2
| RD2-seed06=8
| RD2-team06='''Edmonton'''
| RD2-score06='''4'''
| RD2-seed07=6
| RD2-team07='''Anaheim'''
| RD2-score07='''4'''
| RD2-seed08=7
| RD2-team08=Colorado
| RD2-score08=0
| RD3-seed01=4
| RD3-team01=Buffalo
| RD3-score01=3
| RD3-seed02=2
| RD3-team02='''Carolina'''
| RD3-score02='''4'''
| RD3-seed03=8
| RD3-team03='''Edmonton'''
| RD3-score03='''4'''
| RD3-seed04=6
| RD3-team04=Anaheim
| RD3-score04=1
| RD4-seed01=E2
| RD4-team01='''Carolina'''
| RD4-score01='''4'''
| RD4-seed02=W8
| RD4-team02=Edmonton
| RD4-score02=3
}}
}}</onlyinclude>


==Conference quarterfinals==
| RD1-seed09=3
| RD1-team09=[[Calgary Flames|Calgary]]
| RD1-score09=3
| RD1-seed10='''6'''
| RD1-team10='''[[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim|Anaheim]]'''
| RD1-score10='''4'''


===Eastern Conference quarterfinals===
| RD1-seed13=4
| RD1-team13=[[Nashville Predators|Nashville]]
| RD1-score13=1
| RD1-seed14='''5'''
| RD1-team14='''[[San Jose Sharks|San Jose]]'''
| RD1-score14='''4'''


====(1) Ottawa Senators vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning====
| RD2-seed03=1
| RD2-team03=[[Ottawa Senators|Ottawa]]
| RD2-score03=1
| RD2-seed04='''4'''
| RD2-team04='''[[Buffalo Sabres|Buffalo]]'''
| RD2-score04='''4'''


The Ottawa Senators entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference regular season and Northeast Division champions with 113 points. Tampa Bay qualified as the eighth seed earning 92 points during the regular season. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Ottawa won all four games during this year's regular season series.
| RD2-seed01='''2'''
| RD2-team01='''[[Carolina Hurricanes|Carolina]]'''
| RD2-score01='''4'''
| RD2-seed02=3
| RD2-team02=[[New Jersey Devils|New Jersey]]
| RD2-score02=1


The Senators defeated the Lightning in five games. The Senators used a two-man advantage in the third period of game one to gain the lead as they took the game by a score of 4–1. In game two the Lightning came back from a one-goal deficit by scoring two goals 55 seconds apart as they evened the series with a 4–3 victory. Six Ottawa skaters scored a goal in game three as the Senators won 8–4. Ottawa scored three times in the second-period of game four as they earned a 5–2 win. [[Martin Havlát|Martin Havlat]] scored the series-winning goal for the Senators at 15:02 of the second period as Ottawa closed out the series with a 3–2 victory.
| RD2-seed07=5
| RD2-team07=[[San Jose Sharks|San Jose]]
| RD2-score07=2
| RD2-seed08='''8'''
| RD2-team08='''[[Edmonton Oilers|Edmonton]]'''
| RD2-score08='''4'''


{{NHLPlayoffs
| RD2-seed05='''6'''
|team1=Tampa Bay Lightning
| RD2-team05='''[[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim|Anaheim]]'''
|team2=Ottawa Senators
| RD2-score05='''4'''
|stadium2=[[St. Pete Times Forum]]
| RD2-seed06=7
|stadium1=[[Scotiabank Place]]
| RD2-team06=[[Colorado Avalanche|Colorado]]
| RD2-score06=0


|date1 =April 21
| RD3-seed01='''2'''
|score1 =1–4
| RD3-team01='''[[Carolina Hurricanes|Carolina]]'''
|won1 =2
| RD3-score01='''4'''
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-ott/2006/04/21/2005030111#game=2005030111,game_state=final
| RD3-seed02=4
|1-1-1 =[[Vincent Lecavalier]] (1) – ''pp'' – 19:00
| RD3-team02=[[Buffalo Sabres|Buffalo]]
|1-1-2 =''No scoring''
| RD3-score02=3
|1-2-1 =''No scoring''
|1-2-2 =''No scoring''
|1-3-1 =''No scoring''
|1-3-2 =05:06 – ''pp'' – [[Martin Havlát|Martin Havlat]] (1)<br>06:13 – ''pp'' – [[Jason Spezza]] (1)<br>09:37 – ''sh'' – [[Mike Fisher (ice hockey)|Mike Fisher]] (1)<br>18:58 – ''en'' – [[Daniel Alfredsson]] (1)
|goalie1-1 =[[John Grahame]] 34 saves / 37 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 35 saves / 36 shots


|date2 =April 23
| RD3-seed03=6
|score2 =4–3
| RD3-team03=[[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim|Anaheim]]
|won2 =1
| RD3-score03=1
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-ott/2006/04/23/2005030112#game=2005030112,game_state=final
| RD3-seed04='''8'''
|2-1-1 =[[Martin St. Louis]] (1) – 14:36
| RD3-team04='''[[Edmonton Oilers|Edmonton]]'''
|2-1-2 =04:51 – [[Bryan Smolinski]] (1)
| RD3-score04='''4'''
|2-2-1 =[[Brad Richards]] (1) – 07:39
|2-2-2 =17:12 – ''pp'' – [[Martin Havlát|Martin Havlat]] (2)
|2-3-1 =[[Dan Boyle (ice hockey)|Dan Boyle]] (1) – 05:24<br>Martin St. Louis (2) – 06:19
|2-3-2 =03:21 – [[Peter Schaefer (ice hockey)|Peter Schaefer]] (1)
|goalie2-1 =[[John Grahame]] 21 saves / 24 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 32 saves / 36 shots


|date3 =April 25
| RD4-seed01=E2
|score3 =8–4
| RD4-team01=[[Carolina Hurricanes|Carolina]]
|won3 =2
| RD4-score01=3
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-tbl/2006/04/25/2005030113#game=2005030113,game_state=final
| RD4-seed02=W8
|3-1-1 =18:38 – ''pp'' – [[Martin St. Louis]] (3)
| RD4-team02=[[Edmonton Oilers|Edmonton]]
|3-1-2 =[[Martin Havlát|Martin Havlat]] (3) – 05:20<br>[[Wade Redden]] (1) – ''pp'' – 08:40<br>[[Patrick Eaves]] (1) – 12:56
| RD4-score02=3
|3-2-1 =''No scoring''
|3-2-2 =Martin Havlat (4) – 02:17<br>[[Antoine Vermette]] (1) – 09:11
|3-3-1 =00:20 – ''pp'' – [[Paul Ranger]] (1)<br>11:26 – Paul Ranger (2)<br>13:25 – ''pp'' – [[Pavel Kubina]] (1)
|3-3-2 =[[Dany Heatley]] (1) – ''pp'' – 06:12<br>[[Zdeno Chára|Zdeno Chara]] (1) – ''pp'' – 10:28<br>Antoine Vermette (2) – 16:18
|goalie3-1 =[[John Grahame]] 15 saves / 20 shots<br>[[Sean Burke]] 8 saves / 11 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 35 saves / 39 shots

|date4 =April 27
|score4 =5–2
|won4 =2
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-tbl/2006/04/27/2005030114#game=2005030114,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =11:10 – [[Martin St. Louis]] (4)<br>16:15 – [[Brad Richards]] (2)
|4-1-2 =[[Jason Spezza]] (2) – 06:13
|4-2-1 =''No scoring''
|4-2-2 =[[Chris Phillips]] (1) – 05:59<br>[[Dany Heatley]] (2) – ''pp'' – 17:10<br>[[Martin Havlát|Martin Havlat]] (5) – 17:50
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =[[Chris Neil]] (1) – 01:24
|goalie4-1 =[[John Grahame]] 13 saves / 17 shots<br>[[Sean Burke]] 7 saves / 8 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 30 saves / 32 shots

|date5 =April 29
|score5 =2–3
|won5 =2
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-ott/2006/04/29/2005030115#game=2005030115,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =''No scoring''
|5-1-2 =12:53 – [[Peter Schaefer (ice hockey)|Peter Schaefer]] (2)<br>15:44 – [[Andrej Meszároš|Andrej Meszaros]] (1)
|5-2-1 =[[Evgeny Artyukhin]] (1) – 01:37<br>[[Brad Richards]] (3) – 18:15
|5-2-2 =15:02 – ''pp'' – [[Martin Havlát|Martin Havlat]] (6)
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|5-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie5-1 =[[Sean Burke]] 35 saves / 38 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 26 saves / 28 shots

|series = Ottawa won series 4–1
}}
}}


====(2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens====
Source: [http://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/playoffrace/bracket|CBS Sportsline NHL Hockey Playoff Bracket]


The Carolina Hurricanes entered the playoffs as the Southeast Division champions, earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference with 112 points. Montreal qualified as the seventh seed earning 93 points during the regular season. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams with Montreal winning five of the six previous series. They last met in the [[2002 Stanley Cup playoffs#.283.29 Carolina Hurricanes vs. .288.29 Montreal Canadiens|2002 Eastern Conference semifinals]] where Carolina won in six games. Carolina won all four games during this year's regular season series.
Note that Conference Quarterfinal pairings are not bracketed into Semifinal matchups; teams are re-seeded within each conference after the first round, such that the highest remaining seed in each conference plays the lowest remaining seed.


The Hurricanes eliminated the Canadiens in six games. After allowing a goal in the opening minute of game one the Canadiens scored six unanswered goals taking the opening game of the series 6–1. Carolina pulled goaltender [[Martin Gerber]] after allowing three goals in the first period of game two and he was replaced by 22-year-old rookie backup [[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]]. The Hurricanes were able to tie the game with 90 seconds remaining in regulation before losing in double overtime as [[Michael Ryder]] scored at 2:32, giving Montreal a 6–5 win. In game three [[Eric Staal]] scored the game winner 3:38 into overtime as Carolina won 2–1. [[Rod Brind'Amour]] gave the Hurricanes the lead in game four and they hung on to win 3–2. Cam Ward made 30 saves and allowed just one goal against as the Hurricanes took game five 2–1. Hurricanes forward [[Cory Stillman]] ended the series at 1:19 of the first overtime as Carolina won game six 2–1.
==Playoff seeds==


{{NHLPlayoffs
After the [[2005-06 NHL season]], a total of 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The Detroit Red Wings were the [[Presidents' Trophy]] winners with the best record at 124 points (58 wins, 16 regulation losses, 8 overtime losses), while the Ottawa Senators won on the last day of the regular season to earn the Eastern Conference regular season crown.
|team1=Montreal Canadiens
|team2=Carolina Hurricanes
|stadium2=[[Bell Centre]]
|stadium1=[[RBC Center]]


|date1 =April 22
===Eastern Conference===
|score1 =6–1
#[[Ottawa Senators]] - [[Northeast Division (NHL)|Northeast Division]] and [[Eastern Conference (NHL)|Eastern Conference]] regular season champions, 113 points
|won1 =1
#[[Carolina Hurricanes]] - [[Southeast Division (NHL)|Southeast Division]] champions, 112 points
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-car/2006/04/22/2005030121#game=2005030121,game_state=final
#[[New Jersey Devils]] - [[Atlantic Division (NHL)|Atlantic Division]] champions, 101 points (46 wins)
|1-1-1 =[[Francis Bouillon]] (1) – ''pp'' – 08:23<br>[[Radek Bonk]] (1) – 16:17
#[[Buffalo Sabres]] - 110 points
|1-1-2 =00:50 – [[Matt Cullen]] (1)
#[[Philadelphia Flyers]] - 101 points (45 wins)
|1-2-1 =[[Alexei Kovalev]] (1) – 02:18<br>[[Chris Higgins (ice hockey)|Chris Higgins]] (1) – 16:01
#[[New York Rangers]] - 100 points
|1-2-2 =''No scoring''
#[[Montreal Canadiens]] - 93 points
|1-3-1 =Alexei Kovalev (2) – ''pp'' – 11:40<br>[[Sheldon Souray]] (1) – 18:12
#[[Tampa Bay Lightning]] - 92 points
|1-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie1-1 =[[Cristobal Huet]] 42 saves / 43 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Martin Gerber]] 15 saves / 21 shots


|date2 =April 24
===Western Conference===
|score2 =6–5
#[[Detroit Red Wings]] - [[Central Division (NHL)|Central Division]] and [[Western Conference (NHL)|Western Conference]] regular season champions; Presidents' Trophy winners, 124 points
|ot2 =2
#[[Dallas Stars]] - [[Pacific Division (NHL)|Pacific Division]] champions, 112 points
|won2 =1
#[[Calgary Flames]] - [[Northwest Division (NHL)|Northwest Division]] champions, 103 points
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-car/2006/04/24/2005030122#game=2005030122,game_state=final
#[[Nashville Predators]] - 106 points
|2-1-1 =[[Jan Bulis]] (1) – 04:48<br>[[Michael Ryder]] (1) – ''pp'' – 13:35<br>[[Radek Bonk]] (2) – 14:46
#[[San Jose Sharks]] - 99 points
|2-1-2 =''No scoring''
#[[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]] - 98 points
|2-2-1 =''No scoring''
#[[Colorado Avalanche]] - 95 points (43 wins)
|2-2-2 =01:42 – [[Matt Cullen]] (2)<br>09:05 – ''pp'' – [[Rod Brind'Amour]] (1)
#[[Edmonton Oilers]] - 95 points (41 wins)
|2-3-1 =[[Alexei Kovalev]] (3) – 05:22<br>[[Richard Zedník|Richard Zednik]] (1) – 05:58
|2-3-2 =00:22 – ''pp'' – [[Ray Whitney (ice hockey)|Ray Whitney]] (1)<br>01:15 – ''pp'' – Rod Brind'Amour (2)<br>18:30 – [[Cory Stillman]] (1)
|2-4-1 =Michael Ryder (2) – 02:32
|2-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie2-1 =[[Cristobal Huet]] 41 saves / 46 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Martin Gerber]] 10 saves / 13 shots<br>[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 20 saves / 23 shots


|date3 =April 26
==Statistical leaders==
|score3 =2–1
===Points===
|ot3 =1
|won3 =2
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-mtl/2006/04/26/2005030123#game=2005030123,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =''No scoring''
|3-1-2 =''No scoring''
|3-2-1 =09:17 – ''pp'' – [[Richard Zedník|Richard Zednik]] (2)
|3-2-2 =''No scoring''
|3-3-1 =''No scoring''
|3-3-2 =[[Rod Brind'Amour]] (3) – 11:27
|3-4-1 =''No scoring''
|3-4-2 =[[Eric Staal]] (1) – ''pp'' – 03:38
|goalie3-1 =[[Cristobal Huet]] 34 saves / 36 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 27 saves / 28 shots


|date4 =April 28
''As of games completed [[June 14]], [[2006]], Unofficial Results''
|score4 =3–2
<!-- IMPORTANT: RANK PLAYERS BY Points, then goals, then GP (fewer), then PIM (fewer), then +/-, then SH -->
|won4 =2
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-mtl/2006/04/28/2005030124#game=2005030124,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =''No scoring''
|4-1-2 =[[Justin Williams]] (1) – 10:22<br>[[Aaron Ward (ice hockey)|Aaron Ward]] (1) – 11:33
|4-2-1 =05:21 – [[Alexander Perezhogin]] (1)<br>12:58 – ''pp'' – [[Sheldon Souray]] (2)
|4-2-2 =''No scoring''
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =[[Rod Brind'Amour]] (4) – 05:54
|goalie4-1 =[[Cristobal Huet]] 27 saves / 30 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 23 saves / 25 shots


|date5 =April 30
''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; SOG = Shots on Goal''
|score5 =1–2
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"
|won5 =2
|-
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-car/2006/04/30/2005030125#game=2005030125,game_state=final
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="20%" | Player
|5-1-1 =''No scoring''
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30%" | Team
|5-1-2 =04:27 – ''pp'' – [[Eric Staal]] (2)
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | GP
|5-2-1 =[[Alexei Kovalev]] (4) – 19:32
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | G
|5-2-2 =13:57 – ''pp'' – [[Matt Cullen]] (3)
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | A
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | Pts
|5-3-2 =''No scoring''
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | +/-
|goalie5-1 =[[Cristobal Huet]] 26 saves / 28 shots
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | PIM
|goalie5-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 30 saves / 31 shots
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | SOG
|-
|[[Eric Staal]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 23 || 9 || 18 || 27 || 0 || 6 || 83
|-
|[[Cory Stillman]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 23 || 9 || 16 || 25 || +12 || 12 || 72
|-
|[[Chris Pronger]] || [[Edmonton Oilers]] || 22 || 5 || 16 || 21 || +11 || 26 || 54
|-
|[[Daniel Briere]]* || [[Buffalo Sabres]] || 18 || 8 || 11 || 19 || 0 || 12 || 47
|-
|[[Rod Brind'Amour]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 23 || 12 || 6 || 18 || +9 || 16 || 74
|-
|[[Chris Drury]]* || [[Buffalo Sabres]] || 18 || 9 || 9 || 18 || +5 || 10 || 42
|-
|[[Shawn Horcoff]] || [[Edmonton Oilers]] || 22 || 6 || 12 || 18 || +6 || 12 || 38
|-
|[[Justin Williams]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 23 || 6 || 11 || 17 || +12 || 32 || 69
|-
|[[Patrik Elias]]* || [[New Jersey Devils]] || 9 || 6 || 10 || 16 || +5 || 4 || 32
|-
|[[Ales Hemsky]] || [[Edmonton Oilers]] || 22 || 6 || 10 || 16 || -1 || 14 || 43
|}


|date6 =May 2
''* - player's team eliminated from playoffs
|score6 =2–1
|ot6 =1
|won6 =2
|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-mtl/2006/05/02/2005030126#game=2005030126,game_state=final
|6-1-1 =06:31 – ''pp'' – [[Sheldon Souray]] (3)
|6-1-2 =[[Mark Recchi]] (1) – 07:01
|6-2-1 =''No scoring''
|6-2-2 =''No scoring''
|6-3-1 =''No scoring''
|6-3-2 =''No scoring''
|6-4-1 =''No scoring''
|6-4-2 =[[Cory Stillman]] (2) – 01:19
|goalie6-1 =[[Cristobal Huet]] 27 saves / 29 shots
|goalie6-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 25 saves / 26 shots


|series = Carolina won series 4–2
===Goals===
}}


====(3) New Jersey Devils vs. (6) New York Rangers====
''As of games completed [[June 14]], [[2006]], Unofficial Results''
<!-- IMPORTANT: RANK PLAYERS BY goals, then points, then GP (fewer), then PIM (fewer), then +/-, then SH -->


The New Jersey Devils entered the playoffs as the Atlantic Division champions (winning the tie-breaker with Philadelphia in total wins), earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference with 101 points. New York qualified for the first time since 1997 as the sixth seed earning 100 points during the regular season. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with New York winning all three previous series. They last met in the [[1997 Stanley Cup playoffs#.281.29 New Jersey Devils vs. .285.29 New York Rangers|1997 Eastern Conference semifinals]] where New York won in five games. The teams split this year's eight game regular season series.
''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; SOG = Shots on Goal''
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="20%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30%" | Team
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | GP
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | G
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | A
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | Pts
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | +/-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | PIM
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | SOG
|-
|[[Fernando Pisani]] || [[Edmonton Oilers]] || 22 || 12 || 3 || 15 || +3 || 8 || 44
|-
|[[Rod Brind'Amour]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 23 || 12 || 6 || 18 || +9 || 16 || 74
|-
|[[Eric Staal]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 23 || 9 || 18 || 27 || 0 || 6 || 83
|-
|[[Cory Stillman]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 23 || 9 || 16 || 25 || +12 || 12 || 72
|-
|[[Chris Drury]]* || [[Buffalo Sabres]] || 18 || 9 || 9 || 18 || +5 || 10 || 42
|-
|[[Ray Whitney]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 22 || 9 || 6 || 15 || -1 || 10 || 39
|-
|[[Patrick Marleau]]* || [[San Jose Sharks]] || 11 || 9 || 5 || 14 || +2 || 8 || 38
|-
|[[Joffrey Lupul]]* || [[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]] || 16 || 9 || 2 || 11 || +9 || 31 || 62
|-
|[[Daniel Briere]]* || [[Buffalo Sabres]] || 18 || 8 || 11 || 19 || 0 || 12 || 47
|-
|[[Mark Recchi]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 23 || 7 || 8 || 15 || -5 || 18 || 43
|}


The Devils swept the Rangers in four games. The Devils scored five times on the power play in game one winning 6–1, Devils forward [[Patrik Eliáš|Patrik Elias]] scored six points in the victory (two goals and four assists). In game two [[John Madden (ice hockey)|John Madden]] scored a hat trick for the Devils as they earned a 4–1 victory. [[Martin Brodeur]] earned his 21st career playoff shutout with 25 saves as the Devils won game three 3–0. New Jersey took the lead in the second period of game four with two power play goals and they never looked back eliminating the Rangers by a final score of 4–2.
''* - player's team eliminated from playoffs


{{NHLPlayoffs
===Goaltending===
|team1=New York Rangers
''Minimum 60 minutes. As of games completed [[June 14]], [[2006]], Unofficial Results''
|team2=New Jersey Devils
|stadium2=[[Madison Square Garden]]
|stadium1=[[Continental Airlines Arena]]


|date1 =April 22
''Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average''
|score1 =1–6
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"
|won1 =2
|-
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-njd/2006/04/22/2005030131#game=2005030131,game_state=final
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="27.5%" | Player
|1-1-1 =[[Petr Průcha|Petr Prucha]] (1) – ''pp'' – 10:00
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="27.5%" | Team
|1-1-2 =03:55 – ''pp'' – [[Patrik Eliáš|Patrik Elias]] (1)
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | GP
|1-2-1 =''No scoring''
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | TOI
|1-2-2 =07:48 – ''pp'' – [[Scott Gomez]] (1)<br>17:10 – [[Ken Klee]] (1)
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | W
|1-3-1 =''No scoring''
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | L
|1-3-2 =00:53 – ''pp'' – [[Brian Rafalski]] (1)<br>08:45 – ''pp'' – [[Jamie Langenbrunner]] (1)<br>15:34 – ''pp'' – Patrik Elias (2)
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | GA
|goalie1-1 =[[Henrik Lundqvist]] 24 saves / 30 shots
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | SO
|goalie1-2 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 29 saves / 30 shots
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | Sv%
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | GAA
|-
| [[Ilya Bryzgalov]]* || [[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]] || 11 || 658 || 6 || 4 || 16 || 3 || .944 || 1.46
|-
| [[Cam Ward]] || [[Carolina Hurricanes]] || 21 || 1199 || 14 || 7 || 42 || 2 || .920 || 2.10
|-
| [[Miikka Kiprusoff]]* || [[Calgary Flames]] || 7 || 427 || 3 || 4 || 16 || 0 || .921 || 2.24
|-
| [[Martin Brodeur]]* || [[New Jersey Devils]] || 9 || 532 || 5 || 4 || 20 || 1 || .923 || 2.25
|-
| [[Dwayne Roloson]] || [[Edmonton Oilers]] || 18 || 1159 || 12 || 5 || 45 || 1 || .927 || 2.33
|}


|date2 =April 24
''* - player's team eliminated from playoffs''
|score2 =1–4
|won2 =2
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-njd/2006/04/24/2005030132#game=2005030132,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =''No scoring''
|2-1-2 =07:47 – ''sh'' – [[John Madden (ice hockey)|John Madden]] (1)<br>14:13 – ''pp'' – [[Brian Gionta]] (1)
|2-2-1 =''No scoring''
|2-2-2 =19:54 – ''sh'' – John Madden (2)
|2-3-1 =[[Blair Betts]] (1) – 05:41
|2-3-2 =12:46 – John Madden (3)
|goalie2-1 =[[Kevin Weekes]] 21 saves / 25 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 25 saves / 26 shots


|date3 =April 26
==Conference Quarterfinals==
|score3 =3–0
===Eastern Conference===
|won3 =2
====(1) Ottawa Senators defeat (8) Tampa Bay Lightning, 4 games to 1====
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-nyr/2006/04/26/2005030133#game=2005030133,game_state=final
The defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning faced off against the Ottawa Senators, who held off Carolina to earn the Eastern Conference regular-season title on the final day of the regular season. The teams had never met before in the playoffs, but in four regular-season meetings, Ottawa had dominated, winning all four games in regulation.
|3-1-1 =''No scoring''
|3-1-2 =[[Jamie Langenbrunner]] (2) – 01:08<br>[[Patrik Eliáš|Patrik Elias]] (3) – 09:20
|3-2-1 =''No scoring''
|3-2-2 =[[Zach Parise]] (1) – 02:48
|3-3-1 =''No scoring''
|3-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie3-1 =[[Henrik Lundqvist]] 17 saves / 20 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 25 saves / 25 shots


|date4 =April 29
In Game 1, Tampa got on the board first, but in the third period, two quick power-play goals by [[Martin Havlat]] and [[Jason Spezza]] respectively gave Ottawa the lead. [[Mike Fisher (hockey)|Mike Fisher]] added a short-handed goal three minutes later, and the Senators went on to win 4-1. Game 2 saw the Senators hold a 3-2 lead in the third period, but [[Dan Boyle (hockey)|Dan Boyle]] tied the score and 55 seconds later, [[Martin St. Louis]] scored his second goal of the game, and it held up to give the Lightning a 4-3 win, evening the series.
|score4 =4–2
|won4 =2
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-nyr/2006/04/29/2005030134#game=2005030134,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =19:41 – [[Jed Ortmeyer]] (1)
|4-1-2 =''No scoring''
|4-2-1 =''No scoring''
|4-2-2 =[[Scott Gomez]] (2) – ''pp'' – 04:20<br>[[Patrik Eliáš|Patrik Elias]] (4) – ''pp'' – 07:21
|4-3-1 =18:33 – ''pp'' – [[Steve Rucchin]] (1)
|4-3-2 =[[Brian Gionta]] (2) – ''sh'' – 04:30<br>Patrik Elias (5) – 13:21
|goalie4-1 =[[Henrik Lundqvist]] 25 saves / 29 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 31 saves / 33 shots


|series = New Jersey won series 4–0
Two days later, the series resumed in Tampa Bay for Game 3, but the visiting Senators came out firing, with three goals in the first period. Havlat had two goals, giving him a total of four for the series thus far, as did [[Antoine Vermette]], as the Senators routed the Lightning, 8-4, in a game marked by the teams combining for 129 penalty minutes. Tampa Bay's [[Pavel Kubina]] earned a "[[Gordie Howe hat trick]]", with a goal, an assist, and two misconduct penalties earned in a late fight. Game 4 saw the Lightning take a 2-1 lead after the first period, but a trio of second-period goals gave the Senators a lead they would not relinquish. [[Dany Heatley]] finished with a goal and two assists in the 5-2 win which put Ottawa on the verge of advancing.
}}


====(4) Buffalo Sabres vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers====
They would do just that two days later in Game 5, back in Ottawa. Martin Havlat continued his solid play, completing a series in which he scored in each game, providing a power-play goal in the second period which gave Ottawa a 3-1 advantage. The Lightning would close the gap to 3-2, but that was as close as they would come. Havlat finished the series with 6 goals and 4 assists, while Heatley and Spezza each had 2 goals and 8 assists.


