2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs
5203277
226180553
2008-07-17T05:12:29Z
24.42.92.74
/* (1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (6) New York Rangers */
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2008}}[[Image:2007StanleyCupPlayoffs.png|right|200px|The Official Logo for the 2007 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.]]
The '''2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs''' of the [[National Hockey League]] began on [[April 11]], [[2007 in sports|2007]]. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played [[Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff|best-of-7 series]] for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions played a best-of-7 series for the [[Stanley Cup]]. The series ended on [[June 6]], [[2007]], with the [[Anaheim Ducks]] defeating the [[Ottawa Senators]] four games to one to win their first ever championship. For the first time in NHL history, neither of the two teams that played in the [[2006 Stanley Cup Finals|previous year's Stanley Cup Finals]] (the [[Carolina Hurricanes]] and the [[Edmonton Oilers]]) qualified for the playoffs. For the first time since [[1998–99 NHL season|1999]], neither of the two Stanley Cup finalists (the [[Anaheim Ducks]] and the [[Ottawa Senators]]) had previously won the Cup.
[[Detroit Red Wings]] defenceman [[Chris Chelios]] made his 22nd post-season appearance, breaking the record for most post-season appearances. The [[New York Rangers]] set a new post-season franchise record this year by defeating the [[Atlanta Thrashers]] 7–0 on [[April 17]]. Over the years, the championship round of the playoffs has been variously referred to as the "Stanley Cup Championship," "Stanley Cup Finals," and, since 2006, "Stanley Cup Final," among others. "Stanley Cup Final" has gained official currency with the NHL and its broadcast partners. Other sources continue to use the name "Stanley Cup Finals" and many use both.
==Playoff seeds==
After the [[2006–07 NHL season]], the standard of 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The [[Buffalo Sabres]] were the [[Eastern Conference (NHL)|Eastern Conference]] regular season champions and were also the [[Presidents' Trophy]] winners with the best record at 113 points (53 wins, 22 regulation losses, 7 overtime/shootout losses). The Detroit Red Wings earned the [[Western Conference (NHL)|Western Conference]] regular season crown with 113 points (50 wins, 19 regulation loses, 13 overtime/shootout losses).
===Eastern Conference===
[[Image:Hhof stanley cup.jpg|right|175px|thumb|'''[[The Stanley Cup]]''']]
#[[Buffalo Sabres]] - [[Northeast Division (NHL)|Northeast Division]] and Eastern Conference regular season champions; Presidents' Trophy winners, 113 points
#[[New Jersey Devils]] - [[Atlantic Division (NHL)|Atlantic Division]] champions, 107 points
#[[Atlanta Thrashers]] - [[Southeast Division (NHL)|Southeast Division]] champions, 97 points
#[[Ottawa Senators]] - 105 points (48 wins)
#[[Pittsburgh Penguins]] - 105 points (47 wins)
#[[New York Rangers]] - 94 points
#[[Tampa Bay Lightning]] - 93 points
#[[New York Islanders]] - 92 points
===Western Conference===
#[[Detroit Red Wings]] - [[Central Division (NHL)|Central Division]] and Western Conference regular season champions, 113 points
#[[Anaheim Ducks]] - [[Pacific Division (NHL)|Pacific Division]] champions, 110 points
#[[Vancouver Canucks]] - [[Northwest Division (NHL)|Northwest Division]] champions, 105 points
#[[Nashville Predators]] - 110 points
#[[San Jose Sharks]] - 107 points (51 wins)
#[[Dallas Stars]] - 107 points (50 wins)
#[[Minnesota Wild]] - 104 points
#[[Calgary Flames]] - 96 points
==Bracket==
{{NHLBracket
| RD1=Conference Quarterfinals
| RD2=Conference Semifinals
| RD3=Conference Finals
| RD4=Stanley Cup Finals
| group1='''[[Eastern Conference (NHL)|Eastern Conference]]'''
| group2='''[[Western Conference (NHL)|Western Conference]]'''
| RD1-seed01='''1'''
| RD1-team01='''Buffalo Sabres'''
| RD1-score01='''4'''
| RD1-seed02=8
| RD1-team02=New York Islanders
| RD1-score02=1
| RD1-seed03='''2'''
| RD1-team03='''New Jersey Devils'''
| RD1-score03='''4'''
| RD1-seed04=7
| RD1-team04=Tampa Bay Lightning
| RD1-score04=2
| RD1-seed05=3
| RD1-team05=Atlanta Thrashers
| RD1-score05=0
| RD1-seed06='''6'''
| RD1-team06='''New York Rangers'''
| RD1-score06='''4'''
| RD1-seed07='''4'''
| RD1-team07='''Ottawa Senators'''
| RD1-score07='''4'''
| RD1-seed08=5
| RD1-team08=Pittsburgh Penguins
| RD1-score08=1
| RD1-seed09='''1'''
| RD1-team09='''Detroit Red Wings'''
| RD1-score09='''4'''
| RD1-seed10=8
| RD1-team10=Calgary Flames
| RD1-score10=2
| RD1-seed11='''2'''
| RD1-team11='''Anaheim Ducks'''
| RD1-score11='''4'''
| RD1-seed12=7
| RD1-team12=Minnesota Wild
| RD1-score12=1
| RD1-seed13='''3'''
| RD1-team13='''Vancouver Canucks'''
| RD1-score13='''4'''
| RD1-seed14=6
| RD1-team14=Dallas Stars
| RD1-score14=3
| RD1-seed15=4
| RD1-team15=Nashville Predators
| RD1-score15=1
| RD1-seed16='''5'''
| RD1-team16='''San Jose Sharks'''
| RD1-score16='''4'''
| RD2-seed01='''1'''
| RD2-team01='''Buffalo Sabres'''
| RD2-score01='''4'''
| RD2-seed02=6
| RD2-team02=New York Rangers
| RD2-score02=2
| RD2-seed03=2
| RD2-team03=New Jersey Devils
| RD2-score03=1
| RD2-seed04='''4'''
| RD2-team04='''Ottawa Senators'''
| RD2-score04='''4'''
| RD2-seed05='''1'''
| RD2-team05='''Detroit Red Wings'''
| RD2-score05='''4'''
| RD2-seed06=5
| RD2-team06=San Jose Sharks
| RD2-score06=2
| RD2-seed07='''2'''
| RD2-team07='''Anaheim Ducks'''
| RD2-score07='''4'''
| RD2-seed08=3
| RD2-team08=Vancouver Canucks
| RD2-score08=1
| RD3-seed01=1
| RD3-team01=Buffalo Sabres
| RD3-score01=1
| RD3-seed02='''4'''
| RD3-team02='''Ottawa Senators'''
| RD3-score02='''4'''
| RD3-seed03=1
| RD3-team03=Detroit Red Wings
| RD3-score03=2
| RD3-seed04='''2'''
| RD3-team04='''Anaheim Ducks'''
| RD3-score04='''4'''
| RD4-seed01='''W2'''
| RD4-team01='''Anaheim Ducks'''
| RD4-score01='''4'''
| RD4-seed01-bgcolor1=#00008b
| RD4-seed01-bgcolor2=#87cefa
| RD4-seed01-border-color=#006
| RD4-seed02=E4
| RD4-team02=Ottawa Senators
| RD4-score02=1
| RD4-seed02-bgcolor1=#8b0000
| RD4-seed02-bgcolor2=#ffaeb9
| RD4-seed02-border-color=#600}}
In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. The higher-seeded team is awarded home ice advantage, which gives them a maximum possible four games on their home ice, with the other team getting a maximum possible three. In the Stanley Cup Final, home ice is determined based on regular season points, giving the Anaheim Ducks home ice for this year's series. Each best-of-seven series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 format. This means that the higher-seeded team will have Games 1 and 2, plus 5 and 7 if necessary, played on their home ice, while the lower-seeded team will be at home for the other games. The format ensures that the team with home ice advantage will always have home ice for the "extra" game if there are an odd number of games in a series.
