NHL 08 - 2008 Playoff Simulation

League Leaders
*Includes points in four Game 4's

Points
1. Sykora (PIT) - 4 G, 2 A, 6 PTS
2. Rolston (MIN) - 5 G, 0 A, 5 PTS
- . Morrow (DAL) - 4 G, 1 A, 5 PTS
- . Shanahan (NYR) - 3 G, 2 A, 5 PTS
- . Iginla (CGY) - 3 G, 2 A, 5 PTS
- . Fisher (OTT) - 3 G, 2 A, 5 PTS
- . Kessel (BOS) - 1 G, 4 A, 5 PTS
- . Foster (MIN) - 0 G, 5 A, 5 PTS

Goals
1. Rolston (MIN) - 5 G
2. Sykora (PIT) - 4 G
3. Morrow (DAL) - 4 G



Detroit (2) Nashville (1)
San Jose (1) Calgary (2)
Minnesota (3) Colorado (1)
Anaheim (3) Dallas (1)

Minnesota over Colorado (3 - 0)
- Minnesota was finally capable of finding a healthy balance between offence and defence. Niklas Backstrom earned a shutout and his team in front of him were capable of putting three past Jose Theodore. Brian Rolston had 2 goals, Pierre-Marc Bouchard had two assists, and Nick Schultz had three helpers. Minnesota leads the series 3-1 and is headed back home to the Xcel Energy Center for Game 5.

Dallas over Anaheim (2 - 0)
- The tightest game of the entire first round. The game was at a stalemate until the final minute where Brendan Morrow scored his third goal on a fantastic forehand-to-backhand move. With the Anaheim goaltender pulled, Morrow skated back up the ice and notched his second, fourth of the playoffs, to secure the victory. Dallas saves themselves from the sweep, but Game 5 is headed back to Anaheim and it doesn't look promising. Their best chance lies within Marty Turco who has been brilliant in the series.



Montreal (2) Boston (2)
Pittsburgh (1) Ottawa (3)
Washington (0) Philadelphia (3)
New Jersey (1) New York (2)

Montreal over Boston (3 - 2)
- Montreal rebounded from getting shutout in Game 2, but it looked scary right away. Carey Price let in the first shot of the game by Marco Sturm. He bounced back, though, and looked confident throughout the game until the final minute where Savard notched his first. Montreal was scrambling in the final minute of action trying to do their best from Boston and their extra attacker from tying the game. Price looked strong and has gained his confidence back.

Ottawa over Pittsburgh (2 - 1)
- An uncharacteristic defensive game from both sides. After the first three games saw plenty of goals from the winners, the fourth game saw some very tight hockey. Ottawa scored two quick goals to break the scoreless tie late in the third. Pittsburgh's Ryan Whitney broke the shutout in the final minute with his first of the postseason. Ottawa has the big 3-1 lead in the series, but the series is headed back to Pittsburgh!

Game 5: Montreal over Boston (2 - 1)
- The speculation about Carey Price's confidence can end. Price put up a fine performance in game 5, allowing only one goal. Captain Saku Koivu notched his first of the postseason and Ryder banged away his third on a terrible rebound. Fernandez was giving up rebounds like candy all night long. Boston's only goalscorer was Phil Kessel.

Game 5: Ottawa over Pittsburgh (2 - 1)
- Pittsburgh came out flying but couldn't solve Emery and as a result, the Penguins were the first team eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vermette and Heatley scored for Ottawa while Hossa gave his team and Pens fans hope by scoring his second within the final minute. Ottawa won the series in 5 games.

Game 5: Philadelphia over Washington (2 - 1)
- The Flyers kept it close and only needed one goal to keep Washington from advancing. The biggest story of the series was Alexander Ovechkin's ineffectiveness. He had two goals within the five games and was invisible for most of the games. Matt Cooke led the way in points for Washington with only a goal and two assists. Cristobel Huet saw no playing time, with Olaf Kolzig getting all five starts.

Game 5: New York over New Jersey (5 - 1)
- New York had enough of the tight defensive games. They exploded in game 5 with their first three goals coming on the powerplay. New Jersey couldn't stay out of the box in the first period. New York had two five-man advantages. Shanahan notched a hat-trick and assisted on Martin Straka's goal. Drury had three assists and Fedor Tyutin had his first two points of the playoffs (1 G, 1 A). Gionta was the only goalscorer for the Devils - he managed to slide in the puck under Lundqvist's pads. New York got a huge road win to go up 3-2 in the series. Now they're head back home to MSG for Game 6!