The Buffalo Sabres entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 110 points. Philadelphia qualified as the fifth seed (losing the tie-breaker with New Jersey in total wins for the Atlantic Division title) earning 101 points during the regular season. This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams with Philadelphia winning five of the seven previous series. They last met in the [[2001 Stanley Cup playoffs#.284.29 Philadelphia Flyers vs. .285.29 Buffalo Sabres|2001 Eastern Conference quarterfinals]] where Buffalo won in six games. Buffalo won three of the four games during this year's regular season series.
{|class="wikitable"
!colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!Score
!OTT goals
!TB goals
|-
|1||April 21|| at Senators 4, Lightning 1 || [[Daniel Alfredsson|Alfredsson]], [[Mike Fisher (hockey)|Fisher]], [[Martin Havlat|Havlat]], [[Jason Spezza|Spezza]] || [[Vincent Lecavalier|Lecavalier]]
|-
|2||April 23|| Lightning 4, at Senators 3 || Havlat, [[Peter Schaefer (hockey)|Schaefer]], [[Bryan Smolinski|Smolinski]] || [[Martin St. Louis|St. Louis]] 2, [[Dan Boyle (hockey)|Boyle]], [[Brad Richards|Richards]]
|-
|3||April 25|| Senators 8, at Lightning 4 || Havlat 2, [[Antoine Vermette|Vermette]] 2, [[Zdeno Chára|Chára]],<br>[[Patrick Eaves|Eaves]], [[Dany Heatley|Heatley]], [[Wade Redden|Redden]] || [[Paul Ranger|Ranger]] 2, [[Pavel Kubina|Kubina]], St. Louis
|-
|4||April 27|| Senators 5, at Lightning 2 || Havlat, Heatley, [[Chris Neil|Neil]], [[Chris Phillips|Phillips]], Spezza || Richards, St. Louis
|-
|5||April 29|| at Senators 3, Lightning 2|| Havlat, [[Andrej Meszaros|Meszaros]], Schaefer || [[Evgeny Artyukhin|Artyukhin]], Richards
|-
!colspan=3|Senators win series 4-1
|'''Havlat 6, 4 tied at 2''' || '''St. Louis 4, Richards 3'''
|}


The Sabres defeated the Flyers in six games. Philadelphia goaltender [[Robert Esche]] made 55 saves in a 3–2 Flyers loss; [[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] ended the game with a goal at 7:31 in double-overtime. Buffalo forwards [[Jean-Pierre Dumont]] and [[Jason Pominville]] each recorded hat-tricks in game two as the Sabres scored three power play goals rolling to an 8–2 victory. [[Peter Forsberg]] scored two second period goals in game three to break a 1–1 tie, the Flyers went on to win the game 4–2. In game four [[R. J. Umberger]] put the Flyers up for good with his goal at 9:51 in the third period as Philadelphia evened the series with a 5–4 victory. Sabres goaltender [[Ryan Miller]] made 24 saves to earn his first career playoff shutout in game five as Buffalo won 3–0. In game six the Sabres jumped to a 5–0 lead on a goal by [[Maxim Afinogenov]] as the Flyers pulled Robert Esche from the game, Buffalo went on to a resounding 7–1 series-clinching victory.
====(2) Carolina Hurricanes defeat (7) Montreal Canadiens, 4 games to 2====
After losing the first two games of this series, the heavily-favored Carolina Hurricanes put an end to the Montreal Canadiens' Cinderella hopes by winning the following four games, all by one goal and two coming in overtime. Two key turning points in the series were the emergence of Carolina goalie [[Cam Ward]], who was brought in to replace a shaky [[Martin Gerber]], as well as a series-ending eye injury to Canadiens captain [[Saku Koivu]].
{|class="wikitable"
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
!Score
!CAR goals
!MTL goals
|-
|1||April 22|| || Canadiens 6, at Hurricanes 1 || [[Matt Cullen|Cullen]] || [[Alexei Kovalev|Kovalev]] 2, [[Radek Bonk|Bonk]], [[Francis Bouillon|Bouillon]],<br>[[Christopher Higgins|Higgins]], [[Sheldon Souray|Souray]]
|-
|2||April 24|| 2:32, 2OT || Canadiens 6, at Hurricanes 5 || [[Rod Brind'Amour|Brind'Amour]] 2, Cullen,<br>[[Cory Stillman|Stillman]], [[Ray Whitney|Whitney]] || '''[[Michael Ryder|Ryder]]''' 2, Bonk, [[Jan Bulis|Bulis]],<br>Kovalev, [[Richard Zedník|Zedník]]
|-
|3||April 26|| 3:38, OT || Hurricanes 2, at Canadiens 1 || Brind'Amour, '''[[Eric Staal|Staal]]''' || Zedník
|-
|4||April 28|| || Hurricanes 3, at Canadiens 2 || Brind'Amour, [[Aaron Ward (hockey)|A. Ward]], [[Justin Williams|Williams]] || [[Alexander Perezhogin|Perezhogin]], Souray
|-
|5||April 30|| || at Hurricanes 2, Canadiens 1 || Cullen, Staal || Kovalev
|-
|6||May 2|| 1:19, OT || Hurricanes 2, at Canadiens 1 || [[Mark Recchi|Recchi]], '''Stillman''' || Souray
|-
!colspan=4|Hurricanes win series 4-2
|'''Brind'amour 4, Cullen 3''' || '''Kovalev 4, Souray 3'''
|}


{{NHLPlayoffs
====(3) New Jersey Devils defeat (6) New York Rangers, 4 games to 0====
|team1=Philadelphia Flyers
The Atlantic Division title came down to the final day of the regular season. The Devils came from behind to defeat the Montreal Canadiens for their 11th straight win, while the Rangers lost to the Ottawa Senators for their fifth straight loss. These results capped off a record-breaking comeback, as the Devils, who had trailed the division-leading Flyers by 19 points in January, clinched the division title and the third seed in the playoffs. The Rangers, on the other hand, slipped to the sixth seed, but still qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1997.
|team2=Buffalo Sabres
|stadium2=[[Wachovia Center]]
|stadium1=[[HSBC Arena (Buffalo)|HSBC Arena]]


|date1 =April 22
The Devils and Rangers were meeting in the playoffs for the fourth time in their respective histories, with the Rangers having won all three past meetings, including the classic 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, when [[Mark Messier]] guaranteed a win and backed it up with a hat trick in Game 6, and [[Stephane Matteau]] scored the game-winner in double-overtime of Game 7. More recently, the teams split their eight games in the 2005-06 season, with each team going 3-1 on their home ice, and winning one game in overtime.
|score1 =2–3
|ot1 =2
|won1 =2
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-buf/2006/04/22/2005030141#game=2005030141,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =''No scoring''
|1-1-2 =05:20 – [[Tim Connolly]] (1)
|1-2-1 =[[Mike Knuble]] (1) – 16:34
|1-2-2 =04:33 – [[Jay McKee]] (1)
|1-3-1 =[[Simon Gagné|Simon Gagne]] (1) – ''pp'' – 18:09
|1-3-2 =''No scoring''
|1-4-1 =''No scoring''
|1-4-2 =07:31 – [[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] (1)
|goalie1-1 =[[Robert Esche]] 55 saves / 58 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Ryan Miller]] 30 saves / 32 shots


|date2 =April 24
The Devils jumped out to a quick lead, winning Game 1, 6-1, behind five power-play goals, and [[Patrik Elias]]'s two goals and four assists, while Rangers star [[Jaromir Jagr]] left the game with an arm injury late in the third period. This injury kept Jagr out of Game 2, which the Devils won 4-1, led by [[John Madden (hockey)|John Madden]]'s hat trick, including two short-handed goals. In Game 3, [[Jamie Langenbrunner]] scored 68 seconds into the game, and [[Martin Brodeur]] earned his 21st career playoff shutout, with 25 saves, as the Devils won 3-0. Jagr's injury woes continued in Game 4, as he was knocked out with a hit in the first minute of the game. Despite this, the Rangers took their only lead of the series on [[Jed Ortmeyer]]'s goal late in the first period, but New Jersey responded with two goals in each of the second and third periods, including two by Elias, giving him five for the series, as they won, 4-2, eliminating their rivals, and advancing to the Conference Semifinals.
|score2 =2–8
|won2 =2
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-buf/2006/04/24/2005030142#game=2005030142,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =''No scoring''
|2-1-2 =01:41 – [[Jean-Pierre Dumont]] (1)<br>03:00 – ''pp'' – [[Chris Drury]] (1)<br>12:26 – [[Aleš Kotalík|Ales Kotalik]] (1)<br>14:36 – [[Jason Pominville]] (1)<br>19:46 – ''pp'' – Jean-Pierre Dumont (2)
|2-2-1 =[[Simon Gagné|Simon Gagne]] (2) – 00:58
|2-2-2 =09:42 – ''pp'' – Jean-Pierre Dumont (3)
|2-3-1 =[[Petr Nedvěd|Petr Nedved]] (1) – 05:47
|2-3-2 =08:35 – Jason Pominville (2)<br>18:42 – Jason Pominville (3)
|goalie2-1 =[[Robert Esche]] 5 saves / 10 shots<br>[[Antero Niittymäki|Antero Niittymaki]] 15 saves / 18 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Ryan Miller]] 20 saves / 22 shots


|date3 =April 26
{|class="wikitable"
|score3 =2–4
!colspan=2|Game-by-Game
|won3 =1
!Score
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-phi/2006/04/26/2005030143#game=2005030143,game_state=final
!NJ goals
|3-1-1 =06:35 – ''sh'' – [[Brian Savage]] (1)
!NYR goals
|3-1-2 =[[Aleš Kotalík|Ales Kotalik]] (2) – 02:37
|-
|3-2-1 =06:57 – [[Peter Forsberg]] (1)<br>12:37 – ''pp'' – Peter Forsberg (2)
|1||April 22|| at Devils 6, Rangers 1 || [[Patrik Elias|Elias]] 2, [[Scott Gomez|Gomez]], [[Ken Klee|Klee]], [[Jamie Langenbrunner|Langenbrunner]], [[Brian Rafalski|Rafalski]] || [[Petr Prucha|Prucha]]
|3-2-2 =''No scoring''
|-
|3-3-1 =19:44 – ''en'' – [[Simon Gagné|Simon Gagne]] (3)
|2||April 24|| at Devils 4, Rangers 1 || [[John Madden (hockey)|Madden]] 3, [[Brian Gionta|Gionta]] || [[Blair Betts|Betts]]
|3-3-2 =[[Tim Connolly]] (2) – 04:44
|-
|goalie3-1 =[[Robert Esche]] 26 saves / 28 shots
|3||April 26|| Devils 3, at Rangers 0 || Elias, Langenbrunner, [[Zach Parise|Parise]] || none ([[Martin Brodeur|Brodeur]] shutout)
|goalie3-2 =[[Ryan Miller]] 23 saves / 26 shots
|-
|4||April 29|| Devils 4, at Rangers 2 || Elias 2, Gionta, Gomez || [[Jed Ortmeyer|Ortmeyer]], [[Steve Rucchin|Rucchin]]
|-
!colspan=3|Devils win series 4-0
|'''Elias 5, Madden 3''' || '''4 tied with 1 goal'''
|}


|date4 =April 28
====(4) Buffalo Sabres defeat (5) Philadelphia Flyers, 4 games to 2====
|score4 =4–5
In a repeat of the result of their 2001 playoff series, right down to the blowout victory in the deciding game, the Buffalo Sabres eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
|won4 =1
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-phi/2006/04/28/2005030144#game=2005030144,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =12:13 – [[Éric Desjardins]] (1)
|4-1-2 =[[Thomas Vanek]] (1) – ''pp'' – 02:34<br>[[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] (2) – 10:10
|4-2-1 =03:26 – [[Peter Forsberg]] (3)
|4-2-2 =''No scoring''
|4-3-1 =03:50 – ''pp'' – [[Petr Nedvěd|Petr Nedved]] (2)<br>09:51 – [[R. J. Umberger]] (1)<br>19:11 – Peter Forsberg (4)
|4-3-2 =Daniel Briere (3) – ''pp'' – 06:17<br>[[Mike Grier]] (1) – ''sh'' – 19:41
|goalie4-1 =[[Robert Esche]] 26 saves / 30 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Ryan Miller]] 28 saves / 33 shots


|date5 =April 30
Game 1 went to Buffalo, 3-2, as co-captain [[Daniel Brière]] ended a marathon game with a double-overtime goal on his team-record 14th shot of the playoff game. Game 1 was also notable for a monstrous hit laid upon Philadelphia's [[R.J. Umberger]] by Buffalo's [[Brian Campbell]] during the first overtime period. Philadelphia goaltender [[Robert Esche]] was outstanding, turning aside 55 Buffalo shots before finally allowing the game-winner.
|score5 =0–3
|won5 =2
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-buf/2006/04/30/2005030145#game=2005030145,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =''No scoring''
|5-1-2 =06:05 – ''pp'' – [[Tim Connolly]] (3)
|5-2-1 =''No scoring''
|5-2-2 =19:12 – ''pp'' – [[Jean-Pierre Dumont]] (4)
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|5-3-2 =04:50 – [[Maxim Afinogenov]] (1)
|goalie5-1 =[[Robert Esche]] 30 saves / 33 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Ryan Miller]] 24 saves / 24 shots


|date6 =May 2
The Flyers, looking for revenge from Game 1, took 17 penalties in Game 2, including 3 misconducts, and a 5-minute major for checking from behind. Unfortunately for the Flyers, those penalties resulted in eleven Buffalo power plays. The Sabres scored three power play goals, rolling to an 8-2 victory. [[Jean-Pierre Dumont|J.P. Dumont]] and rookie [[Jason Pominville]] each recorded [[hat trick]]s for Buffalo, and the series appeared to be well in-hand for the Sabres.
|score6 =7–1
|won6 =2
|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-phi/2006/05/02/2005030146#game=2005030146,game_state=final
|6-1-1 =''No scoring''
|6-1-2 =[[Mike Grier]] (2) – 11:16<br>[[Aleš Kotalík|Ales Kotalik]] (3) – 17:34<br>[[Derek Roy]] (1) – 19:27
|6-2-1 =18:57 – [[Branko Radivojevič|Branko Radivojevic]] (1)
|6-2-2 =[[Jason Pominville]] (4) – 03:05<br>[[Maxim Afinogenov]] (2) – 07:19<br>[[Chris Drury]] (2) – 19:46
|6-3-1 =''No scoring''
|6-3-2 =Chris Drury (3) – ''sh'' – 02:12
|goalie6-1 =[[Robert Esche]] 12 saves / 17 shots<br>[[Antero Niittymäki|Antero Niittymaki]] 9 saves / 11 shots
|goalie6-2 =[[Ryan Miller]] 21 saves / 22 shots


|series = Buffalo won series 4–2
The series then shifted to Philadelphia, however, and the Flyers were able to even it up with wins in Games 3 and 4. [[Peter Forsberg]] came alive offensively in Game 3, recording two second-period goals to break a 1-1 tie. The Flyers went on to win the game, 4-2. In Game 4, the Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but it was quickly lost. Forsberg once again scored two goals, including an empty-netter with 49 seconds remaining. The empty-netter proved to be the game-winner, as Buffalo's [[Mike Grier]] scored with 19 seconds left in the game to make the final score 5-4 in favor of the Flyers.
}}


===Western Conference quarterfinals===
Home-ice advantage continued to be key as the Sabres returned to the [[HSBC Arena]] for Game 5 and scored a 3-0 victory. Sabre goaltender [[Ryan Miller (hockey player)|Ryan Miller]] made 24 saves to earn his first career playoff shutout. In Game 6, home-ice advantage was finally broken as the Sabres jumped to a 3-0 lead by the end of the first period in the [[Wachovia Center]] and never looked back. Six different Sabres scored as they finished off the Flyers with a resounding 7-1 victory.


====(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers====
{|class="wikitable"
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
!Score
!BUF goals
!PHI goals
|-
|1||April 22|| 7:31, 2OT || at Sabres 3, Flyers 2 || '''[[Daniel Brière|Brière]]''', [[Tim Connolly|Connolly]], [[Jay McKee|McKee]] || [[Simon Gagne|Gagne]], [[Mike Knuble|Knuble]]
|-
|2||April 24|| || at Sabres 8, Flyers 2 || [[J.P. Dumont|Dumont]] 3, [[Jason Pominville|Pominville]] 3, [[Chris Drury|Drury]], [[Ales Kotalik|Kotalik]] || Gagne, [[Petr Nedved|Nedved]]
|-
|3||April 26|| || at Flyers 4, Sabres 2 || Connolly, Kotalik || [[Peter Forsberg |Forsberg]] 2, Gagne, [[Brian Savage|Savage]]
|-
|4||April 28|| || at Flyers 5, Sabres 4 || Brière 2, [[Mike Grier|Grier]], [[Thomas Vanek|Vanek]] || Forsberg 2, [[Éric Desjardins|Desjardins]],<br>Nedved, [[R.J. Umberger|Umberger]]
|-
|5||April 30|| || at Sabres 3, Flyers 0 || [[Maxim Afinogenov|Afinogenov]], Connolly, Dumont || none ([[Ryan Miller (hockey player)|Miller]] shutout)
|-
|6||May 2|| || Sabres 7, at Flyers 1 || Drury 2, Afinogenov, Grier,<br>Kotalik, Pominville, [[Derek Roy|Roy]] || [[Branko Radivojevic|Radivojevic]]
|-
!colspan=4|Sabres win series 4-2
|'''Dumont 4, Pominville 4''' || '''Forsberg 4, Gagne 3'''
|}


The Detroit Red Wings entered the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners, the Western Conference regular season and Central Division champions, with 124 points. Edmonton qualified as the eighth seed earning 95 points (losing the tie-breaker with Colorado in total wins) during the regular season. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Edmonton winning both previous series. They last met in the [[1988 Stanley Cup playoffs#.28S2.29 Edmonton Oilers vs. .28N1.29 Detroit Red Wings|1988 Clarence Campbell Conference Final]] where Edmonton won in five games. Detroit won this year's four game regular season series earning six of eight points during the season.
===Western Conference===
====(8) Edmonton Oilers defeat (1) Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 2====
After losing Game 1 in double overtime, the Oilers won Game 2, 4-2. The series moved to Canada even at one game apiece. [[Jarret Stoll]] provided the game-winner after 28 minutes of overtime in Game 3, giving the Oilers a 2-1 series lead. The Red Wings countered in Game 4, winning 4-2 to tie the series.


The eighth seeded Oilers upset the Red Wings in six games. Red Wings winger [[Kirk Maltby]] scored two goals in game one, including the winner in double overtime as Detroit won 3–2. The Oilers took the lead by scoring twice in 57 seconds in the second period of game two as they hung on to win 4–2. [[Jarret Stoll]] provided the game-winner in double overtime in game three giving the Oilers a 4–3 victory. The Red Wings scored three power-play goals in game four earning a 4–2 victory to tie the series. Oilers goaltender [[Dwayne Roloson]] made 30 saves as Edmonton hung on to win game five by a score of 3–2. The Oilers overcame a two-goal deficit after two periods of play in game six by scoring four times in third period, [[Aleš Hemský|Ales Hemsky]] broke the tie with 1:06 remaining in regulation as Edmonton ended the series with a 4–3 win.
Back in Detroit, the Oilers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period of Game 5. [[Brendan Shanahan]] closed the gap to 3-1, and [[Henrik Zetterberg]] added his fifth goal of the series to pull Detroit within one, but Edmonton held on to take a 3-2 series lead. Returning to Edmonton, the Oilers found themselves trailing 2-0 after two periods. [[Fernando Pisani]] tied the game with two goals, his fourth and fifth of the series, before Detroit reclaimed the lead. With 3:53 to play, [[Ales Hemsky]] tied the game on a controversial power-play goal which was reviewed for several minutes, questioning whether it was kicked in. The goal was allowed to stand, and Hemsky then provided the game-winning goal with 1:06 left in the third period.


{{NHLPlayoffs
{|class="wikitable"
|team1=Edmonton Oilers
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
|team2=Detroit Red Wings
!Score
|stadium2=[[Rexall Place]]
!DET goals
|stadium1=[[Joe Louis Arena]]
!EDM goals
|-
|1||April 21|| 2:39, 2OT || at Red Wings 3, Oilers 2 || '''[[Kirk Maltby|Maltby]]''' 2, [[Robert Lang (hockey)|Lang]] || [[Chris Pronger|Pronger]], [[Sergei Samsonov|Samsonov]]
|-
|2||April 23|| || Oilers 4, at Red Wings 2 || [[Jason Williams (hockey)|Williams]], [[Henrik Zetterberg|Zetterberg]] || [[Fernando Pisani|Pisani]], Pronger, [[Jarret Stoll|Stoll]], [[Brad Winchester|Winchester]]
|-
|3||April 25|| 8:44, 2OT || at Oilers 4, Red Wings 3 || Zetterberg 2, [[Mathieu Schneider|Schneider]] || [[Ryan Smyth|Smyth]], [[Jaroslav Spacek|Spacek]], '''Stoll''', [[Raffi Torres|Torres]]
|-
|4||April 27|| || Red Wings 4, at Oilers 2 || [[Tomas Holmstrom|Holmstrom]], Lang,<br>[[Nicklas Lidstrom|Lidstrom]], Zetterberg || Pisani, Spacek
|-
|5||April 29|| || Oilers 3, at Red Wings 2 || [[Brendan Shanahan|Shanahan]], Zetterberg || [[Shawn Horcoff|Horcoff]], Pisani, Smyth
|-
|6||May 1|| || at Oilers 4, Red Wings 3 || [[Johan Franzen|Franzen]], Lang, Zetterberg || [[Ales Hemsky|Hemsky]] 2, Pisani 2
|-
!colspan=4|Oilers win series 4-2
|'''Zetterberg 6, Lang 3''' || '''Pisani 5, 5 tied at 2'''
|}


|date1 =April 21
====(7) Colorado Avalanche defeat (2) Dallas Stars, 4 games to 1====
|score1 =2–3
The first upset of the 2006 playoffs came in this series, as the seventh-seeded Avalanche defeated the second-seeded Stars in five games. The Stars had won three of the teams' four regular-season meetings, although two of those wins were in overtime.
|ot1 =2
|won1 =2
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-det/2006/04/21/2005030151#game=2005030151,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =[[Sergei Samsonov]] (1) – ''pp'' – 11:44
|1-1-2 =04:05 – ''pp'' – [[Robert Lang (ice hockey)|Robert Lang]] (1)
|1-2-1 =[[Chris Pronger]] (1) – ''pp'' – 08:43
|1-2-2 =''No scoring''
|1-3-1 =''No scoring''
|1-3-2 =13:43 – [[Kirk Maltby]] (1)
|1-4-1 =''No scoring''
|1-4-2 =02:39 – Kirk Maltby (2)
|goalie1-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 54 saves / 57 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Manny Legace]] 23 saves / 25 shots


|date2 =April 23
In Game 1, the Stars came out quickly, going up 2-0 on goals by [[Brenden Morrow]] and [[Bill Guerin]], but five different Colorado players scored, allowing the Avalanche to claim a 5-2 win and control of the series. Colorado continued its momentum with three first-period goals to open Game 2, but Dallas responded with four goals in the second period, including two fluky goals by [[Jere Lehtinen]] and a go-ahead goal in the closing seconds by [[Mike Modano]]. [[Brett Clark]] tied the game with a short-handed goal with 2:04 to play in regulation. Four minutes into overtime [[Jason Arnott]] got a shot past Colorado goalie [[Jose Theodore]] but it hit the post. The Avalanche quickly counter-attacked, and [[Joe Sakic]] scored his NHL-record seventh career overtime goal to end the game.
|score2 =4–2
|won2 =1
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-det/2006/04/23/2005030152#game=2005030152,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =[[Chris Pronger]] (2) – 12:32
|2-1-2 =14:50 – [[Jason Williams (ice hockey)|Jason Williams]] (1)
|2-2-1 =[[Fernando Pisani]] (1) – 17:49<br>[[Brad Winchester]] (1) – 18:46
|2-2-2 =07:11 – ''pp'' – [[Henrik Zetterberg]] (1)
|2-3-1 =[[Jarret Stoll]] (1) – ''en'' – 19:47
|2-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie2-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 33 saves / 35 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Manny Legace]] 20 saves / 23 shots


|date3 =April 25
Returning to Denver with a 2-0 series lead, the Avalanche wasted no time as Sakic scored the first goal of Game 3. [[Stu Barnes]] tied the game short-handed, but Colorado led 2-1 after one period. Dallas took a 3-2 lead in the second period, but [[Andrew Brunette]] scored with 57 seconds remaining in the third period to tie the game, and [[Alex Tanguay]] tallied his second goal of the game at 1:09 of the first overtime to give the Avalanche a 4-3 win and a 3-0 series lead. Dallas staved off elimination in Game 4 as [[Niklas Hagman]] scored two goals in a 4-1 win.
|score3 =3–4
|ot3 =2
|won3 =1
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-edm/2006/04/25/2005030153#game=2005030153,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =04:17 – [[Jaroslav Špaček|Jaroslav Spacek]] (1)<br>16:38 – [[Ryan Smyth]] (1)
|3-1-2 =[[Henrik Zetterberg]] (2) – ''pp'' – 12:05
|3-2-1 =02:38 – ''pp'' – [[Raffi Torres]] (1)
|3-2-2 =''No scoring''
|3-3-1 =''No scoring''
|3-3-2 =Henrik Zetterberg (3) – ''pp'' – 11:52<br>[[Mathieu Schneider]] (1) – 12:10
|3-4-1 =08:44 – [[Jarret Stoll]] (2)
|3-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie3-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 44 saves / 47 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Manny Legace]] 28 saves / 32 shots