==Statistical leaders==
===Skaters===
<small>''GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = [[Plus/Minus]]; PIM = Penalty Minutes''</small>
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! style="width:12em" | Player
! style="width:12em" | Team
! style="width:4em" | GP
! style="width:4em" | G
! style="width:4em" | A
! style="width:4em" | Pts
! style="width:4em" | +/–
! style="width:4em" | PIM
|-
| {{sortname|Daniel|Alfredsson}} || Ottawa Senators || 20 || 14 || 8 || 22 || +4 || 10
|-
| {{sortname|Jason|Spezza}} || Ottawa Senators || 20 || 7 || 15 || 22 || +5 || 10
|-
| {{sortname|Dany|Heatley}} || Ottawa Senators || 20 || 7 || 15 || 22 || +4 || 14
|-
| {{sortname|Nicklas|Lidstrom|Nicklas Lidström}} || Detroit Red Wings || 18 || 4 || 14 || 18 || 0 || 6
|-
| {{sortname|Ryan|Getzlaf}} || Anaheim Ducks || 21 || 7 || 10 || 17 || +1 || 32
|-
| {{sortname|Pavel|Datsyuk}} || Detroit Red Wings || 18 || 8 || 8 || 16 || +2 || 8
|-
| {{sortname|Corey|Perry}} || Anaheim Ducks || 21 || 6 || 9 || 15 || +5 || 37
|-
| {{sortname|Teemu|Selanne|Teemu Selänne}} || Anaheim Ducks || 21 || 5 || 10 || 15 || +1 || 10
|-
| {{sortname|Chris|Pronger}} || Anaheim Ducks || 19 || 3 || 12 || 15 || +10 || 26
|-
| {{sortname|Daniel|Briere|Daniel Brière}} || Buffalo Sabres || 16 || 3 || 12 || 15 || +3 || 16
|}
===Goaltending===
These are the top five goaltenders based on either [[goals against average]] or [[save percentage]] with at least four games played.
<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>
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! style="width:12em" | Player
! style="width:12em" | Team
! style="width:4em" | GP
! style="width:4em" | W
! style="width:4em" | L
! style="width:5em" | SA
! style="width:4em" | GA
! style="width:5em" | GAA
! style="width:5em" | TOI
! style="width:5em" | Sv%
! style="width:4em" | SO
|-
| {{sortname|Marty|Turco}} || Dallas Stars || 7 || 3 || 4 || 229 || 11 || 1.30 || 509:13 || .952 || 3
|-
| {{sortname|Roberto|Luongo}} || Vancouver Canucks || 12 || 5 || 7 || 427 || 25 || 1.77 || 847:26 || .941 || 0
|-
| {{sortname|Miikka|Kiprusoff}} || Calgary Flames || 6 || 2 || 4 || 255 || 18 || 2.81 || 383:35 || .929 || 0
|-
| {{sortname|Henrik|Lundqvist}} || New York Rangers || 10 || 6 || 4 || 291 || 22 || 2.07 || 637:25 || .924 || 1
|-
| {{sortname|Niklas|Backstrom|Niklas Bäckström}} || Minnesota Wild || 5 || 1 || 4 || 145 || 11 || 2.22 || 296:39 || .924 || 0
|-
| {{sortname|Dominik|Hasek|Dominik Hašek}} || Detroit Red Wings || 18 || 10 || 8 || 444 || 34 || 1.79 || 1,139:49 || .923 || 2
|-
| {{sortname|Jean-Sebastien|Giguere|Jean-Sébastien Giguère}} || Anaheim Ducks || 18 || 13 || 4 || 451 || 35 || 1.97 || 1,067:04 || .922 || 1
|}
==Conference Quarterfinals==
:<small>Game-winning goal scorer indicated in ''italics''</small>
===Eastern Conference Quarterfinals===
====(1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (8) New York Islanders====
The high scoring Buffalo Sabres had completed one of their best regular seasons ever, having won the [[President's Trophy]], awarded to the team amassing the most points in the regular season, with 113 points.
After qualifying for the Eastern Conference Finals in 1993, the Islanders had failed to win a playoff series since then. After a miserable 2005–06 season, the team hired former [[Buffalo Sabres]] coach [[Ted Nolan]]. Under him the team posted a 92 point season in 2006–07. It was on the final day of the regular season that they clinched a playoff spot with a [[shootout]] victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Game 1 went to Buffalo, but in Game 2 the Islanders beat the Sabres 3–2. However that win was overshadowed by Buffalo winning the next three games to clinch the series and move on to Round 2.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Buffalo goals
!width=25%|NY Islanders goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 12]]||at Buffalo 4, Islanders 1|| ||[[Brian Campbell|Campbell]] 2, ''[[Chris Drury|Drury]]'' 2||[[Arron Asham|Asham]]||[[Ryan Miller (ice hockey)|Miller]]
|-
|2||[[April 14]]||Islanders 3, at Buffalo 2|| ||[[Toni Lydman|Lydman]], [[Dmitri Kalinin|Kalinin]]||[[Trent Hunter|Hunter]], [[Bruno Gervais|Gervais]], ''[[Marc-André Bergeron|Bergeron]]''||[[Rick DiPietro|DiPietro]]
|-
|3||[[April 16]]||Buffalo 3, at Islanders 2|| ||[[Adam Mair|Mair]], [[Thomas Vanek|Vanek]], ''[[Daniel Brière|Briere]]'' || Hunter, [[Ryan Smyth|Smyth]]|| Miller
|-
|4||[[April 18]]||Buffalo 4, at Islanders 2|| || Vanek, '' Drury'' 2, [[Jason Pominville|Pominville]]||[[Jason Blake (ice hockey)|Blake]], [[Mike Sillinger|Sillinger]]|| Miller
|-
|5||[[April 20]]||at Buffalo 4, Islanders 3|| ||[[Drew Stafford|Stafford]], Pominville, [[Derek Roy|Roy]], ''[[Maxim Afinogenov|Afinogenov]]''||[[Miroslav Šatan|Satan]], Hunter, [[Chris Campoli|Campoli]]|| Miller
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Sabres win series 4–1'''|| '''Drury 4, Campbell 2, Pominville 2, Vanek 2''' || '''Hunter 3'''
|}
====(2) New Jersey Devils vs. (7) Tampa Bay Lightning====
In the spring of 2003, the Devils and Lightning met up in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which the Devils won in 6 games in the second series between the two teams.
The Devils and Lightning met again in 2007. However, Devils general manager [[Lou Lamoriello]], with 3 games remaining in the regular season, fired head coach [[Claude Julien]] so that he could coach the team going into the playoffs.
