2010 Stanley Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	April 14–June 9, 2010
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	Chicago Blackhawks
Runner-up	Philadelphia Flyers
Semifinalists	Montreal Canadiens San Jose Sharks

The 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 14, 2010, after the 2009–10 NHL regular season.^[1] The Finals ended on June 9, 2010, with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in six games to win their fourth championship and their first since 1961. Blackhawks center and team captain Jonathan Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.

This NHL post-season was noted for the unexpected playoff successes of two teams: the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens, who were the seventh and eighth seeds in their conference and were tied for points. The Flyers became the third NHL team to win a seven-game series after being down 3–0 (the others being the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders).^[2] The Flyers went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final, losing to Chicago. Meanwhile, the Canadiens became the first eighth-seeded team in NHL history to win a series against the first-seeded team after being down 3–1 in a series, when they beat the Washington Capitals in the first round.^[3] After upsetting the defending Cup champions Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, the Canadiens became the first eighth-seeded team to compete in the Eastern Conference Finals since the current playoff format was implemented in 1994.^[4]

Previously, only the eighth-seeded 2006 Edmonton Oilers had accomplished a similar feat, winning the 2006 Western Conference Finals. As a result of the Canadiens having the eighth seed, the Flyers became the first seventh-seed to have home-ice advantage in the conference finals since the current playoff format was instituted. During the 2010 playoffs, 18 games went to overtime.^[5]

Playoff seeds

Eastern Conference

1. Washington Capitals, Southeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions, President's Trophy winners – 121 points
2. New Jersey Devils, Atlantic Division champions – 103 points
3. Buffalo Sabres, Northeast Division champions – 100 points
4. Pittsburgh Penguins – 101 points
5. Ottawa Senators – 94 points
6. Boston Bruins – 91 points
7. Philadelphia Flyers – 88 points (41 wins)
8. Montreal Canadiens – 88 points (39 wins)

Western Conference

1. San Jose Sharks, Pacific Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – 113 points
2. Chicago Blackhawks, Central Division champions – 112 points
3. Vancouver Canucks, Northwest Division champions – 103 points
4. Phoenix Coyotes – 107 points
5. Detroit Red Wings – 102 points
6. Los Angeles Kings – 101 points
7. Nashville Predators – 100 points
8. Colorado Avalanche – 95 points

Playoff bracket

Template:2010 Stanley Cup playoffs

Conference Quarterfinals

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(1) Washington Capitals vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens

The Washington Capitals entered the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winner, earning the NHL's best regular season record with 121 points. The Montreal Canadiens qualified for the playoffs as the eighth seed with 88 points. This was the first and to date only playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

Montreal's point difference in the series was the fifth largest point differential (33 points) for a lower-seeded team beating a higher-seeded team in playoff history. It was also the first time an eighth-seeded team came back against a number one seed after being down 3–1 in the series.^[3] Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 45 saves and Tomas Plekanec won game one for the Canadiens with his goal 13:19 into the first overtime period. Washington forward Nicklas Backstrom scored the overtime winner in game two and completed a hat-trick with his goal 31 seconds into the first overtime period to give Washington a 6–5 win; Andrei Kostitsyn also scored a hat-trick during this game in a losing effort for the Canadiens. After a scoreless opening period in game three the Capitals scored four times in the second period as they earned a 5–1 victory. Washington forward Alexander Ovechkin recorded three points as the Capitals won game four 6–3. Jaroslav Halak returned in game five for Montreal after sitting out the previous game and posted 37 saves as the Canadiens avoided elimination with a 2–1 win. Michael Cammalleri scored twice in the opening period of game six for Montreal and Jaroslav Halak made 53 saves as the Canadiens forced a seventh-game with a 4–1 victory. Montreal forward Dominic Moore scored the series-clinching goal late in the third period of game seven as the Canadiens hung on to a 2–1 decision.

April 15	Montreal Canadiens		3–2	OT	Washington Capitals	Verizon Center	Recap
Michael Cammalleri (1) – pp – 12:36		First period			15:33 – Joe Corvo (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Scott Gomez (1) – 07:34		Third period			00:47 – Nicklas Backstrom (1)
Tomas Plekanec (1) – 13:19		First overtime period			No scoring
Jaroslav Halak 45 saves / 47 shots		Goalie stats			Jose Theodore 35 saves / 38 shots

April 17	Montreal Canadiens		5–6	OT	Washington Capitals	Verizon Center	Recap
Brian Gionta (1) – 01:00 Andrei Kostitsyn (1) – 07:58		First period			10:21 – Eric Fehr (1)
Andrei Kostitsyn (2) – 11:06 Andrei Kostitsyn (3) – pp – 17:44		Second period			18:23 – Nicklas Backstrom (2)
Tomas Plekanec (2) – 14:54		Third period			02:56 – Alexander Ovechkin (1) 09:47 – Nicklas Backstrom (3) 18:39 – John Carlson (1)
No scoring		First overtime period			00:31 – Nicklas Backstrom (4)
Jaroslav Halak 31 saves / 37 shots		Goalie stats			Jose Theodore 0 saves / 2 shots Semyon Varlamov 19 saves / 22 shots

April 19	Washington Capitals		5–1		Montreal Canadiens	Bell Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Boyd Gordon (1) – sh – 01:06 Brooks Laich (1) – 04:42 Eric Fehr (2) – 08:33 Alexander Ovechkin (2) – 13:50		Second period			No scoring
Matt Bradley (1) – 19:15		Third period			02:25 – pp – Tomas Plekanec (3)
Semyon Varlamov 26 saves / 27 shots		Goalie stats			Jaroslav Halak 10 saves / 13 shots Carey Price 21 saves / 23 shots

April 21	Washington Capitals		6–3		Montreal Canadiens	Bell Centre	Recap
Alexander Ovechkin (3) – pp – 08:10		First period			09:12 – Michael Cammalleri (2)
Mike Knuble (1) – sh – 19:53		Second period			15:42 – pp – Brian Gionta (2)
Alexander Ovechkin (4) – 11:09 Jason Chimera (1) – 12:01 Mike Knuble (2) – en – 17:33 Nicklas Backstrom (5) – en – 19:49		Third period			18:42 – Dominic Moore (1)
Semyon Varlamov 36 saves / 39 shots		Goalie stats			Carey Price 32 saves / 36 shots

April 23	Montreal Canadiens		2–1		Washington Capitals	Verizon Center	Recap
Michael Cammalleri (3) – 01:30 Travis Moen (1) – 07:01		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			03:52 – Alexander Ovechkin (5)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Jaroslav Halak 37 saves / 38 shots		Goalie stats			Semyon Varlamov 26 saves / 28 shots

April 26	Washington Capitals		1–4		Montreal Canadiens	Bell Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			07:30 – pp – Michael Cammalleri (4) 09:09 – Michael Cammalleri (5)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Eric Fehr (3) – 15:10		Third period			04:17 – Maxim Lapierre (1) 19:03 – en – Tomas Plekanec (4)
Semyon Varlamov 18 saves / 21 shots		Goalie stats			Jaroslav Halak 53 saves / 54 shots

April 28	Montreal Canadiens		2–1		Washington Capitals	Verizon Center	Recap
Marc-Andre Bergeron (1) – pp – 19:30		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Dominic Moore (2) – 16:24		Third period			17:44 – Brooks Laich (2)
Jaroslav Halak 41 saves / 42 shots		Goalie stats			Semyon Varlamov 14 saves / 16 shots

Montreal won series 4–3

(2) New Jersey Devils vs. (7) Philadelphia Flyers

The New Jersey Devils entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Atlantic Division with 103 points. The Philadelphia Flyers earned the seventh seed with 88 points, winning the tiebreaker over Montreal on total wins (41 to 39). The two franchises met in the playoffs for the first time since the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in 2004, having previously met in the 2000 and 1995 Eastern Conference Finals.