|date4 =April 27
However, the Avalanche denied the Stars a chance at a continued comeback by winning Game 5 to clinch the series. Joe Sakic scored with just two seconds to play in the second period to give his team a 2-1 lead. The Stars tied it in the third period, but [[Sergei Zubov]]'s attempted game-winner late in the period glanced off the post. After nearly 14 minutes of overtime, Andrew Brunette put a rebound past [[Marty Turco]] to finish the game and the series.
|score4 =4–2
|won4 =2
{|class="wikitable"
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-edm/2006/04/27/2005030154#game=2005030154,game_state=final
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
|4-1-1 =07:22 – ''pp'' – [[Fernando Pisani]] (2)
!Score
|4-1-2 =[[Tomas Holmström|Tomas Holmstrom]] (1) – ''pp'' – 13:25<br>[[Robert Lang (ice hockey)|Robert Lang]] (2) – 19:23
!DAL goals
|4-2-1 =04:03 – ''pp'' – [[Jaroslav Špaček|Jaroslav Spacek]] (2)
!COL goals
|4-2-2 =''No scoring''
|-
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|1||April 22|| || Avalanche 5, at Stars 2 || [[Bill Guerin|Guerin]], [[Brenden Morrow|Morrow]] || [[Rob Blake|Blake]], [[Brett Clark|Clark]], [[Milan Hejduk|Hejduk]], [[John-Michael Liles|Liles]], [[Wojtek Wolski|Wolski]]
|4-3-2 =[[Nicklas Lidström|Nicklas Lidstrom]] (1) – ''pp'' – 06:44<br>[[Henrik Zetterberg]] (4) – ''pp'' – 15:53
|-
|goalie4-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 27 saves / 31 shots
|2||April 24|| 4:36, OT || Avalanche 5, at Stars 4 || [[Jere Lehtinen|Lehtinen]] 2, [[Jussi Jokinen|Jokinen]], [[Mike Modano|Modano]] || Blake, [[Andrew Brunette|Brunette]], Clark, Hejduk, '''[[Joe Sakic|Sakic]]'''
|goalie4-2 =[[Manny Legace]] 24 saves / 26 shots
|-
|3||April 26|| 1:09, OT || at Avalanche 4, Stars 3 || [[Stu Barnes|Barnes]], [[Jon Klemm|Klemm]], [[Sergei Zubov|Zubov]] || '''[[Alex Tanguay|Tanguay]]''' 2, Brunette, Sakic
|-
|4||April 28|| || Stars 4, at Avalanche 1 || [[Niklas Hagman|Hagman]] 2, Guerin, Lehtinen || [[Brad Richardson|Richardson]]
|-
|5||April 30|| 13:55, OT || Avalanche 3, at Stars 2 || Guerin, Jokinen || '''Brunette''', [[Jim Dowd (hockey player)|Dowd]], Sakic
|-
!colspan=4|Avalanche win series 4-1
|'''Guerin 3, Lehtinen 3''' || '''Brunette 3, Sakic 3'''
|}


|date5 =April 29
====(6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim defeat (3) Calgary Flames, 4 games to 3====
|score5 =3–2
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim ended the Calgary Flames' season by slamming the door shut on them by winning a decisive Game 7, 3-0, behind the stellar play of goalie [[Ilya Bryzgalov]]. The entire series was a back-and-forth affair with the teams trading victories throughout the first six games. Bryzgalov started game one because of an injury to [[Jean-Sebastien Giguere]], playing extremely well despite losing 2-1. When Giguere proved ineffective through the next four games, Bryzgalov returned to the net to carry the Ducks through to the second round. The Flames, the defending Western Conference champion, were eliminated in the first round despite winning the [[Northwest Division (NHL)|Northwest Division]].
|won5 =1
{|class="wikitable"
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-det/2006/04/29/2005030155#game=2005030155,game_state=final
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
|5-1-1 =''No scoring''
!Score
|5-1-2 =''No scoring''
!CGY goals
|5-2-1 =[[Fernando Pisani]] (3) – 05:16<br>[[Ryan Smyth]] (2) – ''pp'' – 08:34<br>[[Shawn Horcoff]] (1) – 12:36
!ANA goals
|5-2-2 =18:39 – [[Brendan Shanahan]] (1)
|-
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|1||April 21|| 9:45, OT || at Flames 2, Mighty Ducks 1 || [[Tony Amonte|Amonte]], '''[[Darren McCarty|McCarty]]''' || [[Jeff Friesen|Friesen]]
|5-3-2 =19:38 – [[Henrik Zetterberg]] (5)
|-
|goalie5-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 30 saves / 32 shots
|2||April 23|| || Mighty Ducks 4, at Flames 3 || [[Kristian Huselius|Huselius]], Iginla, [[Dion Phaneuf|Phaneuf]] || [[Chris Kunitz|Kunitz]], [[Joffrey Lupul|Lupul]], [[Scott Niedermayer|S. Niedermayer]],<br>[[Samuel Påhlsson|Påhlsson]]
|goalie5-2 =[[Manny Legace]] 16 saves / 19 shots
|-
|3||April 25|| || Flames 5, at Mighty Ducks 2 || Huselius, [[Daymond Langkow|Langkow]], McCarty, [[Robyn Regehr|Regehr]] || Beauchemin 2
|-
|4||April 27|| 1:36, OT || at Mighty Ducks 3, Flames 2 || Iginla 2 || [[Ryan Getzlaf|Getzlaf]], '''[[Sean O'Donnell|O'Donnell]]''', [[Teemu Selänne|Selänne]]
|-
|5||April 29|| || at Flames 3, Mighty Ducks 2 || Iginla 2, Amonte || [[Andy McDonald|McDonald]], [[Rob Niedermayer|R. Niedermayer]]
|-
|6||May 1|| || at Mighty Ducks 2, Flames 1 || [[Stephane Yelle|Yelle]] || S. Niedermayer, Selänne
|-
|7||May 3|| || Mighty Ducks 3, at Flames 0 || none ([[Ilya Bryzgalov|Bryzgalov]] shutout) || Friesen, [[Ruslan Salei|Salei]], Selänne
|-
!colspan=4|Mighty Ducks win series 4-3
|'''Iginla 5, 3 with 2''' || '''Selänne 3, 3 with 2'''
|}


|date6 =May 1
====(5) San Jose Sharks defeat (4) Nashville Predators, 4 games to 1====
|score6 =3–4
The 4-5 matchup in the West pitted the Nashville Predators against the San Jose Sharks, the first playoff meeting between the two teams. Nashville had dominated much of the season on their way to the fourth seed in the conference, while San Jose rallied back from an early-season slump all the way to the 5th seed, thanks to a December trade for superstar [[Joe Thornton]] from the [[Boston Bruins]]. The teams split their regular season series, with both of San Jose's wins coming in overtime.
|won6 =1
|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-edm/2006/05/01/2005030156#game=2005030156,game_state=final
|6-1-1 =''No scoring''
|6-1-2 =[[Henrik Zetterberg]] (6) – 14:36
|6-2-1 =''No scoring''
|6-2-2 =[[Robert Lang (ice hockey)|Robert Lang]] (3) – ''pp'' – 14:02
|6-3-1 =02:56 – ''pp'' – [[Fernando Pisani]] (4)<br>06:40 – Fernando Pisani (5)<br>16:07 – ''pp'' – [[Aleš Hemský|Ales Hemsky]] (1)<br>18:54 – Ales Hemsky (2)
|6-3-2 =[[Johan Franzén|Johan Franzen]] (1) – 10:07
|goalie6-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 33 saves / 36 shots
|goalie6-2 =[[Manny Legace]] 26 saves / 30 shots


|series = Edmonton won series 4–2
Both teams also came into the series with fresh faces defending their goals. After Sharks starter [[Evgeni Nabokov]] stumbled through most of the regular season, backup [[Vesa Toskala]] earned the spot as playoff starter with his impressive play during San Jose's strech run to clinch a playoff spot. On the other hand, Nashville's star goaltender [[Tomas Vokoun]] would be diagnosed with a blood disorder in early April that would keep him sidelined for the rest of the season, forcing backup [[Chris Mason]] to become Nashville's top netminder for the playoffs.
}}


====(2) Dallas Stars vs. (7) Colorado Avalanche====
The Predators would be first to strike, winning the first game 4-3 at home with four power-play goals, three of them coming in the first period. Ironically, it would be San Jose's power play that would be the undoing of Nashville. Game 2 had San Jose returning the favor from Game 1, with three first-period power play goals from [[Patrick Marleau]], [[Jonathan Cheechoo]] and [[Mark Smith (hockey)|Mark Smith]] and Toskala shutting out the Predators in a solid 3-0 victory.


The Dallas Stars entered the playoffs as the Pacific Division champions, earning the second seed in the Western Conference with 112 points. Colorado qualified as the seventh seed earning 95 points (winning the tie-breaker with Edmonton in total wins) during the regular season. This was the fourth and 2nd most recent playoff meeting between these two teams, with Dallas winning two of three previous series. They last met in the [[2004 Stanley Cup playoffs|2004 Western Conference quarterfinals]] where Colorado won in five games.
The series changed over to San Jose for Games 3 and 4, but the Predators' tendency for penalties continued to be taken advantage of by the Sharks. In Game 3, a short-handed goal by [[Kimmo Timonen]] gave the Predators an early lead, but San Jose bounced back with four unanswered goals, two of them by Marleau and one on the power play by [[Steve Bernier]], en route to a 4-1 San Jose victory. Game 4 saw Marleau score a hat trick, with two of his goals coming on the power play (and another by Smith scored right after another Nashville penalty expired) leading to a 5-4 San Jose victory as the series changed back to Nashville for Game 5. Unfortunately for Nashville, a [[Paul Kariya]] goal would not be enough to combat power play goals by Marleau and Bernier in a decisive 2-1 victory for San Jose in Game 5, giving the Sharks the series.


The Avalanche upset the Stars in five games. After trailing by two early in the first period of game one the Avalanche scored five unanswered goals and won by a score of 5–2. [[Brett Clark (ice hockey)|Brett Clark]] tied the game with a short-handed goal at 17:56 of the third period and four and a half minutes into overtime [[Joe Sakic]] scored his NHL-record seventh career ''playoff'' overtime goal to end the game in a 5–4 Colorado victory.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joe Sakic – Career Timeline|url=http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=436639|date=July 9, 2009|access-date=October 5, 2015}}</ref> Avalanche forward [[Andrew Brunette]] scored with 57 seconds remaining in the third period to tie game three and [[Alex Tanguay]] tallied his second goal of the game at 1:09 of the first overtime to give the Avalanche a 4–3 win. Dallas staved off elimination in game four as [[Niklas Hagman]] scored two goals in a 4–1 victory. Colorado goaltender [[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] made 50 saves in game five and Andrew Brunette scored the series-clinching goal nearly fourteen minutes into overtime to give the Avalanche a 3–2 win.
{|class="wikitable"
!colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!Score
!NSH goals
!SJ goals
|-
|1||April 21|| at Predators 4, Sharks 3 || [[Martin Erat|Erat]], [[Adam Hall|Hall]], [[Mike Sillinger|Sillinger]], [[Shea Weber|Weber]] || [[Nils Ekman|Ekman]], [[Mark Smith (hockey)|Smith]], [[Scott Thornton|S. Thornton]]
|-
|2||April 23|| Sharks 3, at Predators 0 || none ([[Vesa Toskala|Toskala]] shutout) || [[Jonathan Cheechoo|Cheechoo]], [[Patrick Marleau|Marleau]], Smith
|-
|3||April 25|| at Sharks 4, Predators 1 || [[Kimmo Timonen|Timonen]] || Marleau 2, [[Steve Bernier|Bernier]], Cheechoo
|-
|4||April 27|| at Sharks 5, Predators 4 || [[Scott Hartnell|Hartnell]], [[Paul Kariya|Kariya]], Sillinger, Weber || Marleau 3, [[Pat Rissmiller|Rissmiller]], Smith
|-
|5||April 30|| Sharks 2, at Predators 1 || Kariya || Bernier, Marleau
|-
!colspan=3|Sharks win series 4-1
|'''Kariya 2, Sillinger 2, Weber 2''' || '''Marleau 7, Smith 3'''
|}


{{NHLPlayoffs
==Conference Semifinals==
|team1=Colorado Avalanche
===Eastern Conference===
|team2=Dallas Stars
====(4) Buffalo Sabres defeat (1) Ottawa Senators, 4 games to 1====
|stadium2=[[Pepsi Center]]
In a battle of the top two teams from the Northeast Division in 2006, the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres squared off in this series. The Senators won five of the eight meetings between the teams in the regular season, including several lopsided results early in the season.
|stadium1=[[American Airlines Center]]


|date1 =April 22
Game 1 of the series was a wild, back-and-forth affair, with the Sabres having to tie the game five separate times -- including a goal by Tim Connolly with just 10.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 6 -- before winning just 18 seconds into overtime on a goal by Chris Drury.
|score1 =5–2
|won1 =1
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-dal/2006/04/22/2005030161#game=2005030161,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =[[Milan Hejduk]] (1) – 16:42
|1-1-2 =13:04 – [[Brendan Morrow]] (1)<br>15:02 – [[Bill Guerin]] (1)
|1-2-1 =[[Wojtek Wolski]] (1) – 05:24<br>[[Rob Blake]] (1) – ''pp'' – 09:08<br>[[John-Michael Liles]] (1) – ''pp'' – 11:12
|1-2-2 =''No scoring''
|1-3-1 =[[Brett Clark (ice hockey)|Brett Clark]] (1) – 02:58
|1-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie1-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 16 saves / 18 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Marty Turco]] 26 saves / 31 shots


|date2 =April 24
The remainder of the series would be tightly played defensively, though, and would feature excellent goaltending by both Buffalo's Ryan Miller and Ottawa's Ray Emery. A 2-1 victory by the Sabres in Game 2 was highlighted by 43 Miller saves -- including one on a breakaway by Jason Spezza -- and allowed them to take a 2-0 series lead home.
|score2 =5–4
|ot2 =1
|won2 =1
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-dal/2006/04/24/2005030162#game=2005030162,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =[[Rob Blake]] (2) – ''pp'' – 07:06<br>[[Andrew Brunette]] (1) – 09:04<br>[[Milan Hejduk]] (2) – 12:23
|2-1-2 =''No scoring''
|2-2-1 =''No scoring''
|2-2-2 =02:41 – [[Jussi Jokinen]] (1)<br>05:54 – ''pp'' – [[Jere Lehtinen]] (1)<br>06:58 – Jere Lehtinen (2)<br>19:57 – ''pp'' – [[Mike Modano]] (1)
|2-3-1 =[[Brett Clark (ice hockey)|Brett Clark]] (2) – ''sh'' – 17:56
|2-3-2 =''No scoring''
|2-4-1 =[[Joe Sakic]] (1) – 04:36
|2-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie2-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 21 saves / 25 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Marty Turco]] 18 saves / 23 shots


|date3 =April 26
Game 3 went to overtime, and was won once again by the Sabres on a shot by J.P. Dumont. Sabre fans entered the HSBC Arena for Game 4 prepared for a sweep, but were disappointed as the Senators were able to stave off elimination with a 2-1 victory.
|score3 =3–4
|ot3 =1
|won3 =1
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-col/2006/04/26/2005030163#game=2005030163,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =05:21 – ''pp'' – [[Joe Sakic]] (2)<br>18:53 – [[Alex Tanguay]] (1) – 18:53
|3-1-2 =[[Stu Barnes]] (1) – ''sh'' – 10:49
|3-2-1 =''No scoring''
|3-2-2 =[[Jon Klemm]] (1) – 08:44<br>[[Sergei Zubov]] (1) – ''pp'' – 19:45
|3-3-1 =19:03 – ''pp'' – [[Andrew Brunette]] (2)
|3-3-2 =''No scoring''
|3-4-1 =01:09 – Alex Tanguay (2)
|3-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie3-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 19 saves / 22 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Marty Turco]] 25 saves / 29 shots


|date4 =April 28
Ottawa returned home for Game 5 with hopes of pulling even closer and making the series even more interesting. The game went to overtime but ended quickly as Jason Pominville put home a shorthanded goal just 2:26 in to end the Senators' season. There have been six short-handed overtime goals in Stanley Cup Playoff history up to this point, but this was the first one to ever end a series. This put the Sabres into the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in the past eight seasons.
|score4 =4–1
|won4 =2
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-col/2006/04/28/2005030164#game=2005030164,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =04:46 – [[Brad Richardson]] (1)
|4-1-2 =[[Jere Lehtinen]] (3) – 07:35
|4-2-1 =''No scoring''
|4-2-2 =[[Niklas Hagman]] (1) – 03:50<br>[[Bill Guerin]] (2) – ''pp'' – 18:41
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =Niklas Hagman (2) – ''en'' – 18:45
|goalie4-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 35 saves / 38 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Marty Turco]] 22 saves / 23 shots


|date5 =April 30
{|class="wikitable"
|score5 =3–2
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
|ot5 =1
!Score
|won5 =1
!OTT goals
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-dal/2006/04/30/2005030165#game=2005030165,game_state=final
!BUF goals
|5-1-1 =''No scoring''
|-
|5-1-2 =''No scoring''
|1||May 5|| 0:18, OT || Sabres 7, at Senators 6 || Smolinski 2, Fisher, Havlat,<br>Heatley, Spezza || Connolly 2, Roy 2, '''Drury''',<br>Grier, [[Teppo Numminen|Numminen]]
|5-2-1 =[[Jim Dowd (ice hockey)|Jim Dowd]] (1) – 13:03<br>[[Joe Sakic]] (3) – 19:58
|-
|5-2-2 =04:25 – ''pp'' – [[Jussi Jokinen]] (2)
|2||May 8|| || Sabres 2, at Senators 1 || Phillips || Dumont, [[Jochen Hecht|Hecht]]
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|-
|5-3-2 =02:47 – [[Bill Guerin]] (3)
|3||May 10|| 5:05, OT || at Sabres 3, Senators 2 || Spezza 2 || Afinogenov, Drury, '''Dumont'''
|5-4-1 =[[Andrew Brunette]] (3) – 13:55
|-
|5-4-2 =''No scoring''
|4||May 11|| || Senators 2, at Sabres 1 || [[Brian Pothier|Pothier]], Redden || Brière
|goalie5-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 50 saves / 52 shots
|-
|goalie5-2 =[[Marty Turco]] 27 saves / 30 shots
|5||May 13|| 2:26, OT || Sabres 3, at Senators 2 || Alfredsson, Pothier || Drury, '''Pominville''', [[Henrik Tallinder|Tallinder]]
|-
!colspan=4|Sabres win series 4-1
|'''Spezza 3, Pothier 2, Smolinski 2''' || '''Drury 3, 3 with 2'''
|}


|series = Colorado won series 4–1
====(2) Carolina Hurricanes defeat (3) New Jersey Devils, 4 games to 1====
}}
The Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils, both division champions, met in the Conference Semifinals. The teams had met twice before in the playoffs: In 2001, the top-seeded Devils dispatched the Hurricanes in six games in the first round; Carolina returned the favor the following year as the third seed (the Hurricanes had an inferior record, but held home advantage as a division champion). In the 2005-06 season, the Hurricanes won both games in 2005, while the Devils won both games in 2006, the last towards the beginning of their 15-game winning streak.


====(3) Calgary Flames vs. (6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim====
Game 1 of the series, in Carolina, featured sloppy play by the Devils. [[Ray Whitney]] scored a power-play goal in the first period and added another in the second period. Frustration set in for New Jersey as the Hurricanes scored two quick power-play goals late in the second, and then two more power-play goals midway through the third period, leading to [[Martin Brodeur]] being pulled from his position as Devils' goalie in favor of [[Scott Clemmensen]]. Never in question, the game went to Carolina 6-0.


The Calgary Flames entered the playoffs as the Northwest Division champions, earning the third seed in the Western Conference with 103 points. Anaheim qualified as the sixth seed earning 98 points during the regular season. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's four game regular season series.
Game 2, also in Carolina, was a much cleaner and low-scoring affair than the first game. New Jersey was three seconds away from winning Game 2 by a 2-1 score and sending the series back to New Jersey tied 1-1 before Eric Staal scored the game-tying goal just before time expired to send the game into overtime. [[Niclas Wallin]] tallied the game-winner 3:09 into overtime. The devastating defeat hurt New Jersey's morale, and then back in New Jersey for Game 3, the Devils lost another 3-2 game, with Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour scoring the game-winner with 1:01 to play in the second period. The third period featured stellar play from goalies Cam Ward of Carolina and Martin Brodeur of New Jersey.


The Mighty Ducks eliminated the Flames in seven games. Flames goaltender [[Miikka Kiprusoff]] made 33 saves and [[Darren McCarty]] scored 9:45 into the first overtime as Calgary won game one 2–1. In game two Anaheim took a three-goal lead and hung on for a 4–3 victory. The Flames scored three power-play goals as they earned a 5–2 win in game three. [[Sean O'Donnell]] scored the overtime winner shortly after a power play expired in game four as Anaheim evened the series with a 3–2 victory. Flames captain [[Jarome Iginla]] scored twice as the Calgary held off a late charge by the Mighty Ducks taking a 3–2 victory in game five. In game six, Mighty Ducks captain [[Scott Niedermayer]] scored a power-play goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation time as Anaheim forced a seventh game with their 2–1 win. Anaheim goaltender [[Ilya Bryzgalov]] made 22 saves as the Mighty Ducks ended the Flames season with a shutout winning game seven 3–0.
With a four-game sweep and elimination staring them in the face, New Jersey jumped out to a 5-0 lead and won game 4 with a final score of 5-1, including two goals by Scott Gomez and [[Jay Pandolfo]]'s first goal of the postseason. Goalie Cam Ward of Carolina was pulled after the fourth goal for [[Martin Gerber]], the man that he displaced behind the goal in Game 3 of Carolina's first-round series with Montreal.


{{NHLPlayoffs
Ward would return to the net a day later back in Carolina in Game 5, and it looked like he might have a similarly short outing after [[Brian Gionta]] tallied in the game's first minute. However, Ward and the Carolina defense clamped down on the Devils attack as the Hurricanes killed off 5 straight New Jersey penalties. Hurricanes defenseman [[Frantisek Kaberle]] also added a goal to tie the score at 1. When the Hurricanes received their first power play over halfway into the game, Carolina tallied on a rush up ice, with Brind'Amour and [[Justin Williams]] feeding an open [[Cory Stillman]] who beat Brodeur. Whitney and Staal added late markers to make the final game and series totals 4-1 in favor of the Hurricanes.
|team1=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
|team2=Calgary Flames
|stadium2=[[Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim]]
|stadium1=[[Pengrowth Saddledome]]


|date1 =April 21
{|class="wikitable"
|score1 =1–2
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
|ot1 =1
!Score
|won1 =2
!CAR goals
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-cgy/2006/04/21/2005030171#game=2005030171,game_state=final
!NJ goals
|1-1-1 =''No scoring''
|-
|1-1-2 =''No scoring''
|1||May 6|| || at Hurricanes 6, Devils 0 || Whitney 2, Brind'Amour, Staal,<br>Stillman, [[Doug Weight|Weight]] || none (Ward shutout)
|1-2-1 =''No scoring''
|-
|1-2-2 =06:17 – [[Tony Amonte]] (1)
|2||May 8|| 3:09, OT || at Hurricanes 3, Devils 2 || Recchi, Staal, '''[[Niclas Wallin|Wallin]]''' || Gomez, Langenbrunner
|1-3-1 =[[Jeff Friesen]] (1) – 05:17
|-
|1-3-2 =''No scoring''
|3||May 10|| || Hurricanes 3, at Devils 2 || Brind'Amour, Cullen, Williams || [[Sergei Brylin|Brylin]], Elias
|1-4-1 =''No scoring''
|-
|1-4-2 =09:45 – [[Darren McCarty]] (1)
|4||May 13|| || at Devils 5, Hurricanes 1 || Recchi || Gomez 2, Brylin, Madden, [[Jay Pandolfo|Pandolfo]]
|goalie1-1 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 28 saves / 30 shots
|-
|goalie1-2 =[[Miikka Kiprusoff]] 33 saves / 34 shots
|5||May 14|| || at Hurricanes 4, Devils 1 || [[Frantisek Kaberle|Kaberle]], Staal, Stillman, Whitney || Gionta
|-
!colspan=4|Hurricanes win series 4-1
|'''Staal 3, Whitney 3''' || '''Gomez 3, Brylin 2'''
|}


|date2 =April 23
===Western Conference===
|score2 =4–3
====(8) Edmonton Oilers defeat (5) San Jose Sharks, 4 games to 2====
|won2 =1
Coming into this series, many saw this matchup as a toss-up: the underrated Oilers were riding an emotional high following their Game 6 third-period comeback over the Detroit Red Wings in the first round, while the Sharks easily dispatched an uninspired Nashville Predators club in five games. It also would be a test for two mostly young teams, as leadership from such players as [[Patrick Marleau]] and [[Alyn McCauley]] of the Sharks and [[Chris Pronger]] of Edmonton would be necessary for success.
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-cgy/2006/04/23/2005030172#game=2005030172,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =[[Chris Kunitz]] (1) – 09:37<br>[[Scott Niedermayer]] (1) – ''sh'' – 13:20
|2-1-2 =''No scoring''
|2-2-1 =[[Joffrey Lupul]] (1) – 05:10
|2-2-2 =09:09 – ''sh'' – [[Jarome Iginla]] (1)<br>11:53 – ''pp'' – [[Kristian Huselius]] (1)
|2-3-1 =[[Samuel Påhlsson|Samuel Pahlsson]] (1) – 07:55
|2-3-2 =15:31 – ''pp'' – [[Dion Phaneuf]] (1)
|goalie2-1 =[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] 22 saves / 25 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Miikka Kiprusoff]] 16 saves / 20 shots


|date3 =April 25
Game 1 was a muddled, penalty-filled battle. Edmonton took a 1st period lead off a [[Jaroslav Spacek]] power-play goal, but the [[Patrick Marleau]] line was the order of the day. Marleau scored one goal (raising his playoff-leading total to eight) and assisted on the other, leading the Sharks to a convincing 2-1 win. Game 2 also saw a San Jose 2-1 victory, with Joe Thornton scoring the game-winning goal on a power play in the second period.
|score3 =5–2
|won3 =2
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-ana/2006/04/25/2005030173#game=2005030173,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =17:26 – ''pp'' – [[François Beauchemin]] (1)
|3-1-2 =[[Daymond Langkow]] (1) – ''pp'' – 14:01
|3-2-1 =08:16 – ''pp'' – François Beauchemin (2)
|3-2-2 =[[Kristian Huselius]] (2) – ''pp'' – 01:25<br>[[Chuck Kobasew]] (1) – 15:34
|3-3-1 =''No scoring''
|3-3-2 =[[Darren McCarty]] (2) – 04:59<br>[[Robyn Regehr]] (1) – ''pp'' – 05:33
|goalie3-1 =[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] 19 saves / 24 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Miikka Kiprusoff]] 27 saves / 29 shots


|date4 =April 27
The site changed to Edmonton for Game 3, and the Sharks and Oilers engaged in an epic, triple-overtime thriller, the longest playoff game in this postseason to date, before Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff finally ended the game with a goal giving the Oilers a 3-2 win. Invigorated by their tense victory in Game 3, Edmonton shook off an early 3-1 deficit in Game 4 and scored five unanswered goals late in the game, including three in the final period to knock out San Jose's goalie, Vesa Toskala, to win 6-3 and even the series 2-2 going back to San Jose.
|score4 =2–3
|ot4 =1
|won4 =1
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-ana/2006/04/27/2005030174#game=2005030174,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =''No scoring''
|4-1-2 =''No scoring''
|4-2-1 =03:47 – [[Ryan Getzlaf]] (1)<br>07:13 – ''pp'' – [[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]] (1)
|4-2-2 =''No scoring''
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =[[Jarome Iginla]] (2) – 00:11<br>Jarome Iginla (3) – 03:27
|4-4-1 =01:36 – [[Sean O'Donnell]] (1)
|4-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie4-1 =[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] 25 saves / 27 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Miikka Kiprusoff]] 27 saves / 30 shots