Montreal (3) Boston (2)
Pittsburgh (1) Ottawa (4)
Washington (1) Philadelphia (4)
New Jersey (2) New York (3)



Game 5: Anaheim over Dallas (5 - 1)
- Anaheim took a 2-0 lead into the final frame. The scoreless streak for Dallas was broken by Mike Ribeiro who scored his first goal. However, sensing that Dallas was due for a comeback, the Ducks hammered 3 more goals within the final five minutes to kill any hopes of a return, as well as eliminate Dallas from the playoffs. Pronger notched a goal and an assist, his first points of the playoffs.

Game 5: Colorado over Minnesota (3 - 2)
- Minnesota once again went out and played tight hockey, keeping the game scoreless for the first frame. Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored his second goal of the playoffs, only to be answered moments later by Andre Brunette and the Avs. Belanger crashed the net with his second goal on the next shift to gain back the lead, but Colorado once again tied it up within moments with a goal from Peter Forsberg. Milan Hejduk buried the OT winner under Niklas Backstrom's pads to win the game. Game 6 returns to the Rockies where Colorado can tie up the series.

Game 5: Calgary over San Jose (2 - 1)
- Another sound defensive game in this series. Calgary struck early and hung onto their lead until the end of the first when Curtis Brown scored his first. It wasn't until the final five minutes of the game until Craig Conroy scored his second. It was the only other goal needed to secure the win and take the series in five games.

Game 5: Nashville over Detroit (4 - 1)
- There's no place like home. Nashville was shutout in Game 3, going down in the series 3-1. A trip home gave the Preds a huge boost. They struck early with goals from Martin Erat, Alexander Radulov, and Martin Gelinas. Kris Draper broke the shutout in the middle of the third. Radulov scored his second of the game before time ran out. Martin Hamhuis had two assists. The series returns to Detroit from Game 6, and Nashville has a sudden boost of confidence.

Detroit (3) Nashville (2)
San Jose (1) Calgary (3)
Minnesota (3) Colorado (2)
Anaheim (4) Dallas (1)

the Sharks. \m/

Game 6: Montreal over Boston (1 - 0, OT)
- Both goaltenders were spectacular in the final game of the series. Michael Ryder scored his fourth goal in OT just minutes into the extra frame to take the win and the series.

Game 6: New York over New Jersey (3 - 2, OT)
- With the game back in New York, it looked as if the Rangers could easily take the game and the series, but Sergei Brylin struck early with his third tally. It was only minutes, however, when Chris Drury scored his third. Martin Straka poked in his second just minutes later to take the lead. Zach Parise scored his first in the third period to take the game to overtime. With just two minutes left in the extra period, Michael Rozsival took the feed off the faceoff win and ripped home the game and series winning goal. Dawes had two assists. Shanahan had an assist and leads the playoffs with 11 points. Drury had a two-point game.

Montreal (4) Boston (2)
Pittsburgh (1) Ottawa (4)
Washington (1) Philadelphia (4)
New Jersey (2) New York (4)



Game 6: Colorado over Minnesota (3 - 2)
- Minnesota looked lost for two whole periods while Colorado quickly gained a comfortable three goal lead. Brunette, Hejduk, and Smyth scored for the Avs who were looking to tie the series. Midway through the third, Gaborik scored his second followed by Pierre-Marc Bouchard. The Minnesota Wild finally started piling on the offence with minutes to spare, but Jose Theodore stood tall in net and made several saves to keep the game from going to overtime.

Game 6: Detroit over Nashville (4 - 3, OT)
- In perhaps one of the best games of the playoffs thus far, Detroit took the series against Nashville. It was a thrilling back and forth contest. Nashville only took a few minutes to get the early one-goal lead after Alexander Radulov's third. On the next shift, Johan Franzen scored his second to tie it up. Detroit took a tripping penalty allowing J.P. Dumont to score his first and take the lead again. But it was once again only moments later when Daniel Cleary scored to tie it onc more. Brandon Bochenski scored his first goal in the third, but the pattern followed and Detroit tied it up after Jiri Hudler tapped it past Chris Mason. In the overtime period, Nashville piled up the shots and couldn't score on a 5-on-3 poweplay. Alexander Radulov managed to get 4 shots on goal down low, but none of them would get past Dominik Hasek. Cleary took a pass from Datsyuk up the ice and netted his second to take the game and the series.