April 14	Philadelphia Flyers		2–1		New Jersey Devils	Prudential Center	Recap
Brian Boucher 23 saves / 24 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 12 saves / 14 shots

April 16	Philadelphia Flyers		3–5		New Jersey Devils	Prudential Center	Recap
09:33 – Arron Asham 1 15:30 – pp – Claude Giroux 1		First period			Zach Parise 1 – sh – 02:45
18:48 – pp – Chris Pronger 2		Second period			Colin White 1 – 03:44 Andy Greene 1 – pp – 13:25
No scoring		Third period			Dainius Zubrus 1 – 15:56 Ilya Kovalchuk 1 – en – 19:27
Brian Boucher 28 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 26 saves / 29 shots

April 18	New Jersey Devils		2–3	OT	Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
07:15 – pp – Brian Rolston 1		First period			Claude Giroux 2 – pp – 08:49
16:38 – pp – Brian Rolston 2		Second period			Mike Richards 2 – 01:15
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			Daniel Carcillo 1 – 03:35
Martin Brodeur 31 saves / 34 shots		Goalie stats			Brian Boucher 17 saves / 19 shots

April 20	New Jersey Devils		1–4		Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Brian Boucher 30 saves / 31 shots

April 22	Philadelphia Flyers		3–0		New Jersey Devils	Prudential Center	Recap
03:16 – Daniel Briere 2		First period			No scoring
11:48 – Claude Giroux 3 13:47 – pp – Claude Giroux 4		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Brian Boucher 28 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 17 saves / 20 shots

Philadelphia won series 4–1

(3) Buffalo Sabres vs. (6) Boston Bruins

The Buffalo Sabres entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Northeast Division with 100 points. The Boston Bruins earned the sixth seed with 91 points. The last meeting between the two franchises took place in the 1999 Eastern Conference Semifinal, which the Sabres won 4–2. The turning points in the series were the injury to Thomas Vanek in game two, the Sabres blowing a two-goal lead in game four and losing in double overtime, and the waiving of an automatic suspension against Bruins captain Zdeno Chara after game five.^{[citation needed]}

April 15	Boston Bruins		1–2		Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			04:52 –Thomas Vanek (1)
Mark Recchi (1) – pp –09:30		Second period			14:10 – Craig Rivet (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Tuukka Rask 30 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Ryan Miller 38 saves / 39 shots

April 17	Boston Bruins		5–3		Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			02:55 – Tyler Myers (1) 12:00 – Matt Ellis (1)
Michael Ryder (1) – 02:35 Zdeno Chara (1) – 09:54		Second period			16:41 – Jason Pominville (1)
Michael Ryder (2) – 05:23 Zdeno Chara (2) – 07:23 Mark Recchi (2) – en – 19:40		Third period			No scoring
Tuukka Rask 26 saves / 29 shots		Goalie stats			Ryan Miller 26 saves / 30 shots

April 19	Buffalo Sabres		1–2		Boston Bruins	TD Garden	Recap
Mike Grier (1) – 06:57		First period			15:17 – Dennis Wideman (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			12:57 – Patrice Bergeron (1)
Ryan Miller 27 saves / 29 shots		Goalie stats			Tuukka Rask 32 saves / 33 shots

April 21	Buffalo Sabres		2–3	2OT	Boston Bruins	TD Garden	Recap
Tim Kennedy (1) – 02:12		First period			No scoring
Steve Montador (1) – 06:59		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			02:07 – pp – David Krejci (1) 06:40 – Patrice Bergeron (2)
No scoring		Second overtime period			07:41 – pp – Miroslav Satan (1)
Ryan Miller 36 saves / 39 shots		Goalie stats			Tuukka Rask 35 saves / 37 shots

April 23	Boston Bruins		1–4		Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			01:54 – Adam Mair (1) 18:54 – Jason Pominville (2)
No scoring		Second period			09:22 – Mike Grier (2)
Johnny Boychuk (1) – pp – 19:30		Third period			18:17 – en – Tyler Ennis (1)
Tuukka Rask 29 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Ryan Miller 34 saves / 35 shots

April 26	Buffalo Sabres		3–4		Boston Bruins	TD Garden	Recap
No scoring		First period			13:39 – David Krejci (2)
Patrick Kaleta (1) – 06:34		Second period			01:01 – pp – Mark Recchi (3)
Nathan Gerbe (1) – 07:40 Thomas Vanek (2) – 18:47		Third period			07:18 – David Krejci (3) 14:49 – Miroslav Satan (2)
Ryan Miller 28 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Tuukka Rask 27 saves / 30 shots

Boston won series 4–2

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) Ottawa Senators

The Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup champions, entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 101 points. The Ottawa Senators earned 94 points during the regular season to finish fifth overall in the Eastern Conference. This was the third meeting between the two clubs and third time in four years, all occurring during the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, with Ottawa winning the series 4–1 in 2007, and Pittsburgh sweeping the series in 2008 (the Senators did not qualify for the playoffs in 2009).

April 14	Ottawa Senators		5–4		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
08:45 – Peter Regin 1 14:08 – Chris Neil 1		First period			Evgeni Malkin 1 – pp – 03:03
01:20 – pp – Chris Kelly 1 13:14 – pp – Erik Karlsson 1		Second period			Evgeni Malkin 2 – pp – 10:22
09:40 – Jarkko Ruutu 1		Third period			Craig Adams 1 – 05:16 Alex Goligoski 1 – 17:36
Brian Elliott 17 saves / 21 shots		Goalie stats			Marc-Andre Fleury 21 saves / 26 shots

April 16	Ottawa Senators		1–2		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
00:18 – Peter Regin 2		First period			Sidney Crosby 1 – 08:45
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			Kris Letang 1 – 15:48
Brian Elliott 29 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Marc-Andre Fleury 19 saves / 20 shots

April 18	Pittsburgh Penguins		4–2		Ottawa Senators	Scotiabank Place	Recap
Marc-Andre Fleury 20 saves / 22 shots		Goalie stats			Brian Elliott 20 saves / 24 shots

April 20	Pittsburgh Penguins		7–4		Ottawa Senators	Scotiabank Place	Recap
Marc-Andre Fleury 26 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Brian Elliott 15 saves / 19 shots Pascal Leclaire 20 saves / 23 shots

April 22	Ottawa Senators		4–3	3OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
10:25 – pp – Mike Fisher 2 11:33 – Jarkko Ruutu 2		First period			Kris Letang 2 – pp – 18:05
No scoring		Second period			Chris Kunitz 2 – 18:34
10:24 – Peter Regin 3		Third period			Sidney Crosby 5 – 09:01
07:06 – Matt Carkner 1		Third overtime period			No scoring
Pascal Leclaire 56 saves / 59 shots		Goalie stats			Marc-Andre Fleury 40 saves / 44 shots