|date5 =April 29
Game 5 was the first time that a road team won a game in the series with a 6-3 Edmonton victory. The teams entered a crazy third period with Edmonton up 2-1 having killed off 6 penalties in the first and second periods. Twelve seconds in, Shawn Horcoff of the Oilers managed to put in a short-handed goal past Vesa Toskala making the score 3-1. Shortly after, the Sharks scored their first power play goal in three games with Christian Ehrhoff putting it in the Edmonton net at 0:44. Less than two minutes later Cheechoo put another one past Roloson tying the game up. However, the Oilers answered back with Fernando Pisani scoring his second goal of the game. Despite the rather crazy opening, the Sharks took 6 penalties in the third period, which proved very costly. Jarret Stoll quickly capitalized on a Jonathan Cheechoo interference call and then Ryan Smyth for an Edmonton five-on-three later in the period sealing the game. The two teams headed back to Edmonton, where the Oilers took the game 2-0, with the game-winning goal from Michael Peca, to win the series, 4-2.
|score5 =2–3
|won5 =2
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-cgy/2006/04/29/2005030175#game=2005030175,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =''No scoring''
|5-1-2 =05:49 – ''sh'' – [[Tony Amonte]] (2)<br>16:18 – ''pp'' – [[Jarome Iginla]] (4)
|5-2-1 =''No scoring''
|5-2-2 =01:03 – Jarome Iginla (5)
|5-3-1 =[[Andy McDonald (ice hockey)|Andy McDonald]] (1) – ''pp'' – 08:19<br>[[Rob Niedermayer]] (1) – ''pp'' – 19:27
|5-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie5-1 =[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] 5 saves / 8 shots<br>[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 19 saves / 19 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Miikka Kiprusoff]] 26 saves / 28 shots


|date6 =May 1
{|class="wikitable"
|score6 =1–2
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
|won6 =1
!Score
|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-ana/2006/05/01/2005030176#game=2005030176,game_state=final
!SJ goals
|6-1-1 =''No scoring''
!EDM goals
|6-1-2 =[[Stéphane Yelle|Stephane Yelle]] (1) – 10:18
|-
|6-2-1 =07:49 – [[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]] (2)
|1||May 7|| || at Sharks 2, Oilers 1 || [[Christian Ehrhoff|Ehrhoff]], Marleau || Spacek
|6-2-2 =''No scoring''
|-
|6-3-1 =14:23 – ''pp'' – [[Scott Niedermayer]] (2)
|2||May 8|| || at Sharks 2, Oilers 1 || [[Tom Preissing|Preissing]], [[Joe Thornton|J. Thornton]] || Samsonov
|6-3-2 =''No scoring''
|-
|goalie6-1 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 21 saves / 22 shots
|3||May 10|| 2:24, 3OT || at Oilers 3, Sharks 2 || Marleau, Rissmiller || [[Marc-Andre Bergeron|Bergeron]], '''Horcoff''', Torres
|goalie6-2 =[[Miikka Kiprusoff]] 28 saves / 30 shots
|-
|4||May 12|| || at Oilers 6, Sharks 3 || Cheechoo, Ekman, J. Thornton || Hemsky, Horcoff, [[Michael Peca|Peca]],<br>Samsonov, [[Jason Smith (hockey)|Smith]], Stoll
|-
|5||May 14|| || Oilers 6, at Sharks 3 || Cheechoo, Ehrhoff, S. Thornton || Pisani 2, Smyth 2, Horcoff,<br> Stoll
|-
|6||May 17|| || at Oilers 2, Sharks 0 || none ([[Dwayne Roloson|Roloson]] shutout) || Horcoff, Peca
|-
!colspan=4|Oilers win series 4-2
|'''4 with 2''' || '''Horcoff 4, 4 with 2'''
|}


|date7 =May 3
====(6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim defeat (7) Colorado Avalanche, 4 games to 0====
|score7 =3–0
Fresh off of the first round's only series to go the full seven games, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim advanced to play the Colorado Avalanche in the second round. The Avalanche went 3-1 against Anaheim in the regular season, though all four games were decided by a single goal, and Anaheim's win was in overtime. This is the first playoff series between the teams.
|won7 =1
|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-cgy/2006/05/03/2005030177#game=2005030177,game_state=final
|7-1-1 =''No scoring''
|7-1-2 =''No scoring''
|7-2-1 =[[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]] (3) – 05:12<br>[[Ruslan Salei]] (1) – 19:01
|7-2-2 =''No scoring''
|7-3-1 =[[Jeff Friesen]] (2) – ''en '' – 19:40
|7-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie7-1 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 22 saves / 22 shots
|goalie7-2 =[[Miikka Kiprusoff]] 29 saves / 31 shots


|series = Anaheim won series 4–3
Game 1 started slow with no goals in the first period, but [[Samuel Påhlsson]] would give Anaheim the lead early in the second. Two goals in the last minute of the period gave Anaheim a 4-0 advantage that would be extended to 5-0 by game's end, as rookie [[Ilya Bryzgalov]] recorded his second straight shutout.
}}


====(4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks====
Bryzgalov was at it again in Game 2, becoming the first goalie since his teammate, [[Jean-Sebastien Giguere]], to record three straight playoff shutouts as the Ducks won 3-0. Bryzgalov joins [[Frank McCool]] as the only rookie to accomplish such a feat, which was tested late when the Avalanche pulled goalie [[Jose Theodore]] in a desperate attempt to score. Stretching back to midway through the first period of Game 6 of the previous series, the Ducks have not been scored on in 229:42, giving Bryzgalov the fourth longest playoff shutout streak in NHL history. He would break the record for longest such streak at 0:27 of the third period of Game 3 if the Avalanche did not score before then.


The Nashville Predators entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Western Conference with 106 points. San Jose qualified as the fifth seed earning 99 points during the regular season. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Nashville won this year's four game regular season series earning six of eight points during the season.
However, the third game was a little bit more climactic than the first two, when Bryzgalov recorded two shutouts to take the Avs out of the game. [[Dan Hinote]] scored late in the 1st period for the Avs, setting Bryzgalov's streak at second all-time, clocking in at just under 250 minutes. [[Joffrey Lupul]] brought the Ducks back even in the second, but a [[Jim Dowd (hockey player)|Jim Dowd]] tally gave the Avs another lead. Two more from Lupul, his first career hat trick, put the Ducks in a 3-2 lead late, but a [[Rob Blake]] follow-up from a heavy [[Alex Tanguay]] shot tied the score. It took 16:30 of extra time to get a winner, and it was decided by Joffrey Lupul, whose fourth goal on the night put the Ducks in a commanding 3-0 series lead. A newspaper in Edmonton reported the final score as Lupul 4, Avs 3. [http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists/Jones/2006/05/19/1588257-sun.html]


The Sharks eliminated the Predators in five games. All four of the Predators goals in game one came on the power play as Nashville took the opening game 4–3. In game two San Jose scored three first period power play goals and [[Vesa Toskala]] earned a shutout in the Sharks 3–0 victory. San Jose captain [[Patrick Marleau]] scored twice in game three as the Sharks won 4–1. Nashville attempted to make a comeback late in game four as the Sharks hung on to win 5–4, Patrick Marleau recorded a hat trick in the victory. San Jose continued to exploit the Predators penalty killing in game five as they scored twice on the power play and ended Nashville's season with a 2–1 victory.
The fourth game would be the Avs' last in the playoffs, as they lost 4-1 in Colorado. [[Joe Sakic]] scored the only goal for the Avs early in the first period. The Ducks equalized late in the first period via a [[Todd Marchant]] goal. Bryzgalov didn't allow the puck past him in the next two periods, with [[Teemu Selanne]] scoring the winning goal early in the second period. Also, [[Dustin Penner]] scoring in the sixth minute of the third period, and Marchant scored his second goal of the game late in the third period to secure Anaheim's berth in the Western Conference finals.


{{NHLPlayoffs
{|class="wikitable"
|team1=San Jose Sharks
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
|team2=Nashville Predators
!Score
|stadium2=[[HP Pavilion at San Jose|HP Pavilion]]
!ANA goals
|stadium1=[[Gaylord Entertainment Center]]
!COL goals
|-
|1||May 5|| || at Mighty Ducks 5, Avalanche 0 || Kunitz, Lupul, [[Travis Moen|Moen]], Påhlsson, Selänne || none ([[Ilja Bryzgalov|Bryzgalov]] shutout)
|-
|2||May 7|| || at Mighty Ducks 3, Avalanche 0 || Getzlaf, Lupul, Salei || none (Bryzgalov shutout)
|-
|3||May 9||16:30, OT|| Mighty Ducks 4, at Avalanche 3 || '''Lupul 4''' || Blake, Dowd, [[Dan Hinote|Hinote]]
|-
|4||May 11|| || Mighty Ducks 4, at Avalanche 1 || [[Todd Marchant|Marchant]] 2, [[Dustin Penner|Penner]], Selänne || Sakic
|-
!colspan=4|Mighty Ducks win series 4-0
|'''Lupul 6, Marchant 2, Selänne 2'''||'''4 with 1'''
|}


|date1 =April 21
==Conference Finals==
|score1 =3–4
===Eastern Conference===
|won1 =2
====(2) Carolina Hurricanes defeat (4) Buffalo Sabres, 4 games to 3====
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-nsh/2006/04/21/2005030181#game=2005030181,game_state=final
The [[Carolina Hurricanes]] and [[Buffalo Sabres]] began the series labeled as "mirror images" of each other. Both teams were expected to do little in the pre-season, largely because of a lack of major moves in free agency in the off-season attributed to both teams' small-market status. Yet, both teams succeeded, thanks to a successful adjustment to the new, up-tempo game played in the NHL. The two teams were separated by just two points in the regular season, and both finished with 52 wins (Carolina had more points by virtue of taking two more games to overtime than Buffalo did). In their post-season runs, both teams had won their first round series 4-2, and their second round series 4-1. Both teams' post-season success had been credited to team defense, offensive scoring depth and the outstanding play of a rookie goaltender, [[Ryan Miller]] for the Sabres, and [[Cam Ward]] for the Hurricanes.
|1-1-1 =[[Mark Smith (ice hockey)|Mark Smith]] (1) – 04:12
|1-1-2 =08:57 – ''pp'' – [[Mike Sillinger]] (1)<br>10:56 – ''pp'' – [[Martin Erat]] (1)<br>19:56 – ''pp'' – [[Shea Weber]] (1)
|1-2-1 =[[Nils Ekman]] (1) – ''pp'' – 08:50
|1-2-2 =''No scoring''
|1-3-1 =[[Scott Thornton (ice hockey)|Scott Thornton]] (1) – 10:31
|1-3-2 =12:06 – ''pp'' – [[Adam Hall]] (1)
|goalie1-1 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 26 saves / 30 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Chris Mason (ice hockey)|Chris Mason]] 31 saves / 34 shots


|date2 =April 23
Thus, something had to give when the two teams first took the ice for Game 1 on [[May 20]] in Carolina. One theme that held true early was Buffalo's propensity for scoring first, as defenseman [[Henrik Tallinder]] finished off a barrage on Ward by beating the rookie goaltender three minutes in. Carolina amped up the pressure, and [[Rod Brind'Amour]] converted a turnover into a goal that ensured a 1-1 first period deadlock. Buffalo responded in the second, outshooting Carolina 13-4 and getting a beautiful goal from co-captain [[Daniel Briere]] in transition. Carolina applied plenty of pressure in the 3rd, but the Sabres took advantage of a failed power-play when [[Jay McKee]] emerged from the penalty box to beat Ward for another Buffalo transition marker. [[Mike Commodore]] cut the defecit to 3-2 with a shorthanded tally three minutes from the buzzer, but the Hurricanes failed to take advantage of opportunities down the stretch and the Sabres celebrated a 3-2 win.
|score2 =3–0
|won2 =1
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-nsh/2006/04/23/2005030182#game=2005030182,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =[[Jonathan Cheechoo]] (1) – ''pp'' – 05:37<br>[[Patrick Marleau]] (1) – ''pp'' – 16:31<br>[[Mark Smith (ice hockey)|Mark Smith]] (2) – ''pp'' – 17:31
|2-1-2 =''No scoring''
|2-2-1 =''No scoring''
|2-2-2 =''No scoring''
|2-3-1 =''No scoring''
|2-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie2-1 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 25 saves / 25 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Chris Mason (ice hockey)|Chris Mason]] 34 saves / 37 shots


|date3 =April 25
Buffalo head coach [[Lindy Ruff]] expected the Hurricanes to come out and give their best effort in Game 2. Carolina did not disappoint. Urged on by a raucous [[RBC Center]] crowd, the 'Canes had the better of the play in the 1st period, climaxed by a [[Frantisek Kaberle]] power-play goal. However, Buffalo evened the game 48 seconds from intermission when a point shot pinballed past Ward. Perhaps as a result of the tie score, the 'Canes put the pedal to the medal and absolutely dominated Buffalo in the second period, outshooting the Sabres 16-4 and picking up two goals from veteran forward [[Ray Whitney]]. A near Buffalo goal, saved from trickling in the net by an alert Hurricanes defenseman [[Glen Wesley]], and a [[Justin Williams]] tally in the third period, which should have been stopped by Miller, both seemed meaningless at the time, but two late Buffalo goals (by [[Chris Drury]] and [[Derek Roy]]) made them quite important. The 4-3 Hurricanes win was not without controversy, as 'Canes boss [[Peter Laviolette]] accused the Sabres of diving in order to draw four penalty calls against Carolina in the third period. Ruff shot back that the Sabres were just following Carolina's example, beginning a war of words between the two bosses.
|score3 =1–4
|won3 =1
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nsh-vs-sjs/2006/04/25/2005030183#game=2005030183,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =''No scoring''
|3-1-2 =[[Kimmo Timonen]] (1) – ''sh'' – 06:33
|3-2-1 =12:10 – [[Patrick Marleau]] (2)<br>18:48 – ''pp'' – [[Steve Bernier]] (1)
|3-2-2 =''No scoring''
|3-3-1 =15:38 – [[Jonathan Cheechoo]] (2)<br>16:45 – Patrick Marleau (3)
|3-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie3-1 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 16 saves / 17 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Chris Mason (ice hockey)|Chris Mason]] 36 saves / 40 shots


|date4 =April 27
Game 3 was similar, except this time the two teams were reversed. Buffalo had the better of the play in the 1st, but led just 1-1, this time tieing the game when [[Chris Drury]] deflected a shot past Ward. In this second period, it would be Buffalo that dominated, unleashing a barrage on Ward that yielded three goals, two for [[Daniel Briere]] and one for [[Ales Kotalik]]. After the Kotalik goal, Ward was pulled in favor of [[Martin Gerber]], the Hurricanes #1 goaltender during the regular season. Gerber was immediately called into duty and made two impressive saves on break-aways, giving Carolina momentum. The Hurricanes responded with tallies from [[Cory Stillman]] and [[Eric Staal]], extending Staal's point streak to 13 games. A fourth goal would not come in spite of lots of pressure in the Buffalo zone in the final moments. The Sabres emerged with a 2-1 series lead, but lost Tallinder, one of their top defensemen, to a broken arm that would sideline him for the rest of the post-season.
|score4 =4–5
|won4 =1
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nsh-vs-sjs/2006/04/27/2005030184#game=2005030184,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =07:03 – [[Patrick Rissmiller]] (1)
|4-1-2 =[[Paul Kariya]] (1) – ''pp'' – 08:55
|4-2-1 =07:01 – ''pp'' – [[Patrick Marleau]] (4)<br>11:30 – ''pp'' – Patrick Marleau (5)<br>12:56 – [[Mark Smith (ice hockey)|Mark Smith]] (3)
|4-2-2 =[[Shea Weber]] (2) – 05:45
|4-3-1 =04:13 – [[Patrick Marleau]] (6)
|4-3-2 =[[Mike Sillinger]] (2) – 10:47<br>[[Scott Hartnell]] (1) – 15:38
|goalie4-1 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 26 saves / 30 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Chris Mason (ice hockey)|Chris Mason]] 19 saves / 24 shots


|date5 =April 30
Once more, the past game's result would have no reflection on the next game, as Game 4 provided, as of yet, the series' first large margin of victory for either side. The game went Carolina's way, as the 'Canes emerged with a 4-0 shutout win. Much of the pregame conjecture centered around whom Laviolette would turn to in net. In the end, the call went to the veteran Gerber, and the [[Switzerland]] native responded. Gerber made big save after big save in the first period, keeping the score deadlocked before [[Mark Recchi]] and Staal tallied to give the 'Canes a 2-0 1st period lead. [[Andrew Ladd]] and [[Bret Hedican]] added their first goals of the post-season to provide the final margin. The goals and the result were largely blamed on a Buffalo defense missing Talinder, [[Dmitri Kalinin]] and [[Teppo Numminen]], who had been injured in Game 1, forcing seldom-used [[Jeff Jillson]] and [[Doug Janik]] into the line-up.
|score5 =2–1
|won5 =1
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-nsh/2006/04/30/2005030185#game=2005030185,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =[[Milan Michálek|Milan Michalek]] (1) – ''pp'' – 19:59
|5-1-2 =''No scoring''
|5-2-1 =[[Patrick Marleau]] (7) – ''pp'' – 13:24
|5-2-2 =''No scoring''
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|5-3-2 =11:06 – ''pp'' – [[Paul Kariya]] (2)
|goalie5-1 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 34 saves / 35 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Chris Mason (ice hockey)|Chris Mason]] 34 saves / 36 shots


|series = San Jose won series 4–1
Ruff was miffed that these individuals received so much blame in Game 4, and wanted his team to respond in Game 5. Once more, Gerber started in net for the Hurricanes, but on this night he was not on his game. Drury scored his ninth of the post-season to open the scoring and, after a Williams goal 17 seconds later tied the score, [[Derek Roy]] beat Gerber on a seemingly stoppable shot to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. Things got worse two minutes into the second when a fallen Wesley and a Commodore turnover allowed Sabre defenseman [[Toni Lydman]] to break-away in and beat Gerber, giving Buffalo a 3-1 lead. Laviolette once more made a mid-game switch, this time turning back to Ward, who had not played poorly in his Game 3 ousting. Momentum would swing Carolina's way once more, and within 10 minutes the Hurricanes had evened the score thanks to goals from Recchi and Brind'Amour. A tense thirty minutes followed, with neither team wanting to make a pivotal mistake. As a result, the Hurricanes registered only one shot on goal in the entire 3rd period. The best scoring opportunity in this frame was a [[Maxim Afinogenov]] break-away that Ward turned aside. Buffalo had an opportunity to win the game when Hedican was whistled for hooking 41 seconds from the final gun. The Sabres failed to score in regulation, sending the series to overtime for the first time. Though the power play would pass without a score, Buffalo exhibited continued pressure on the Hurricane net, forcing Ward to make a game-saving stop on [[Jochen Hecht]]. Momentum from this stop built when Sabre forward [[J.P. Dumont]] was sent to the penalty box for hooking. The Hurricanes would make Dumont and Buffalo pay, as Stillman beat Miller with a rebound goal. With the 4-3 win, the Hurricanes earned their first lead of the series.
}}


==Conference semifinals==
Post-game, Ruff accused the Hurricanes of embellishing penalties and looking for calls. Also, Eric Staal received an assist on the Brind'Amour goal to push his consecutive points streak to 15 games. The record is 19 games, set by [[Bryan Trottier]] for the [[New York Islanders]] in [[1981]].


===Eastern Conference semifinals===
With Teppo Numminen returning to the bench as a spiritual leader for the Sabres, Game 6 started out comfortably for the home side, as J.P. Dumont scored on a rebound early in the first period to give the Sabres a lead. It held until late in the third period, when [[Bret Hedican]] put a shot into the top corner to level the sides and send it into overtime. After [[Doug Weight]] was given a penalty early in the extra session, Daniel Brière sent the series to a Game 7 by putting a shot in that went off Cam Ward's glove and into the net.


====(1) Ottawa Senators vs. (4) Buffalo Sabres====
In Game 7, the Sabres remained competitive despite the loss of defenseman [[Jay McKee]], leaving them with four defenders sidelined because of injury. Entering the third, however, Buffalo led, 2-1, however, Carolina tied it and then took the lead on a power-play goal that resulted when [[Brian Campbell]] unintentionally fired the puck over the glass in his own end. Carolina scored another goal with less than a minute left to win the game, 4-2, and earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.


This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Buffalo winning both previous series. They last met in the [[1999 Stanley Cup playoffs|1999 Eastern Conference quarterfinals]] where Buffalo won in four games. Ottawa won five of the eight games during this year's regular season series.
{|class="wikitable"
!colspan=3|Game-by-Game
!Score
!CAR goals
!BUF goals
|-
|1||May 20|| || Sabres 3, at Hurricanes 2 || Brind'Amour, [[Mike Commodore|Commodore]] || Brière, McKee, Tallinder
|-
|2||May 22|| || at Hurricanes 4, Sabres 3 || Whitney 2, Kaberle, Williams || Drury, Roy, Vanek
|-
|3||May 24|| || at Sabres 4, Hurricanes 3 || Stillman 2, Staal || Brière 2, Drury, Kotalik
|-
|4||May 26|| || Hurricanes 4, at Sabres 0 || [[Bret Hedican|Hedican]], [[Andrew Ladd|Ladd]], Recchi,<br>Staal || none (Gerber shutout)
|-
|5||May 28|| 8:46, OT || at Hurricanes 4, Sabres 3 || Brind'Amour, Recchi, '''Stillman''',<br>Williams || Drury, [[Toni Lydman|Lydman]], Roy
|-
|6||May 30|| 4:22, OT || at Sabres 2, Hurricanes 1 || Hedican || '''Brière''', Dumont
|-
|7||June 1|| || at Hurricanes 4, Sabres 2 || Brind'Amour, Commodore, Weight, Williams || Hecht, [[Doug Janik|Janik]]
|-
!colspan=4|Hurricanes win series 4-3
|'''Brind'Amour 3, Stillman 3, Williams 3''' || '''Brière 4, Drury 3'''
|}


The Sabres eliminated the Senators in five games. Sabres forward [[Tim Connolly]] tied game one with just 10.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at six and [[Chris Drury]] ended the game just 18 seconds into overtime as Buffalo won 7–6. [[Ryan Miller]] faced 44 shots and allowed just one goal against as the Sabres won game two 2–1. Overtime was required in game three after [[Jason Spezza]] tied the game late in the third period. [[Jean-Pierre Dumont]] ended the game with a goal at 5:05 of the first overtime as the Sabres took the game 3–2. In game four [[Wade Redden]] scored a power-play goal early in the third period as the Senators earned a 2–1 victory. Sabres rookie forward [[Jason Pominville]] became the first player in league history to score a short-handed overtime goal to end a series as he scored just 2:26 into the first overtime as Buffalo won game five 3–2.<ref>{{cite web|title=Buffalo Wins On Pominville's Heroics|url=http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=437119|date=May 13, 2006|access-date=September 22, 2015}}</ref>
===Western Conference===
====(8) Edmonton Oilers defeat (6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4 games to 1====
The Oilers opened up the scoring in the first game of the series in the first period when Michael Peca scored his second short-handed goal of the playoffs with a long pass from Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson. The Ducks quickly answered back with a goal on a power play, tying the game. The Oilers took the lead in the middle of the second period when Ales Hemsky knocked in a high rebound. The Oilers then sealed the deal in the third period with an empty-netter by Todd Harvey.