The Devils and Lightning split the first 2 games in New Jersey. The Lightning were able to win Game 3 to take a series lead, but Devil's center [[Scott Gomez]] scored the overtime goal in Game 4 to tie the series at 2 games. The Devils then went on to win the next two games to take the series 4 games to 2.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|New Jersey goals
!width=25%|Tampa Bay goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 12]]||at New Jersey 5, Tampa Bay 3|| ||''[[Zach Parise|Parise]]'' 2, [[Patrik Eliáš|Elias]], [[Brian Rafalski|Rafalski]], [[Brian Gionta|Gionta]]||[[Martin St. Louis|St. Louis]], [[Vincent Lecavalier|Lecavalier]] 2||[[Martin Brodeur|Brodeur]]
|-
|2||[[April 14]]||Tampa Bay 3, at New Jersey 2|| ||Parise, [[Jamie Langenbrunner|Langenbrunner]] ||[[Filip Kuba|Kuba]], St. Louis, ''Lecavalier''|| [[Johan Holmqvist|Holmqvist]]
|-
|3||[[April 16]]||at Tampa Bay 3, New Jersey 2|| ||[[John Madden (ice hockey)|Madden]], Parise|| Lecavalier, [[Brad Richards|Richards]], ''[[Václav Prospal|Prospal]]''|| Holmqvist
|-
|4||[[April 18]]||New Jersey 4, at Tampa Bay 3||OT 12:54|| Gionta, Parise 2, ''[[Scott Gomez|Gomez]]''||[[Eric Perrin|Perrin]], St. Louis, Lecavalier|| Brodeur
|-
|5||[[April 20]]||at New Jersey 3, Tampa Bay 0|| ||[[Andy Greene|Greene]], Gionta, ''Gomez''|| || Brodeur
|-
|6||[[April 22]]||New Jersey 3, at Tampa Bay 2|| ||''Gionta'' 2, [[Brian Rafalski|Rafalski]]|| Richards 2|| Brodeur
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Devils win series 4–2'''|| '''Parise 6, Gionta 5, Rafalski 2, Gomez 2''' || '''Lecavalier 5, St. Louis 3, Richards 3'''
|}
====(3) Atlanta Thrashers vs. (6) New York Rangers====
The Thrashers qualified for the playoffs in 2006–07, their first ever trip to the postseason. General manager [[Don Waddell]] arranged several trade deadline deals that brought winger [[Keith Tkachuk]] and defenceman [[Alexei Zhitnik]] to Atlanta from the [[St. Louis Blues (hockey)|St. Louis Blues]] and [[Philadelphia Flyers]], respectively. This new veteran leadership helped to propel the young Thrashers into the playoffs. For the Rangers, this was the second straight season in which they qualified for the playoffs after several years of not qualifying, having been swept in four games the season earlier by the Devils.
This series proved to be no contest, however, as the Rangers swept the series in four games. It was thought that the series would be more evenly matched, and aside from the Rangers 7–0 rout of Atlanta in Game 3, the scores in the other three games were close. The first two games were decided by one goal, and Game 4 was decided by two goals.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Atlanta goals
!width=25%|NY Rangers goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 12]]||Rangers 4, at Atlanta 3|| ||[[Éric Bélanger|Belanger]], [[Shane Hnidy|Hnidy]], [[Pascal Dupuis|Dupris]]||[[Jaromír Jágr|Jagr]], [[Michal Rozsíval|Rozsival]], [[Marcel Hossa|Hossa]], ''[[Michael Nylander|Nylander]]''||[[Henrik Lundqvist|Lundqvist]]
|-
|2||[[April 14]]||Rangers 2, at Atlanta 1|| ||[[Ilya Kovalchuk|Kovalchuk]]||[[Sean Avery|Avery]], ''[[Brendan Shanahan|Shanahan]]''|| Lundqvist
|-
|3||[[April 17]]||at Rangers 7, Atlanta 0|| || || ''Nylander'' 3, [[Marek Malík|Malik]], [[Ryan Callahan|Callahan]] 2, Shanahan|| Lundqvist
|-
|4||[[April 18]]||at Rangers 4, Atlanta 2|| ||[[Keith Tkachuk|Tkachuk]], [[Greg de Vries|de Vries]]|| Rozsival, Shanahan, ''[[Matt Cullen|Cullen]]'', Jagr|| Lundqvist
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Rangers win series 4–0'''|| '''6 tied with 1''' || '''Nylander 4, Shanahan 3, 3 tied with 2'''
|}
====(4) Ottawa Senators vs. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins====
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Ottawa goals
!width=25%|Pittsburgh goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 11]]||at Ottawa 6, Pittsburgh 3|| ||[[Andrej Meszároš|Meszaros]], [[Chris Kelly (ice hockey)|Kelly]], [[Tom Preissing|Preissing]], ''[[Dany Heatley|Heatley]]'', [[Chris Neil|Neil]], [[Mike Comrie|Comrie]]||[[Jordan Staal|Staal]], [[Sergei Gonchar|Gonchar]], [[Sidney Crosby|Crosby]]||[[Ray Emery|Emery]]
|-
|2||[[April 14]]||Pittsburgh 4, at Ottawa 3|| ||[[Jason Spezza|Spezza]], [[Daniel Alfredsson|Alfredsson]], Kelly||[[Ryan Whitney|Whitney]], [[Gary Roberts (ice hockey)|Roberts]], Staal, ''Crosby''||[[Marc-André Fleury|Fleury]]
|-
|3||[[April 15]]||Ottawa 4, at Pittsburgh 2|| ||[[Dean McAmmond|McAmmond]], Comrie, ''Alfredsson'' 2||Roberts, Crosby|| Emery
|-
|4||[[April 17]]||Ottawa 2, at Pittsburgh 1|| ||Spezza, ''[[Anton Volchenkov|Volchenkov]]''||Staal|| Emery
|-
|5||[[April 19]]||at Ottawa 3, Pittsburgh 0|| ||''Heatley'', [[Antoine Vermette|Vermette]], Kelly|| || Emery
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Senators win series 4–1'''|| '''Alfredsson 3, Kelly 3, 3 tied with 2''' || '''Staal 3, Crosby 3, Roberts 2'''
|}
===Western Conference Quarterfinals===
====(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Calgary Flames====
The Detroit Red Wings tied the Buffalo Sabres for most points in the regular season with 113, but because Buffalo had more victories, Detroit narrowly missed out on winning their third consecutive President's Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team, while the Calgary Flames barely qualified for the playoffs as the number 8 seed with 96 points, 1 point ahead of the 9th place [[Colorado Avalanche]]. The Red Wings and Flames met in the 2004 Western Conference quarterfinals in which the Flames won in 6 games, eventually losing in 7 games of the Finals that year. The Red Wings were looking to silence their postseason critics and advance to the second round after having lost as the number one seed a year earlier to the 8th seed [[Edmonton Oilers]], who also lost in Game 7 of the Finals. The Flames had also been bounced out of the first round the previous season. The Red Wings made several moves at the trade deadline, acquiring [[Todd Bertuzzi]] and [[Kyle Calder]] while trading away [[Jason Williams]]. The Flames made several moves during the regular season as well, trading away [[Andrew Ference]] and [[Chuck Kobasew]] to the [[Boston Bruins]] for [[Brad Stuart]] and [[Wayne Primeau]], as well as re-acquiring [[Craig Conroy]].
In Game 1, the Red Wings dominated the Flames 4–1, in which Red Wings centre [[Pavel Datsyuk]] scored his first playoff goal since Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Pavel Datsyuk scored again just over a minute into Game 2, which the Red Wings won 3–1 to take a 2–0 series lead. But the Flames won both Games 3 and 4 by a 3–2 score, tying the series at 2. In Game 5, the Flames were assessed with several penalties for stick-related infractions during a 5–1 loss, giving Detroit a 3–2 series lead. Most notably, backup goalie [[Jamie McLennan]] slashed Red Wings forward [[Johan Franzén|Johan Franzen]] in the stomach only 18 seconds after relieving [[Mikka Kiprusoff]]. McLennan was immediately ejected from the game, causing Kiprusoff to return to the net; McLennan was later suspended five games. Flames coach [[Jim Playfair]] and the Flames organization were also fined. The Red Wings then eliminated the Flames the next night in Calgary when the game winning double overtime goal was scored, coincidentally, by Johan Franzen. The Red Wings moved on to Round 2 for the first time since 2004.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Detroit goals
!width=25%|Calgary goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 12]]||at Detroit 4, Calgary 1|| ||[[Valtteri Filppula|Filppula]], ''[[Nicklas Lidström|Lidstrom]]'', [[Pavel Datsyuk|Datsyuk]], [[Mathieu Schneider|Schneider]]||[[Alex Tanguay|Tanguay]]||[[Dominik Hašek|Hasek]]
|-
|2||[[April 15]]||at Detroit 3, Calgary 1|| || Datsyuk, ''Lidstrom'', Filppula|| [[Dion Phaneuf|Phaneuf]] ||Hasek
|-
|3||[[April 17]]||at Calgary 3, Detroit 2|| ||[[Kris Draper|Draper]] 2||[[Matthew Lombardi|Lombardi]], [[Mark Giordano|Giordano]], ''[[Jarome Iginla|Iginla]]''||[[Miikka Kiprusoff|Kiprusoff]]
|-
|4||[[April 19]]||at Calgary 3, Detroit 2|| ||[[Todd Bertuzzi|Bertuzzi]], [[Johan Franzén|Franzen]]||''[[Daymond Langkow|Langkow]]'' 2, [[Craig Conroy|Conroy]]||Kiprusoff
|-
|5||[[April 21]]||at Detroit 5, Calgary 1|| ||[[Daniel Cleary|Cleary]], ''[[Henrik Zetterberg|Zetterberg]]'' 2, [[Chris Chelios|Chelios]], Datsyuk||[[Andrei Zyuzin|Zyuzin]]||Hasek
|-
|6||[[April 22]]||Detroit 2, at Calgary 1||2OT 4:23||[[Robert Lang (ice hockey)|Lang]], ''Franzen'' || Iginla||Hasek
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Red Wings win series 4–2'''|| '''Datsyuk 3, 4 tied with 2''' || '''Langkow 2, Iginla 2'''
|}
====(2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (7) Minnesota Wild====
The [[Anaheim Ducks]] had won their division for the first time in franchise history with a franchise best 110 points. It was also the first time they had qualified for the playoffs in back to back years. The [[Minnesota Wild]], only making their second playoff appearance, needed to face the team that had eliminated them in the Conference Final back in 2003.