April 24	Pittsburgh Penguins		4–3	OT	Ottawa Senators	Scotiabank Place	Recap
No scoring		First period			Matt Cullen 3 – 05:19
10:56 – Matt Cooke 2		Second period			Chris Neil 3 – 01:51 Daniel Alfredsson 2 – 09:48
07:03 – pp – Bill Guerin 2 12:24 – Matt Cooke 3		Third period			No scoring
09:56 – Pascal Dupuis 1		First overtime period			No scoring
Marc-Andre Fleury 28 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Pascal Leclaire 39 saves / 43 shots

Pittsburgh won series 4–2

Western Conference Quarterfinals

(1) San Jose Sharks vs. (8) Colorado Avalanche

The San Jose Sharks entered the playoffs as the Western Conference regular season champions with 113 points. The Colorado Avalanche qualified as the eighth seed with 95 points. This was the fourth and most recent playoff meeting between these two teams with Colorado winning two of the previous three series. They last met in the 2004 Western Conference Semifinal where San Jose won in six games. San Jose won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points.

The Sharks eliminated the Avalanche in six games. Chris Stewart scored for the Avalanche in the final minute of game one as they took the opening game 2–1. Sharks forward Joe Pavelski tied game two in the final minute of regulation time before Devin Setoguchi scored the game-winner on the power-play 5:22 into the first overtime period; evening the series at one game each. Colorado goaltender Craig Anderson made 51 saves and Ryan O'Reilly scored the overtime winner as the Avalanche won game three 1–0. For the third consecutive time in the series overtime was required to solve game four as Joe Pavelski won the game for the Sharks with his goal 10:24 into the first overtime period. Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves to earn a shutout as the Sharks easily won game five 5–0. After falling behind early in the third period of game six San Jose scored four unanswered goals to close out the series with a 5–2 victory.

April 14	Colorado Avalanche		2–1		San Jose Sharks	HP Pavilion	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
John-Michael Liles (1) – pp – 12:38		Second period			No scoring
Chris Stewart (1) – 19:10		Third period			07:59 – Ryane Clowe (1)
Craig Anderson 25 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 28 saves / 30 shots

April 16	Colorado Avalanche		5–6	OT	San Jose Sharks	HP Pavilion	Recap
Kyle Cumiskey (1) – 01:10		First period			19:18 – pp – Manny Malhotra (1)
Chris Stewart (2) – 00:24 Milan Hejduk (1) – 04:08 Brandon Yip (1) – 17:30		Second period			03:43 – Rob Blake (1) 07:10 – Devin Setoguchi (1) 19:45 – Scott Nichol (1)
Chris Stewart (3) – 05:34		Third period			19:28 – Joe Pavelski (1)
No scoring		First overtime period			05:22 – pp – Devin Setoguchi (2)
Craig Anderson 46 saves / 52 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 17 saves / 22 shots

April 18	San Jose Sharks		0–1	OT	Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			00:51 – Ryan O'Reilly (1)
Evgeni Nabokov 16 saves / 17 shots		Goalie stats			Craig Anderson 51 saves / 51 shots

April 20	San Jose Sharks		2–1	OT	Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
Dan Boyle (1) – pp – 01:12		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			03:27 – pp – Paul Stastny (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Joe Pavelski (2) – 10:24		First overtime period			No scoring
Evgeni Nabokov 33 saves / 34 shots		Goalie stats			Craig Anderson 43 saves / 45 shots

April 22	Colorado Avalanche		0–5		San Jose Sharks	HP Pavilion	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			08:25 – Logan Couture (1) 10:21 – pp – Joe Pavelski (3) 15:30 – Dwight Helminen (1)
No scoring		Third period			10:37 – Logan Couture (2) 13:24 – pp – Patrick Marleau (1)
Craig Anderson 29 saves / 33 shots Peter Budaj 3 saves / 4 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 28 saves / 28 shots

April 24	San Jose Sharks		5–2		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
Joe Pavelski (4) – 00:47		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			06:14 – Marek Svatos (1)
Dan Boyle (2) – 07:33 Joe Pavelski (5) – 09:02 Devin Setoguchi (3) – en – 19:08 Douglas Murray (1) – en – 19:29		Third period			04:51 – Brandon Yip (2)
Evgeni Nabokov 16 saves / 18 shots		Goalie stats			Craig Anderson 29 saves / 32 shots

San Jose won series 4–2

(2) Chicago Blackhawks vs. (7) Nashville Predators

The Chicago Blackhawks entered the playoffs as the second overall seed in the Western Conference after winning the Central Division title with 112 points. The Nashville Predators qualified as the seventh seed with 100 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Chicago won four of the six games during this year's regular season series.

The Blackhawks defeated the Predators in six games. Nashville scored four times in the third period of game one to earn their franchise's first-ever road playoff victory; they had lost all of their ten previous playoff road games. Blackhawks goaltender Antti Niemi made 23 saves in a 2–0 shutout in game two, as Chicago evened the series. After trading goals in the opening period of game three, the Predators struck three times in the final 40 minutes including a penalty shot goal by Martin Erat. Antti Niemi earned his second shutout of the series in game four as Chicago took the game 3–0. The Blackhawks tied game five late in the third period on a short-handed goal by Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa ended the game 4:07 into overtime, ten seconds after he finished serving a major penalty for boarding. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews capped the scoring in the first period of game six; that saw the teams exchange seven goals. The Blackhawks held on to win the series-clinching game 5–3.

April 16	Nashville Predators		4–1		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			09:43 – Patrick Kane (1)
J.P. Dumont (1) – 01:31 J.P. Dumont (2) – 10:31 Jerred Smithson (1) – en – 19:12 Martin Erat (1) – en – 19:46		Third period			No scoring
Pekka Rinne 25 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 22 saves / 24 shots

April 18	Nashville Predators		0–2		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			08:44 – pp – Dave Bolland (1)
No scoring		Third period			04:18 – Patrick Kane (2)
Pekka Rinne 31 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 23 saves / 23 shots

April 20	Chicago Blackhawks		1–4		Nashville Predators	Bridgestone Arena	Recap
Tomas Kopecky (1) – pp – 17:35		First period			13:00 – Joel Ward (1)
No scoring		Second period			04:00 – David Legwand (1) 09:52 – Shea Weber (1)
No scoring		Third period			14:25 – ps – Martin Erat (2)
Antti Niemi 31 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats			Pekka Rinne 26 saves / 27 shots

April 22	Chicago Blackhawks		3–0		Nashville Predators	Bridgestone Arena	Recap
Patrick Sharp (1) – pp – 10:57		First period			No scoring
Jonathan Toews (1) – 12:55 Patrick Sharp (2) – 16:17		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Antti Niemi 33 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Pekka Rinne 27 saves / 30 shots