Game 7: Minnesota over Colorado (7 - 2)
- The only series that needed the full 7 games. The series ended in Minnesota and the Wild took full advantage of home-ice. They carried their offensive domination of the final minute in game 6 over into game 7 and never stopped hammering Jose Theodore until he was pulled in favour of Peter Budaj after letting in five goals. Marian Gaborik scored a hat trick to finish the series with 5 goals. Brian Rolston scored his 6th and Mikko Koivu had two shorthanded goals. Derek Boogard managed to score his first as well. Fedoruk had two assists as well as Demitra. Colorado's goalscorers were Ryan Smyth and Milan Hejduk. Jordan Leopold assisted on Hejduk's goal. Smyth's was unassisted.

Detroit (4) Nashville (2)
San Jose (1) Calgary (4)
Minnesota (4) Colorado (3)
Anaheim (4) Dallas (1)

---

Eastern Semi-Finals

(1) Montreal (7) Ottawa
(5) New York (6) Philadelphia

Western Semi-Finals

(1) Detroit (7) Calgary
(3) Minnesota (4) Anaheim

Man, this is great. I'm cool if either New York or Minni take home the chocolates.

Team Updates
The big story of this years playoffs isn't crease crashing, fights, or kicking pucks in the net - it's the tremendous defensive play of all the teams involved. There have been very few blowouts seen this year and an abundance of one-goal and overtime games played.



(1) MONTREAL | 6 - 1 - 1
Montreal has yet to really explode and show off their speed in the playoffs. They were capable of matching Ottawa in Game 1 of the ESF but have kept all other games close. Carey Price has looked terrific as the rookie goaltender in his first playoffs.

Michael Ryder leads the team in goals with 5, including two OT winners. He shares the lead in points (7) with captain, Saku Koivu, who is 1-6-7.

Tomas Plekanec[/color] has had a spark lit under him in the second round against Ottawa. He has three points (2-1-3) thus far in the series and is starting to really click with linemates Koivu and Ryder.
Chris Higgins[/color] has only been able to chip in two helpers in the playoffs thus far and will probably be moved down to the fourth line for Game 3 against Ottawa.

(5) NEW YORK| 6 - 2 - 0
The Rangers have been impressive thus far in the playoffs. They started off with tremendous defensive play against New Jersey. In their first two games, they only allowed one goal. Henrik Lundqvist posted a shutout in game 2. However, the Devils fought back and tied the series. New York responded by wiping the ice with the Devils, 5-1 in Game 5. New Jersey came close to tying the series up to force game 7, but the Rangers took the OT win. They've looked good against the Flyers in the second round. They added another OT win and kept the Flyers to within one goal in game 2.

Brendan Shanahan leads the team in points (7-7-14) and goals. He leads the entire playoffs in points and shares the lead in goals with Marian Gaborik and Brian Rolston of the Minnesota Wild.

Michael Rozsival[/color] has made an impact in the Rangers last three games. He scored the series winning goal against the Devils and in two game against Philly has four points (2-2-4).
Scott Gomez[/color] leads a second scoring line that isn't doing much of anything. The offence has come primarily from the top line of Shanahan-Drury-Jagr. If the top line goes cold, the Rangers are done for. That is unless Scott Gomez's line gets rolling. Petr Prucha is being moved up to the second line for Game 3 while Nigel Dawes will be bumped down to the third.

(6) PHILADELPHIA | 4 - 2 - 1
Philadelphia has made it to the second round but their lack of scoring from their snipers is what will do them in. Simon Gagne has been noticeable, but after that it drops off. They squeaked by Washington after the Caps couldn't bury home goals of their own. The Flyers can feel lucky that Alexander Ovechkin couldn't get rolling and kept his point production to only 2 goals the entire series. The Flyers need to respond to the Rangers' top line or they'll be finished in a hurry.

Simon Gagne leads the team in points with 6 (4-2-6) and goals.

Jason Smith[/color] is trying to lead by example in the playoffs thus far. He's second in team scoring with 5 points (2-3-5) and has been a horse on the blueline.
Daniel Briere[/color] has been invisible. He's managed only three points (2-1-3) and has yet to score a goal in the two games against new York.

(7) OTTAWA | 4 - 1 - 2
The Senators started with a big underdog victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in round 1. They got burned in the second game of the series, 8-1, but never looked back after that. They scored 14 goals in the five games it took to down the Penguins. They've come up short against the Montreal Canadiens in round 2. They've lost the first two games, both in overtime. They showed how capable they were of scoring goals in game 1, but Montreal showed that they could match.

Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, and Daniel Alfredsson lead the team with 7 points each. Spezza leads in goals with 4.

Dany Heatley[/color] has started to come around after starting the playoffs with a couple of goals. He has four points (1-3-4) in his last two games against the Canadiens and looks like his old self next to his usual linemates, Spezza and Alfredsson.
Mike Fisher[/color], who looked unstoppable against the Penguins has cooled down since. He hasn't scored a single point since Game 4 against the Penguins where he scored a goal. Ottawa has also yet to receive some good point production from its blueline. Mike Commodore leads defenders with 2 points (1-1-2)



(1) DETROIT | 5 - 2 - 1
The Wings entered the playoffs as a Cup favourite. Perhaps the Cup favourite. They took the series against Nashville in six games, but it wasn't exactly easy. The series was tied 1-1 after two games. Detroit responded with two more wins, but a hungry and desperate Predators team got a commanding win in game 5. The Preds almost stole another in OT in game 6. It took a lucky break by Pavel Datsyuk and Daniel Cleary to score the series winner after the Predators hammered Dominik Hasek with a flurry of shots that the Dominator was capable all of them. Detroit was a little too relaxed in game 1 against the Flames. Their top line went cold and they only managed one goal from Dallas Drake. It was game 2 when they woke up and tied the series 1-1 with a 5-3 win before heading to Calgary for games 3 and 4.

Henrik Zetterberg leads the team with 8 points (3-5-8). Zetterberg shares the lead in goals with Datsyuk, Holmstrom, and Cleary.

Jiri Hudler has been hot as of late scoring two of his three playoff goals in the last three games. With more consistent play like this, his 4 points are sure to rapidly climb the stat sheet.
Niklas Lidstrom has three points thus far and has yet to score a goal. The captain had better get going, as well as Brian Rafalski who only has two assists.

(3) MINNESOTA | 5 - 2 - 2
The Wild are trying to stick with what they know best, and that's defence. Although they exploded in game 7 against the Avalanche to win the series with a 7-2 victory. They've earned two shutouts thus far, one of them coming against Anaheim in the second round. It wouldn't hurt for them to try and open up a little more against the Ducks. The Ducks are capable of exploding themselves and it won't take long to get in the groove.

Brian Rolston leads the team in points with 12 (7-5-12). He shares the lead in goals with Marian Gaborik and the playoff lead with Gaborik and Shanahan.

Marian Gaborik started off slow against the Avalanche with one goal, but in the last two games of the series, he scored four including a hat trick in game 7. Gaborik already has two goals against the Ducks thus far and will be looked upon to start matching the Ducks scoring potential.
Pavol Demitra is centering hot hand, Marian Gaborik, but he only has three assists to show for it. It's tempting to move Mikko Koivu up to the first line, but Koivu is working too well with linemates, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Rolston. Eric Belanger may be placed in the top spot for Game 3.

(4) ANAHEIM | 5 - 2 - 0
The Ducks have offensive weapons they want to use but are being held back by defensive teams like Dallas and Minnesota. If the Ducks squeak by Minnesota and head into the WCF with a low goal total, then their next opponent better look out. They showed off some of their offensive capabilities against Dallas in game 5 where they eliminated the Stars with a 5-1 win. They were shutout by Minnesota in game 1 of their series but responded with a big overtime win to tie the series before going home for games 3 and 4.

Selanne, Getzlaf, and Perry lead the team in points with 6. Teemu Selanne leads the team in goals with 3.

Doug Weight has chipped in with four assists in his last three games, two of them coming in game 2 against Minnesota.
Scott Niedermeyer and the rest of the blueline haven't chipped in much. Niedermeyer has 2 assists. Chris Pronger is 1-1-2. Mathieu Schneider leads the blueline with three points (1-2-3). The blueline is capable of much more and could peak at the right time in the series against Minnesota. If the blueline can get rolling, then the offence in front of them could as well and become a huge threat in the west.

(7) CALGARY | 5 - 2 - 0
Calgary had the big upset in the west downing the San Jose Sharks in just five games. Their offence was lead by captain Jarome Iginla who was the star of their series. Kiprusoff managed to keep San Jose's offence ineffective through most of the series. They look to play a much more physical game against Detroit in hopes of advancing to the WCF.

Jarome Iginla leads the team with 10 points (4-6-10). He shares the lead in goals with Craig Conroy (4).