Game 1 of the series began at the [[Honda Centre]]. Ducks back-up goalie [[Ilya Bryzgalov]] began the series while starter [[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Jean-Sebastien Giguere]] tended to his newborn son. [[Pavol Demitra]] opened the scoring for Minnesota. [[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]] tied the game on a breakaway, and [[Dustin Penner]] scored the game winner late in the third.
Game 2 was another close game, but the Ducks pulled out a 3–2 win to take a 2–0 series lead at home.
The series shifted to the Xcel Energy Centre for Game 3. Once again, the Ducks proved to be the more superior team as they netted goals from [[Andy McDonald]] and [[Rob Niedermayer]]. [[Petteri Nummelin]] gave the Wild a goal in the last minute of play, but the Ducks held on for a 2–1 win.
In Game 4, [[Chris Pronger]] opened the scoring for the Ducks. However the Wild took over the game halfway through the second period and managed a 4–1 win to keep the series going.
Going back to Honda Centre for Game 5, Giguerre returned to the net and crushed the Wild's hopes by allowing one shot passed him. The Ducks won the game 4–1 and eliminated the Wild.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Anaheim goals
!width=25%|Minnesota goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 11]]||at Anaheim 2, Minnesota 1|| ||[[Teemu Selänne|Selanne]], ''[[Dustin Penner|Penner]]''||[[Pavol Demitra|Demitra]]||[[Ilya Bryzgalov|Bryzgalov]]
|-
|2||[[April 13]]||at Anaheim 3, Minnesota 2|| ||''[[François Beauchemin|Beauchemin]]'' 2, [[Ryan Getzlaf|Getzlaf]]||[[Marián Gáborík|Gaborik]], [[Mikko Koivu|Koivu]]|| Bryzgalov
|-
|3||[[April 15]]||Anaheim 2, at Minnesota 1|| ||[[Andy McDonald|McDonald]], ''[[Rob Niedermayer|R. Niedermayer]]''||[[Petteri Nummelin|Nummelin]]|| Bryzgalov
|-
|4||[[April 17]]||at Minnesota 4, Anaheim 1|| ||[[Chris Pronger|Pronger]]||[[Pierre-Marc Bouchard|Bouchard]], ''Gaborik'', [[Brian Rolston|Rolston]], [[Mark Parrish|Parrish]]||[[Niklas Bäckström|Backstrom]]
|-
|5||[[April 19]]||at Anaheim 4, Minnesota 1|| || Pronger, ''Getzlaf'', [[Corey Perry|Perry]], [[Travis Moen|Moen]]|| Gaborik ||[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Giguere]]
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Ducks win series 4–1'''|| '''Beauchemin 2, Pronger 2, Getzlaf 2''' || '''Gaborik 3'''
|}
====(3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Dallas Stars====
The [[Vancouver Canucks]] returned to the playoffs after a disappointing 2005–06 season. They had been considered underdogs from the start of the season but ended the season with 105 points, the best in franchise history. This gave them the division championship and a top seed against their first round opponent the [[Dallas Stars]], who had finished with one more point than the Canucks.
Canucks goalie [[Roberto Luongo]] made his first playoff appearance in Game 1 at [[General Motors Place]]. After giving up the lead three times in regulation, [[Henrik Sedin]] won the game when he converted a pass from his brother [[Daniel Sedin|Daniel]] at the 18:06 mark of the fourth overtime. It was the longest game the Canucks ever played, and the sixth longest playoff game in NHL history. Luongo stopped 72 of 76 shots in the 5–4 victory.
The Stars opened Game 2 with a goal just 24 seconds in, and the Canucks were not able to recover as Dallas goaltender [[Marty Turco]] shut them out 2–0.
After earning a split in Vancouver, the Stars returned home to [[American Airlines Arena]] for Game 3. Once again, the Stars came out with the opening goal scored by [[Stu Barnes]]. The Canucks tied the game on a [[Jan Bulis]] goal in the third period to send the game to overtime. The Canucks finished the Stars quickly this time as [[Taylor Pyatt]] scored the game winner 7:47 into the first overtime for a 2–1 win.
Game 4 remained scoreless into the third period. In the end, the Canucks pulled out another 2–1 victory thanks to goals from [[Mattias Öhlund|Mattias Ohlund]] and [[Trevor Linden]].
Back at General Motors Place for Game 5, both Luongo and Turco pushed aside every shot in regulation, and for the third time in the series, an overtime was needed. At 6:22 mark of the first overtime, Stars captain [[Brenden Morrow]] tipped the winner in off a [[Sergei Zubov]] shot for a 1–0 victory to send the series back to Dallas.
In Game 6, the Stars pulled out a 2–0 win to force a seventh game in Vancouver. Marty Turco recorded his third shutout of the series.
Back in Vancouver for Game 7, the Stars dominated the first period and came out with a 1–0 lead. In the second period, Henrik Sedin put the Canucks on the board. It was the Canucks first goal in three games and their first at home since Game 1. From there on, the Canucks took over the game. Trevor Linden scored the game winner 7:00 into the third. Two empty net goals gave the Canucks a 4–1 win as well as a series win.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Vancouver goals
!width=25%|Dallas goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
| 1 ||[[April 11]]|| at Vancouver 5, Dallas 4 || 4OT 18:06 || [[Daniel Sedin|D. Sedin]], [[Mattias Öhlund|Ohlund]], [[Markus Näslund|Naslund]], [[Bryan Smolinski|Smolinski]], ''[[Henrik Sedin|H. Sedin]]'' || [[Brenden Morrow|Morrow]], [[Trevor Daley|Daley]], [[Antti Miettinen|Miettinen]], [[Ladislav Nagy|Nagy]] ||[[Roberto Luongo|Luongo]]
|-
|2||[[April 13]]||Dallas 2, at Vancouver 0|| || ||''[[Jeff Halpern|Halpern]]'', [[Joel Lundqvist|Lundqvist]]||[[Marty Turco|Turco]]
|-
|3||[[April 15]]||Vancouver 2, at Dallas 1||OT 7:47||[[Jan Bulis|Bulis]], ''[[Taylor Pyatt|Pyatt]]''||[[Stu Barnes|Barnes]]|| Luongo
|-
|4||[[April 17]]||Vancouver 2, at Dallas 1|| || Ohlund, ''[[Trevor Linden|Linden]]''||[[Darryl Sydor|Sydor]]|| Luongo
|-
|5||[[April 19]]||Dallas 1, at Vancouver 0||OT 6:22|| ||''Morrow''|| Turco
|-
|6||[[April 21]]||at Dallas 2, Vancouver 0|| || ||''[[Mike Modano|Modano]]'', Halpern|| Turco
|-
|7||[[April 23]]||Vancouver 4, Dallas 1|| ||H. Sedin, ''Linden'', Pyatt, Smolinski||Lundqvist|| Luongo
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Canucks win series 4–3'''|| '''5 tied with 2''' || '''Morrow 2, Halpern 2, Lundqvist 2'''
|}
====(4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks====
The [[Nashville Predators]] made the playoffs for the third straight year. Their first round opponent was the [[San Jose Sharks]] who had eliminated the Predators in five games the year before. The seedings for both teams were the same as the year before, and once again Nashville received home ice advantage.