April 24	Nashville Predators		4–5	OT	Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
David Legwand (2) – 06:23		First period			09:57 – Andrew Ladd (1) 14:53 – Niklas Hjalmarsson (1)
Joel Ward (2) – sh – 17:31		Second period			16:24 – Tomas Kopecky (2)
Martin Erat (3) – 01:34 Martin Erat (4) – 11:39		Third period			19:46 – sh – Patrick Kane (3)
No scoring		First overtime period			04:07 – Marian Hossa (1)
Pekka Rinne 27 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 17 saves / 21 shots

April 26	Chicago Blackhawks		5–3		Nashville Predators	Bridgestone Arena	Recap
Duncan Keith (1) – 06:38 Patrick Kane (4) – 09:54 Patrick Sharp (3) – 12:03 Jonathan Toews (2) – pp – 19:29		First period			08:50 – Shea Weber (2) 15:44 – pp – Jason Arnott (1) 19:05 – Jason Arnott (2)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
John Madden (1) – en – 19:52		Third period			No scoring
Antti Niemi 25 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Pekka Rinne 27 saves / 31 shots

Chicago won series 4–2

(3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Los Angeles Kings

The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the third overall seed in the Western Conference after winning the Northwest Division title with 103 points. The Los Angeles Kings qualified as the sixth seed with 101 points, earning their first playoff berth since 2002. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Los Angeles winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the 1993 Smythe Division Finals where Los Angeles won in six games. Vancouver won three of the four games during this year's regular season series.

The Canucks eliminated the Kings in six games. Mikael Samuelsson scored twice for the Canucks in game one including the overtime winner 8:52 into the first overtime period as Vancouver took the opening game 3–2. The Kings evened the series in game two when Anze Kopitar scored the game-winning goal in the first overtime period at 7:28. Los Angeles chased Vancouver starter Roberto Luongo from game three after he allowed four goals against on sixteen shots, the Kings held on to win 5–3. Vancouver forward Henrik Sedin broke the tie in game four with 2:52 remaining in regulation time as the Canucks evened the series with a 6–4 victory. Mikael Samuelsson extended his goal scoring streak to five games as the Canucks easily won game five 7–2. Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo made 30 saves in game six and Daniel Sedin scored the series-winner for Vancouver late in the third period of a 4–2 win.

April 15	Los Angeles Kings		2–3	OT	Vancouver Canucks	General Motors Place	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Jarret Stoll (1) – pp – 00:54 Fredrik Modin (1) – pp – 13:06		Second period			03:09 – pp – Mikael Samuelsson (1) 08:31 – Daniel Sedin (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			08:52 – Mikael Samuelsson (2)
Jonathan Quick 41 saves / 44 shots		Goalie stats			Roberto Luongo 25 saves / 27 shots

April 17	Los Angeles Kings		3–2	OT	Vancouver Canucks	General Motors Place	Recap
No scoring		First period			07:33 – pp – Steve Bernier (1) 09:49 – Mikael Samuelsson (3)
Fredrik Modin (2) – pp – 10:58 Wayne Simmonds (1) – 11:33		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Anze Kopitar (1) – pp – 07:28		First overtime period			No scoring
Jonathan Quick 24 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Roberto Luongo 29 saves / 32 shots

April 19	Vancouver Canucks		3–5		Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
Mason Raymond (1) – 02:09		First period			11:00 – pp – Drew Doughty (1)
Mikael Samuelsson (4) – 14:53		Second period			04:06 – pp – Michal Handzus (1) 12:18 – pp – Michal Handzus (2) 13:21 – Brad Richardson (1)
Daniel Sedin (2) – 04:18		Third period			09:21 – Ryan Smyth (1)
Roberto Luongo 12 saves / 16 shots Andrew Raycroft 6 saves / 7 shots		Goalie stats			Jonathan Quick 25 saves / 28 shots

April 21	Vancouver Canucks		6–4		Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			13:26 – pp – Drew Doughty (2)
Christian Ehrhoff (1) – pp – 03:36 Pavol Demitra (1) – 15:35		Second period			05:56 – pp – Dustin Brown (1) 17:09 – Anze Kopitar (2)
Mikael Samuelsson (5) – 07:29 Sami Salo (1) – pp – 12:16 Henrik Sedin (1) – 17:08 Ryan Kesler (1) – en – 19:43		Third period			13:18 – Wayne Simmonds (2)
Roberto Luongo 22 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Jonathan Quick 31 saves / 36 shots

April 23	Los Angeles Kings		2–7		Vancouver Canucks	General Motors Place	Recap
Michal Handzus (3) – pp – 14:24		First period			08:50 – Steve Bernier (2) 17:32 – Alexander Edler (1)
No scoring		Second period			08:26 – Daniel Sedin (3) 13:31 – Mikael Samuelsson (6)
Fredrik Modin (3) – 05:02		Third period			04:38 – Pavol Demitra (2) 06:31 – pp – Mikael Samuelsson (7) 09:50 – Steve Bernier (3)
Jonathan Quick 21 saves / 26 shots Erik Ersberg 2 saves / 4 shots		Goalie stats			Roberto Luongo 24 saves / 26 shots

April 25	Vancouver Canucks		4–2		Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			10:08 – Alexander Frolov (1)
Steve Bernier (4) – pp – 08:38		Second period			15:57 – Drew Doughty (3)
Kevin Bieksa (1) – 01:57 Daniel Sedin (4) – 17:57 Alexandre Burrows (1) – en – 18:53		Third period			No scoring
Roberto Luongo 30 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Jonathan Quick 18 saves / 21 shots

Vancouver won series 4–2

(4) Phoenix Coyotes vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings

The Phoenix Coyotes entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Western Conference with 107 points. The Detroit Red Wings qualified as the fifth seed with 102 points. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with Detroit winning both pervious series. They last met in the 1998 Western Conference Quarterfinals where Detroit won in six games. Detroit won this year's four-game regular season series earning six of eight points.

The Red Wings defeated the Coyotes in seven games. Phoenix went three for four on the power-play in game one as they took the opening game by a final score of 3–2. Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg scored a hat trick in game two as Detroit evened the series with a 7–4 win. Petr Prucha scored the game-winning goal for the Coyotes in game three as Phoenix took the game with a 4–2 victory. Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard made 29 saves to shut out the Coyotes in game four as the Red wings tied the series with a 3–0 win. The Red Wings broke the tie in game five just past the midway mark of the third period with two goals scored 70 seconds apart and held on to win 4–1. Phoenix forced a seventh game with a dominant special teams performance in game six recording three power-play goals in the victory. After a scoreless first period in game seven, the Red Wings scored four times in the second period en route to a 6–1 win.