Craig Conroy[/color] has been great against the Wings thus far, scoring three points (2-1-3). His play is hoping to spark some life into linemate Alex Tanguay who has only managed one goal thus far. Luckily, that goal game in their last game and the trend hopes to continue.
Dion Phaneuf has managed only one assist and it came way back in game 4 against San Jose.

Game 5: Detroit over Calgary (3 - 0)
- With the series back in Detroit for Game 5, the Wings desperately needed to use their hometown advantage to keep the series alive. The Wings were more than successful in doing so. Not only did they pick up the huge win, but they did it by neutralizing Calgary's hot streak offence, getting the shutout, and completely out-grinding them. Jiri Hudler scored the first of the game with his fourth goal. Kris Draper tipped in a point shot from Lebda, and Pavel Datsyuk added the unassisted marker. Mikka Kipprusoff was pulled after the three goals were allowed on 8 shots. CuJo looked terrific in relief and there's question of whether or not he should start game 6 in Calgary.

Game 5: Minnesota over Anaheim (5 - 4, OT)
- The most exciting game in the playoffs thus far. Anaheim started early and showed what they were capable of. Doug Weight scored his first of the playoffs and minutes later, George Parros tipped in a point shot from Francois Beauchemin to score his first. Then on the next shift, Aaron Voros accidentally scored on his own net when he intended to hand off the pass back to Niklas Backstrom. To make things worse, Teemu Selanne poked in his seventh to basically end the game at the end of the first with a 4-0 lead. Midway through the second, Mark parrish scored his second of the playoffs as a result of a wicked wrist shot, picking the top corner. Minnesota followed up with another goal on the next shift, this one from Pavol Demitra. The hometown crowd was suddenly back in it, realizing that a comeback wasn't so far away. The Ducks kept it at that for the rest of the second, but the crowd was at least positive. Things looked bleak again for the first half of the third, but Brian Rolston scored on a wristshot on the powerplay bringing it to within one. Then with minutes remaining, Mark Parrish poked away his second of the night to tie the game. Backstrom stopped a flurry of shots in the final minute to keep the hopes of a Wild win alive and the game was going to overtime. Backstrom had to make a few early stops in OT, but on the next shift, the top line of Fedoruk, Demitra, and Gaborik started making their way back down to the Ducks end. Gaborik took a pass from Sean Hill, circled the net, and threw a pass over to Demitra who picked the top corner short side to get the OT marker and take a 3-2 lead in the series! The Minnesota Wild jumped Demitra in a dogpile when the buzzer went and celebrated their hard-fought victory.

Detroit (2) Calgary (3)
Minnesota (3) Anaheim (2)



Game 5: Montreal over Ottawa (2 - 0)
- The Senators had nothing to hold on to but hope. They managed to steal game 4 and avoid a sweep at home, but heading back to a raucous Montreal crowd would be tough. The tension built early with a scoreless first period, even after Ottawa had numerous chances but couldn't solve Carey Price. In the second, Andrei Kostitsyn scored his fourth after Alex Kovalev made a cross-crease pass despite being hauled down by Mike Commodore. Montreal kept their one-goal lead into the final minute of the game until their expanded it with an empty netter from Kovalev with 12.3 seconds remaining. The buzzer went and the Canadiens celebrated their first ECF berth since 1993, the last year they won the cup. The Ottawa Senators were shutout for the second time in the series. The Montreal Canadiens will see the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final.

Montreal (4) Ottawa (1)
New York (4) Phildelphia (0)

Both teams have had a similar run to the ECF. Two teams that are capable of plenty of offense but used a tight defensive game to earn their victories. Both teams were disciplined and patient.

Montreal had a battle with Boston in the Quarter Finals. The Original 6 rivals put on some great hockey and took the series to six games. Boston managed to shut out Montreal in Game 3, but the Canadiens bounced back and were led by Michael Ryder's hot streak to take the Bruins out in Game 6. Next was the Ottawa Senators who made the Pittsburgh Penguins pay hard for an 8-1 victory in Game 2 of their series. The Senators bounced back and won three straight to end the Penguins' playoff hopes in five games. But the Canadiens showed they weren't scared of what Ottawa was capable of. In Game 1, Montreal erased a two-goal lead and despite Ottawa's efforts to escape with a one-goal victory, the Habs fought hard and tied it up each time and in turn would win the game in overtime. From there, Montreal won two more to take a 3-0 lead in the series and shutout the Sens 3-0 in Game 3. Ottawa stole a win and broke the sweep but the Canadiens would take Game 5 with another shutout to win the series.