{{NHLPlayoffs
The second game of the series was one which many declared a "must-win" for Anaheim <sup>[http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/stanleycup2006/storyview.html?/story/stanleycup2006/national/2006/05/19/oilers-ducks-summary.html] [http://www.nhl.com/news/2006/05/272996.html]</sup> in order to avoid going down 2-0 in the series heading to Rexall Place, where they had not won since 1999. However, the Oilers opened with another special-teams goal in the first period as Chris Pronger scored on a power-play with a rocket of a shot coming off the blue line thirteen minutes in. However, the Ducks responded in the second with Jeff Friesen putting a rebound past Roloson. Roloson remained solid after that, stopping 33 shots on the night. Fernando Pisani, who led the Oilers in goals, notched his eighth of the playoffs through the five-hole of Ilya Bryzgalov with three minutes left in the second period. During the third period, the Ducks pressured Edmonton, much like Game 1, but were unable to beat Roloson as well as the Edmonton shot-blocking. Michael Peca notched his second goal of the series with an empty-netter as time ran out to make sure the Oilers would return to Rexall Place with a 2-0 series lead.
|team1=Buffalo Sabres
|team2=Ottawa Senators
|stadium2=[[HSBC Arena (Buffalo)|HSBC Arena]]
|stadium1=[[Scotiabank Place]]


|date1 =May 5
The third and perhaps most exciting game of the series brought the game back to Rexall Place in Edmonton. The Ducks sought to break the Oilers six-game playoff win streak in a building they have not won in since 1999. The first period was marred with over 40 penalty minutes assessed in total. However, Toby Peterson managed to put the Oilers in the lead on a failed Bryzgalov clearing attempt which left the net wide open. Both teams could not score in the second as things seemed to calm down a little. However, the third period was a complete roller coaster ride. First, Michael Peca scored his fourth goal in as many games on a breakaway. Just over a minute later, Steve Staios scored his first goal of the playoffs on a power play giving the Oilers a 3-0 lead. Chris Pronger seemed to put this out of reach on a five-on-three power play goal. The Oilers had scored three goals in two and a half minutes giving them a seemingly safe 4-0 lead. However, the Ducks refused to bow out. Sean O'Donnell opened up the scoring for the Ducks at just past the seven-minute mark of the third. Teemu Selanne, who had been quiet for much of the series, put the Ducks right back in with his first goal of the series. Chris Kunitz then put the Ducks within a goal as momentum completely shifted over. However, Pisani scored his ninth goal of the playoffs off a bad Anaheim faceoff putting the Oilers back ahead by two. This tied him for the most goals in the playoffs with Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks with nine. Teemu Selanne then scored his second goal of the game with less than two minutes left bringing it back to a one-goal game. However, the Oilers managed to hang on in the dying seconds and secure a 3-0 series lead with a chance to sweep at Rexall Place in Game 4. The game had a total of 76 penalty minutes handed out by the time everything was done.
|score1 =7–6
|ot1 =1
|won1 =1
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-ott/2006/05/05/2005030211#game=2005030211,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =[[Mike Grier]] (3) – 00:35<br>[[Teppo Numminen]] (1) – ''pp'' – 06:56
|1-1-2 =03:05 – [[Jason Spezza]] (3)<br>03:20 – [[Bryan Smolinski]] (2)
|1-2-1 =[[Tim Connolly]] (4) – ''sh'' – 03:29<br>[[Derek Roy]] (2) – 19:30
|1-2-2 =01:47 – [[Martin Havlát|Martin Havlat]] (7)<br>04:15 – ''pp'' – [[Dany Heatley]] (3)
|1-3-1 =Derek Roy (3) – ''sh'' – 18:23<br>Tim Connolly (5) – 19:49
|1-3-2 =00:16 – [[Mike Fisher (ice hockey)|Mike Fisher]] (2)<br>18:47 – ''pp'' – Bryan Smolinski (3)
|1-4-1 =[[Chris Drury]] (4) – 00:18
|1-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie1-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 27 saves / 33 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 16 saves / 23 shots


|date2 =May 8
After a less than stellar performance in Game 3, Ducks coach [[Randy Carlyle]] replaced Bryzgalov with [[Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] for Game 4, hoping the shakeup would energize his team. It worked quite well, as the Ducks allowed only three shots in the first period, scoring three goals to jump out quickly and take the wild Edmonton crowd out of the game. Edmonton did lead a comeback in the second period, coming within one of the Ducks, but an inspired Joffrey Lupul saw a return to form, scoring two insurance goals to take the series back to Orange County.
|score2 =2–1
|won2 =1
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-ott/2006/05/08/2005030212#game=2005030212,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =''No scoring''
|2-1-2 =''No scoring''
|2-2-1 =[[Jean-Pierre Dumont]] (5) – 03:33<br>[[Jochen Hecht]] (1) – 06:00
|2-2-2 =07:40 – [[Chris Phillips]] (2)
|2-3-1 =''No scoring''
|2-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie2-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 43 saves / 44 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 15 saves / 17 shots


|date3 =May 10
Game 5 returned to Anaheim, where the first period saw several more penalties called against the Oilers. Although the Oilers successfully killed off the penalty to Matt Greene, Jaroslav Spacek's hooking minor led to a power play goal for the Ducks, scored by Francois Beauchemin. The first period ended with the Ducks up 1-0 and outshooting the Oilers, 14-8. Early in the second period, the Ducks took a penalty that was successfully killed off, but immediately after the penalty expired, the Oilers tied the game with a rebound goal from Ethan Moreau. Five minutes later, Raffi Torres tipped in a shot from Marc-Andre Bergeron to take the lead in the game. Although several good chances for both teams followed, including a shot by Ducks player Rob Niedermayer at 1:30 of the third period that went off the crossbar, the lead was held by the Oilers. Despite late pressure by the Ducks, the Oilers held on to win the Western Conference and move on to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990. They are also the first eighth-seeded team to reach the Finals under the current playoff format (which was introduced in 1994).
|score3 =2–3
|ot3 =1
|won3 =1
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-buf/2006/05/10/2005030213#game=2005030213,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =09:24 – ''pp'' – [[Chris Drury]] (5)
|3-1-2 =''No scoring''
|3-2-1 =''No scoring''
|3-2-2 =''No scoring''
|3-3-1 =10:15 – [[Maxim Afinogenov]] (3)
|3-3-2 =[[Jason Spezza]] (4) – ''pp'' – 05:47<br>Jason Spezza (5) – ''pp'' – 18:30
|3-4-1 =05:05 – [[Jean-Pierre Dumont]] (6)
|3-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie3-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 26 saves / 28 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 21 saves / 24 shots


|date4 =May 11
{|class="wikitable"
|score4 =2–1
!colspan=2|Game-by-Game
|won4 =2
!Score
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-buf/2006/05/11/2005030214#game=2005030214,game_state=final
!ANA goals
|4-1-1 =''No scoring''
!EDM goals
|4-1-2 =[[Brian Pothier]] (1) – 04:56
|-
|4-2-1 =16:18 – [[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] (4)
|1||May 19|| Oilers 3, at Mighty Ducks 1 || McDonald || [[Todd Harvey|Harvey]], Hemsky, Peca
|4-2-2 =''No scoring''
|-
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|2||May 21|| Oilers 3, at Mighty Ducks 1 || Friesen || Pisani, Peca, Pronger
|4-3-2 =[[Wade Redden]] (2) – ''pp'' – 02:52
|-
|goalie4-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 26 saves / 28 shots
|3||May 23|| at Oilers 5, Mighty Ducks 4 || Selänne 2, Kunitz, O'Donnell || Peca, [[Toby Petersen|Petersen]], Pisani,<br>Pronger, [[Steve Staios|Staios]]
|goalie4-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 29 saves / 30 shots
|-

|4||May 25|| Mighty Ducks 6, at Oilers 3 || Lupul 2, Penner 2, Getzlaf,<br>Salei || Bergeron, [[Georges Laraque|Laraque]], Smyth
|date5 =May 13
|-
|score5 =3–2
|5||May 27|| Oilers 2, at Mighty Ducks 1 || Beauchemin || [[Ethan Moreau|Moreau]], Torres
|ot5 =1
|-
|won5 =1
!colspan=3|Oilers win series 4-1
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-ott/2006/05/13/2005030215#game=2005030215,game_state=final
|'''Selänne 2, Lupul 2, Penner 2'''|||'''Peca 3, Pisani 2, Pronger 2'''
|5-1-1 =[[Henrik Tallinder]] (1) – 00:33
|}
|5-1-2 =10:26 – ''pp'' – [[Daniel Alfredsson]] (2)
|5-2-1 =[[Chris Drury]] (6) – ''pp'' – 07:56
|5-2-2 =13:59 – [[Brian Pothier]] (2)
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|5-3-2 =''No scoring''
|5-4-1 =[[Jason Pominville]] (5) – ''sh'' – 02:26
|5-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie5-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 34 saves / 36 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Ray Emery]] 21 saves / 24 shots

|series = Buffalo won series 4–1
}}

====(2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (3) New Jersey Devils====

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with the teams splitting the two previous series. They last met in the [[2002 Stanley Cup playoffs|2002 Eastern Conference quarterfinals]] where Carolina won in six games. Carolina won this year's four game regular season series earning five of eight points during the season.

The Hurricanes defeated New Jersey in five games. Carolina scored five power-play goals in game one as they won 6–0. [[Scott Gomez]] gave the Devils a 2–1 lead with just over twenty seconds to go in the third period of game two, however just 18 seconds later [[Eric Staal]] scored the game-tying goal with just three seconds left in regulation time to send the game into overtime. [[Niclas Wallin]] tallied the game-winner 3:09 into the first overtime. In game three Carolina's [[Rod Brind'Amour]] scored the game-winner with 1:01 to play in the second period. New Jersey jumped out to a 5–0 lead and won game four with a final score of 5–1. [[Cory Stillman]] scored the series-winning goal at 14:20 of the second period as the Hurricanes held on for a 4–1 victory in game five.

{{NHLPlayoffs
|team1=New Jersey Devils
|team2=Carolina Hurricanes
|stadium2=[[Continental Airlines Arena]]
|stadium1=[[RBC Center]]

|date1 =May 6
|score1 =0–6
|won1 =2
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-car/2006/05/06/2005030221#game=2005030221,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =''No scoring''
|1-1-2 =11:37 – ''pp'' – [[Ray Whitney (ice hockey)|Ray Whitney]] (2)
|1-2-1 =''No scoring''
|1-2-2 =02:58 – Ray Whitney (3)<br>17:32 – ''pp'' – [[Eric Staal]] (3)<br>18:06 – ''pp'' – [[Cory Stillman]] (3)
|1-3-1 =''No scoring''
|1-3-2 =12:07 – ''pp'' – [[Doug Weight]] (1)<br>13:07 – ''pp'' – [[Rod Brind'Amour]] (5)
|goalie1-1 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 29 saves / 35 shots<br>[[Scott Clemmensen]] 3 shots / 3 saves
|goalie1-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 21 saves / 21 shots

|date2 =May 8
|score2 =2–3
|ot2 =1
|won2 =2
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-car/2006/05/08/2005030222#game=2005030222,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =[[Jamie Langenbrunner]] (3) – 06:20
|2-1-2 =''No scoring''
|2-2-1 =''No scoring''
|2-2-2 =18:18 – ''pp'' – [[Mark Recchi]] (2)
|2-3-1 =[[Scott Gomez]] (3) – 19:39
|2-3-2 =19:57 – [[Eric Staal]] (4)
|2-4-1 =''No scoring''
|2-4-2 =03:09 – [[Niclas Wallin]] (1)
|goalie2-1 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 35 saves / 38 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 21 saves / 23 shots

|date3 =May 10
|score3 =3–2
|won3 =2
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-njd/2006/05/10/2005030223#game=2005030223,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =02:57 – [[Sergei Brylin]] (1)
|3-1-2 =[[Matt Cullen]] (4) – ''pp'' – 08:16<br>[[Justin Williams]] (2) – 10:07
|3-2-1 =08:45 – ''pp'' – [[Patrik Eliáš|Patrik Elias]] (6)
|3-2-2 =[[Rod Brind'Amour]] (6) – ''pp'' – 18:59
|3-3-1 =''No scoring''
|3-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie3-1 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 21 saves / 24 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 28 saves / 30 shots

|date4 =May 13
|score4 =1–5
|won4 =1
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-njd/2006/05/13/2005030224#game=2005030224,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =01:58 – ''pp'' – [[Scott Gomez]] (4)<br>11:02 – ''sh'' – [[Jay Pandolfo]] (1)<br>19:00 – ''pp'' – Scott Gomez (5)
|4-1-2 =''No scoring''
|4-2-1 =00:44 – [[Sergei Brylin]] (2)<br>04:23 – [[John Madden (ice hockey)|John Madden]] (4)
|4-2-2 =[[Mark Recchi]] (3) – 11:04
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie4-1 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 19 saves / 20 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 13 saves / 17 shots<br>[[Martin Gerber]] 15 saves / 16 shots

|date5 =May 14
|score5 =1–4
|won5 =2
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-car/2006/05/14/2005030225#game=2005030225,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =[[Brian Gionta]] (3) – 00:57
|5-1-2 =08:39 – [[František Kaberle|Frantisek Kaberle]] (1)
|5-2-1 =''No scoring''
|5-2-2 =14:20 – ''pp'' – [[Cory Stillman]] (4)
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|5-3-2 =07:22 – [[Ray Whitney (ice hockey)|Ray Whitney]] (4)<br>18:32 – ''en'' – [[Eric Staal]] (5)
|goalie5-1 =[[Martin Brodeur]] 27 saves / 30 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 17 saves / 18 shots

|series = Carolina won series 4–1
}}

===Western Conference semifinals===

====(5) San Jose Sharks vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers====

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Edmonton won three of the four games during this year's regular season series.

The Oilers came back from a two-game deficit to defeat the Sharks in six games. [[Patrick Marleau]] recorded a goal and an assist during game one in a 2–1 San Jose victory. The Sharks won game two 2–1 with Joe Thornton scoring the game-winner on the power play in the second period. Sharks goaltender [[Vesa Toskala]] made 55 saves in a losing effort in game three as the Oilers won in a triple-overtime on a goal scored by [[Shawn Horcoff]] at 2:24 to give Edmonton a 3–2 win. Edmonton came back from an early 3–1 deficit in game four and scored five unanswered goals to win 6–3 and to even the series at two games apiece. After San Jose tied game five early the third period the Oilers scored three unanswered goals as they took another 6–3 victory. [[Dwayne Roloson]] posted a 24 save shutout in game six as the Oilers took the game 2–0 with the game-winning goal from [[Michael Peca]] to win the series four games to two.

{{NHLPlayoffs
|team1=Edmonton Oilers
|team2=San Jose Sharks
|stadium2=[[Rexall Place]]
|stadium1=[[HP Pavilion at San Jose|HP Pavilion]]

|date1 =May 7
|score1 =1–2
|won1 =2
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-sjs/2006/05/07/2005030231#game=2005030231,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =[[Jaroslav Špaček|Jaroslav Spacek]] (3) – ''pp'' – 02:33
|1-1-2 =07:42 – [[Patrick Marleau]] (8)
|1-2-1 =''No scoring''
|1-2-2 =03:14 – [[Christian Ehrhoff]] (1)
|1-3-1 =''No scoring''
|1-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie1-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 28 saves / 30 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 15 saves / 16 shots

|date2 =May 8
|score2 =1–2
|won2 =2
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-sjs/2006/05/08/2005030232#game=2005030232,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =''No scoring''
|2-1-2 =04:26 – [[Tom Preissing]] (1)
|2-2-1 =[[Sergei Samsonov]] (2) – 15:23
|2-2-2 =17:29 – ''pp'' – [[Joe Thornton]] (1)
|2-3-1 =''No scoring''
|2-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie2-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 36 saves / 38 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 24 saves / 25 shots

|date3 =May 10
|score3 =2–3
|ot3 =3
|won3 =1
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-edm/2006/05/10/2005030233#game=2005030233,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =10:04 – ''pp'' – [[Marc-André Bergeron|Marc-Andre Bergeron]] (1)
|3-1-2 =''No scoring''
|3-2-1 =''No scoring''
|3-2-2 =[[Patrick Marleau]] (9) – 01:19<br>[[Patrick Rissmiller]] (2) – 09:30
|3-3-1 =13:13 – [[Raffi Torres]] (2)
|3-3-2 =''No scoring''
|3-4-1 =02:24 – [[Shawn Horcoff]] (2)
|3-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie3-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 32 saves / 34 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 55 saves / 58 shots

|date4 =May 12
|score4 =3–6
|won4 =1
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-edm/2006/05/12/2005030234#game=2005030234,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =12:55 – [[Shawn Horcoff]] (3)
|4-1-2 =[[Joe Thornton]] (2) – 03:47<br>[[Nils Ekman]] (2) – 06:40
|4-2-1 =12:28 – [[Michael Peca]] (1)<br>15:35 – [[Sergei Samsonov]] (3)
|4-2-2 =[[Jonathan Cheechoo]] (3) – 09:02
|4-3-1 =02:57 – [[Jason Smith (ice hockey)|Jason Smith]] (1)<br>08:19 – [[Aleš Hemský|Ales Hemsky]] (3)<br>14:00 – ''pp'' – [[Jarret Stoll]] (3)
|4-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie4-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 22 saves / 25 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 26 saves / 31 shots<br>[[Evgeni Nabokov]] 3 saves / 4 shots

|date5 =May 14
|score5 =6–3
|won5 =1
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-sjs/2006/05/14/2005030235#game=2005030235,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =[[Fernando Pisani]] (6) – 08:29
|5-1-2 =''No scoring''
|5-2-1 =[[Ryan Smyth]] (3) – ''pp'' – 06:31
|5-2-2 =04:30 – [[Scott Thornton (ice hockey)|Scott Thornton]] (2)
|5-3-1 =[[Shawn Horcoff]] (4) – ''sh'' – 00:12<br>Fernando Pisani (7) – 04:03<br>[[Jarret Stoll]] (4) – ''pp'' – 13:40<br>Ryan Smyth (4) – ''pp'' – 16:11
|5-3-2 =00:44 – ''pp'' – [[Christian Ehrhoff]] (2)<br>02:30 – [[Jonathan Cheechoo]] (4)
|goalie5-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 21 saves / 24 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 12 saves / 18 shots

|date6 =May 17
|score6 =0–2
|won6 =1
|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-edm/2006/05/17/2005030236#game=2005030236,game_state=final
|6-1-1 =08:21 – [[Michael Peca]] (2)
|6-1-2 =''No scoring''
|6-2-1 =''No scoring''
|6-2-2 =''No scoring''
|6-3-1 =11:37 – [[Shawn Horcoff]] (5)
|6-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie6-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 24 saves / 24 shots
|goalie6-2 =[[Vesa Toskala]] 24 saves / 26 shots

|series = Edmonton won series 4–2
}}

====(6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim vs. (7) Colorado Avalanche====

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Colorado won three of the four games during this year's regular season series.

Anaheim swept the Avalanche in four games. The Mighty Ducks scored four times in the second period of game one as Anaheim won 5–0, rookie [[Ilya Bryzgalov]] recorded his second-straight shutout. In game two Ilya Bryzgalov equalled a rookie record previously set by [[Frank McCool]] in 1945 as he recorded his third straight playoff shutout as the Mighty Ducks won 3–0.<ref>{{cite web|title=Game Recap|url=https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-col/2006/05/07/2005030242|date=May 7, 2006|access-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref> In game three [[Dan Hinote]] ended Ilya Bryzgalov's shutout streak at 249:15 (the second longest in league history) when he scored late in the first period for the Avalanche.<ref>{{cite web|title=Game Recap|url=https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-col/2006/05/09/2005030243|date=May 9, 2006|access-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref> [[Joffrey Lupul]] scored four goals including the overtime winner as the Mighty Ducks won 4–3. [[Joe Sakic]] scored the only goal for the Avalanche in game four as Anaheim finished off the series with a 4–1 victory to advance to their second Conference Final appearance in team history.

{{NHLPlayoffs
|team1=Colorado Avalanche
|team2=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
|stadium2=[[Pepsi Center]]
|stadium1=[[Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim]]

|date1 =May 5
|score1 =0–5
|won1 =2
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-ana/2006/05/05/2005030241#game=2005030241,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =''No scoring''
|1-1-2 =''No scoring''
|1-2-1 =''No scoring''
|1-2-2 =02:38 – [[Samuel Påhlsson|Samuel Pahlsson]] (2)<br>10:24 – [[Chris Kunitz]] (2)<br>19:05 – [[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]] (4)<br>19:54 – ''pp'' – [[Joffrey Lupul]] (2)
|1-3-1 =''No scoring''
|1-3-2 =11:07 – [[Travis Moen]] (1)
|goalie1-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 29 saves / 34 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 29 saves / 29 shots

|date2 =May 7
|score2 =0–3
|won2 =2
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-ana/2006/05/07/2005030242#game=2005030242,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =''No scoring''
|2-1-2 =18:17 – ''pp'' – [[Ryan Getzlaf]] (2)
|2-2-1 =''No scoring''
|2-2-2 =04:41 – [[Ruslan Salei]] (2)<br>12:24 – [[Joffrey Lupul]] (3)
|2-3-1 =''No scoring''
|2-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie2-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 32 saves / 35 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 22 saves / 22 shots

|date3 =May 9
|score3 =4–3
|ot3 =1
|won3 =2
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-col/2006/05/09/2005030243#game=2005030243,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =19:33 – [[Dan Hinote]] (1)
|3-1-2 =''No scoring''
|3-2-1 =''No scoring''
|3-2-2 =[[Joffrey Lupul]] (4) – 09:02
|3-3-1 =04:47 – ''sh'' – [[Jim Dowd (ice hockey)|Jim Dowd]] (2)<br>13:35 – [[Rob Blake]] (3)
|3-3-2 =Joffrey Lupul (5) – 08:54<br>Joffrey Lupul (6) – 10:40
|3-4-1 =''No scoring''
|3-4-2 =Joffrey Lupul (7) – 16:30
|goalie3-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 35 saves / 39 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 26 saves / 29 shots

|date4 =May 11
|score4 =4–1
|won4 =2
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-col/2006/05/11/2005030244#game=2005030244,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =02:17 – [[Joe Sakic]] (4)
|4-1-2 =[[Todd Marchant]] (1) – 16:52
|4-2-1 =''No scoring''
|4-2-2 =[[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]] (5) – 02:22
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =[[Dustin Penner]] (1) – 06:07<br>Todd Marchant (2) – ''en'' – 18:21
|goalie4-1 =[[José Théodore|Jose Theodore]] 30 saves / 33 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 40 saves / 41 shots

|series = Anaheim won series 4–0
}}

==Conference finals==
{{See also|NHL conference finals}}

=== Eastern Conference final===

====(2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (4) Buffalo Sabres====

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina most recently made it to the conference finals in [[2002 Stanley Cup playoffs|2002]], defeating Toronto in six games, while the Sabres last made it to the conference finals in [[1999 Stanley Cup playoffs|1999]], defeating Toronto in five games. Carolina won three of the four games in this year's four game regular season series.

The Hurricanes eliminated the Sabres in seven games. Sabres goaltender [[Ryan Miller]] made 29 saves in game one as Buffalo won 3–2. [[Ray Whitney (ice hockey)|Ray Whitney]] scored twice in the second period of game two as the Hurricanes evened the series with a 4–3 victory. The Sabres scored four times in just over thirteen minutes in game three as they earned a 4–3 win. [[Martin Gerber]] made 22 saves in a shutout victory for the Hurricanes as they took game four by a score of 4–0. [[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] replaced Martin Gerber early in the second period of game five as the Hurricanes came back from a two-goal deficit and won the game 4–3 on a power-play goal scored by [[Cory Stillman]] at 8:46 of the first overtime period. [[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] forced a seventh game in this series with his game-winning goal at 4:22 of the first overtime as Buffalo won game six 2–1. Hurricanes forward [[Rod Brind'Amour]] capitalised on a delay of game penalty to [[Brian Campbell]] at 11:22 of the third period in game seven as Carolina advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals with a 4–2 victory. Game 7 marked the most recent time the Hurricanes won a game in the Conference Finals, as they were swept out of the conference finals in 2009, 2019, and 2023. Game 7 also marked the last time the Buffalo Sabres played under the black and red colours before returning to the blue and yellow as its main colours with a completely new logo.

{{NHLPlayoffs
|team1=Buffalo Sabres
|team2=Carolina Hurricanes
|stadium2=[[HSBC Arena (Buffalo)|HSBC Arena]]
|stadium1=[[RBC Center]]

|date1 =May 20
|score1 =3–2
|won1 =1
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-car/2006/05/20/2005030311#game=2005030311,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =[[Henrik Tallinder]] (2) – 02:56
|1-1-2 =12:11 – [[Rod Brind'Amour]] (7)
|1-2-1 =[[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] (5) – 09:41
|1-2-2 =''No scoring''
|1-3-1 =[[Jay McKee]] (2) – 13:40
|1-3-2 =17:07 – ''sh'' – [[Mike Commodore]] (1)
|goalie1-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 29 saves / 31 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 24 saves / 27 shots

|date2 =May 22
|score2 =3–4
|won2 =2
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-car/2006/05/22/2005030312#game=2005030312,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =[[Thomas Vanek]] (2) – ''pp'' – 19:12
|2-1-2 =10:05 – ''pp'' – [[František Kaberle|Frantisek Kaberle]] (2)
|2-2-1 =''No scoring''
|2-2-2 =06:03 – ''pp'' – [[Ray Whitney (ice hockey)|Ray Whitney]] (5)<br>12:58 – Ray Whitney (6)
|2-3-1 =[[Chris Drury]] (7) – ''pp'' – 11:39<br>[[Derek Roy]] (4) – ''pp'' – 19:57
|2-3-2 =06:58 – [[Justin Williams]] (3)
|goalie2-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 31 saves / 35 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 16 saves / 19 shots

|date3 =May 24
|score3 =3–4
|won3 =1
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-buf/2006/05/24/2005030313#game=2005030313,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =19:30 – ''pp'' – [[Chris Drury]] (8)
|3-1-2 =[[Cory Stillman]] (5) – 14:07
|3-2-1 =01:02 – ''pp'' – [[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] (6)<br>08:28 – Daniel Briere (7)<br>12:55 – [[Aleš Kotalík|Ales Kotalik]] (4)
|3-2-2 =Cory Stillman (6) – 18:18
|3-3-1 =''No scoring''
|3-3-2 =[[Eric Staal]] (6) – ''pp'' – 15:52
|goalie3-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 24 saves / 27 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 22 saves / 26 shots<br>[[Martin Gerber]] 7 saves / 7 shots

|date4 =May 26
|score4 =4–0
|won4 =2
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-buf/2006/05/26/2005030314#game=2005030314,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =''No scoring''
|4-1-2 =[[Mark Recchi]] (4) – 06:54<br>[[Eric Staal]] (7) – ''pp'' – 09:53
|4-2-1 =''No scoring''
|4-2-2 =[[Andrew Ladd]] (1) – 02:10
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =[[Bret Hedican]] (1) – 16:03
|goalie4-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 17 saves / 21 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Martin Gerber]] 22 saves / 22 shots

|date5 =May 28
|score5 =3–4
|ot5 =1
|won5 =2
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-car/2006/05/28/2005030315#game=2005030315,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =[[Chris Drury]] (9) – 07:08<br>[[Derek Roy]] (5) – 17:32
|5-1-2 =07:25 – [[Justin Williams]] (4)
|5-2-1 =[[Toni Lydman]] (1) – 01:55
|5-2-2 =05:21 – [[Mark Recchi]] (5)<br>10:04 – ''pp'' – [[Rod Brind'Amour]] (8)
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|5-3-2 =''No scoring''
|5-4-1 =''No scoring''
|5-4-2 =08:46 – ''pp'' – [[Cory Stillman]] (7)
|goalie5-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 22 saves / 26 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Martin Gerber]] 8 saves / 11 shots<br>[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 15 saves / 15 shots

|date6 =May 30
|score6 =1–2
|ot6 =1
|won6 =1
|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-buf/2006/05/30/2005030316#game=2005030316,game_state=final
|6-1-1 =04:56 – [[Jean-Pierre Dumont|J.P. Dumont]] (7)
|6-1-2 =''No scoring''
|6-2-1 =''No scoring''
|6-2-2 =''No scoring''
|6-3-1 =''No scoring''
|6-3-2 =[[Bret Hedican]] (2) – 16:07
|6-4-1 =04:22 – ''pp'' – [[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] (8)
|6-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie6-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 25 saves / 26 shots
|goalie6-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 29 saves / 31 shots

|date7 =June 1
|score7 =2–4
|won7 =2
|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-car/2006/06/01/2005030317#game=2005030317,game_state=final
|7-1-1 =''No scoring''
|7-1-2 =12:05 – [[Mike Commodore]] (2)
|7-2-1 =[[Doug Janik]] (1) – 15:50<br>[[Jochen Hecht]] (2) – 19:55
|7-2-2 =''No scoring''
|7-3-1 =''No scoring''
|7-3-2 =01:34 – [[Doug Weight]] (2)<br>11:22 – ''pp'' – [[Rod Brind'Amour]] (9)<br>19:08 – [[Justin Williams]] (5)
|goalie7-1 =[[Ryan Miller]] 24 saves / 28 shots
|goalie7-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 22 saves / 24 shots

|series = Carolina won series 4–3
}}

===Western Conference final===

====(6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers====

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Anaheim most recently made it to the conference finals in [[2003 Stanley Cup playoffs|2003]], sweeping the Minnesota Wild in four games, while the Oilers last made it to the conference finals in [[1992 Stanley Cup playoffs|1992]], losing to Chicago in four games. Edmonton won all four games during this year's regular season series.

The Oilers eliminated Anaheim in five games. [[Aleš Hemský|Ales Hemsky]]'s power-play goal at 11:35 of the second period gave the Oilers the lead as they took game one 3–1. Oilers goaltender [[Dwayne Roloson]] made 33 saves won again by a score of 3–1. [[Fernando Pisani]] scored the game-winning goal for the Oilers in game three as the two teams traded eight goals in the third period and Edmonton hung on for a 5–4 victory. Anaheim changed goaltenders before the start of game four as [[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] got the start for the Mighty Ducks. Anaheim took a three-goal lead in the first period and never looked back winning the game 6–3. Dwayne Roloson made 32 saves as the Oilers ended the series with a 2–1 victory in game five. The Oilers became the first eighth-seeded team to reach the Finals under this playoff format (which was introduced in 1994). Anaheim changed their team nickname, uniforms and logo after the season as they became known as the Anaheim Ducks. This was the last time the Oilers made the conference finals until [[2022 Stanley Cup playoffs|2022]].