April 14	Detroit Red Wings		2–3		Phoenix Coyotes	Jobing.com Arena	Recap
Tomas Holmstrom (1) – 12:17 Nicklas Lidstrom (1) – pp – 16:27		First period			14:13 – pp – Keith Yandle (1)
No scoring		Second period			06:15 – pp – Wojtek Wolski (1)
No scoring		Third period			02:19 – pp – Derek Morris (1)
Jimmy Howard 32 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats			Ilya Bryzgalov 38 saves / 40 shots

April 16	Detroit Red Wings		7–4		Phoenix Coyotes	Jobing.com Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			10:23 – Keith Yandle (2)
Henrik Zetterberg (1) – pp – 06:27 Pavel Datsyuk (1) – 08:20 Valtteri Filppula (1) – 10:25		Second period			07:05 – Wojtek Wolski (2) 09:09 – Matthew Lombardi (1)
Justin Abdelkader (1) – 02:32 Henrik Zetterberg (2) – 13:54 Valtteri Filppula (2) – pp – 17:54 Henrik Zetterberg (3) – en – 19:12		Third period			09:24 – Shane Doan (1)
Jimmy Howard 27 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Ilya Bryzgalov 32 saves / 38 shots

April 18	Phoenix Coyotes		4–2		Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	Recap
Sami Lepisto (1) – pp – 00:29		First period			14:42 – Valtteri Filppula (3)
Wojtek Wolski (3) – 19:28		Second period			No scoring
Petr Prucha (1) – 08:16 Radim Vrbata (1) – 11:38		Third period			09:59 – Johan Franzen (1)
Ilya Bryzgalov 29 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Jimmy Howard 29 saves / 33 shots

April 20	Phoenix Coyotes		0–3		Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			15:33 – pp – Henrik Zetterberg (4)
No scoring		Third period			15:53 – Pavel Datsyuk (2) 16:18 – Henrik Zetterberg (5)
Ilya Bryzgalov 32 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats			Jimmy Howard 29 saves / 29 shots

April 23	Detroit Red Wings		4–1		Phoenix Coyotes	Jobing.com Arena	Recap
Drew Miller (1) – 17:04		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			09:45 – Ed Jovanovski (1)
Tomas Holmstrom (2) – 11:09 Pavel Datsyuk (3) – 12:19 Henrik Zetterberg (6) – en – 19:04		Third period			No scoring
Jimmy Howard 30 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Ilya Bryzgalov 25 saves / 28 shots

April 25	Phoenix Coyotes		5–2		Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	Recap
Lauri Korpikoski (1) – sh – 04:10		First period			No scoring
Mathieu Schneider (1) – pp – 02:27 Radim Vrbata (2) – pp – 10:09 Wojtek Wolski (4) – 14:01		Second period			02:51 – Brad Stuart (1)
Taylor Pyatt (1) – pp – 05:25		Third period			16:29 – Darren Helm (1)
Ilya Bryzgalov 31 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Jimmy Howard 24 saves / 29 shots

April 27	Detroit Red Wings		6–1		Phoenix Coyotes	Jobing.com Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Pavel Datsyuk (4) – pp – 02:01 Pavel Datsyuk (5) – 03:42 Nicklas Lidstrom (2) – pp – 13:52 Brad Stuart (2) – 19:55		Second period			08:23 – Vernon Fiddler (1)
Todd Bertuzzi (1) – 06:35 Nicklas Lidstrom (3) – pp – 12:14		Third period			No scoring
Jimmy Howard 32 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Ilya Bryzgalov 44 saves / 50 shots

Detroit won series 4–3

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference Semifinals

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with Montreal winning the pervious series. They last met in the 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals where Montreal won in six games. Pittsburgh won three of the four games during this year's four-game regular season series.

The Canadiens defeated the Penguins in seven games. Pittsburgh scored four times on the power-play in game one as they took the opening game 6–3. Michael Cammalleri scored twice for Montreal in game two and Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves as the Canadiens evened the series with a 3–1 win. Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin's fifth goal of the playoffs broke a scoreless tie in the third period of game three as the Penguins earned a 2–0 victory; Marc-Andre Fleury made 18 saves to shut-out the Canadiens. Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves for Montreal in game four as Montreal won the game 3–2. In game five, Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves in a 2–1 victory. Montreal forward Maxim Lapierre scored the game-winning goal in game six as the Canadiens won their fourth consecutive elimination game of the playoffs. Montreal's Brian Gionta scored twice on the power-play in game seven as the Canadiens eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champions with a 5–2 win. Game seven was the last game ever to be played at Mellon Arena, the Penguins' home rink since the start of the franchise as the Canadiens dethroned the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins. Incidentally, the Canadiens were the winners of the first game played against the Penguins at Mellon Arena in 1967.^[6] The Penguins moved into the Consol Energy Center starting the next season.

April 30	Montreal Canadiens		3–6		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
P. K. Subban (1) – 04:30		First period			08:38 – pp – Sergei Gonchar (1) 13:27 – pp – Jordan Staal (2)
Michael Cammalleri (6) – 15:27		Second period			02:34 – pp – Kris Letang (3) 18:36 – Craig Adams (2)
Brian Gionta (3) – pp – 12:29		Third period			02:59 – pp – Alex Goligoski (2) 19:11 – en – Bill Guerin (3)
Jaroslav Halak 15 saves / 20 shots Carey Price 3 saves / 3 shots		Goalie stats			Marc-Andre Fleury 28 saves / 31 shots

May 2	Montreal Canadiens		3–1		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
Brian Gionta (4) – 15:48		First period			04:38 – Matt Cooke (4)
Michael Cammalleri (7) – pp – 07:29		Second period			No scoring
Michael Cammalleri (8) – 17:06		Third period			No scoring
Jaroslav Halak 38 saves / 39 shots		Goalie stats			Marc-Andre Fleury 18 saves / 21 shots

May 4	Pittsburgh Penguins		2–0		Montreal Canadiens	Bell Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Evgeni Malkin (5) – pp – 01:16 Pascal Dupuis (2) – en – 19:45		Third period			No scoring
Marc-Andre Fleury 18 saves / 18 shots		Goalie stats			Jaroslav Halak 23 saves / 24 shots

May 6	Pittsburgh Penguins		2–3		Montreal Canadiens	Bell Centre	Recap
Maxime Talbot (2) – 03:27 Chris Kunitz (3) – pp – 05:18		First period			02:34 – Tom Pyatt (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			02:07 – Maxim Lapierre (2) 03:40 – Brian Gionta (5)
Marc-Andre Fleury 22 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Jaroslav Halak 33 saves / 35 shots

May 8	Montreal Canadiens		1–2		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			18:18 – pp – Kris Letang (4)
No scoring		Second period			09:50 – Sergei Gonchar (2)
Michael Cammalleri (9) – pp – 19:29		Third period			No scoring
Jaroslav Halak 23 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Marc-Andre Fleury 32 saves / 33 shots

May 10	Pittsburgh Penguins		3–4		Montreal Canadiens	Bell Centre	Recap
Sidney Crosby (6) – 07:22		First period			01:13 – Michael Cammalleri (10)
Kris Letang (5) – pp – 05:21		Second period			10:45 – Michael Cammalleri (11) 13:15 – Jaroslav Spacek (1)
Bill Guerin (4) – 18:36		Third period			11:03 – Maxim Lapierre (3)
Marc-Andre Fleury 21 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Jaroslav Halak 34 saves / 37 shots

May 12	Montreal Canadiens		5–2		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
Brian Gionta (6) – pp – 00:32 Dominic Moore (3) – 14:23		First period			No scoring
Michael Cammalleri (12) – 03:32 Travis Moen (2) – sh – 05:14		Second period			08:36 – Chris Kunitz (4) 16:30 – Jordan Staal (3)
Brian Gionta (7) – pp – 10:00		Third period			No scoring
Jaroslav Halak 37 saves / 39 shots		Goalie stats			Marc-Andre Fleury 9 saves / 13 shots Brent Johnson 6 saves / 7 shots

Montreal won series 4–3

(6) Boston Bruins vs. (7) Philadelphia Flyers

This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the teams splitting the four previous series. They last met in the 1978 Stanley Cup Semifinals where Boston won in five games. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series, including a 2-1 overtime win by Boston at the 2010 NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year's Day.