Game 1 was an evenly matched game. Both Sharks goalie [[Evgeni Nabokov]] and Predators goalie [[Tomas Vokoun]] were well matched. A goal by [[Matt Carle]] put the Sharks on the board in the first period. Nashville netted goals from [[Alexander Radulov]] and [[Jean-Pierre Dumont]] early in the second, but the Sharks responded with three goals to take a 4–2 lead into the third. The Predators tied the game late in the third as Radulov and Dumont each scored a second goal. [[Patrick Rissmiller]] won the game for the Sharks 8:14 into the second overtime.
In Game 2, after the Sharks opened the scoring, the Predators went on a scoring spree and ended up winning the game 5–2.
At San Jose's [[HP Pavilion at San Jose|HP Pavilion]] for Game 3, the Predators were considered a big underdog. In five road playoff games in the past, they had yet to win one. The Sharks came out with the greater energy and took the game 3–1.
Game 4 was a "must win" for the Predators. However the Sharks once again came out with the greater energy. Even though the Predators capitalized on a late rush, the Sharks held on for 3–2 win and took a commanding 3–1 series lead back to Nashville.
In Game 5, the Predators and Sharks exchanged two goals. Late in the third, Sharks captain [[Patrick Marleau]] scored the winner to eliminate the Predators for the second year in a row.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Nashville goals
!width=25%|San Jose goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 11]]|| San Jose 5, at Nashville 4 ||2 OT, 8:14|| [[Alexander Radulov|Radulov]] 2, [[Jean-Pierre Dumont|Dumont]] 2 || [[Matt Carle|Carle]], [[Mike Grier|Grier]], [[Craig Rivet|Rivet]], [[Milan Michálek|Michalek]], ''[[Patrick Rissmiller|Rissmiller]]'' || [[Evgeni Nabokov|Nabokov]]
|-
|2||[[April 13]]|| at Nashville 5, San Jose 2|| || [[Peter Forsberg|Forsberg]] 2, ''Dumont'' 2, Radulov || [[Ryane Clowe|Clowe]], Rivet || [[Tomas Vokoun|Vokoun]]
|-
|3||[[April 16]]|| at San Jose 3, Nashville 1|| || [[Ryan Suter|Suter]] || Michalek, ''Clowe'', [[Patrick Marleau|Marleau]] || Nabokov
|-
|4||[[April 18]]|| at San Jose 3, Nashville 2|| || [[Jason Arnott|Arnott]], [[Scott Hartnell|Hartnell]] || ''Michalek'' 2, [[Joe Pavelski|Pavelski]] || Nabokov
|-
|5||[[April 20]]|| San Jose 3, at Nashville 2 || || Arnott, [[Vernon Fiddler|Fiddler]] || ''Marleau'' 2, Clowe || Nabokov
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Sharks win series 4–1'''|| '''Dumont 4, Radulov 3''' || '''Michalek 4, Marleau 3, Clowe 3'''
|}
==Conference Semifinals==
===Eastern Conference Semifinals===
====(1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (6) New York Rangers====
The high-scoring [[Buffalo Sabres]] met the overachieving [[New York Rangers]] in the [[Eastern Conference Semifinals]] with the two teams coming off first round victories. The Rangers defeated the higher seeded [[Atlanta Thrashers]] in stunning fashion, sweeping the 3rd seed on the heels of strong play from [[Michael Nylander]] and solid goaltending by [[Henrik Lundqvist]]. The Sabres, as expected, dominated a [[New York Islanders]] team that earned a playoff berth in a shootout victory on the last day of the regular season, and defeated the 8th seed in 5 games. The Sabres had won all four games in the season series against the Rangers, leading many to believe this series may have a quick ending.
After a scoreless first period in Game 1, [[Thomas Vanek]] opened the series scoring with a goal late in the second. [[Aleš Kotalík|Ales Kotalik]] added another Buffalo tally two minutes later and Vanek chipped in another with 1:36 left in the second. It seemed that Buffalo had righted the ship after a shaky first round, as the Sabres cruised to a 5-2 victory.
The Rangers opened the scoring in Game 2, as [[Martin Straka]] scored a powerplay goal halfway through the first. However, the Sabres answered less than a minute later on a [[Brian Campbell]] powerplay tally. Although New York would take back the lead late in the 2nd on a [[Paul Mara]] goal, Buffalo showed their scoring prowess in the third. [[Chris Drury]] tipped in a [[Toni Lydman]] pass less than a minute into the period and Thomas Vanek scored the gamewinner halfway through the period off a nifty no-look pass from [[Drew Stafford]] and Buffalo seemed well on their way to the Conference Finals as the series shifted to [[Madison Square Garden]].
However, the Blueshirts proved that they too can win on home ice, winning the game 2-1 on a [[Michal Rozsíval|Michal Rozsival]] double overtime goal. After a game marked by great goaltending from Lundqvist and Sabres goalie [[Ryan Miller (ice hockey)|Ryan Miller]], Rozsival's point shot finally found the back of the net 16:43 into the second sudden death period. The goal was huge for Rozsival, as he missed time in Game 1 and gritted through Game 2 with a leg injury. The game was not without controversy however, as a [[Karel Rachunek]] goal early in the second was overruled after review, with the officials in [[Toronto]] determining the puck had been kicked into the net.
More controversy arose in Game 4, a 2-1 Rangers victory. [[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] appeared to beat Lundqvist with 17 seconds left in the game, but the goal was disallowed after a lengthy review. Briere appeared to have Lundqvist beat on the short side after a nifty deke, but "King Henrik" made a stunning toe save and the overhead camera angle did not provide indisputable evidence that the puck had crossed the line. Another note from Game 4 was the scratch of Sabres winger [[Maxim Afinogenov]]. Buffalo's sixth leading scorer in the regular season had been underwhelming in the playoffs, and coach [[Lindy Ruff]] was looking to send a message.
Game 5 shifted back to Buffalo, and the strong goaltending from the two young keepers continued. Miller turned away 14 shots through the first two periods until an innocent looking shot by Martin Straka snuk over Miller's shoulder and hit the goal cam in the back of the net with just over 3 minutes left in regulation. The crowd in [[HSBC Arena]] was stunned into silence as it appeared the Rangers would take the lead in the series back to New York. Lundqvist again seemed unbeatable, having stopped the first 36 shots he faced. However, the 37th Buffalo shot will be one Sabre's fans will always remember. The Sabres pulled their goaltender for a 6 on 5 advantage with the faceoff in the Rangers zone and less than 15 seconds remaining in the game. Buffalo co-captain Chris Drury won the draw and with 8 seconds left found the back of the net on a Tim Connolly rebound and through a Thomas Vanek screen. The game was not over however, and still another hero would be crowned on this Friday night in the Queen City. With [[Blair Betts]] off for hooking less than 5 minutes into overtime, Lindy Ruff gave Maxim Afinogenov a chance to redeem himself for his poor play. Afinogenov came through, getting off a quick slapshot from the point that squeeked through the legs of Lundqvist. Afinogenov took several strides before diving across center ice, and his jubilant teammates joined him in celebration.
Buffalo would carry this momentum back to New York, where the Rangers had yet to lose in the playoffs. While the Rangers took the lead late in the first, Buffalo exploded for 4 goals in the second and another in the third, including two by forward [[Jochen Hecht]]. The Rangers would not go down easily however, with [[Michael Nylander]] drawing the Blueshirts within 1 with less than 3 minutes to play. The Sabres however were able to hold on and win the game 5-4, taking the series in 6 games. A lasting effect from the series may have been Chris Drury's strong play, as the Rangers used it as an audition and signed the pivot to a free agent contract after the season.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Buffalo goals
!width=25%|NY Rangers goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 25]]||at Buffalo 5, Rangers 2|| ||''[[Thomas Vanek|Vanek]]'' 2, [[Aleš Kotalík|Kotalik]], [[Jason Pominville|Pominville]], [[Drew Stafford|Stafford]]|| [[Marián Hossa|Hossa]], [[Brendan Shanahan|Shanahan ]]|| [[Ryan Miller (ice hockey)|Miller]]
|-
|2||[[April 27]]||at Buffalo 3, Rangers 2|| || [[Brian Campbell|Campbell]], [[Chris Drury|Drury]], ''Vanek''||[[Martin Straka|Straka]], [[Paul Mara|Mara]]|| Miller
|-
|3||[[April 29]]||at Rangers 2, Buffalo 1||2OT 16:43|| [[Daniel Brière|Briere]] || [[Jaromír Jágr|Jagr]], ''[[Michal Rozsíval|Rozsival]]''|| [[Henrik Lundqvist|Lundqvist]]
|-
|4||[[May 1]]||at Rangers 2, Buffalo 1|| ||Kotalik|| Jagr, ''Shanahan''|| Lundqvist
|-
|5||[[May 4]]||at Buffalo 2, Rangers 1||OT 4:39|| Drury, ''[[Maxim Afinogenov|Afinogenov]]''|| Straka|| Miller
|-
|6||[[May 6]]||Buffalo 5, Rangers 4|| || [[Dmitri Kalinin|Kalinin]], Pominville, ''[[Jochen Hecht|Hecht]]'' 2, Drury ||[[Michael Nylander|Nylander]] 2, Mara, Jagr|| Miller
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Sabres win series 4–2'''|| '''Drury 3, Vanek 3, 3 tied with 2''' || '''Jagr 3, Shanahan 2, Straka 2, Mara 2, Nylander 2'''
|}
====(2) New Jersey Devils vs. (4) Ottawa Senators====
The [[Ottawa Senators]], having eliminated the young [[Pittsburgh Penguins]] in the opening round, had to face the team that had stopped them one game short of the Stanley Cup Final in 2003. The [[New Jersey Devils]] were a huge favourite to win the series.
Game 1 of the series began at [[Continental Airlines Arena]]. The Senators came out with all the energy and capitalized on every Devils mistake to jump out to a 4–0 lead. From the second period on, the Devils stole the momentum, and the Senators needed to hold on for a 5–4 victory.
Both teams were ready for Game 2, but it was the Devils who held a 2–1 lead in the third period. The Senators tied the game late in the third, but [[Jamie Langenbrunner]] scored the winning goal for the Devils 1:55 into the second overtime.
Game 3 at [[Scotiabank Place]] turned out to be a defensive battle. The game remained scoreless into the third period before [[Tom Preissing]] put the Senators on the board. An empty net goal was added for a 2–0 Senators win.
The teams were evenly matched once again in Game 4, but the Senators won 3–2.
The Senators returned to Continental Airlines Arena for Game 5 with a chance to finish the series. [[Scott Gomez]] scored for the Devils first, but the Senators responded with three straight goals. Gomez gave the Devils a late third period goal, but the Senators hung on to win 3–2. The Senators advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in their history.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|New Jersey goals
!width=25%|Ottawa goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 26]]||Ottawa 5, at New Jersey 4|| ||[[Travis Zajac|Zajac]], [[Brian Gionta|Gionta]], [[Andy Greene|Greene]], [[Zach Parise|Parise]]||[[Jason Spezza|Spezza]], [[Joe Corvo|Corvo]], [[Dean McAmmond|McAmmond]], [[Dany Heatley|Heatley]], ''[[Wade Redden|Redden]]''|| [[Ray Emery|Emery]]
|-
|2||[[April 28]]||at New Jersey 3, Ottawa 2||2OT 1:55||Gionta, [[Sergei Brylin|Brylin]], ''[[Jamie Langenbrunner|Langenbrunner]]''||[[Daniel Alfredsson|Alfredsson]], Heatley|| [[Martin Brodeur|Brodeur]]
|-
|3||[[April 30]]||at Ottawa 2, New Jersey 0|| || ||''[[Tom Preissing|Preissing]]'', Spezza|| Emery
|-
|4||[[May 2]]||at Ottawa 3, New Jersey 2|| ||Gionta, [[Jay Pandolfo|Pandolfo]]||Alfredsson, Heatley, ''[[Mike Fisher (ice hockey)|Fisher]]''||Emery
|-
|5||[[May 5]]||Ottawa 3, at New Jersey 2|| ||[[Scott Gomez|Gomez]] 2||[[Antoine Vermette|Vermette]], Spezza, ''Alfredsson''||Emery
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Senators win series 4–1'''|| '''Gionta 3, Gomez 2''' || '''Heatley 3, Spezza 3, Alfredsson 3'''
|}
===Western Conference Semifinals===
====(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) San Jose Sharks====
After being down 2–1 with less than a minute left in Game 4, the Red Wings tied the game and won in overtime to draw the series at 2–2. They won the following two games to move to the next round of the playoffs.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Detroit goals
!width=25%|San Jose goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 26]]|| San Jose 2, at Detroit 0 || || || ''[[Matt Carle|Carle]]'', [[Mike Grier|Grier]] || [[Evgeni Nabokov|Nabokov]]
|-
|2||[[April 28]]|| at Detroit 3, San Jose 2|| || [[Henrik Zetterberg|Zetterberg]], [[Daniel Cleary|Cleary]], ''[[Pavel Datsyuk|Datsyuk]]'' || [[Jonathan Cheechoo|Cheechoo]], [[Joe Thornton|Thornton]] || [[Dominik Hašek|Hasek]]
|-
|3||[[April 30]]|| at San Jose 2, Detroit 1|| || [[Nicklas Lidström|Lidstrom]] || [[Ryane Clowe|Clowe]], ''Cheechoo'' || Nabokov
|-
|4||[[May 2]]|| Detroit 3, at San Jose 2||OT 16:04|| [[Tomas Holmström|Holmstrom]], [[Robert Lang (ice hockey)|Lang]], ''[[Mathieu Schneider|Schneider]]'' || Cheechoo, [[Marcel Goc|Goc]] || Hasek
|-
|5||[[May 5]]|| at Detroit 4, San Jose 1 || || Zetterberg, ''Datsyuk'', [[Mikael Samuelsson|Samuelsson]], Holmstrom || Goc || Hasek
|-
|6||[[May 7]]|| Detroit 2, at San Jose 0 || || ''Samuelsson'' 2 || || Hasek
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Red Wings win series 4–2'''|| '''Samuelsson 3, Zetterberg 2, Datsyuk 2, Holmstrom 2''' || '''Cheechoo 3, Goc 2'''
|}
====(2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks====
After a thrilling seven game series against the [[Dallas Stars]], the Canucks then had to face the Anaheim Ducks. This series featured teams that each had two brothers playing on the same team (the Sedins for Vancouver and the Niedermayers for Anaheim).