{{NHLPlayoffs
|team1=Edmonton Oilers
|team2=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
|stadium2=[[Rexall Place]]
|stadium1=[[Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim]]

|date1 =May 19
|score1 =3–1
|won1 =1
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-ana/2006/05/19/2005030321#game=2005030321,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =[[Michael Peca]] (3) – ''sh'' – 18:35
|1-1-2 =19:03 – ''pp'' – [[Andy McDonald (ice hockey)|Andy McDonald]] (2)
|1-2-1 =[[Aleš Hemský|Ales Hemsky]] (4) – ''pp'' – 11:35
|1-2-2 =''No scoring''
|1-3-1 =[[Todd Harvey]] (1) – ''en'' – 19:18
|1-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie1-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 31 saves / 32 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 23 saves / 25 shots

|date2 =May 21
|score2 =3–1
|won2 =1
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-ana/2006/05/21/2005030322#game=2005030322,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =[[Chris Pronger]] (3) – ''pp'' – 13:08
|2-1-2 =''No scoring''
|2-2-1 =[[Fernando Pisani]] (8) – 17:09
|2-2-2 =06:12 – [[Jeff Friesen]] (3)
|2-3-1 =[[Michael Peca]] (4) – ''en'' – 19:42
|2-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie2-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 33 saves / 34 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 22 saves / 24 shots

|date3 =May 23
|score3 =4–5
|won3 =1
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-edm/2006/05/23/2005030323#game=2005030323,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =13:47 – [[Toby Petersen]] (1)
|3-1-2 =''No scoring''
|3-2-1 =''No scoring''
|3-2-2 =''No scoring''
|3-3-1 =02:19 – [[Michael Peca]] (5)<br>03:35 – ''pp'' – [[Steve Staios]] (1)<br>04:40 – ''pp'' – [[Chris Pronger]] (4)<br>14:14 – [[Fernando Pisani]] (9)
|3-3-2 =[[Sean O'Donnell]] (2) – 07:15<br>[[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]] (6) – 09:13<br>[[Chris Kunitz]] (3) – 11:15<br>[[Todd Marchant]] (3) – 18:15
|goalie3-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 34 saves / 38 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Ilya Bryzgalov]] 17 saves / 22 shots

|date4 =May 25
|score4 =6–3
|won4 =2
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-edm/2006/05/25/2005030324#game=2005030324,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =''No scoring''
|4-1-2 =[[Dustin Penner]] (2) – 07:28<br>Dustin Penner (3) – 15:11<br>[[Ryan Getzlaf]] (3) – ''pp'' – 19:18
|4-2-1 =03:30 – ''pp'' – [[Marc-André Bergeron|Marc-Andre Bergeron]] (2)<br>07:46 – [[Ryan Smyth]] (5)<br>10:01 – [[Georges Laraque]] (1)
|4-2-2 =[[Ruslan Salei]] (3) – 05:42<br>[[Joffrey Lupul]] (8) – 18:22
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =Joffrey Lupul (9) – ''en'' – 18:50
|goalie4-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 40 saves / 45 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] 20 saves / 23 shots

|date5 =May 27
|score5 =2–1
|won5 =1
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-ana/2006/05/27/2005030325#game=2005030325,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =''No scoring''
|5-1-2 =07:30 – ''pp'' – [[François Beauchemin|Francois Beauchemin]] (3)
|5-2-1 =[[Ethan Moreau]] (1) – 03:42<br>[[Raffi Torres]] (3) – 08:31
|5-2-2 =''No scoring''
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|5-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie5-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 32 saves / 33 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] 23 saves / 25 shots

|series = Edmonton won series 4–1
}}


==Stanley Cup Finals==
==Stanley Cup Finals==
{{main|2006 Stanley Cup Finals}}
===(E2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (W8) Edmonton Oilers===


This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina made their second Finals appearance, while Edmonton made their seventh appearance in the Finals. The Hurricanes were defeated in their last appearance in the Finals losing to Detroit in five games in [[2002 Stanley Cup playoffs|2002]], the Oilers won their last appearance in the Finals defeating Boston in five games in [[1990 Stanley Cup playoffs|1990]]. The teams did not meet during the regular season. This series marked the first time that two former [[World Hockey Association]] teams played against each other for the Stanley Cup since they merged with the NHL in 1979. This was the first Stanley Cup Finals to be contested by two teams that had both missed the playoffs the [[2004 Stanley Cup playoffs|previous season]].
''Series tied 3-3''


{{NHLPlayoffs
This series marks the first time that the Oilers advanced this far since [[1989-90 NHL season|1990]] when they won their fifth Stanley Cup in team history. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since [[2001-02 NHL season|2002]] when they fell to the heavily favoured [[Detroit Red Wings]] in 5 games. A series win over Edmonton would be the first time that Carolina is awarded the Stanley Cup.
|team1=Edmonton Oilers
|team2=Carolina Hurricanes
|stadium2=[[Rexall Place]]
|stadium1=[[RBC Center]]


|date1 =June 5
This series also marks the first time that two former [[World Hockey Association]] teams are playing against each other for the Stanley Cup since they merged with the NHL in 1979. The [[Winnipeg Jets]]/[[Phoenix Coyotes]] team are the only former WHA club to have never contested a Finals. As a result of [[Season structure of the NHL|the new scheduling formula]] that was implemented before the 2005-06 NHL season, the Hurricanes and the Oilers did not meet during the regular season.
|score1 =4–5
|won1 =2
|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-car/2006/06/05/2005030411#game=2005030411,game_state=final
|1-1-1 =[[Fernando Pisani]] (10) – 08:18
|1-1-2 =''No scoring''
|1-2-1 =[[Chris Pronger]] (5) – ''ps'' – 10:36<br>[[Ethan Moreau]] (2) – 16:23
|1-2-2 =17:17 – [[Rod Brind'Amour]] (10)
|1-3-1 =[[Aleš Hemský|Ales Hemsky]] (5) – ''pp'' – 13:31
|1-3-2 =01:40 – [[Ray Whitney (ice hockey)|Ray Whitney]] (7)<br>05:09 – ''pp'' – Ray Whitney (8)<br>10:02 – ''sh'' – [[Justin Williams]] (6)<br>19:28 – Rod Brind'Amour (11)
|goalie1-1 =[[Dwayne Roloson]] 19 saves / 23 shots<br>[[Ty Conklin]] 2 saves / 3 shots
|goalie1-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 34 saves / 38 shots


|date2 =June 7
In Game 1, Carolina tied the biggest comeback in Stanley Cup Finals history, overcoming a three-goal deficit to win, 5-4. Edmonton scored first, 8:18 into the first period, with a goal from [[Fernando Pisani]]. In the second period, [[Chris Pronger]] scored the first [[Penalty shot (ice hockey)|penalty shot]] goal in Stanley Cup finals history after defenseman [[Niclas Wallin]] illegally covered the puck inside his own goal crease, and [[Ethan Moreau]]'s goal at 16:23 gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead. But at the 17:17 mark, [[Rod Brind'Amour]] scored the Hurricanes' first goal of the game. Carolina then tied the game in the third period with two scores by [[Ray Whitney (hockey player)|Ray Whitney]]. The Hurricanes jumped ahead, 4-3, on a shorthanded goal by [[Justin Williams]], but Edmonton's [[Ales Hemsky]] scored on a power play to tie the game with 6:29 remaining. Late in the final period, Oilers goalie [[Dwayne Roloson]] suffered a series-ending knee injury in a collision, and was replaced with [[Ty Conklin]]. With 32 seconds to go in regulation, Conklin misplayed the puck, and it deflected off of [[Jason Smith (hockey)|Jason Smith]]'s stick to the front of the empty net, allowing Brind'Amour to score the winning goal.
|score2 =0–5
|won2 =2
|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-car/2006/06/07/2005030412#game=2005030412,game_state=final
|2-1-1 =''No scoring''
|2-1-2 =06:21 – [[Andrew Ladd]] (2)
|2-2-1 =''No scoring''
|2-2-2 =10:28 – ''pp'' – [[František Kaberle|Frantisek Kaberle]] (3)<br>19:57 – [[Cory Stillman]] (8)
|2-3-1 =''No scoring''
|2-3-2 =02:21 – ''pp'' – [[Doug Weight]] (3)<br>04:12 – ''pp'' – [[Mark Recchi]] (6)
|goalie2-1 =[[Jussi Markkanen]] 21 saves / 26 shots
|goalie2-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 25 saves / 25 shots


|date3 =June 10
With Roloson's injury, [[Jussi Markkanen]] started for the Oilers in Game 2. Although Markkanen had played 37 games in the regular season - sharing the job with Ty Conklin and minor-leaguer Mike Morrison - he had watched from the bench the entire post-season; he also hadn't played a game since March 1, 2006. The Hurricanes took advantage, while their own goaltender, Cam Ward, continued his outstanding postseason play. The Hurricanes shut out the Oilers, 5-0, with five different Carolina players scoring goals. Markkanen was Edmonton's third goaltender in the series. It was the first time three goaltenders had been used in a Cup Finals since May of 1970, when the [[St. Louis Blues (hockey)|St. Louis Blues]] employed [[Jacques Plante]], [[Glenn Hall]] and [[Ernie Wakely]] on their way to being swept by the [[Boston Bruins]].
|score3 =1–2
|won3 =1
|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-edm/2006/06/10/2005030413#game=2005030413,game_state=final
|3-1-1 =02:31 – [[Shawn Horcoff]] (6)
|3-1-2 =''No scoring''
|3-2-1 =''No scoring''
|3-2-2 =''No scoring''
|3-3-1 =17:45 – [[Ryan Smyth]] (6)
|3-3-2 =[[Rod Brind'Amour]] (12) – 09:09
|goalie3-1 =[[Jussi Markkanen]] 24 saves / 25 shots
|goalie3-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 28 saves / 30 shots


|date4 =June 12
Game 3 was a must-win for Edmonton to avoid going down 3-0 in the series. Markkanen once again started in net with Roloson still out. However, the Oilers came out strong with Shawn Horcoff scoring just over two minutes in. During the second period, a short-handed goal was waved off by the referee, as he had lost sight of the puck and had blown the whistle, despite the fact that the puck had not yet been covered. The Hurricanes responded midway through the third period with their captain, Rod Brind'Amour, taking a rebound off a blocked shot past Markkanen. However, with 2:15 left, Edmonton's Ryan Smyth scored the controversial winning goal after crashing into Ward inside the crease as they both tried to get control of a rebound off of a shot by Ales Hemsky. Hurricanes head coach Peter Laviolette and many other Carolina players complained that Smyth should have been penalized for interference, but no penalty was called as the referees felt that he did not make enough contact with Ward to prevent him from attempting a save. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/hockey/nhl/wires/06/12/2040.ap.hkn.stanley.cup.0883/index.html] [http://www.tsn.ca/news_story.asp?id=168462] [http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/columnist.jsp?content=20060612_121515_5012] Both Ward and Markkanen made great saves on both sides of the ice but the Oilers had new life in the series after this crucial win.
|score4 =2–1
|won4 =2
|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-edm/2006/06/12/2005030414#game=2005030414,game_state=final
|4-1-1 =08:40 – [[Sergei Samsonov]] (4)
|4-1-2 =[[Cory Stillman]] (9) – ''pp'' – 09:09
|4-2-1 =''No scoring''
|4-2-2 =[[Mark Recchi]] (7) – 15:56
|4-3-1 =''No scoring''
|4-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie4-1 =[[Jussi Markkanen]] 18 saves / 20 shots
|goalie4-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 20 saves / 21 shots


|date5 =June 14
Game 4 was another seemingly must-win for the Oilers. Edmonton got off to a good start when Sergei Samsonov opened the scoring at 8:40 of the first period. However, the lead was short-lived as Cory Stillman replied just 29 seconds later to tie the game, 1-1. Mark Recchi scored the eventual game-winner with just over four minutes to go in the second period. Once again Edmonton's power-play was futile, failing to capitalize on five chances, including a 2-man advantage in the first period. When the game ended, the Oilers were 1-for-25 on the power play to this point in the series.
|score5 =4–3
|ot5 =1
|won5 =1
|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-car/2006/06/14/2005030415#game=2005030415,game_state=final
|5-1-1 =[[Fernando Pisani]] (11) – 00:16<br>[[Aleš Hemský|Ales Hemsky]] (6) – ''pp'' – 13:25<br>[[Michael Peca]] (6) – 19:42
|5-1-2 =05:54 – ''pp'' – [[Eric Staal]] (8)<br>10:16 – ''pp'' – [[Ray Whitney (ice hockey)|Ray Whitney]] (9)
|5-2-1 =''No scoring''
|5-2-2 =09:56 – ''pp'' – Eric Staal (9)
|5-3-1 =''No scoring''
|5-3-2 =''No scoring''
|5-4-1 =Fernando Pisani (12) – ''sh'' – 03:31
|5-4-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie5-1 =[[Jussi Markkanen]] 21 saves / 24 shots
|goalie5-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 25 saves / 29 shots

|date6 =June 17
|score6 =0–4
|won6 =1
|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-edm/2006/06/17/2005030416#game=2005030416,game_state=final
|6-1-1 =''No scoring''
|6-1-2 =''No scoring''
|6-2-1 =01:45 – ''pp'' – [[Fernando Pisani]] (13)<br>09:54 – [[Raffi Torres]] (4)
|6-2-2 =''No scoring''
|6-3-1 =03:04 – ''pp'' – [[Ryan Smyth]] (7)<br>13:05 – ''pp'' – [[Shawn Horcoff]] (7)
|6-3-2 =''No scoring''
|goalie6-1 =[[Jussi Markkanen]] 16 saves / 16 shots
|goalie6-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 30 saves / 34 shots

|date7 =June 19
|score7 =1–3
|won7 =2
|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-car/2006/06/19/2005030417#game=2005030417,game_state=final
|7-1-1 =''No scoring''
|7-1-2 =01:26 – [[Aaron Ward (ice hockey)|Aaron Ward]] (2)
|7-2-1 =''No scoring''
|7-2-2 =04:18 – ''pp'' – [[František Kaberle|Frantisek Kaberle]] (4)
|7-3-1 =[[Fernando Pisani]] (14) – 01:03
|7-3-2 =18:59 – ''en'' – [[Justin Williams]] (7)
|goalie7-1 =[[Jussi Markkanen]] 24 saves / 26 shots
|goalie7-2 =[[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] 22 saves / 23 shots

|series = Carolina won series 4–3
}}


==Player statistics==
Carolina entered Game 5 with a 3-1 lead in the series and a chance to win the Stanley Cup on home ice. However, Edmonton scored first on Fernando Pisani's goal 16 seconds into the game. The Hurricanes then went ahead, 2-1, on two power-play goals by Staal and Whitney before the Oilers finally scored a power-play goal of their own by Hemsky to tie the game. Peca then gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead with 17.4 seconds left in the first period. In the second period, Staal scored another power play goal to tie the game. With 7:47 remaining in the third period, Whitney missed what might have been the Hurricanes' best chance to close out the series with a shot that just hit the post. Another post was hit in the overtime period, this time by Edmonton's Michael Peca---immediately before Edmonton's Steve Staios was called for tripping at 3:03. But about 28 seconds later, Pisani stole the puck at the Carolina blue line, and beat Ward on a breakaway, scoring the first short-handed overtime goal in finals history to give the Oilers the win. [http://www.nhl.com/cupcrazy/2006/serieso/game5_recap.html]


===Skaters===
:''The start time for all Stanley Cup Final games is 8 p.m. ET.''
<small>''GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = [[Plus-minus (ice hockey)|Plus/minus]]; PIM = Penalty minutes''</small>
<nowiki>*</nowiki> - If necessary
{|class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!rowspan="2"|Game
!rowspan="2" width=60px|Date
!colspan="3"|Score
!rowspan="2" width=100px|Home team
!rowspan="2"|Attendence/Broadcast
|-
|-
! style="width:12em" | Player
!width=50px|'''CAR'''
! style="width:12em" | Team
!width=50px|'''EDM'''
! style="width:4em" | GP
!<!--OT -->
! style="width:4em" | G
! style="width:4em" | A
! style="width:4em" | Pts
! style="width:4em" | +/–
! style="width:4em" | PIM
|-
|-
| {{sortname|Eric|Staal}} || Carolina Hurricanes || 25 || 9 || 19 || 28 || 0 || 8
|1||June 5||'''5'''||4|| ||Carolina||18,797
|-
|-
| {{sortname|Cory|Stillman}} || Carolina Hurricanes || 25 || 9 || 17 || 26 || +12 || 14
|2||June 7||'''5'''||0|| ||Carolina||18,928
|-
|-
| {{sortname|Chris|Pronger}} || Edmonton Oilers || 24 || 5 || 16 || 21 || +10 || 26
|3||June 10||1||'''2'''|| ||Edmonton||16,839
|-
|-
| {{sortname|Daniel|Briere|Daniel Brière}} || Buffalo Sabres || 18 || 8 || 11 || 19 || 0 || 12
|4||June 12||'''2'''||1|| ||Edmonton||16,839
|-
|-
| {{sortname|Shawn|Horcoff}} || Edmonton Oilers || 24 || 7 || 12 || 19 || +4 || 12
|5||June 14||3||'''4'''|| 3:31, OT ||Carolina||18,974
|-
|-
| {{sortname|Fernando|Pisani}} || Edmonton Oilers || 24 || 14 || 4 || 18 || +4 || 10
|6||June 17|| 0 || 4 || ||Edmonton|| 16,839]]
|-
|-
| {{sortname|Rod|Brind'Amour||Brindamour, Rod}} || Carolina Hurricanes || 25 || 12 || 6 || 18 || +9 || 16
|7||June 19|| || || ||Carolina||NBC, CBC, RDS, NASN, NHL Radio
|-
| {{sortname|Chris|Drury}} || Buffalo Sabres || 18 || 9 || 9 || 18 || +5 || 10
|-
| {{sortname|Justin|Williams}} || Carolina Hurricanes || 25 || 7 || 11 || 18 || +12 || 34
|-
| {{sortname|Matt|Cullen}} || Carolina Hurricanes || 25 || 4 || 14 || 18 || +2 || 12
|}
|}


===Goaltending===
'''Game 1'''
These are the top five goaltenders based on either [[goals against average]] or [[save percentage]] with at least four games played.
*Carolina 5, Edmonton 4
**EDM - Fernando Pisani 10 (Raffi Torres, Jaroslav Spacek)
**EDM - Chris Pronger 5 ''penalty shot''
**EDM - Ethan Moreau 2 (Matt Greene)
**CAR - Rod Brind'Amour 10 (Justin Williams, Cory Stillman)
**CAR - Ray Whitney 7 (Doug Weight, Andrew Ladd)
**CAR - Ray Whitney 8 (Mark Recchi, Eric Staal) ''power play''
**CAR - Justin Williams 6 (Chad LaRose, Aaron Ward) ''shorthanded''
**EDM - Ales Hemsky 5 (Jarrett Stoll, Chris Pronger) ''power play''
**CAR - Rod Brind'Amour 11
***Saves:
****EDM - Dwayne Roloson 19, Ty Conklin 2
****CAR - Cam Ward 34


<small>''GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = [[Goals against average]]; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts''</small>
'''Game 2'''
{| class="wikitable sortable"
*Carolina 5, Edmonton 0
|-
**CAR - Andrew Ladd 2 (Eric Staal, Frantisek Kaberle)
! style="width:12em" | Player
**CAR - Frantisek Kaberle 3 (Ray Whitney, Matt Cullen) ''power play''
! style="width:12em" | Team
**CAR - Cory Stillman 8 (Niclas Wallin, Justin Williams)
! style="width:4em" | GP
**CAR - Doug Weight 3 (Mark Recchi, Matt Cullen) ''power play''
! style="width:4em" | W
**CAR - Mark Recchi 6 (Frantisek Kaberle, Matt Cullen) ''power play''
! style="width:4em" | L
***Saves:
! style="width:5em" | SA
****EDM - Jussi Markkanen 21
! style="width:4em" | GA
****CAR - Cam Ward 25 (SO)
! style="width:5em" | GAA
! style="width:5em" | Min
! style="width:5em" | Sv%
! style="width:4em" | SO
|-
| [[Ilya Bryzgalov]] || Mighty Ducks of Anaheim || 11 || 6 || 4 || 285 || 16 || 1.46 || 658:59 || .944 || 3
|-
| [[Cristobal Huet]] || Montreal Canadiens || 6 || 2 || 4 || 212 || 15 || 2.33 || 385:37 || .929 || 0
|-
| [[Dwayne Roloson]] || Edmonton Oilers || 18 || 12 || 5 || 618 || 45 || 2.33 || 1159:43 || .927 || 1
|-
| [[Martin Brodeur]] || New Jersey Devils || 9 || 5 || 4 || 261 || 20 || 2.25 || 532:59 || .923 || 1
|-
| [[Miikka Kiprusoff]] || Calgary Flames || 7 || 3 || 4 || 202 || 16 || 2.24 || 427:59 || .921 || 0
|-
| [[Cam Ward (ice hockey)|Cam Ward]] || Carolina Hurricanes || 23 || 15 || 8 || 584 || 47 || 2.14 || 1319:53 || .920 || 2
|-
| [[Jussi Markkanen]] || Edmonton Oilers || 6 || 3 || 3 || 137 || 13 || 2.17 || 360:23 || .905 || 1
|}


==References==
'''Game 3'''
{{Reflist}}
*Edmonton 2, Carolina 1
**EDM - Shawn Horcoff 6 (Jaroslav Spacek, Ales Hemsky)
**CAR - Rod Brind'Amour 12 (Cory Stillman)
**EDM - Ryan Smyth 6 (Ales Hemsky, Jaroslav Spacek)
***Saves:
****CAR - Cam Ward 28
****EDM - Jussi Markkanen 24

'''Game 4'''
*Carolina 2, Edmonton 1
**EDM - Sergei Samsonov 4 (Radek Dvorak, Jarret Stoll)
**CAR - Cory Stillman 9 (Frantisek Kaberle, Eric Staal) ''power play''
**CAR - Mark Recchi 7 (Eric Staal, Cory Stillman)
***Saves:
****CAR - Cam Ward 20
****EDM - Jussi Markkanen 18

'''Game 5'''
*Edmonton 4, Carolina 3 (OT)
**EDM - Fernando Pisani 11 (Chris Pronger, Raffi Torres)
**CAR - Eric Staal 8 (Doug Weight, Bret Hedican) ''power play''
**CAR - Ray Whitney 9 (Eric Staal, Mark Recchi) ''power play''
**EDM - Ales Hemsky 6 (Dick Tarnstrom, Steve Staios) ''power play''
**EDM - Michael Peca 6 (Ales Hemsky, Chris Pronger)
**CAR - Eric Staal 9 (Ray Whitney, Cory Stillman) ''power play''
**EDM - Fernando Pisani 12 ''shorthanded''
***Saves:
****EDM - Jussi Markannen 21
****CAR - Cam Ward 25


==See also==
==See also==
*[[2005-06 NHL season]]
*[[2005–06 NHL season]]
*[[List of NHL seasons]]
*[[List of NHL seasons]]
*[[2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs]]


{{NHL}}
{{S-start}}
{{succession box |
before = [[2004 Stanley Cup playoffs]] |
after = [[2007 Stanley Cup playoffs]] |
title = [[Stanley Cup playoffs]] |
years = |
}}
{{S-end}}

{{2005–06 NHL season by team}}
{{Stanley Cup playoffs}}


[[Category:2006 in ice hockey|Stanley Cup]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs}}
[[Category:2006 Stanley Cup|playoffs]]
[[Category:Stanley Cup playoffs]]

Latest revision as of 15:09, 29 November 2024

2006 Stanley Cup playoffs
Tournament details
DatesApril 21 –
June 19, 2006
Teams16
Defending championsTampa Bay Lightning
(notwithstanding the cancelled 2004–05 season)
Final positions
ChampionsCarolina Hurricanes
Runner-upEdmonton Oilers
Tournament statistics
Scoring leader(s)Eric Staal (Hurricanes) (28 points)
MVPCam Ward (Hurricanes)
← 2004
2007 →

The 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League (NHL) championship began on April 21, 2006, following the 2005–06 regular season. This was the first playoffs since 2004 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout that cancelled the previously scheduled season. The 16 teams that qualified, seeded one through eight from each conference, played best-of-seven series with re-seeding after the Conference quarterfinals. The conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the Stanley Cup.

The Finals concluded on June 19 with the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in the final series four games to three. Carolina goaltender Cam Ward was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers would miss the playoffs each year thereafter until 2017. This was also the last time until 2023 that the Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs. The St. Louis Blues missed the playoffs for the first time since 1979, ending a 25–season playoff streak, the third longest in NHL history. The current longest playoff streak moved to the Detroit Red Wings at 15 consecutive seasons. This was additionally the first time in history that the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues missed the playoffs in the same season.

While the 2005–06 season introduced a shootout to break ties after five minutes of four-on-four overtime, the Stanley Cup playoffs retained their traditional format of unlimited 20-minute periods of five-on-five sudden-death overtime to break ties.

The Western Conference made history in the first round when all four series were won by the lower-seeded teams (conversely, all four series in the Eastern Conference were won by the higher-seeded teams). The eighth- and lowest-seeded Oilers proceeded to win the Western Conference and participate in the Stanley Cup Finals. Four Canadian teams qualified for the playoffs this year, this total was not equaled again until 2013 and not exceeded until 2015 with five.

Playoff seeds

[edit]

The top eight teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs. The top three seeds in each conference were awarded to the division winners; while the five remaining spots were awarded to the highest finishers in their respective conferences.

The following teams qualified for the playoffs:

Eastern Conference

[edit]
  1. Ottawa Senators, Northeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 113 points
  2. Carolina Hurricanes, Southeast Division champions – 112 points
  3. New Jersey Devils, Atlantic Division champions – 101 points (46 wins)
  4. Buffalo Sabres – 110 points
  5. Philadelphia Flyers – 101 points (45 wins)
  6. New York Rangers – 100 points
  7. Montreal Canadiens – 93 points
  8. Tampa Bay Lightning – 92 points

Western Conference

[edit]
  1. Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 124 points
  2. Dallas Stars, Pacific Division champions – 112 points
  3. Calgary Flames, Northwest Division champions – 103 points
  4. Nashville Predators – 106 points
  5. San Jose Sharks – 99 points
  6. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim – 98 points
  7. Colorado Avalanche – 95 points (43 wins)
  8. Edmonton Oilers – 95 points (41 wins)

Playoff bracket

[edit]

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.

The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

Conference quarterfinals Conference semifinals Conference finals Stanley Cup Finals
            
1 Ottawa 4
8 Tampa Bay 1
1 Ottawa 1
4 Buffalo 4
2 Carolina 4
7 Montreal 2
4 Buffalo 3
Eastern Conference
2 Carolina 4
3 New Jersey 4
6 NY Rangers 0
2 Carolina 4
3 New Jersey 1
4 Buffalo 4
5 Philadelphia 2
E2 Carolina 4
W8 Edmonton 3
1 Detroit 2
8 Edmonton 4
5 San Jose 2
8 Edmonton 4
2 Dallas 1
7 Colorado 4
8 Edmonton 4
Western Conference
6 Anaheim 1
3 Calgary 3
6 Anaheim 4
6 Anaheim 4
7 Colorado 0
4 Nashville 1
5 San Jose 4

Conference quarterfinals

[edit]

Eastern Conference quarterfinals

[edit]

(1) Ottawa Senators vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning

[edit]

The Ottawa Senators entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference regular season and Northeast Division champions with 113 points. Tampa Bay qualified as the eighth seed earning 92 points during the regular season. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Ottawa won all four games during this year's regular season series.

The Senators defeated the Lightning in five games. The Senators used a two-man advantage in the third period of game one to gain the lead as they took the game by a score of 4–1. In game two the Lightning came back from a one-goal deficit by scoring two goals 55 seconds apart as they evened the series with a 4–3 victory. Six Ottawa skaters scored a goal in game three as the Senators won 8–4. Ottawa scored three times in the second-period of game four as they earned a 5–2 win. Martin Havlat scored the series-winning goal for the Senators at 15:02 of the second period as Ottawa closed out the series with a 3–2 victory.


April 21 Tampa Bay Lightning 1–4 Ottawa Senators Scotiabank Place Recap  
Vincent Lecavalier (1) – pp – 19:00 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 05:06 – pp – Martin Havlat (1)
06:13 – pp – Jason Spezza (1)
09:37 – sh – Mike Fisher (1)
18:58 – en – Daniel Alfredsson (1)
John Grahame 34 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Ray Emery 35 saves / 36 shots
April 23 Tampa Bay Lightning 4–3 Ottawa Senators Scotiabank Place Recap  
Martin St. Louis (1) – 14:36 First period 04:51 – Bryan Smolinski (1)
Brad Richards (1) – 07:39 Second period 17:12 – pp – Martin Havlat (2)
Dan Boyle (1) – 05:24
Martin St. Louis (2) – 06:19 		Third period 03:21 – Peter Schaefer (1)
John Grahame 21 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Ray Emery 32 saves / 36 shots
April 25 Ottawa Senators 8–4 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
Martin Havlat (3) – 05:20
Wade Redden (1) – pp – 08:40
Patrick Eaves (1) – 12:56 		First period 18:38 – pp – Martin St. Louis (3)
Martin Havlat (4) – 02:17
Antoine Vermette (1) – 09:11 		Second period No scoring
Dany Heatley (1) – pp – 06:12
Zdeno Chara (1) – pp – 10:28
Antoine Vermette (2) – 16:18 		Third period 00:20 – pp – Paul Ranger (1)
11:26 – Paul Ranger (2)
13:25 – pp – Pavel Kubina (1)
Ray Emery 35 saves / 39 shots Goalie stats John Grahame 15 saves / 20 shots
Sean Burke 8 saves / 11 shots
April 27 Ottawa Senators 5–2 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
Jason Spezza (2) – 06:13 First period 11:10 – Martin St. Louis (4)
16:15 – Brad Richards (2)
Chris Phillips (1) – 05:59
Dany Heatley (2) – pp – 17:10
Martin Havlat (5) – 17:50 		Second period No scoring
Chris Neil (1) – 01:24 Third period No scoring
Ray Emery 30 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats John Grahame 13 saves / 17 shots
Sean Burke 7 saves / 8 shots
April 29 Tampa Bay Lightning 2–3 Ottawa Senators Scotiabank Place Recap  
No scoring First period 12:53 – Peter Schaefer (2)
15:44 – Andrej Meszaros (1)
Evgeny Artyukhin (1) – 01:37
Brad Richards (3) – 18:15 		Second period 15:02 – pp – Martin Havlat (6)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Sean Burke 35 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Ray Emery 26 saves / 28 shots
Ottawa won series 4–1


(2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens

[edit]

The Carolina Hurricanes entered the playoffs as the Southeast Division champions, earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference with 112 points. Montreal qualified as the seventh seed earning 93 points during the regular season. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams with Montreal winning five of the six previous series. They last met in the 2002 Eastern Conference semifinals where Carolina won in six games. Carolina won all four games during this year's regular season series.

The Hurricanes eliminated the Canadiens in six games. After allowing a goal in the opening minute of game one the Canadiens scored six unanswered goals taking the opening game of the series 6–1. Carolina pulled goaltender Martin Gerber after allowing three goals in the first period of game two and he was replaced by 22-year-old rookie backup Cam Ward. The Hurricanes were able to tie the game with 90 seconds remaining in regulation before losing in double overtime as Michael Ryder scored at 2:32, giving Montreal a 6–5 win. In game three Eric Staal scored the game winner 3:38 into overtime as Carolina won 2–1. Rod Brind'Amour gave the Hurricanes the lead in game four and they hung on to win 3–2. Cam Ward made 30 saves and allowed just one goal against as the Hurricanes took game five 2–1. Hurricanes forward Cory Stillman ended the series at 1:19 of the first overtime as Carolina won game six 2–1.


April 22 Montreal Canadiens 6–1 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Francis Bouillon (1) – pp – 08:23
Radek Bonk (1) – 16:17 		First period 00:50 – Matt Cullen (1)
Alexei Kovalev (1) – 02:18
Chris Higgins (1) – 16:01 		Second period No scoring
Alexei Kovalev (2) – pp – 11:40
Sheldon Souray (1) – 18:12 		Third period No scoring
Cristobal Huet 42 saves / 43 shots Goalie stats Martin Gerber 15 saves / 21 shots
April 24 Montreal Canadiens 6–5 2OT Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Jan Bulis (1) – 04:48
Michael Ryder (1) – pp – 13:35
Radek Bonk (2) – 14:46 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 01:42 – Matt Cullen (2)
09:05 – pp – Rod Brind'Amour (1)
Alexei Kovalev (3) – 05:22
Richard Zednik (1) – 05:58 		Third period 00:22 – pp – Ray Whitney (1)
01:15 – pp – Rod Brind'Amour (2)
18:30 – Cory Stillman (1)
Michael Ryder (2) – 02:32 Second overtime period No scoring
Cristobal Huet 41 saves / 46 shots Goalie stats Martin Gerber 10 saves / 13 shots
Cam Ward 20 saves / 23 shots
April 26 Carolina Hurricanes 2–1 OT Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 09:17 – pp – Richard Zednik (2)
Rod Brind'Amour (3) – 11:27 Third period No scoring
Eric Staal (1) – pp – 03:38 First overtime period No scoring
Cam Ward 27 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Cristobal Huet 34 saves / 36 shots
April 28 Carolina Hurricanes 3–2 Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
Justin Williams (1) – 10:22
Aaron Ward (1) – 11:33 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 05:21 – Alexander Perezhogin (1)
12:58 – pp – Sheldon Souray (2)
Rod Brind'Amour (4) – 05:54 Third period No scoring
Cam Ward 23 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Cristobal Huet 27 saves / 30 shots
April 30 Montreal Canadiens 1–2 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
No scoring First period 04:27 – pp – Eric Staal (2)
Alexei Kovalev (4) – 19:32 Second period 13:57 – pp – Matt Cullen (3)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Cristobal Huet 26 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 30 saves / 31 shots
May 2 Carolina Hurricanes 2–1 OT Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
Mark Recchi (1) – 07:01 First period 06:31 – pp – Sheldon Souray (3)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Cory Stillman (2) – 01:19 First overtime period No scoring
Cam Ward 25 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Cristobal Huet 27 saves / 29 shots
Carolina won series 4–2


(3) New Jersey Devils vs. (6) New York Rangers

[edit]

The New Jersey Devils entered the playoffs as the Atlantic Division champions (winning the tie-breaker with Philadelphia in total wins), earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference with 101 points. New York qualified for the first time since 1997 as the sixth seed earning 100 points during the regular season. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with New York winning all three previous series. They last met in the 1997 Eastern Conference semifinals where New York won in five games. The teams split this year's eight game regular season series.

The Devils swept the Rangers in four games. The Devils scored five times on the power play in game one winning 6–1, Devils forward Patrik Elias scored six points in the victory (two goals and four assists). In game two John Madden scored a hat trick for the Devils as they earned a 4–1 victory. Martin Brodeur earned his 21st career playoff shutout with 25 saves as the Devils won game three 3–0. New Jersey took the lead in the second period of game four with two power play goals and they never looked back eliminating the Rangers by a final score of 4–2.


April 22 New York Rangers 1–6 New Jersey Devils Continental Airlines Arena Recap  
Petr Prucha (1) – pp – 10:00 First period 03:55 – pp – Patrik Elias (1)
No scoring Second period 07:48 – pp – Scott Gomez (1)
17:10 – Ken Klee (1)
No scoring Third period 00:53 – pp – Brian Rafalski (1)
08:45 – pp – Jamie Langenbrunner (1)
15:34 – pp – Patrik Elias (2)
Henrik Lundqvist 24 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Martin Brodeur 29 saves / 30 shots
April 24 New York Rangers 1–4 New Jersey Devils Continental Airlines Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 07:47 – sh – John Madden (1)
14:13 – pp – Brian Gionta (1)
No scoring Second period 19:54 – sh – John Madden (2)
Blair Betts (1) – 05:41 Third period 12:46 – John Madden (3)
Kevin Weekes 21 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 26 shots
April 26 New Jersey Devils 3–0 New York Rangers Madison Square Garden Recap  
Jamie Langenbrunner (2) – 01:08
Patrik Elias (3) – 09:20 		First period No scoring
Zach Parise (1) – 02:48 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Henrik Lundqvist 17 saves / 20 shots
April 29 New Jersey Devils 4–2 New York Rangers Madison Square Garden Recap  
No scoring First period 19:41 – Jed Ortmeyer (1)
Scott Gomez (2) – pp – 04:20
Patrik Elias (4) – pp – 07:21 		Second period No scoring
Brian Gionta (2) – sh – 04:30
Patrik Elias (5) – 13:21 		Third period 18:33 – pp – Steve Rucchin (1)
Martin Brodeur 31 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Henrik Lundqvist 25 saves / 29 shots
New Jersey won series 4–0


(4) Buffalo Sabres vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers

[edit]

The Buffalo Sabres entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 110 points. Philadelphia qualified as the fifth seed (losing the tie-breaker with New Jersey in total wins for the Atlantic Division title) earning 101 points during the regular season. This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams with Philadelphia winning five of the seven previous series. They last met in the 2001 Eastern Conference quarterfinals where Buffalo won in six games. Buffalo won three of the four games during this year's regular season series.

The Sabres defeated the Flyers in six games. Philadelphia goaltender Robert Esche made 55 saves in a 3–2 Flyers loss; Daniel Briere ended the game with a goal at 7:31 in double-overtime. Buffalo forwards Jean-Pierre Dumont and Jason Pominville each recorded hat-tricks in game two as the Sabres scored three power play goals rolling to an 8–2 victory. Peter Forsberg scored two second period goals in game three to break a 1–1 tie, the Flyers went on to win the game 4–2. In game four R. J. Umberger put the Flyers up for good with his goal at 9:51 in the third period as Philadelphia evened the series with a 5–4 victory. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller made 24 saves to earn his first career playoff shutout in game five as Buffalo won 3–0. In game six the Sabres jumped to a 5–0 lead on a goal by Maxim Afinogenov as the Flyers pulled Robert Esche from the game, Buffalo went on to a resounding 7–1 series-clinching victory.


April 22 Philadelphia Flyers 2–3 2OT Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 05:20 – Tim Connolly (1)
Mike Knuble (1) – 16:34 Second period 04:33 – Jay McKee (1)
Simon Gagne (1) – pp – 18:09 Third period No scoring
No scoring Second overtime period 07:31 – Daniel Briere (1)
Robert Esche 55 saves / 58 shots Goalie stats Ryan Miller 30 saves / 32 shots
April 24 Philadelphia Flyers 2–8 Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 01:41 – Jean-Pierre Dumont (1)
03:00 – pp – Chris Drury (1)
12:26 – Ales Kotalik (1)
14:36 – Jason Pominville (1)
19:46 – pp – Jean-Pierre Dumont (2)
Simon Gagne (2) – 00:58 Second period 09:42 – pp – Jean-Pierre Dumont (3)
Petr Nedved (1) – 05:47 Third period 08:35 – Jason Pominville (2)
18:42 – Jason Pominville (3)
Robert Esche 5 saves / 10 shots
Antero Niittymaki 15 saves / 18 shots 		Goalie stats Ryan Miller 20 saves / 22 shots
April 26 Buffalo Sabres 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers Wachovia Center Recap  
Ales Kotalik (2) – 02:37 First period 06:35 – sh – Brian Savage (1)
No scoring Second period 06:57 – Peter Forsberg (1)
12:37 – pp – Peter Forsberg (2)
Tim Connolly (2) – 04:44 Third period 19:44 – en – Simon Gagne (3)
Ryan Miller 23 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Robert Esche 26 saves / 28 shots
April 28 Buffalo Sabres 4–5 Philadelphia Flyers Wachovia Center Recap  
Thomas Vanek (1) – pp – 02:34
Daniel Briere (2) – 10:10 		First period 12:13 – Éric Desjardins (1)
No scoring Second period 03:26 – Peter Forsberg (3)
Daniel Briere (3) – pp – 06:17
Mike Grier (1) – sh – 19:41 		Third period 03:50 – pp – Petr Nedved (2)
09:51 – R. J. Umberger (1)
19:11 – Peter Forsberg (4)
Ryan Miller 28 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Robert Esche 26 saves / 30 shots
April 30 Philadelphia Flyers 0–3 Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 06:05 – pp – Tim Connolly (3)
No scoring Second period 19:12 – pp – Jean-Pierre Dumont (4)
No scoring Third period 04:50 – Maxim Afinogenov (1)
Robert Esche 30 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Ryan Miller 24 saves / 24 shots
May 2 Buffalo Sabres 7–1 Philadelphia Flyers Wachovia Center Recap  
Mike Grier (2) – 11:16
Ales Kotalik (3) – 17:34
Derek Roy (1) – 19:27 		First period No scoring
Jason Pominville (4) – 03:05
Maxim Afinogenov (2) – 07:19
Chris Drury (2) – 19:46 		Second period 18:57 – Branko Radivojevic (1)
Chris Drury (3) – sh – 02:12 Third period No scoring
Ryan Miller 21 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Robert Esche 12 saves / 17 shots
Antero Niittymaki 9 saves / 11 shots
Buffalo won series 4–2


Western Conference quarterfinals

[edit]

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers

[edit]

The Detroit Red Wings entered the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners, the Western Conference regular season and Central Division champions, with 124 points. Edmonton qualified as the eighth seed earning 95 points (losing the tie-breaker with Colorado in total wins) during the regular season. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Edmonton winning both previous series. They last met in the 1988 Clarence Campbell Conference Final where Edmonton won in five games. Detroit won this year's four game regular season series earning six of eight points during the season.

The eighth seeded Oilers upset the Red Wings in six games. Red Wings winger Kirk Maltby scored two goals in game one, including the winner in double overtime as Detroit won 3–2. The Oilers took the lead by scoring twice in 57 seconds in the second period of game two as they hung on to win 4–2. Jarret Stoll provided the game-winner in double overtime in game three giving the Oilers a 4–3 victory. The Red Wings scored three power-play goals in game four earning a 4–2 victory to tie the series. Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson made 30 saves as Edmonton hung on to win game five by a score of 3–2. The Oilers overcame a two-goal deficit after two periods of play in game six by scoring four times in third period, Ales Hemsky broke the tie with 1:06 remaining in regulation as Edmonton ended the series with a 4–3 win.


April 21 Edmonton Oilers 2–3 2OT Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Sergei Samsonov (1) – pp – 11:44 First period 04:05 – pp – Robert Lang (1)
Chris Pronger (1) – pp – 08:43 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 13:43 – Kirk Maltby (1)
No scoring Second overtime period 02:39 – Kirk Maltby (2)
Dwayne Roloson 54 saves / 57 shots Goalie stats Manny Legace 23 saves / 25 shots
April 23 Edmonton Oilers 4–2 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Chris Pronger (2) – 12:32 First period 14:50 – Jason Williams (1)
Fernando Pisani (1) – 17:49
Brad Winchester (1) – 18:46 		Second period 07:11 – pp – Henrik Zetterberg (1)
Jarret Stoll (1) – en – 19:47 Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 33 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Manny Legace 20 saves / 23 shots
April 25 Detroit Red Wings 3–4 2OT Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
Henrik Zetterberg (2) – pp – 12:05 First period 04:17 – Jaroslav Spacek (1)
16:38 – Ryan Smyth (1)
No scoring Second period 02:38 – pp – Raffi Torres (1)
Henrik Zetterberg (3) – pp – 11:52
Mathieu Schneider (1) – 12:10 		Third period No scoring
No scoring Second overtime period 08:44 – Jarret Stoll (2)
Manny Legace 28 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 44 saves / 47 shots
April 27 Detroit Red Wings 4–2 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
Tomas Holmstrom (1) – pp – 13:25
Robert Lang (2) – 19:23 		First period 07:22 – pp – Fernando Pisani (2)
No scoring Second period 04:03 – pp – Jaroslav Spacek (2)
Nicklas Lidstrom (1) – pp – 06:44
Henrik Zetterberg (4) – pp – 15:53 		Third period No scoring
Manny Legace 24 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 27 saves / 31 shots
April 29 Edmonton Oilers 3–2 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Fernando Pisani (3) – 05:16
Ryan Smyth (2) – pp – 08:34
Shawn Horcoff (1) – 12:36 		Second period 18:39 – Brendan Shanahan (1)
No scoring Third period 19:38 – Henrik Zetterberg (5)
Dwayne Roloson 30 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Manny Legace 16 saves / 19 shots
May 1 Detroit Red Wings 3–4 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
Henrik Zetterberg (6) – 14:36 First period No scoring
Robert Lang (3) – pp – 14:02 Second period No scoring
Johan Franzen (1) – 10:07 Third period 02:56 – pp – Fernando Pisani (4)
06:40 – Fernando Pisani (5)
16:07 – pp – Ales Hemsky (1)
18:54 – Ales Hemsky (2)
Manny Legace 26 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 33 saves / 36 shots
Edmonton won series 4–2


(2) Dallas Stars vs. (7) Colorado Avalanche

[edit]

The Dallas Stars entered the playoffs as the Pacific Division champions, earning the second seed in the Western Conference with 112 points. Colorado qualified as the seventh seed earning 95 points (winning the tie-breaker with Edmonton in total wins) during the regular season. This was the fourth and 2nd most recent playoff meeting between these two teams, with Dallas winning two of three previous series. They last met in the 2004 Western Conference quarterfinals where Colorado won in five games.

The Avalanche upset the Stars in five games. After trailing by two early in the first period of game one the Avalanche scored five unanswered goals and won by a score of 5–2. Brett Clark tied the game with a short-handed goal at 17:56 of the third period and four and a half minutes into overtime Joe Sakic scored his NHL-record seventh career playoff overtime goal to end the game in a 5–4 Colorado victory.[1] Avalanche forward Andrew Brunette scored with 57 seconds remaining in the third period to tie game three and Alex Tanguay tallied his second goal of the game at 1:09 of the first overtime to give the Avalanche a 4–3 win. Dallas staved off elimination in game four as Niklas Hagman scored two goals in a 4–1 victory. Colorado goaltender Jose Theodore made 50 saves in game five and Andrew Brunette scored the series-clinching goal nearly fourteen minutes into overtime to give the Avalanche a 3–2 win.


April 22 Colorado Avalanche 5–2 Dallas Stars American Airlines Center Recap  
Milan Hejduk (1) – 16:42 First period 13:04 – Brendan Morrow (1)
15:02 – Bill Guerin (1)
Wojtek Wolski (1) – 05:24
Rob Blake (1) – pp – 09:08
John-Michael Liles (1) – pp – 11:12 		Second period No scoring
Brett Clark (1) – 02:58 Third period No scoring
Jose Theodore 16 saves / 18 shots Goalie stats Marty Turco 26 saves / 31 shots
April 24 Colorado Avalanche 5–4 OT Dallas Stars American Airlines Center Recap  
Rob Blake (2) – pp – 07:06
Andrew Brunette (1) – 09:04
Milan Hejduk (2) – 12:23 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 02:41 – Jussi Jokinen (1)
05:54 – pp – Jere Lehtinen (1)
06:58 – Jere Lehtinen (2)
19:57 – pp – Mike Modano (1)
Brett Clark (2) – sh – 17:56 Third period No scoring
Joe Sakic (1) – 04:36 First overtime period No scoring
Jose Theodore 21 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Marty Turco 18 saves / 23 shots
April 26 Dallas Stars 3–4 OT Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
Stu Barnes (1) – sh – 10:49 First period 05:21 – pp – Joe Sakic (2)
18:53 – Alex Tanguay (1) – 18:53
Jon Klemm (1) – 08:44
Sergei Zubov (1) – pp – 19:45 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 19:03 – pp – Andrew Brunette (2)
No scoring First overtime period 01:09 – Alex Tanguay (2)
Marty Turco 25 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 19 saves / 22 shots
April 28 Dallas Stars 4–1 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
Jere Lehtinen (3) – 07:35 First period 04:46 – Brad Richardson (1)
Niklas Hagman (1) – 03:50
Bill Guerin (2) – pp – 18:41 		Second period No scoring
Niklas Hagman (2) – en – 18:45 Third period No scoring
Marty Turco 22 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 35 saves / 38 shots
April 30 Colorado Avalanche 3–2 OT Dallas Stars American Airlines Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Jim Dowd (1) – 13:03
Joe Sakic (3) – 19:58 		Second period 04:25 – pp – Jussi Jokinen (2)
No scoring Third period 02:47 – Bill Guerin (3)
Andrew Brunette (3) – 13:55 First overtime period No scoring
Jose Theodore 50 saves / 52 shots Goalie stats Marty Turco 27 saves / 30 shots
Colorado won series 4–1


(3) Calgary Flames vs. (6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

[edit]

The Calgary Flames entered the playoffs as the Northwest Division champions, earning the third seed in the Western Conference with 103 points. Anaheim qualified as the sixth seed earning 98 points during the regular season. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's four game regular season series.

The Mighty Ducks eliminated the Flames in seven games. Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff made 33 saves and Darren McCarty scored 9:45 into the first overtime as Calgary won game one 2–1. In game two Anaheim took a three-goal lead and hung on for a 4–3 victory. The Flames scored three power-play goals as they earned a 5–2 win in game three. Sean O'Donnell scored the overtime winner shortly after a power play expired in game four as Anaheim evened the series with a 3–2 victory. Flames captain Jarome Iginla scored twice as the Calgary held off a late charge by the Mighty Ducks taking a 3–2 victory in game five. In game six, Mighty Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer scored a power-play goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation time as Anaheim forced a seventh game with their 2–1 win. Anaheim goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves as the Mighty Ducks ended the Flames season with a shutout winning game seven 3–0.


April 21 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 1–2 OT Calgary Flames Pengrowth Saddledome Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 06:17 – Tony Amonte (1)
Jeff Friesen (1) – 05:17 Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 09:45 – Darren McCarty (1)
Ilya Bryzgalov 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Miikka Kiprusoff 33 saves / 34 shots
April 23 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4–3 Calgary Flames Pengrowth Saddledome Recap  
Chris Kunitz (1) – 09:37
Scott Niedermayer (1) – sh – 13:20 		First period No scoring
Joffrey Lupul (1) – 05:10 Second period 09:09 – sh – Jarome Iginla (1)
11:53 – pp – Kristian Huselius (1)
Samuel Pahlsson (1) – 07:55 Third period 15:31 – pp – Dion Phaneuf (1)
Jean-Sebastien Giguere 22 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Miikka Kiprusoff 16 saves / 20 shots
April 25 Calgary Flames 5–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Recap  
Daymond Langkow (1) – pp – 14:01 First period 17:26 – pp – François Beauchemin (1)
Kristian Huselius (2) – pp – 01:25
Chuck Kobasew (1) – 15:34 		Second period 08:16 – pp – François Beauchemin (2)
Darren McCarty (2) – 04:59
Robyn Regehr (1) – pp – 05:33 		Third period No scoring
Miikka Kiprusoff 27 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Jean-Sebastien Giguere 19 saves / 24 shots
April 27 Calgary Flames 2–3 OT Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 03:47 – Ryan Getzlaf (1)
07:13 – pp – Teemu Selanne (1)
Jarome Iginla (2) – 00:11
Jarome Iginla (3) – 03:27 		Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 01:36 – Sean O'Donnell (1)
Miikka Kiprusoff 27 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Jean-Sebastien Giguere 25 saves / 27 shots
April 29 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 2–3 Calgary Flames Pengrowth Saddledome Recap  
No scoring First period 05:49 – sh – Tony Amonte (2)
16:18 – pp – Jarome Iginla (4)
No scoring Second period 01:03 – Jarome Iginla (5)
Andy McDonald (1) – pp – 08:19
Rob Niedermayer (1) – pp – 19:27 		Third period No scoring
Jean-Sebastien Giguere 5 saves / 8 shots
Ilya Bryzgalov 19 saves / 19 shots 		Goalie stats Miikka Kiprusoff 26 saves / 28 shots
May 1 Calgary Flames 1–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Recap  
Stephane Yelle (1) – 10:18 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 07:49 – Teemu Selanne (2)
No scoring Third period 14:23 – pp – Scott Niedermayer (2)
Miikka Kiprusoff 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Ilya Bryzgalov 21 saves / 22 shots
May 3 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3–0 Calgary Flames Pengrowth Saddledome Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Teemu Selanne (3) – 05:12
Ruslan Salei (1) – 19:01 		Second period No scoring
Jeff Friesen (2) – en – 19:40 Third period No scoring
Ilya Bryzgalov 22 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Miikka Kiprusoff 29 saves / 31 shots
Anaheim won series 4–3


(4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks

[edit]

The Nashville Predators entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Western Conference with 106 points. San Jose qualified as the fifth seed earning 99 points during the regular season. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Nashville won this year's four game regular season series earning six of eight points during the season.

The Sharks eliminated the Predators in five games. All four of the Predators goals in game one came on the power play as Nashville took the opening game 4–3. In game two San Jose scored three first period power play goals and Vesa Toskala earned a shutout in the Sharks 3–0 victory. San Jose captain Patrick Marleau scored twice in game three as the Sharks won 4–1. Nashville attempted to make a comeback late in game four as the Sharks hung on to win 5–4, Patrick Marleau recorded a hat trick in the victory. San Jose continued to exploit the Predators penalty killing in game five as they scored twice on the power play and ended Nashville's season with a 2–1 victory.


April 21 San Jose Sharks 3–4 Nashville Predators Gaylord Entertainment Center Recap  
Mark Smith (1) – 04:12 First period 08:57 – pp – Mike Sillinger (1)
10:56 – pp – Martin Erat (1)
19:56 – pp – Shea Weber (1)
Nils Ekman (1) – pp – 08:50 Second period No scoring
Scott Thornton (1) – 10:31 Third period 12:06 – pp – Adam Hall (1)
Vesa Toskala 26 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Chris Mason 31 saves / 34 shots
April 23 San Jose Sharks 3–0 Nashville Predators Gaylord Entertainment Center Recap  
Jonathan Cheechoo (1) – pp – 05:37
Patrick Marleau (1) – pp – 16:31
Mark Smith (2) – pp – 17:31 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Vesa Toskala 25 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Chris Mason 34 saves / 37 shots
April 25 Nashville Predators 1–4 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
Kimmo Timonen (1) – sh – 06:33 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 12:10 – Patrick Marleau (2)
18:48 – pp – Steve Bernier (1)
No scoring Third period 15:38 – Jonathan Cheechoo (2)
16:45 – Patrick Marleau (3)
Chris Mason 36 saves / 40 shots Goalie stats Vesa Toskala 16 saves / 17 shots
April 27 Nashville Predators 4–5 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
Paul Kariya (1) – pp – 08:55 First period 07:03 – Patrick Rissmiller (1)
Shea Weber (2) – 05:45 Second period 07:01 – pp – Patrick Marleau (4)
11:30 – pp – Patrick Marleau (5)
12:56 – Mark Smith (3)
Mike Sillinger (2) – 10:47
Scott Hartnell (1) – 15:38 		Third period 04:13 – Patrick Marleau (6)
Chris Mason 19 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Vesa Toskala 26 saves / 30 shots
April 30 San Jose Sharks 2–1 Nashville Predators Gaylord Entertainment Center Recap  
Milan Michalek (1) – pp – 19:59 First period No scoring
Patrick Marleau (7) – pp – 13:24 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 11:06 – pp – Paul Kariya (2)
Vesa Toskala 34 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Chris Mason 34 saves / 36 shots
San Jose won series 4–1


Conference semifinals

[edit]

Eastern Conference semifinals

[edit]

(1) Ottawa Senators vs. (4) Buffalo Sabres

[edit]

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Buffalo winning both previous series. They last met in the 1999 Eastern Conference quarterfinals where Buffalo won in four games. Ottawa won five of the eight games during this year's regular season series.

The Sabres eliminated the Senators in five games. Sabres forward Tim Connolly tied game one with just 10.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at six and Chris Drury ended the game just 18 seconds into overtime as Buffalo won 7–6. Ryan Miller faced 44 shots and allowed just one goal against as the Sabres won game two 2–1. Overtime was required in game three after Jason Spezza tied the game late in the third period. Jean-Pierre Dumont ended the game with a goal at 5:05 of the first overtime as the Sabres took the game 3–2. In game four Wade Redden scored a power-play goal early in the third period as the Senators earned a 2–1 victory. Sabres rookie forward Jason Pominville became the first player in league history to score a short-handed overtime goal to end a series as he scored just 2:26 into the first overtime as Buffalo won game five 3–2.[2]


May 5 Buffalo Sabres 7–6 OT Ottawa Senators Scotiabank Place Recap  
Mike Grier (3) – 00:35
Teppo Numminen (1) – pp – 06:56 		First period 03:05 – Jason Spezza (3)
03:20 – Bryan Smolinski (2)
Tim Connolly (4) – sh – 03:29
Derek Roy (2) – 19:30 		Second period 01:47 – Martin Havlat (7)
04:15 – pp – Dany Heatley (3)
Derek Roy (3) – sh – 18:23
Tim Connolly (5) – 19:49 		Third period 00:16 – Mike Fisher (2)
18:47 – pp – Bryan Smolinski (3)
Chris Drury (4) – 00:18 First overtime period No scoring
Ryan Miller 27 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Ray Emery 16 saves / 23 shots
May 8 Buffalo Sabres 2–1 Ottawa Senators Scotiabank Place Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Jean-Pierre Dumont (5) – 03:33
Jochen Hecht (1) – 06:00 		Second period 07:40 – Chris Phillips (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Ryan Miller 43 saves / 44 shots Goalie stats Ray Emery 15 saves / 17 shots
May 10 Ottawa Senators 2–3 OT Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 09:24 – pp – Chris Drury (5)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Jason Spezza (4) – pp – 05:47
Jason Spezza (5) – pp – 18:30 		Third period 10:15 – Maxim Afinogenov (3)
No scoring First overtime period 05:05 – Jean-Pierre Dumont (6)
Ray Emery 21 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Ryan Miller 26 saves / 28 shots
May 11 Ottawa Senators 2–1 Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
Brian Pothier (1) – 04:56 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 16:18 – Daniel Briere (4)
Wade Redden (2) – pp – 02:52 Third period No scoring
Ray Emery 29 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Ryan Miller 26 saves / 28 shots
May 13 Buffalo Sabres 3–2 OT Ottawa Senators Scotiabank Place Recap  
Henrik Tallinder (1) – 00:33 First period 10:26 – pp – Daniel Alfredsson (2)
Chris Drury (6) – pp – 07:56 Second period 13:59 – Brian Pothier (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Jason Pominville (5) – sh – 02:26 First overtime period No scoring
Ryan Miller 34 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Ray Emery 21 saves / 24 shots
Buffalo won series 4–1


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

[edit]

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with the teams splitting the two previous series. They last met in the 2002 Eastern Conference quarterfinals where Carolina won in six games. Carolina won this year's four game regular season series earning five of eight points during the season.

The Hurricanes defeated New Jersey in five games. Carolina scored five power-play goals in game one as they won 6–0. Scott Gomez gave the Devils a 2–1 lead with just over twenty seconds to go in the third period of game two, however just 18 seconds later Eric Staal scored the game-tying goal with just three seconds left in regulation time to send the game into overtime. Niclas Wallin tallied the game-winner 3:09 into the first overtime. In game three Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour scored the game-winner with 1:01 to play in the second period. New Jersey jumped out to a 5–0 lead and won game four with a final score of 5–1. Cory Stillman scored the series-winning goal at 14:20 of the second period as the Hurricanes held on for a 4–1 victory in game five.


May 6 New Jersey Devils 0–6 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
No scoring First period 11:37 – pp – Ray Whitney (2)
No scoring Second period 02:58 – Ray Whitney (3)
17:32 – pp – Eric Staal (3)
18:06 – pp – Cory Stillman (3)
No scoring Third period 12:07 – pp – Doug Weight (1)
13:07 – pp – Rod Brind'Amour (5)
Martin Brodeur 29 saves / 35 shots
Scott Clemmensen 3 shots / 3 saves 		Goalie stats Cam Ward 21 saves / 21 shots
May 8 New Jersey Devils 2–3 OT Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Jamie Langenbrunner (3) – 06:20 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 18:18 – pp – Mark Recchi (2)
Scott Gomez (3) – 19:39 Third period 19:57 – Eric Staal (4)
No scoring First overtime period 03:09 – Niclas Wallin (1)
Martin Brodeur 35 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 21 saves / 23 shots
May 10 Carolina Hurricanes 3–2 New Jersey Devils Continental Airlines Arena Recap  
Matt Cullen (4) – pp – 08:16
Justin Williams (2) – 10:07 		First period 02:57 – Sergei Brylin (1)
Rod Brind'Amour (6) – pp – 18:59 Second period 08:45 – pp – Patrik Elias (6)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Cam Ward 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Martin Brodeur 21 saves / 24 shots
May 13 Carolina Hurricanes 1–5 New Jersey Devils Continental Airlines Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 01:58 – pp – Scott Gomez (4)
11:02 – sh – Jay Pandolfo (1)
19:00 – pp – Scott Gomez (5)
Mark Recchi (3) – 11:04 Second period 00:44 – Sergei Brylin (2)
04:23 – John Madden (4)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Cam Ward 13 saves / 17 shots
Martin Gerber 15 saves / 16 shots 		Goalie stats Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 20 shots
May 14 New Jersey Devils 1–4 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Brian Gionta (3) – 00:57 First period 08:39 – Frantisek Kaberle (1)
No scoring Second period 14:20 – pp – Cory Stillman (4)
No scoring Third period 07:22 – Ray Whitney (4)
18:32 – en – Eric Staal (5)
Martin Brodeur 27 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 17 saves / 18 shots
Carolina won series 4–1


Western Conference semifinals

[edit]

(5) San Jose Sharks vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers

[edit]

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Edmonton won three of the four games during this year's regular season series.

The Oilers came back from a two-game deficit to defeat the Sharks in six games. Patrick Marleau recorded a goal and an assist during game one in a 2–1 San Jose victory. The Sharks won game two 2–1 with Joe Thornton scoring the game-winner on the power play in the second period. Sharks goaltender Vesa Toskala made 55 saves in a losing effort in game three as the Oilers won in a triple-overtime on a goal scored by Shawn Horcoff at 2:24 to give Edmonton a 3–2 win. Edmonton came back from an early 3–1 deficit in game four and scored five unanswered goals to win 6–3 and to even the series at two games apiece. After San Jose tied game five early the third period the Oilers scored three unanswered goals as they took another 6–3 victory. Dwayne Roloson posted a 24 save shutout in game six as the Oilers took the game 2–0 with the game-winning goal from Michael Peca to win the series four games to two.


May 7 Edmonton Oilers 1–2 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
Jaroslav Spacek (3) – pp – 02:33 First period 07:42 – Patrick Marleau (8)
No scoring Second period 03:14 – Christian Ehrhoff (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Vesa Toskala 15 saves / 16 shots
May 8 Edmonton Oilers 1–2 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
No scoring First period 04:26 – Tom Preissing (1)
Sergei Samsonov (2) – 15:23 Second period 17:29 – pp – Joe Thornton (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 36 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Vesa Toskala 24 saves / 25 shots
May 10 San Jose Sharks 2–3 3OT Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
No scoring First period 10:04 – pp – Marc-Andre Bergeron (1)
Patrick Marleau (9) – 01:19
Patrick Rissmiller (2) – 09:30 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 13:13 – Raffi Torres (2)
No scoring Third overtime period 02:24 – Shawn Horcoff (2)
Vesa Toskala 55 saves / 58 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 32 saves / 34 shots
May 12 San Jose Sharks 3–6 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
Joe Thornton (2) – 03:47
Nils Ekman (2) – 06:40 		First period 12:55 – Shawn Horcoff (3)
Jonathan Cheechoo (3) – 09:02 Second period 12:28 – Michael Peca (1)
15:35 – Sergei Samsonov (3)
No scoring Third period 02:57 – Jason Smith (1)
08:19 – Ales Hemsky (3)
14:00 – pp – Jarret Stoll (3)
Vesa Toskala 26 saves / 31 shots
Evgeni Nabokov 3 saves / 4 shots 		Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 22 saves / 25 shots
May 14 Edmonton Oilers 6–3 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
Fernando Pisani (6) – 08:29 First period No scoring
Ryan Smyth (3) – pp – 06:31 Second period 04:30 – Scott Thornton (2)
Shawn Horcoff (4) – sh – 00:12
Fernando Pisani (7) – 04:03
Jarret Stoll (4) – pp – 13:40
Ryan Smyth (4) – pp – 16:11 		Third period 00:44 – pp – Christian Ehrhoff (2)
02:30 – Jonathan Cheechoo (4)
Dwayne Roloson 21 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Vesa Toskala 12 saves / 18 shots
May 17 San Jose Sharks 0–2 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
No scoring First period 08:21 – Michael Peca (2)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 11:37 – Shawn Horcoff (5)
Vesa Toskala 24 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 24 saves / 24 shots
Edmonton won series 4–2


(6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim vs. (7) Colorado Avalanche

[edit]

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Colorado won three of the four games during this year's regular season series.

Anaheim swept the Avalanche in four games. The Mighty Ducks scored four times in the second period of game one as Anaheim won 5–0, rookie Ilya Bryzgalov recorded his second-straight shutout. In game two Ilya Bryzgalov equalled a rookie record previously set by Frank McCool in 1945 as he recorded his third straight playoff shutout as the Mighty Ducks won 3–0.[3] In game three Dan Hinote ended Ilya Bryzgalov's shutout streak at 249:15 (the second longest in league history) when he scored late in the first period for the Avalanche.[4] Joffrey Lupul scored four goals including the overtime winner as the Mighty Ducks won 4–3. Joe Sakic scored the only goal for the Avalanche in game four as Anaheim finished off the series with a 4–1 victory to advance to their second Conference Final appearance in team history.


May 5 Colorado Avalanche 0–5 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 02:38 – Samuel Pahlsson (2)
10:24 – Chris Kunitz (2)
19:05 – Teemu Selanne (4)
19:54 – pp – Joffrey Lupul (2)
No scoring Third period 11:07 – Travis Moen (1)
Jose Theodore 29 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Ilya Bryzgalov 29 saves / 29 shots
May 7 Colorado Avalanche 0–3 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Recap  
No scoring First period 18:17 – pp – Ryan Getzlaf (2)
No scoring Second period 04:41 – Ruslan Salei (2)
12:24 – Joffrey Lupul (3)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Jose Theodore 32 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Ilya Bryzgalov 22 saves / 22 shots
May 9 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4–3 OT Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
No scoring First period 19:33 – Dan Hinote (1)
Joffrey Lupul (4) – 09:02 Second period No scoring
Joffrey Lupul (5) – 08:54
Joffrey Lupul (6) – 10:40 		Third period 04:47 – sh – Jim Dowd (2)
13:35 – Rob Blake (3)
Joffrey Lupul (7) – 16:30 First overtime period No scoring
Ilya Bryzgalov 26 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 35 saves / 39 shots
May 11 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4–1 Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center Recap  
Todd Marchant (1) – 16:52 First period 02:17 – Joe Sakic (4)
Teemu Selanne (5) – 02:22 Second period No scoring
Dustin Penner (1) – 06:07
Todd Marchant (2) – en – 18:21 		Third period No scoring
Ilya Bryzgalov 40 saves / 41 shots Goalie stats Jose Theodore 30 saves / 33 shots
Anaheim won series 4–0


Conference finals

[edit]
See also: NHL conference finals

Eastern Conference final

[edit]

(2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (4) Buffalo Sabres

[edit]

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina most recently made it to the conference finals in 2002, defeating Toronto in six games, while the Sabres last made it to the conference finals in 1999, defeating Toronto in five games. Carolina won three of the four games in this year's four game regular season series.

The Hurricanes eliminated the Sabres in seven games. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller made 29 saves in game one as Buffalo won 3–2. Ray Whitney scored twice in the second period of game two as the Hurricanes evened the series with a 4–3 victory. The Sabres scored four times in just over thirteen minutes in game three as they earned a 4–3 win. Martin Gerber made 22 saves in a shutout victory for the Hurricanes as they took game four by a score of 4–0. Cam Ward replaced Martin Gerber early in the second period of game five as the Hurricanes came back from a two-goal deficit and won the game 4–3 on a power-play goal scored by Cory Stillman at 8:46 of the first overtime period. Daniel Briere forced a seventh game in this series with his game-winning goal at 4:22 of the first overtime as Buffalo won game six 2–1. Hurricanes forward Rod Brind'Amour capitalised on a delay of game penalty to Brian Campbell at 11:22 of the third period in game seven as Carolina advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals with a 4–2 victory. Game 7 marked the most recent time the Hurricanes won a game in the Conference Finals, as they were swept out of the conference finals in 2009, 2019, and 2023. Game 7 also marked the last time the Buffalo Sabres played under the black and red colours before returning to the blue and yellow as its main colours with a completely new logo.


May 20 Buffalo Sabres 3–2 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Henrik Tallinder (2) – 02:56 First period 12:11 – Rod Brind'Amour (7)
Daniel Briere (5) – 09:41 Second period No scoring
Jay McKee (2) – 13:40 Third period 17:07 – sh – Mike Commodore (1)
Ryan Miller 29 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 24 saves / 27 shots
May 22 Buffalo Sabres 3–4 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Thomas Vanek (2) – pp – 19:12 First period 10:05 – pp – Frantisek Kaberle (2)
No scoring Second period 06:03 – pp – Ray Whitney (5)
12:58 – Ray Whitney (6)
Chris Drury (7) – pp – 11:39
Derek Roy (4) – pp – 19:57 		Third period 06:58 – Justin Williams (3)
Ryan Miller 31 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 16 saves / 19 shots
May 24 Carolina Hurricanes 3–4 Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
Cory Stillman (5) – 14:07 First period 19:30 – pp – Chris Drury (8)
Cory Stillman (6) – 18:18 Second period 01:02 – pp – Daniel Briere (6)
08:28 – Daniel Briere (7)
12:55 – Ales Kotalik (4)
Eric Staal (6) – pp – 15:52 Third period No scoring
Cam Ward 22 saves / 26 shots
Martin Gerber 7 saves / 7 shots 		Goalie stats Ryan Miller 24 saves / 27 shots
May 26 Carolina Hurricanes 4–0 Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
Mark Recchi (4) – 06:54
Eric Staal (7) – pp – 09:53 		First period No scoring
Andrew Ladd (1) – 02:10 Second period No scoring
Bret Hedican (1) – 16:03 Third period No scoring
Martin Gerber 22 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Ryan Miller 17 saves / 21 shots
May 28 Buffalo Sabres 3–4 OT Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Chris Drury (9) – 07:08
Derek Roy (5) – 17:32 		First period 07:25 – Justin Williams (4)
Toni Lydman (1) – 01:55 Second period 05:21 – Mark Recchi (5)
10:04 – pp – Rod Brind'Amour (8)
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 08:46 – pp – Cory Stillman (7)
Ryan Miller 22 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Martin Gerber 8 saves / 11 shots
Cam Ward 15 saves / 15 shots
May 30 Carolina Hurricanes 1–2 OT Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 04:56 – J.P. Dumont (7)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Bret Hedican (2) – 16:07 Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 04:22 – pp – Daniel Briere (8)
Cam Ward 29 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Ryan Miller 25 saves / 26 shots
June 1 Buffalo Sabres 2–4 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
No scoring First period 12:05 – Mike Commodore (2)
Doug Janik (1) – 15:50
Jochen Hecht (2) – 19:55 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 01:34 – Doug Weight (2)
11:22 – pp – Rod Brind'Amour (9)
19:08 – Justin Williams (5)
Ryan Miller 24 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 22 saves / 24 shots
Carolina won series 4–3


Western Conference final

[edit]

(6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers

[edit]

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Anaheim most recently made it to the conference finals in 2003, sweeping the Minnesota Wild in four games, while the Oilers last made it to the conference finals in 1992, losing to Chicago in four games. Edmonton won all four games during this year's regular season series.

The Oilers eliminated Anaheim in five games. Ales Hemsky's power-play goal at 11:35 of the second period gave the Oilers the lead as they took game one 3–1. Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson made 33 saves won again by a score of 3–1. Fernando Pisani scored the game-winning goal for the Oilers in game three as the two teams traded eight goals in the third period and Edmonton hung on for a 5–4 victory. Anaheim changed goaltenders before the start of game four as Jean-Sebastien Giguere got the start for the Mighty Ducks. Anaheim took a three-goal lead in the first period and never looked back winning the game 6–3. Dwayne Roloson made 32 saves as the Oilers ended the series with a 2–1 victory in game five. The Oilers became the first eighth-seeded team to reach the Finals under this playoff format (which was introduced in 1994). Anaheim changed their team nickname, uniforms and logo after the season as they became known as the Anaheim Ducks. This was the last time the Oilers made the conference finals until 2022.


May 19 Edmonton Oilers 3–1 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Recap  
Michael Peca (3) – sh – 18:35 First period 19:03 – pp – Andy McDonald (2)
Ales Hemsky (4) – pp – 11:35 Second period No scoring
Todd Harvey (1) – en – 19:18 Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 31 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Ilya Bryzgalov 23 saves / 25 shots
May 21 Edmonton Oilers 3–1 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Recap  
Chris Pronger (3) – pp – 13:08 First period No scoring
Fernando Pisani (8) – 17:09 Second period 06:12 – Jeff Friesen (3)
Michael Peca (4) – en – 19:42 Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 33 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Ilya Bryzgalov 22 saves / 24 shots
May 23 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4–5 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
No scoring First period 13:47 – Toby Petersen (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Sean O'Donnell (2) – 07:15
Teemu Selanne (6) – 09:13
Chris Kunitz (3) – 11:15
Todd Marchant (3) – 18:15 		Third period 02:19 – Michael Peca (5)
03:35 – pp – Steve Staios (1)
04:40 – pp – Chris Pronger (4)
14:14 – Fernando Pisani (9)
Ilya Bryzgalov 17 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 34 saves / 38 shots
May 25 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 6–3 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
Dustin Penner (2) – 07:28
Dustin Penner (3) – 15:11
Ryan Getzlaf (3) – pp – 19:18 		First period No scoring
Ruslan Salei (3) – 05:42
Joffrey Lupul (8) – 18:22 		Second period 03:30 – pp – Marc-Andre Bergeron (2)
07:46 – Ryan Smyth (5)
10:01 – Georges Laraque (1)
Joffrey Lupul (9) – en – 18:50 Third period No scoring
Jean-Sebastien Giguere 20 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 40 saves / 45 shots
May 27 Edmonton Oilers 2–1 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Recap  
No scoring First period 07:30 – pp – Francois Beauchemin (3)
Ethan Moreau (1) – 03:42
Raffi Torres (3) – 08:31 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 32 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Jean-Sebastien Giguere 23 saves / 25 shots
Edmonton won series 4–1


Stanley Cup Finals

[edit]
Main article: 2006 Stanley Cup Finals

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina made their second Finals appearance, while Edmonton made their seventh appearance in the Finals. The Hurricanes were defeated in their last appearance in the Finals losing to Detroit in five games in 2002, the Oilers won their last appearance in the Finals defeating Boston in five games in 1990. The teams did not meet during the regular season. This series marked the first time that two former World Hockey Association teams played against each other for the Stanley Cup since they merged with the NHL in 1979. This was the first Stanley Cup Finals to be contested by two teams that had both missed the playoffs the previous season.


June 5 Edmonton Oilers 4–5 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Fernando Pisani (10) – 08:18 First period No scoring
Chris Pronger (5) – ps – 10:36
Ethan Moreau (2) – 16:23 		Second period 17:17 – Rod Brind'Amour (10)
Ales Hemsky (5) – pp – 13:31 Third period 01:40 – Ray Whitney (7)
05:09 – pp – Ray Whitney (8)
10:02 – sh – Justin Williams (6)
19:28 – Rod Brind'Amour (11)
Dwayne Roloson 19 saves / 23 shots
Ty Conklin 2 saves / 3 shots 		Goalie stats Cam Ward 34 saves / 38 shots
June 7 Edmonton Oilers 0–5 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
No scoring First period 06:21 – Andrew Ladd (2)
No scoring Second period 10:28 – pp – Frantisek Kaberle (3)
19:57 – Cory Stillman (8)
No scoring Third period 02:21 – pp – Doug Weight (3)
04:12 – pp – Mark Recchi (6)
Jussi Markkanen 21 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 25 saves / 25 shots
June 10 Carolina Hurricanes 1–2 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
No scoring First period 02:31 – Shawn Horcoff (6)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Rod Brind'Amour (12) – 09:09 Third period 17:45 – Ryan Smyth (6)
Cam Ward 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Jussi Markkanen 24 saves / 25 shots
June 12 Carolina Hurricanes 2–1 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
Cory Stillman (9) – pp – 09:09 First period 08:40 – Sergei Samsonov (4)
Mark Recchi (7) – 15:56 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Cam Ward 20 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Jussi Markkanen 18 saves / 20 shots
June 14 Edmonton Oilers 4–3 OT Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
Fernando Pisani (11) – 00:16
Ales Hemsky (6) – pp – 13:25
Michael Peca (6) – 19:42 		First period 05:54 – pp – Eric Staal (8)
10:16 – pp – Ray Whitney (9)
No scoring Second period 09:56 – pp – Eric Staal (9)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Fernando Pisani (12) – sh – 03:31 First overtime period No scoring
Jussi Markkanen 21 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 25 saves / 29 shots
June 17 Carolina Hurricanes 0–4 Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 01:45 – pp – Fernando Pisani (13)
09:54 – Raffi Torres (4)
No scoring Third period 03:04 – pp – Ryan Smyth (7)
13:05 – pp – Shawn Horcoff (7)
Cam Ward 30 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Jussi Markkanen 16 saves / 16 shots
June 19 Edmonton Oilers 1–3 Carolina Hurricanes RBC Center Recap  
No scoring First period 01:26 – Aaron Ward (2)
No scoring Second period 04:18 – pp – Frantisek Kaberle (4)
Fernando Pisani (14) – 01:03 Third period 18:59 – en – Justin Williams (7)
Jussi Markkanen 24 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Cam Ward 22 saves / 23 shots
Carolina won series 4–3


Player statistics

[edit]

Skaters

[edit]

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

Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Eric Staal Carolina Hurricanes 25 9 19 28 0 8
Cory Stillman Carolina Hurricanes 25 9 17 26 +12 14
Chris Pronger Edmonton Oilers 24 5 16 21 +10 26
Daniel Briere Buffalo Sabres 18 8 11 19 0 12
Shawn Horcoff Edmonton Oilers 24 7 12 19 +4 12
Fernando Pisani Edmonton Oilers 24 14 4 18 +4 10
Rod Brind'Amour Carolina Hurricanes 25 12 6 18 +9 16
Chris Drury Buffalo Sabres 18 9 9 18 +5 10
Justin Williams Carolina Hurricanes 25 7 11 18 +12 34
Matt Cullen Carolina Hurricanes 25 4 14 18 +2 12

Goaltending

[edit]

These are the top five goaltenders based on either goals against average or save percentage with at least four games played.

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

Player Team GP W L SA GA GAA Min Sv% SO
Ilya Bryzgalov Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 11 6 4 285 16 1.46 658:59 .944 3
Cristobal Huet Montreal Canadiens 6 2 4 212 15 2.33 385:37 .929 0
Dwayne Roloson Edmonton Oilers 18 12 5 618 45 2.33 1159:43 .927 1
Martin Brodeur New Jersey Devils 9 5 4 261 20 2.25 532:59 .923 1
Miikka Kiprusoff Calgary Flames 7 3 4 202 16 2.24 427:59 .921 0
Cam Ward Carolina Hurricanes 23 15 8 584 47 2.14 1319:53 .920 2
Jussi Markkanen Edmonton Oilers 6 3 3 137 13 2.17 360:23 .905 1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Joe Sakic – Career Timeline". July 9, 2009. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  2. ^ "Buffalo Wins On Pominville's Heroics". May 13, 2006. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  3. ^ "Game Recap". May 7, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  4. ^ "Game Recap". May 9, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2015.

See also

[edit]
Preceded by Stanley Cup playoffs Succeeded by
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