Philadelphia became the third NHL team to come back from a 3–0 deficit to win a series, joining the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders as the only teams to accomplish this feat (the Los Angeles Kings became the fourth team to do this in 2014).^[2] Bruins forward Marc Savard ended game one with his goal 13:52 into the first overtime period, giving Boston a 5–4 victory. Milan Lucic broke the tie late in the third period of game two to give the Bruins a 3–2 win. Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask made 34 saves in a 4–1 Bruins win during game three. In game four, Bruins forward Mark Recchi tied the game in the final minute of the third period, however, the Bruins came up short in overtime as Simon Gagne extended the series with a goal 14:40 into the first overtime period in a 5–4 Flyers victory. Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton made 23 saves in a 4–0 split shutout for the Flyers in game five; Boucher was injured in the second period and did not return to the game. The Flyers forced a seventh game with a 2–1 victory in game six. In game seven, Philadelphia came back from a 3–0 goal deficit to win by a score of 4–3.^[7]

May 1	Philadelphia Flyers		4–5	OT	Boston Bruins	TD Garden	Recap
No scoring		First period			02:39 – Steve Begin (1) 12:54 – Patrice Bergeron (3)
Ryan Parent (1) – 07:38 Chris Pronger (3) – pp – 15:48		Second period			11:43 – pp – Miroslav Satan (3)
Mike Richards (3) – pp – 12:37 Daniel Briere (3) – 16:38		Third period			07:25 – David Krejci (4)
No scoring		First overtime period			13:52 – Marc Savard (1)
Brian Boucher 41 saves / 46 shots		Goalie stats			Tuukka Rask 32 saves / 36 shots

May 3	Philadelphia Flyers		2–3		Boston Bruins	TD Garden	Recap
Mike Richards (4) – 17:06		First period			05:12 – Johnny Boychuk (2)
Daniel Briere (4) – 19:35		Second period			09:31 – Miroslav Satan (4)
No scoring		Third period			17:03 – Milan Lucic (1)
Brian Boucher 24 saves / 27 shots		Goalie stats			Tuukka Rask 24 saves / 26 shots

May 5	Boston Bruins		4–1		Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
Blake Wheeler (1) – 04:11 Miroslav Satan (5) – 05:45		First period			02:32 – Arron Asham (2)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Mark Recchi (4) – pp – 02:30 Patrice Bergeron (4) – en – 18:08		Third period			No scoring
Tuukka Rask 34 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats			Brian Boucher 16 saves / 19 shots Johan Backlund 0 saves / 0 shots

May 7	Boston Bruins		4–5	OT	Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
Mark Recchi (5) – 15:37		First period			19:06 – Daniel Briere (5)
Michael Ryder (3) – 10:56		Second period			04:28 – Chris Pronger (4) 08:35 – Claude Giroux (5)
Milan Lucic (2) – pp – 03:49 Mark Recchi (6) – 19:28		Third period			14:20 – Ville Leino (1)
No scoring		First overtime period			14:40 – Simon Gagne (1)
Tuukka Rask 29 saves / 34 shots		Goalie stats			Brian Boucher 33 saves / 37 shots

May 10	Philadelphia Flyers		4–0		Boston Bruins	TD Garden	Recap
Ville Leino (2) – 06:41		First period			No scoring
Scott Hartnell (1) – 11:16 Simon Gagne (2) – pp – 17:53		Second period			No scoring
Simon Gagne (3) – 06:48		Third period			No scoring
Brian Boucher 9 saves / 9 shots Michael Leighton 14 saves / 14 shots		Goalie stats			Tuukka Rask 27 saves / 31 shots

May 12	Boston Bruins		1–2		Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			06:58 – Mike Richards (5)
No scoring		Second period			16:20 – pp – Daniel Briere (6)
Milan Lucic (3) – 19:00		Third period			No scoring
Tuukka Rask 25 saves / 27 shots		Goalie stats			Michael Leighton 30 saves / 31 shots

May 14	Philadelphia Flyers		4–3		Boston Bruins	TD Garden	Recap
James van Riemsdyk (1) – 17:12		First period			05:27 – pp – Michael Ryder (4) 09:02 – pp – Milan Lucic (4) 14:10 – Milan Lucic (5)
Scott Hartnell (2) – 02:49 Daniel Briere (7) – 08:39		Second period			No scoring
Simon Gagne (4) – pp – 12:52		Third period			No scoring
Michael Leighton 22 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Tuukka Rask 23 saves / 27 shots

Philadelphia won series 4–3

Western Conference Semifinals

(1) San Jose Sharks vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings

The Sharks and the Red Wings last faced off in the 2007 Western Conference Semifinals, which Detroit won 4–2. There have been two other series between these franchises in the mid-1990s, with each team winning one.

Johan Franzen scored four goals in Game 4, the only victory in this series for Detroit. No player would do that in another playoff game until Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored four goals for the Ottawa Senators in a 6–5 overtime victory in game two of the 2017 Eastern Conference Second Round series against the New York Rangers.

April 29	Detroit Red Wings		3–4		San Jose Sharks	HP Pavilion	Recap
Joe Pavelski 5 – pp – 09:05 Dany Heatley 1 – 10:01 Devin Setoguchi 4 – 10:24		First period			11:40 – Daniel Cleary 1
No scoring		Second period			04:45 – Johan Franzen 2
Joe Pavelski 6 – pp – 00:50		Third period			02:57 – Brian Rafalski 1
Evgeni Nabokov 20 saves / 23 shots		Goalie stats			Jimmy Howard 23 saves / 27 shots

May 2	Detroit Red Wings		3–4		San Jose Sharks	HP Pavilion	Recap
Joe Pavelski 8 – pp – 09:01 Ryane Clowe 2 – 10:32		First period			06:51 – Pavel Datsyuk 6 13:17 – pp – Tomas Holmstrom 3
No scoring		Second period			02:00 – Nicklas Lidstrom 4
Joe Pavelski 9 – pp – 04:40 Joe Thornton 1 – 12:37		Third period			No scoring
Evgeni Nabokov 28 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Jimmy Howard 41 saves / 45 shots

May 4	San Jose Sharks		4–3	OT	Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	Recap
Tomas Holmstrom 4 – 13:33 Daniel Cleary 2 – 18:37		First period			19:56 – Devin Setoguchi 5
Henrik Zetterberg 7 – 01:42		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			06:42 – Joe Thornton 2 13:17 – Logan Couture 3
No scoring		First overtime period			07:07 – Patrick Marleau 2
Jimmy Howard 29 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 32 saves / 35 shots

May 6	San Jose Sharks		1–7		Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	Recap
Todd Bertuzzi 2 – pp – 05:40 Johan Franzen 3 – 07:50 Johan Franzen 4 – 10:43 Johan Franzen 5 – 11:16 Valtteri Filppula – 18:50		First period			No scoring
Brian Rafalski 2 – pp – 03:05		Second period			19:11 – pp – Dany Heatley 2
Johan Franzen 6 – pp – 07:33		Third period			No scoring
Jimmy Howard 28 saves / 29 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 4 saves / 9 shots Thomas Greiss 26 saves / 28 shots