The New York Rangers had a great series against the New Jersey Devils in the Quarter Finals that saw all kinds of different hockey. Open end to end, tight defensive, and gritty. The Rangers took a commanding 2-0 lead in the series allowing the Devils to score one goal (an unassisted goal) in Game 1. They shut out Martin Brodeur and his Devils in Game 2, 3-0. The Devils would bounce back and tie the series up with some tight one-goal victories, but the Rangers would take the 3-2 lead with a 5-1 blowout win. The Devils came close to tying the series and took Game 6 to overtime, but a quick goal off a faceoff from Michael Rozsival would end the series. The Rangers advanced to face the Philadelphia Flyers who kept Alexander Ovechkin from exploding in his first playoffs, thus eliminating his Washington Capitals in five games. The Flyers were lucky in doing so, as their offense wasn't so great either and it showed in their second round series against the Blueshirts. The Rangers would go on to sweep the Flyers with three one-goal wins and a 3-1 victory in Game 4. The Rangers saw a positive sign in Games 3 and 4 when their top line scoring line of Jaromir Jagr, Chris Drury, and Brendan Shanahan went cold and the second line plus a number of role players chipped in to grind out the wins. It could have gone bad had the Flyers exposed the Rangers lack of scoring depth in the playoffs.

Now the Canadiens and Rangers will meet in the Eastern Conference Final. The Canadiens could capitalize on what Philadelphia couldn't, and that's the Rangers' lack of scoring depth. If the Canadiens eliminate Broadway's top line early, they might make the series a short one. New York has shown they're capable of scoring some goals but the Canadiens are ready and have already proven that they can match if they absolutely have to. Expect a close series with a couple of big scoring games but mostly some hard-nosed hockey.



Tight, tight hockey. The two teams meeting in the WCF are in for a battle. Big hits, low scoring games, and superb goaltending. Mikka Kiprusoff has been shaky at times but looks to take his huge shutout series-winning victory from Game 6 against the Red Wings and built on it early against the Ducks. But the Ducks' netminder, J.S. Giguere, is somewhat hot himself. He allowed only two goals in the final two games against Minnesota, making a terrific rebound from Game 5 where he let in five straight.

The Anaheim Ducks had a close series with the Dallas Stars in the Quarter Finals. You'd never say it on paper, as they won the series 4-1 after gaining a 3-0 lead. But the goals were low and the scores were so close. It was only in Game 5 where the Ducks showed their offensive powers and hammered the Stars 5-1. In the following round they met the Minnesota Wild who also finished their series with a big win: a 7-2 victory in Game 7 over the Colorado Avalanche. The Ducks went down in Game 1 but went on to win the next two, including a 5-3 victory in Game 3. It was in Game 5 where they blew a four-goal, first period lead and lost in overtime. They rebounded and managed to break two one-goal leads in the final ten minutes of both games to win the series and advance to the WCF.

The Calgary Flames had the big upset in Round 1. They took the San Jose Sharks out, a Cup favourite, and only five games were needed. The series saw a number of goals scored in the first three games, but Calgary tightened up their game and came out victorious as a result of their gritty hard-nose play that's helped them along so many times before. In the Semi-Finals they had to deal with another Cup favourite, the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings put up more of a fight and came close to tying up the series and force a Game 7. But with the help of Mikka Kiprusoff's outstanding play in Game 6, the Flames took the series and now go into the WCF against another Cup favourite.

This series is just a matter of who will out grind the other. Both can score goals but they'll both prefer to keep things tight with physical play and low-scoring. Both goaltenders are entering the series hot. Whoever can get their momentum rolling the earliest will no doubt take the series and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Game 3: Montreal over New York (2 - 1)
- The biggest story of the Conference Finals this year has been the scoreless first periods. Through the first five games, there have been zero goals scored in the first 20. In Game 3 in the ECF, Montreal opened the scoring on a powerplay in the second period from captain Saku Koivu. It was his second goal of the playoffs. His first since Game 5 against Boston in the first round. Bryan Smolinski scored his first in the playoffs in another powerplay just minutes later on a bad shot that Lundvist managed to let slip by. During the final period, New York broke the shutout with Petr Prucha's first playoff goal.

Game 3: Anaheim over Calgary (1 - 0)
- For the second time in the series, Calgary has lost 1-0. Both of Anaheim's wins have been one-goal shutouts. The Flames came close numerous times to tie the goal late in the third, but it was Travis Moen's second period marker that won the Ducks the game to take a 2-1 lead in the series.