After Canucks player [[Jeff Cowan]] opened the scoring in Game 1 within the first eleven minutes, Anaheim answered back with three goals (two by [[Andy McDonald]] and one by [[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]]) in the first period, plus two additional goals later in the game for a 5–1 win. Game 2 was a much closer game as Canucks goaltender [[Roberto Luongo]] came back with a better performance than the first game. The game proceeded into double overtime until Vancouver's Jeff Cowan managed to score from a very tight angle to tie the series 1–1 going into Vancouver.
Despite receiving nine penalties (including four straight during the first period) in Game 3, Anaheim managed to win the game 3–2 in regulation in Vancouver thanks to a game winning slap shot by [[Corey Perry]]. Game 4 was a different story, however, as Vancouver jumped ahead in scoring 2–0 after two periods in an effort to tie the series. But during the third period, Anaheim came back with goals from Pronger and Selanne to tie the game, plus a goal by [[Travis Moen]] shortly into overtime extended the series lead to 3–1.
In Game 5, Luongo stopped 47 shots and helped keep the score tied at 1 after three periods (in the end, the Ducks had 65 shots on goal). At the start of overtime, Vancouver unexpectedly switched goalies, later revealing Luongo had an untimely case of [[diarrhea]]. After [[Dany Sabourin]] successfully stopped Anaheim shots, Luongo returned to the net and kept the game tied going into double overtime. Shortly into the second overtime period, [[Rob Niedermayer]] delivered a huge body check on [[Jannik Hansen]]. The puck came to [[Scott Niedermayer]], who fired a wrist shot that found the back of the net, giving the Ducks the overtime and series victory, moving them to the Western Conference Finals.
Replays showed that Luongo's glove hand was up trying to signal to referees that he thought the hit was an elbow, and the puck went through where his glove should have been. When Luongo was announced as the second star of the game, many at the [[Honda Center]] cheered.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Anaheim goals
!width=25%|Vancouver goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[April 25]]|| at Anaheim 5, Vancouver 1 || || [[Andy McDonald|McDonald]] 3, ''[[Teemu Selänne|Selanne]]'', [[Ryan Getzlaf|Getzlaf]] || [[Jeff Cowan|Cowan]] || [[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Giguere]]
|-
|2||[[April 27]]|| Vancouver 2, at Anaheim 1 || 2OT 7:49 || [[Travis Moen|Moen]] || [[Markus Näslund|Naslund]], ''Cowan'' || [[Roberto Luongo|Luongo]]
|-
|3||[[April 29]]|| Anaheim 3, at Vancouver 2 || || [[Dustin Penner|Penner]], [[François Beauchemin|Beauchemin]], ''[[Corey Perry|Perry]]'' || Naslund, [[Daniel Sedin|D. Sedin]] || Giguere
|-
|4||[[May 1]]|| Anaheim 3, at Vancouver 2 || OT 2:07 || [[Chris Pronger|Pronger]], Selanne, ''Moen'' || Naslund, [[Brendan Morrison|Morrison]] || Giguere
|-
|5||[[May 3]]|| at Anaheim 2, Vancouver 1 || 2OT 4:30 || [[Samuel Påhlsson|Pahlsson]], ''[[Scott Niedermayer|S. Niedermayer]]'' || [[Alexandre Burrows|Burrows]] || Giguere
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"|'''Ducks win series 4–1'''|| '''McDonald 3, Selanne 2, Moen 2''' || '''Naslund 3, Cowan 2''' ||
|}
==Conference Finals==
===Eastern Conference Finals===
====(1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (4) Ottawa Senators====
The Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres had been at each other's throats throughout the season. On [[February 22]], [[2007]], Ottawa enforcer Chris Neil delivered a controversial late blindsided hit to Buffalo's [[Chris Drury]], seriously injuring Drury and sparking an in-game brawl between the two teams, which featured a fight between Buffalo player [[Andrew Peters]] and Ottawa goalie [[Ray Emery]] plus a heated argument between coaches [[Brian Murray]] and [[Lindy Ruff]].
In Game 1 at Buffalo, Ottawa opened the series with goals by [[Mike Fisher (ice hockey)|Mike Fisher]] and [[Daniel Alfredsson]] respectively to start with a 2–0 lead in the first period of Game 1. The Sabres answered later in the first and midway through the second period with goals by [[Maxim Afinogenov]] and [[Toni Lydman]] to tie the game 2–2. The Senators then took control of the third period and scored three more goals to win 5–2 and take the series lead.
In Game 2 the Sabres jumped ahead in scoring during the first period with two goals. But Ottawa later caught up and tied the game 2–2 by the second period. Ottawa defenceman [[Wade Redden]] gave the Senators the lead by the end of the second period with a power play goal. Buffalo did not answer until late in the third period on a power play goal by [[Daniel Brière|Daniel Briere]] with only 6 seconds left to tie the game. Senators defenceman [[Joe Corvo]] scored just off a faceoff to give Ottawa the double overtime win and a 2–0 lead in the series.
Game 3 in Ottawa was kept to no scoring until the second period when Senator Captain Daniel Alfredsson shot a puck that somehow riccocheted off Sabre goalie [[Ryan Miller (ice hockey)|Ryan Miller]] towards Alfredsson who had an open net. Ottawa took a 3–0 lead in the series.
In Game 4 Buffalo started with a goal nine seconds into the game. Buffalo jumped ahead 3–0 in scoring before the Senators came back with two goals. Ottawa could not score a third goal and tie the game, and the Sabres escaped a series sweep with a 3–2 win.
Game 5 in Buffalo opened with a Sabre goal. But Ottawa came back and took a 2–1 lead. Afinogenov tied the game for the Sabres midway through the third period to eventually send the game into overtime. However, Daniel Alfredsson eliminated the Sabres by skating and shooting through three Buffalo players and scoring the overtime goal to send the Senators into the Stanley Cup Final.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Buffalo goals
!width=25%|Ottawa goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[May 10]]||Ottawa 5, at Buffalo 2|| ||[[Maxim Afinogenov|Afinogenov]], [[Toni Lydman|Lydman]]||[[Mike Fisher (ice hockey)|Fisher]], [[Daniel Alfredsson|Alfredsson]], ''[[Oleg Saprykin|Saprykin]]'', [[Jason Spezza|Spezza]], [[Dean McAmmond|McAmmond]]||[[Ray Emery|Emery]]
|-
|2||[[May 12]]||Ottawa 4, at Buffalo 3||2OT 4:58||[[Thomas Vanek|Vanek]], [[Jochen Hecht|Hecht]], [[Daniel Brière|Briere]]||Alfredsson, Fisher, [[Wade Redden|Redden]], ''[[Joe Corvo|Corvo]]''||Emery
|-
|3||[[May 14]]||at Ottawa 1, Buffalo 0|| || ||''Alfredsson''||Emery
|-
|4||[[May 16]]||Buffalo 3, at Ottawa 2|| ||[[Derek Roy|Roy]], Afinogenov, ''[[Chris Drury|Drury]]''||McAmmond, [[Peter Schaefer (ice hockey)|Schaefer]]||[[Ryan Miller (ice hockey)|Miller]]
|-
|5||[[May 18]]||Ottawa 3, at Buffalo 2||OT 9:32||Hecht, Afinogenov||[[Dany Heatley|Heatley]], Spezza, ''Alfredsson''||Emery
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Senators win series 4–1'''|| '''Afinogenov 3, Hecht 2''' || '''Alfredsson 4, Fisher 2, Spezza 2, McAmmond 2'''
|}
===Western Conference Finals===
====(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (2) Anaheim Ducks====
The Western Conference Finals featured the number 1 and 2 Western Conference teams, the Red Wings and Ducks respectively, competing for a berth in the Finals. This would be the Red Wings' first trip to the Conference Finals since their last Cup win in 2002 (they failed to make it past the second round for three straight seasons afterward despite having terrific regular season records), while the Ducks made it for the second time since their 2003 Stanley Cup run in which they lost to New Jersey in 7 games.
Detroit opened the series at home in Game 1 with a 2–1 victory, with both goals deflecting off Ducks defensemen. Game 2 was a different story as the scoring lead shifting between the teams. With the Wings leading 3–2 in the third period, a goal was ruled when the puck somehow crossed the goal line while settling over Hasek's knee as he slid backwards into the net, thus tying the game and sending it into overtime. Scott Niedermayer sealed victory for Game 2 as he scored in overtime to tie the series.
Game 3 at [[Honda Center]] featured one of the most one-sided games witnessed in the playoffs, as the Red Wings blanked the Ducks 5–0 to take a 2–1 series lead. [[Chris Pronger]] was suspended by the NHL for Game 4. His suspension was a result of the same hit on [[Tomas Holmström|Tomas Holmstrom]] that [[Rob Niedermayer]] was penalized for. While Pronger received no penalty for the hit during the game, Pronger was later suspended after NHL officials reviewed the replays, which showed Holmstrom being boarded from behind as a result of a Pronger elbow, drawing blood from a cut on his forehead. In Game 4, without Pronger, the Ducks had to step up their efforts. They dominated the first period with 3 goals, including a power play goal by [[Ric Jackman]], Pronger's "stand in" for Game 4 in his first game of the playoffs. Detroit would came back after trailing 3–1 to tie the game 3–3 in the second period, only to have the Ducks respond with a stunning wrist shot goal from the blue line by [[Ryan Getzlaf]] and an empty net goal [[Rob Niedermayer]] that gave Anaheim the 5–3 win and tie the series at 2 games.
The tied series returned to Detroit for Game 5. A goal from Detroit defenceman [[Andreas Lilja]] early in the second period put Detroit up 1–0. Throughout the game, the Red Wings dominated the play. Despite their controlling of the play, Detroit was only able to score once because of the strong play of Ducks goaltender [[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|J. S. Giguere]]. Finally, after over 59 minutes of play, the Ducks found the inside of net via a power play goal by Scott Niedermayer with just only 47 seconds left in the game. Niedermayer appeared to be attempting a pass to a Ducks player in front of the net, but his pass deflected off Detroit defenceman [[Nicklas Lidström|Nicklas Lidstrom]]'s stick and over [[Dominik Hašek|Dominik Hasek]]'s glove. Halfway into overtime, Andreas Lilja was making a routine breakout play behind his net when fore checking pressure by [[Andy McDonald]] caused Lilja to turn the puck over to Teemu Selanne, who lifted a backhander above a sprawled Hasek to give the Ducks a stunning 2–1 overtime victory and a 3–2 series lead going back to Anaheim.
Game 6 almost seemed to be anti-climatic of Game 5, starting with a short handed goal by Rob Niedermayer. The Ducks extended the lead to three in the second period. Early in the third period, Detroit scored a goal by [[Henrik Zetterberg]]. [[Samuel Påhlsson|Samuel Pahlsson]] again extended the Ducks lead by three goals shortly after. Two powerplay goals from [[Pavel Datsyuk]] cut the Ducks' lead to only one late in the game. But despite the late period pressure, the Anaheim Ducks were able to hold on and win the game and the series to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in their history.
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25% colspan=2|Score
!width=25%|Detroit goals
!width=25%|Anaheim goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[May 11]]||at Detroit 2, Anaheim 1|| ||[[Henrik Zetterberg|Zetterberg]], ''[[Tomas Holmström|Holmstrom]]''||[[Chris Kunitz|Kunitz]]||[[Dominik Hašek|Hasek]]
|-
|2||[[May 13]]||Anaheim 4, at Detroit 3||OT 14:17||[[Kirk Maltby|Maltby]], [[Nicklas Lidström|Lidstrom]], [[Pavel Datsyuk|Datsyuk]]||[[Rob Niedermayer|R. Niedermayer]], [[Andy McDonald|McDonald]], [[Travis Moen|Moen]], ''[[Scott Niedermayer|S. Niedermayer]]''||[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Giguere]]
|-
|3||[[May 15]]||Detroit 5, at Anaheim 0|| ||''[[Johan Franzén|Franzen]]'', Holmstrom 2, [[Todd Bertuzzi|Bertuzzi]], [[Valtteri Filppula|Filppula]]|| ||Hasek
|-
|4||[[May 17]]||at Anaheim 5, Detroit 3|| ||[[Daniel Cleary|Cleary]] 2, Bertuzzi||[[Corey Perry|Perry]], [[Richard Jackman|Jackman]], [[Teemu Selänne|Selanne]], ''[[Ryan Getzlaf|Getzlaf]]'', R. Niedermayer||Giguere
|-
|5||[[May 20]]||Anaheim 2, at Detroit 1||OT 11:57||[[Andreas Lilja|Lilja]]||S. Niedermayer, ''Selanne''||Giguere
|-
|6||[[May 22]]||at Anaheim 4, Detroit 3|| ||[[Henrik Zetterberg|Zetterberg]], Datsyuk 2||R. Niedermayer, Perry, Getzlaf, ''[[Samuel Påhlsson|Pahlsson]]''||Giguere
|-
|colspan=4 align="center"|'''Ducks win series 4–2'''|| '''Holmstrom 3, Datsyuk 3, Zetterberg 2, Bertuzzi 2, Cleary 2''' || '''R. Niedermayer 3, S. Niedermayer 2, Perry 2, Selanne 2, Getzlaf 2'''
|}
==Stanley Cup Final==
{{main|2007 Stanley Cup Finals}}
===(W2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (E4) Ottawa Senators===
{|class="wikitable"
!width=10% colspan=2|Game-by-Game
!width=25%|Score
!width=25%|Anaheim goals
!width=25%|Ottawa goals
!width=12%|Winning goalie
|-
|1||[[May 28]]||at Anaheim 3, Ottawa 2 || [[Andy McDonald|McDonald]], [[Ryan Getzlaf|Getzlaf]], ''[[Travis Moen|Moen]]''||[[Wade Redden|Redden]], [[Mike Fisher (ice hockey)|Fisher]]||[[Jean-Sébastien Giguère|Giguere]]
|-
|2||[[May 30]]||at Anaheim 1, Ottawa 0 || ''[[Samuel Påhlsson|Pahlsson]]''|| || Giguere
|-
|3||[[June 2]]||at Ottawa 5, Anaheim 3 || McDonald, [[Corey Perry|Perry]], Getzlaf||[[Chris Neil|Neil]], Fisher, [[Daniel Alfredsson|Alfredsson]], ''[[Dean McAmmond|McAmmond]]'', [[Anton Volchenkov|Volchenkov]]||[[Ray Emery|Emery]]
|-
|4||[[June 4]]||Anaheim 3, at Ottawa 2 || McDonald 2, ''[[Dustin Penner|Penner]]''||Alfredsson, [[Dany Heatley|Heatley]]|| Giguere
|-
|5||[[June 6]]||at Anaheim 6, Ottawa 2 || McDonald, [[Rob Niedermayer|R. Niedermayer]], ''Moen'' 2, [[François Beauchemin|Beauchemin]], Perry ||Alfredsson 2 || Giguere
|-
|colspan=3 align="center"|'''Ducks win series 4–1'''|| '''McDonald 5, Moen 3, Getzlaf 2, Perry 2''' || '''Alfredsson 4, Fisher 2'''
|}
==See also==
*[[2006–07 NHL season]]
*[[2007 Stanley Cup Finals]]
*[[List of NHL seasons]]
*[[2007 in ice hockey]]
{{start box}}
{{succession box |
before = [[2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs]] |
after = [[2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs]] |
title = Stanley Cup Playoffs |
years = 2007|
}}
{{end box}}
{{NHL}}
{{2006–07 NHL season by team}}
[[Category:2007 in ice hockey|Stanley Cup]]
[[Category:Stanley Cup Playoffs]]
[[ru:Плей-офф Кубка Стэнли 2007]]