May 8	Detroit Red Wings		1–2		San Jose Sharks	HP Pavilion	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Joe Thornton 3 – pp – 04:54		Second period			02:40 – Brian Rafalski 3
Patrick Marleau 3 – 06:59		Third period			No scoring
Evgeni Nabokov 33 saves / 34 shots		Goalie stats			Jimmy Howard 30 saves / 32 shots

San Jose won series 4–1

(2) Chicago Blackhawks vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Chicago winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the previous year during the Conference Semifinals where Chicago won in six games. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

The Blackhawks defeated the Canucks in six games for the second consecutive year in the second round. Five different Vancouver players scored in game one and Roberto Luongo made 36 saves in the opening game victory. Kris Versteeg's first goal of the playoffs broke the tie in game two with 1:30 remaining in regulation time as the Blackhawks evened the series with a 4–2 win. Chicago forward Dustin Byfuglien scored a hat trick in game three as the Blackhawks won 5–2. In game four Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews recorded a hat trick of his own (scoring all three goals on the power-play) as Chicago broke the game open in the second period and won by a final score of 7–4. Kevin Bieksa scored twice for the Canucks in game five as Vancouver avoided elimination with a 4–1 victory. After a scoreless opening period in game six the Blackhawks struck three times in the second period and held on to win the game 5–1, earning their second consecutive trip to the Western Conference Finals.

May 1	Vancouver Canucks		5–1		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
Christian Ehrhoff (2) – 13:51 Mason Raymond (2) – 19:49		First period			No scoring
Henrik Sedin (2) – 00:32 Kyle Wellwood (1) – pp – 10:59 Michael Grabner (1) – 16:21		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			02:07 – pp – Patrick Kane (5)
Roberto Luongo 36 saves / 37 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 20 saves / 25 shots Cristobal Huet 3 saves / 3 shots

May 3	Vancouver Canucks		2–4		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
Mason Raymond (3) – 01:22 Mikael Samuelsson (8) – pp – 05:02		First period			07:40 – Brent Seabrook (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			06:49 – sh – Patrick Sharp (4) 18:30 – Kris Versteeg (1) 19:12 – en – Patrick Kane (6)
Roberto Luongo 30 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 24 saves / 26 shots

May 5	Chicago Blackhawks		5–2		Vancouver Canucks	General Motors Place	Recap
Kris Versteeg (2) – 05:19 Dustin Byfuglien (1) – pp – 16:47		First period			No scoring
Dustin Byfuglien (2) – pp – 11:24		Second period			09:07 – Jannik Hansen (1) 19:06 – Alexandre Burrows (2)
Marian Hossa (2) – 07:45 Dustin Byfuglien (3) – 13:58		Third period			No scoring
Antti Niemi 31 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Roberto Luongo 30 saves / 35 shots

May 7	Chicago Blackhawks		7–4		Vancouver Canucks	General Motors Place	Recap
Brent Seabrook (2) – 00:18 Jonathan Toews (3) – pp – 09:23		First period			01:34 – Kyle Wellwood (2) 14:36 – pp — Daniel Sedin (5)
Jonathan Toews (4) – pp – 00:27 Patrick Sharp (5) – pp – 12:47 Jonathan Toews (5) – pp – 15:22		Second period			18:16 – pp – Alexander Edler (2)
Tomas Kopecky (3) – 06:59 Dave Bolland (2) – en – 19:23		Third period			14:37 – Henrik Sedin (3)
Antti Niemi 26 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Roberto Luongo 27 saves / 33 shots

May 9	Vancouver Canucks		4–1		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
Christian Ehrhoff (3) – 00:59 Kevin Bieksa (2) – 14:24		First period			No scoring
Kevin Bieksa (3) – pp – 13:00		Second period			No scoring
Alexandre Burrows (3) – en – 19:15		Third period			12:51 – Jonathan Toews (6)
Roberto Luongo 29 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 20 saves / 23 shots

May 11	Chicago Blackhawks		5–1		Vancouver Canucks	General Motors Place	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Troy Brouwer (1) – 02:00 Kris Versteeg (3) – 02:36 Dave Bolland (3) – sh – 19:15		Second period			No scoring
Patrick Kane (7) – 08:17 Dustin Byfuglien (4) – 08:42		Third period			03:44 – Shane O'Brien (1)
Antti Niemi 29 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Roberto Luongo 30 saves / 35 shots

Chicago won series 4–2

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference Final

(7) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens

This was the first ever conference final contested by the seventh and eighth seeds. The Canadiens and the Flyers both earned 88 points in the regular season, but Philadelphia's greater number of victories gave them the higher seed. There were five previous meetings between Montreal and Philadelphia, including the 1976 Stanley Cup Finals. Their last meeting was in the 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals which Philadelphia won 4–1.

May 16	Montreal Canadiens		0–6		Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
Michael Leighton 28 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Jaroslav Halak 10 saves / 14 shots Carey Price 9 saves / 11 shots

May 18	Montreal Canadiens		0–3		Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
Daniel Briere 9 – pp – 04:16		First period			No scoring
Simon Gagne 6 – pp – 15:49		Second period			No scoring
Ville Leino 3 – 10:24		Third period			No scoring
Michael Leighton 30 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Jaroslav Halak 20 saves / 23 shots

May 20	Philadelphia Flyers		1–5		Montreal Canadiens	Bell Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			Michael Cammalleri 13 – 07:05 Tom Pyatt 2 – 16:52
08:22 – Simon Gagne 7		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			Brian Gionta 8 – 02:00 Dominic Moore 4 – 11:33 Marc-Andre Bergeron 2 – pp – 19:29
Jaroslav Halak 25 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Michael Leighton 33 saves / 38 shots

May 22	Philadelphia Flyers		3–0		Montreal Canadiens	Bell Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			05:41 – Claude Giroux 7 14:53 – Ville Leino 4
No scoring		Third period			18:47 – en – Claude Giroux 8
Jaroslav Halak 22 saves / 24 shots		Goalie stats			Michael Leighton 17 saves / 17 shots

May 24	Montreal Canadiens		2–4		Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
Mike Richards 6 – sh – 04:25		First period			00:59 – Brian Gionta 9
Arron Asham 3 – 03:07 Jeff Carter 3 – 04:31		Second period			No scoring
Jeff Carter 4 – en 19:37		Third period			06:53 – Scott Gomez 2
Michael Leighton 25 saves / 27 shots		Goalie stats			Jaroslav Halak 22 saves / 25 shots

Philadelphia won series 4–1

Western Conference Final

(1) San Jose Sharks vs. (2) Chicago Blackhawks

This was the first ever playoff series between the Sharks and the Blackhawks. There were four games between these two teams during the regular season, with Chicago leading San Jose three games to one. This was the only sweep of the entire playoffs.

May 16	Chicago Blackhawks		2–1		San Jose Sharks	HP Pavilion	Recap
Jason Demers 1 – pp – 11:19		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			07:44 – Patrick Sharp 6
No scoring		Third period			13:15 – Dustin Byfuglien 5
Evgeni Nabokov 38 saves / 40 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 44 saves / 45 shots

May 18	Chicago Blackhawks		4–2		San Jose Sharks	HP Pavilion	Recap
No scoring		First period			12:48 – Andrew Ladd 2
Patrick Marleau 4 – pp – 11:08		Second period			06:59 – Dustin Byfuglien 6 08:29 – pp – Jonathan Toews 7
Patrick Marleau 5 – 15:32		Third period			06:18 – Troy Brouwer 2
Evgeni Nabokov 23 saves / 27 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 20 saves / 22 shots

May 21	San Jose Sharks		2–3	OT	Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Patrick Sharp 7 – pp – 06:59		Second period			03:58 – pp – Patrick Marleau 6
Dave Bolland 4 – 13:05		Third period			15:37 – Patrick Marleau 7
Dustin Byfuglien 7 – 12:24		First overtime period			No scoring
Antti Niemi 44 saves / 46 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 35 saves / 38 shots

May 23	San Jose Sharks		2–4		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			11:08 – Logan Couture 4
Brent Seabrook 3 – 13:15 Dave Bolland 5 – 18:38		Second period			07:35 – sh – Patrick Marleau 8
Dustin Byfuglien 8 – pp – 14:05 Kris Versteeg 4 – en – 19:18		Third period			No scoring
Antti Niemi 16 saves / 18 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 23 saves / 26 shots

Chicago won series 4–0

Stanley Cup Finals

This was the second playoff series between these two teams and the first since 1971 when the Blackhawks swept the Flyers in four games in the Stanley Cup quarterfinals. Philadelphia won the only meeting between these teams in the regular season. Prior to the 2010 Finals, both teams had previously lost in their last five consecutive Finals appearances (Chicago in 1962, 1965, 1971, 1973, and 1992; and Philadelphia in 1976, 1980, 1985, 1987, and 1997). Having lost in the 2010 Finals, the Flyers became the third team in NHL history to lose in six consecutive Finals appearances, after the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings. It also was the first time since the Flyers themselves lost in 1987 that a team in the city of Philadelphia lost a championship in a non-presidential inauguration year (Phillies in 1993 and 2009 World Series, Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, Flyers in 1997, and 76ers in 2001 NBA Finals).^[8] This was the first Stanley Cup won in overtime since the New Jersey Devils in 2000.

May 29	Philadelphia Flyers		5–6		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
Ville Leino (5) – 06:38 Scott Hartnell (4) – pp – 16:37 Daniel Briere (10) – 19:33		First period			07:46 – Troy Brouwer (3) 11:50 – sh – Dave Bolland (6)
Blair Betts (1) – 07:20 Arron Asham (4) – 18:49		Second period			01:11 – Patrick Sharp (8) 09:31 – Kris Versteeg (5) 15:18 – Troy Brouwer (4)
No scoring		Third period			08:25 – Tomas Kopecky (4)
Michael Leighton 15 saves / 20 shots Brian Boucher 11 saves / 12 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 27 saves / 32 shots

May 31	Philadelphia Flyers		1–2		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			17:09 – Marian Hossa (3) 17:37 – Ben Eager (1)
Simon Gagne (8) – pp – 05:20		Third period			No scoring
Michael Leighton 24 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 32 saves / 33 shots

June 2	Chicago Blackhawks		3–4	OT	Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			14:58 – pp – Daniel Briere (11)
Duncan Keith (2) – 02:49 Brent Sopel (1) – 17:52		Second period			09:55 – pp – Scott Hartnell (5)
Patrick Kane (8) – 02:50		Third period			03:10 – Ville Leino (6)
No scoring		First overtime period			05:59 – Claude Giroux 9
Antti Niemi 28 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Michael Leighton 24 saves / 27 shots

June 4	Chicago Blackhawks		3–5		Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
Patrick Sharp (9) – 18:32		First period			04:35 – pp – Mike Richards (7) 14:48 – Matt Carle (1) 19:23 – Claude Giroux (10)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Dave Bolland (7) – pp – 12:01 Brian Campbell (1) – 15:50		Third period			06:43 – Ville Leino (7) 19:35 – en – Jeff Carter (5)
Antti Niemi 26 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Michael Leighton 31 saves / 34 shots

June 6	Philadelphia Flyers		4–7		Chicago Blackhawks	United Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			12:17 – pp – Brent Seabrook (4) 15:26 – Dave Bolland (8) 18:15 – Kris Versteeg (6)
Scott Hartnell (6) – 00:32 Kimmo Timonen (1) – 04:38		Second period			03:13 – Patrick Kane (9) 15:45 – pp – Dustin Byfuglien (9)
James van Riemsdyk (3) – 06:36 Simon Gagne (9) – 17:24		Third period			16:08 – Patrick Sharp (10) 17:55 – en – Dustin Byfuglien (10)
Michael Leighton 10 saves / 13 shots Brian Boucher 11 saves / 14 shots		Goalie stats			Antti Niemi 23 saves / 27 shots

June 9	Chicago Blackhawks		4–3	OT	Philadelphia Flyers	Wachovia Center	Recap
Dustin Byfuglien (11) – pp – 16:49		First period			19:33 – pp – Scott Hartnell (7)
Patrick Sharp (11) – 09:58 Andrew Ladd (3) – 17:43		Second period			08:00 – Daniel Briere (12)
No scoring		Third period			16:01 – Scott Hartnell (8)
Patrick Kane (10) – 04:06		First overtime period			No scoring
Antti Niemi 21 saves / 24 shots		Goalie stats			Michael Leighton 37 saves / 41 shots

Chicago won series 4–2

Player statistics

Skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points. If the list exceeds ten skaters because of a tie in points, goals take precedence.^[9]

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–
Daniel Briere	Philadelphia Flyers	23	12	18	30	+9
Jonathan Toews	Chicago Blackhawks	22	7	22	29	-1
Patrick Kane	Chicago Blackhawks	22	10	18	28	-2
Mike Richards	Philadelphia Flyers	23	7	16	23	-1
Patrick Sharp	Chicago Blackhawks	22	11	11	22	+10
Claude Giroux	Philadelphia Flyers	23	10	11	21	+7
Ville Leino	Philadelphia Flyers	19	7	14	21	+10
Michael Cammalleri	Montreal Canadiens	19	13	6	19	-6
Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	13	6	13	19	+6
Johan Franzen	Detroit Red Wings	12	6	12	18	+8

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

Goaltending

This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.^[10][11]

Player	Team	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
Michael Leighton	Philadelphia Flyers	13	8	3	371	31	2.46	.916	3	757:13
Brian Boucher	Philadelphia Flyers	12	6	6	298	27	2.47	.909	1	655:37
Jaroslav Halak	Montreal Canadiens	18	9	9	562	43	2.55	.923	0	1,013:24
Evgeni Nabokov	San Jose Sharks	15	8	7	407	38	2.56	.907	1	889:51
Tuukka Rask	Boston Bruins	13	7	6	409	36	2.61	.912	0	829:03
Antti Niemi	Chicago Blackhawks	22	16	6	645	58	2.63	.910	2	1,321:51
Jimmy Howard	Detroit Red Wings	12	5	7	387	33	2.75	.915	1	720:26

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

References

Preceded by 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs

Stanley Cup playoffs 2010

Succeeded by 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs