2001 Stanley Cup playoffs

2001 Stanley Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	April 11–June 9, 2001
Teams	16
Defending champions	New Jersey Devils
Final positions
Champions	Colorado Avalanche
Runner-up	New Jersey Devils
Tournament statistics
Scoring leader(s)	Joe Sakic (Avalanche) (26 points)
MVP	Patrick Roy (Avalanche)
←  2000 2002  →

The 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL), began on April 11, 2001, and ended on June 9, 2001, when the Western Conference champion Colorado Avalanche defeated the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils to win their second Stanley Cup.

Defenceman Ray Bourque, who had a 21-year tenure in Boston, won his first Stanley Cup in his final professional year. Joe Sakic, Swedish center Peter Forsberg, defenceman Rob Blake, and goalkeeper Patrick Roy claimed the Stanley Cup for the final time in their careers. Roy was also awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, his third, the most by any player. No hat tricks were scored in the 2001 playoffs and goaltenders combined for a record 19 shutouts. ^[1] This was the first of ten consecutive seasons in which the Florida Panthers missed the playoffs, which became the longest playoff drought in NHL history (later equaled by the Edmonton Oilers); the record stood until the Buffalo Sabres surpassed it in 2022. This was also the most recent season in which the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning missed the playoffs in the same year.

Playoff seeds

Eastern Conference

1. New Jersey Devils, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 111 points ^[2]
2. Ottawa Senators, Northeast Division champions – 109 points
3. Washington Capitals, Southeast Division champions – 96 points
4. Philadelphia Flyers – 100 points
5. Buffalo Sabres – 98 points
6. Pittsburgh Penguins – 96 points
7. Toronto Maple Leafs – 90 points
8. Carolina Hurricanes – 88 points

Western Conference

1. Colorado Avalanche, Northwest Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 118 points ^[2]
2. Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions – 111 points
3. Dallas Stars, Pacific Division champions – 106 points
4. St. Louis Blues – 103 points
5. San Jose Sharks – 95 points
6. Edmonton Oilers – 93 points
7. Los Angeles Kings – 92 points
8. Vancouver Canucks – 90 points

Playoff bracket

	Conference quarterfinals					Conference semifinals					Conference finals					Stanley Cup Finals
	1	New Jersey	4
	8	Carolina	2
						1	New Jersey	4
						7	Toronto	3
	2	Ottawa	0
	7	Toronto	4
											1	New Jersey	4
	Eastern Conference
											6	Pittsburgh	1
	3	Washington	2
	6	Pittsburgh	4
						5	Buffalo	3
						6	Pittsburgh	4
	4	Philadelphia	2
	5	Buffalo	4
																E1	New Jersey	3
																W1	Colorado	4
	1	Colorado	4
	8	Vancouver	0
						1	Colorado	4
						7	Los Angeles	3
	2	Detroit	2
	7	Los Angeles	4
											1	Colorado	4
	Western Conference
											4	St. Louis	1
	3	Dallas	4
	6	Edmonton	2
						3	Dallas	0
						4	St. Louis	4
	4	St. Louis	4
	5	San Jose	2

Conference quarterfinals

Eastern Conference quarterfinals

(1) New Jersey Devils vs. (8) Carolina Hurricanes

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. New Jersey won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points.

In their next four playoff appearances the Hurricanes did not lose a series in the first two rounds of the playoffs again until 2020.

April 12	Carolina Hurricanes		1–5		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			18:52 – Sergei Brylin (1)
No scoring		Second period			01:25 – Bobby Holik (1) 15:20 – Bobby Holik (2)
Josef Vasicek (1) – 11:27		Third period			05:06 – Petr Sykora (1) 07:01 – Patrik Elias (1)
Arturs Irbe 31 saves / 36 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 17 saves / 18 shots

April 15	Carolina Hurricanes		0–2		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			04:16 – Alexander Mogilny (1)
No scoring		Second period			02:32 – Sean O'Donnell (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Arturs Irbe 27 saves / 29 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 18 saves / 18 shots

April 17	New Jersey Devils		4–0		Carolina Hurricanes	Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena	Recap
Bobby Holik (3) – 04:44 Scott Gomez (1) – 07:20		First period			No scoring
Randy McKay (1) – 01:35 Brian Rafalski (1) – 04:37		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 16 saves / 16 shots		Goalie stats			Arturs Irbe 20 saves / 24 shots

April 18	New Jersey Devils		2–3	OT	Carolina Hurricanes	Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena	Recap
Jason Arnott (1) – pp – 13:10		First period			02:00 – pp – Sami Kapanen (1)
No scoring		Second period			08:23 – pp – David Tanabe (1)
Petr Sykora (2) – sh – 09:31		Third period			No scoring
		First overtime period			00:46 – Rod Brind'Amour (1)
Martin Brodeur 30 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Arturs Irbe 32 saves / 34 shots

April 20	Carolina Hurricanes		3–2		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Josef Vasicek (2) – 10:53 Sami Kapanen (2) – 15:09		First period			11:41 – Scott Gomez (2)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Jeff O'Neill (1) – 05:47		Third period			19:40 – Bobby Holik (4)
Arturs Irbe 37 saves / 39 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 11 saves / 14 shots

April 22	New Jersey Devils		5–1		Carolina Hurricanes	Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena	Recap
Patrik Elias (2) – pp – 14:30 Sergei Brylin (2) – 15:51		First period			No scoring
Randy McKay (2) – 17:57		Second period			05:18 – pp – David Tanabe (2)
Randy McKay (3) – 06:00 Alexander Mogilny (2) – 14:27		Third period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 14 saves / 15 shots		Goalie stats			Arturs Irbe 34 saves / 39 shots

New Jersey won series 4–2

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

This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and second postseason match-up between these two teams. Their only previous series was in the previous year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Toronto won in six games. Ottawa won all five games during this year's regular season series.

April 13	Toronto Maple Leafs		1–0	OT	Ottawa Senators	Corel Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Mats Sundin (1) – 10:49		First overtime period			No scoring
Curtis Joseph 36 saves / 36 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Lalime 26 saves / 27 shots

April 14	Toronto Maple Leafs		3–0		Ottawa Senators	Corel Centre	Recap
Sergei Berezin (1) – 02:49		First period			No scoring
Gary Roberts (1) – 09:15		Second period			No scoring
Gary Roberts (2) – 07:12		Third period			No scoring
Curtis Joseph 37 saves / 37 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Lalime 20 saves / 23 shots

April 16	Ottawa Senators		2–3	OT	Toronto Maple Leafs	Air Canada Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			07:12 – pp – Mats Sundin (2)
No scoring		Second period			08:18 – pp – Nik Antropov (1)
Marian Hossa (1) – 16:51 Daniel Alfredsson (1) – 19:24		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			02:16 – Cory Cross (1)
Patrick Lalime 23 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Curtis Joseph 26 saves / 28 shots

April 18	Ottawa Senators		1–3		Toronto Maple Leafs	Air Canada Centre	Recap
Chris Phillips (1) – 02:30		First period			08:56 – pp – Yanic Perreault (1) 18:07 – Yanic Perreault (2)
No scoring		Second period			10:19 – Bryan McCabe (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Patrick Lalime 20 saves / 23 shots		Goalie stats			Curtis Joseph 21 saves / 22 shots

Toronto won series 4–0

(3) Washington Capitals vs. (6) Pittsburgh Penguins

This was the second consecutive postseason meeting and the seventh playoff match-up between these two rivals; with Pittsburgh winning five of the six previous series. They last met in the previous year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Pittsburgh won in five games. These teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

April 12	Pittsburgh Penguins		0–1		Washington Capitals	MCI Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			00:35 – pp – Peter Bondra (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Johan Hedberg 26 saves / 27 shots		Goalie stats			Olaf Kolzig 16 saves / 16 shots

April 14	Pittsburgh Penguins		2–1		Washington Capitals	MCI Center	Recap
Kevin Stevens (1) – pp – 07:13 Mario Lemieux (1) – 16:34		First period			09:25 – pp – Peter Bondra (2)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Johan Hedberg 17 saves / 18 shots		Goalie stats			Olaf Kolzig 25 saves / 27 shots

April 16	Washington Capitals		0–3		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			09:23 – Kevin Stevens (2)
No scoring		Third period			04:59 – Alexei Kovalev (1) 07:37 – Jan Hrdina (1)
Olaf Kolzig 21 saves / 24 shots		Goalie stats			Johan Hedberg 34 saves / 34 shots

April 18	Washington Capitals		4–3	OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
Steve Konowalchuk (1) – pp – 07:49		First period			No scoring
Brendan Witt (1) – pp – 19:16		Second period			01:15 – Mario Lemieux (2)
Steve Konowalchuk (2) – pp – 09:09		Third period			11:14 – pp – Jaromir Jagr (1) 13:50 – pp – Janne Laukkanen (1)
Jeff Halpern (1) – 04:01		First overtime period			No scoring
Olaf Kolzig 29 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Johan Hedberg 25 saves / 29 shots

April 21	Pittsburgh Penguins		2–1		Washington Capitals	MCI Center	Recap
Andrew Ference (1) – 06:35 Mario Lemieux (3) – 07:06		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			10:01 – pp – Sergei Gonchar (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Johan Hedberg 21 saves / 22 shots		Goalie stats			Olaf Kolzig 16 saves / 18 shots

April 23	Washington Capitals		3–4	OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			07:21 – pp – Mario Lemieux (4) 08:59 – Robert Lang (1)
Brendan Witt (2) – 14:07 Jeff Halpern (2) – pp – 17:28		Second period			19:59 – pp – Alexei Kovalev (2)
Calle Johansson (1) – 17:20		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			13:04 – Martin Straka (1)
Olaf Kolzig 32 saves / 36 shots		Goalie stats			Johan Hedberg 28 saves / 31 shots

Pittsburgh won series 4–2

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

This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and seventh postseason match-up between these two teams; with Philadelphia winning five of the six previous series. They last met in the previous year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals which Philadelphia won in five games. Philadelphia won all four games during this year's regular season series.

In the first period of game one, Dominik Hasek made a save on Mark Recchi's penalty shot opportunity.

April 11	Buffalo Sabres		2–1		Philadelphia Flyers	First Union Center	Recap
Chris Gratton (1) – 04:09 Doug Gilmour (1) – 18:04		First period			14:00 – Eric Desjardins (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Dominik Hasek 31 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Cechmanek 24 saves / 26 shots

April 14	Buffalo Sabres		4–3	OT	Philadelphia Flyers	First Union Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			13:13 – pp – Daymond Langkow (1)
Miroslav Satan (1) – pp – 00:47 Alexei Zhitnik (1) – 09:40		Second period			13:52 – John LeClair (1) 15:33 – Mark Recchi (1)
Curtis Brown (1) – 03:09		Third period			No scoring
Jay McKee (1) – 18:02		First overtime period			No scoring
Dominik Hasek 32 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Cechmanek 37 saves / 41 shots

April 16	Philadelphia Flyers		3–2		Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			03:53 – pp – Chris Gratton (2)
Kent Manderville (1) – 02:37 Simon Gagne (1) – pp – 11:23		Second period			04:12 – pp – Steve Heinze (1)
Andy Delmore (1) – 11:06		Third period			No scoring
Roman Cechmanek 26 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Dominik Hasek 16 saves / 19 shots

April 17	Philadelphia Flyers		3–4	OT	Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
Daymond Langkow (2) – 14:16		First period			01:28 – Miroslav Satan (2) 02:18 – Donald Audette (1)
Simon Gagne (2) – 00:48		Second period			15:30 – Chris Gratton (3)
Dan McGillis (1) – sh – 10:16		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			06:13 – Curtis Brown (2)
. 31 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats			Dominik Hasek 30 saves / 33 shots

April 19	Buffalo Sabres		1–3		Philadelphia Flyers	First Union Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			14:53 – pp – Simon Gagne (3)
Maxim Afinogenov (1) – 09:00		Second period			16:02 – pp – Mark Recchi (2)
No scoring		Third period			03:17 – Chris Therien (1)
Dominik Hasek 30 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Cechmanek 25 saves / 26 shots

April 21	Philadelphia Flyers		0–8		Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			02:23 – Chris Gratton (4) 13:20 – pp – Doug Gilmour (2) 17:49 – Donald Audette (2) 18:46 – pp – Dave Andreychuk (1)
No scoring		Second period			03:25 – Jean-Pierre Dumont (1) 06:38 – pp – Steve Heinze (2)
No scoring		Third period			02:20 – Jean-Pierre Dumont (2) 16:51 – Chris Gratton (5)
Roman Cechmanek 4 saves / 9 shots Brian Boucher 14 saves / 17 shots		Goalie stats			Dominik Hasek 24 saves / 24 shots

Buffalo won series 4–2

Western Conference quarterfinals

(1) Colorado Avalanche vs. (8) Vancouver Canucks

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 1996 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Colorado won in six games. Colorado won three of the five games during this year's regular season series. This was Vancouver's first playoff appearance since 1996. ^[3]

April 12	Vancouver Canucks		4–5		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
Mattias Ohlund (1) – pp – 08:26		First period			15:11 – pp – Joe Sakic (1) 16:36 – pp – Rob Blake (1)
Trent Klatt (1) – 00:46 Todd Bertuzzi (1) – 16:33		Second period			05:35 – Chris Drury (1) 18:55 – pp – Joe Sakic (2)
Ed Jovanovski (1) – 10:17		Third period			18:53 – Chris Drury (2)
Dan Cloutier 23 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 19 saves / 23 shots

April 14	Vancouver Canucks		1–2		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Brendan Morrison (1) – pp – 00:35		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			02:22 – Ville Nieminen (1) 03:04 – Milan Hejduk (1)
Bob Essensa 23 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 18 saves / 19 shots

April 16	Colorado Avalanche		4–3	OT	Vancouver Canucks	General Motors Place	Recap
Joe Sakic (3) – 17:18		First period			06:13 – pp – Trent Klatt (2)
Chris Drury (3) – 08:37		Second period			01:37 – Daniel Sedin (1)
Adam Foote (1) – pp – 09:52		Third period			05:32 – Todd Bertuzzi (2)
Peter Forsberg (1) – 02:50		First overtime period			No scoring
Patrick Roy 20 saves / 23 shots		Goalie stats			Bob Essensa 29 saves / 33 shots

April 18	Colorado Avalanche		5–1		Vancouver Canucks	General Motors Place	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Chris Drury (4) – pp – 17:30		Second period			No scoring
Peter Forsberg (2) – 09:11 Joe Sakic (4) – 09:28 Eric Messier (1) – 09:49 Alex Tanguay (1) – en – 17:25		Third period			13:27 – pp – Trent Klatt (3)
Patrick Roy 22 saves / 23 shots		Goalie stats			Dan Cloutier 25 saves / 29 shots

Colorado won series 4–0

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings

This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and second postseason match-up between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the previous year's Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Detroit won in a four-game sweep. These teams split this year's three-game regular season series.

April 11	Los Angeles Kings		3–5		Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			06:23 – pp – Tomas Holmstrom (1) 08:51 – Sergei Fedorov (1) 13:24 – Brendan Shanahan (1)
Kelly Buchberger (1) – 02:21 Zigmund Palffy (1) – 07:47 Luc Robitaille (1) – 17:40		Second period			02:41 – Brendan Shanahan (2) 12:05 – pp – Igor Larionov (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Felix Potvin 26 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Chris Osgood 27 saves / 30 shots

April 14	Los Angeles Kings		0–4		Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			02:16 – pp – Sergei Fedorov (2) 09:12 – pp – Steve Duchesne (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			06:04 – Vyacheslav Kozlov (1) 13:31 – pp – Vyacheslav Kozlov (2)
Felix Potvin 28 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Chris Osgood 20 saves / 20 shots

April 15	Detroit Red Wings		1–2		Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Nicklas Lidstrom (1) – 18:02		Second period			08:21 – Luc Robitaille (2)
No scoring		Third period			13:33 – Jozef Stumpel (1)
Chris Osgood 22 saves / 24 shots		Goalie stats			Felix Potvin 22 saves / 23 shots

April 18	Detroit Red Wings		3–4	OT	Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
Pat Verbeek (1) – pp – 13:57		First period			No scoring
Steve Duchesne (2) – pp – 01:19 Vyacheslav Kozlov (3) – pp – 02:51		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			13:53 – pp – Scott Thomas (1) 17:33 – pp – Jozef Stumpel (2) 19:07 – Bryan Smolinski (1)
No scoring		First overtime period			02:36 – Eric Belanger (1)
Chris Osgood 27 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Felix Potvin 20 saves / 23 shots

April 21	Los Angeles Kings		3–2		Detroit Red Wings	Joe Louis Arena	Recap
Zigmund Palffy (2) – 01:15		First period			No scoring
Ian Laperriere (1) – 01:15		Second period			No scoring
Adam Deadmarsh (1) – 01:38		Third period			00:33 – Vyacheslav Kozlov (4) 12:46 – Chris Chelios (1)
Felix Potvin 27 saves / 29 shots		Goalie stats			Chris Osgood 22 saves / 25 shots

April 23	Detroit Red Wings		2–3	OT	Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			02:19 – pp – Jozef Stumpel (3)
Pat Verbeek (2) – pp – 04:20 Darren McCarty (1) – 06:42		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			10:17 – Adam Deadmarsh (2)
No scoring		First overtime period			04:48 – Adam Deadmarsh (3)
Chris Osgood 25 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Felix Potvin 26 saves / 28 shots

Los Angeles won series 4–2

(3) Dallas Stars vs. (6) Edmonton Oilers

This was the fifth consecutive playoff meeting and seventh overall postseason match-up between these two teams; with Dallas winning four of the six previous series. Dallas won last year's Western Conference Quarterfinals in five games. Dallas won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

April 11	Edmonton Oilers		1–2	OT	Dallas Stars	Reunion Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Ryan Smyth (1) – 06:51		Second period			18:14 – pp – Mike Modano (1)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			02:08 – Jamie Langenbrunner (1)
Tommy Salo 26 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Ed Belfour 21 saves / 22 shots

April 14	Edmonton Oilers		4–3		Dallas Stars	Reunion Arena	Recap
Daniel Cleary (1) – pp – 09:37 Georges Laraque (1) – 11:34 Rem Murray (1) – pp – 18:14		First period			00:26 – Mike Keane (1) 11:12 – pp – Joe Nieuwendyk (1)
Anson Carter (1) – pp – 13:32		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			01:18 – pp – Darryl Sydor (1)
Tommy Salo 22 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Ed Belfour 27 saves / 31 shots

April 15	Dallas Stars		3–2	OT	Edmonton Oilers	Skyreach Centre	Recap
Sergei Zubov (1) – 03:06		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Mike Modano (2) – pp – 05:51		Third period			18:57 – Ryan Smyth (2) 19:53 – Rem Murray (2)
Benoit Hogue (1) – 19:48		First overtime period			No scoring
Ed Belfour 26 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Tommy Salo 37 saves / 40 shots

April 17	Dallas Stars		1–2	OT	Edmonton Oilers	Skyreach Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			14:24 – Anson Carter (1)
Mike Keane (2) – 13:15		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			17:19 – pp – Mike Comrie (1)
Ed Belfour 30 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Tommy Salo 34 saves / 35 shots

April 19	Edmonton Oilers		3–4	OT	Dallas Stars	Reunion Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			06:02 – Jere Lehtinen (1)
No scoring		Second period			01:12 – Jamie Langenbrunner (2)
Anson Carter (3) – 02:32 Doug Weight (1) – 03:04 Eric Brewer (1) – pp – 05:29		Third period			15:38 – John MacLean (1)
No scoring		First overtime period			08:01 – Kirk Muller (1)
Tommy Salo 30 saves / 34 shots		Goalie stats			Ed Belfour 15 saves / 18 shots

April 21	Dallas Stars		3–1		Edmonton Oilers	Skyreach Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			04:44 – Ryan Smyth (3)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Brett Hull (1) – 08:57 Joe Nieuwendyk (2) – 17:07 Mike Modano (3) – en – 19:16		Third period			No scoring
Ed Belfour 20 saves / 21 shots		Goalie stats			Tommy Salo 23 saves / 25 shots

Dallas won series 4–2

(4) St. Louis Blues vs. (5) San Jose Sharks

This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and second postseason match-up between these two teams. San Jose won last year's Western Conference Quarterfinals in seven games. St. Louis won the four-game regular season series earning five of eight points.

April 12	San Jose Sharks		1–3		St. Louis Blues	Savvis Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			17:10 – Pierre Turgeon (1)
Patrick Marleau (1) – 11:15		Third period			00:38 – Scott Young (1) 07:00 – pp – Al MacInnis (1)
Evgeni Nabokov 21 saves / 24 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Turek 21 saves / 22 shots

April 14	San Jose Sharks		1–0		St. Louis Blues	Savvis Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Scott Thornton (1) – 13:52		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Evgeni Nabokov 28 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Turek 18 saves / 19 shots

April 16	St. Louis Blues		6–3		San Jose Sharks	Compaq Center	Recap
Scott Mellanby (1) – pp – 02:31 Jochen Hecht (1) – 04:16 Cory Stillman (1) – 13:49		First period			16:19 – Scott Thornton (2)
Dallas Drake (1) – sh – 06:17 Pierre Turgeon (2) – pp – 17:12		Second period			12:30 – sh – Vincent Damphousse (1)
Dallas Drake (2) – en – 19:21		Third period			03:13 – Tony Granato (1)
Roman Turek 35 saves / 38 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 16 saves / 21 shots

April 17	St. Louis Blues		2–3		San Jose Sharks	Compaq Center	Recap
Keith Tkachuk (1) – pp – 19:59		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			00:58 – Vincent Damphousse (2) 06:49 – Scott Thornton (3) 12:32 – Owen Nolan (1)
Dallas Drake (3) – 19:35		Third period			No scoring
Roman Turek 22 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Miikka Kiprusoff 39 saves / 41 shots

April 19	San Jose Sharks		2–3	OT	St. Louis Blues	Savvis Center	Recap
Stephane Matteau (1) – 08:54		First period			07:07 – Scott Young (2)
Patrick Marleau (2) – 11:56		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			17:12 – Dallas Drake (4)
No scoring		First overtime period			09:54 – Bryce Salvador (1)
Miikka Kiprusoff 35 saves / 38 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Turek 24 saves / 26 shots

April 21	St. Louis Blues		2–1		San Jose Sharks	Compaq Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Cory Stillman (2) – pp – 15:20 Pavol Demitra (1) – 16:12		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			12:31 – Brad Stuart (1)
Roman Turek 30 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Evgeni Nabokov 28 saves / 30 shots

St. Louis won series 4–2

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference semifinals

(1) New Jersey Devils vs. (7) Toronto Maple Leafs

This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and second postseason match-up between these two teams. New Jersey won last year's Eastern Conference Semifinals in six games. These teams split this year's three-game regular season series.

In game one, Nik Antropov scored the game-winning goal in the second period, while Curtis Joseph saved all 32 shots by the Devils. In game two, the Leafs led by one goal going into the second period. The Devils scored four consecutive goals against Joseph, one each by Gomez, Rafalski, Mogilny and Madden. The Maple Leafs' Sundin scored a short-handed goal 29 seconds into the third period, and the Devils' Mogilny scored a power-play goal 38 seconds after that. The Leafs' Thomas and Sundin combined to score three goals, and the game required overtime, during which the Devils' Randy McKay scored the game-winning goal. In game three, Rafalski scored the game-winning goal off a deflection in overtime. The Devils recorded 17 more shots than Toronto. In game four, Toronto's Corson scored in the first period, and Berezin and Mats Sundin scored in the second. The Devils' Elias scored a power-play goal in the second period. Maple Leafs' forward Tie Domi checked Devils defenceman Scott Niedermayer, who left the ice rink on a stretcher. In game five, Leafs' defenceman Cory Cross initiated scoring early in the second period, and Devils' right winger Petr Sykora and center Jason Arnott scored one goal each. In the third period, Toronto's Tomas Kaberle scored a goal. In game six, Brian Rafalski scored the game-winning goal for the Devils. In game seven, the Devils' Patrik Elias scored two goals in the second period.

April 26	Toronto Maple Leafs		2–0		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Nik Antropov (2) – 03:16 Steve Thomas (1) – pp – 09:02		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Curtis Joseph 32 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 15 saves / 17 shots

April 28	Toronto Maple Leafs		5–6	OT	New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Danny Markov (1) – 08:30		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			02:58 – Scott Gomez (3) 05:25 – Brian Rafalski (2) 09:27 – Alexander Mogilny (3) 15:04 – John Madden (1)
Mats Sundin (3) – sh – 00:29 Steve Thomas (2) – 05:59 Mats Sundin (4) – 09:33 Steve Thomas (3) – 19:37		Third period			01:07 – pp – Alexander Mogilny (4)
No scoring		First overtime period			05:31 – Randy McKay (4)
Curtis Joseph 27 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 16 saves / 21 shots

May 1	New Jersey Devils		3–2	OT	Toronto Maple Leafs	Air Canada Centre	Recap
Bobby Holik (5) – pp – 09:21		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			08:52 – Garry Valk (1) 11:26 – pp – Steve Thomas (4)
Scott Gomez (4) – 01:34		Third period			No scoring
Brian Rafalski (3) – 07:00		First overtime period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 26 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Curtis Joseph 42 saves / 45 shots

May 3	New Jersey Devils		1–3		Toronto Maple Leafs	Air Canada Centre	Recap
No scoring		First period			14:38 – Shayne Corson (1)
Patrik Elias (3) – 09:21		Second period			01:21 – Sergei Berezin (2) 10:43 – Mats Sundin (5)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 17 saves / 20 shots		Goalie stats			Curtis Joseph 23 saves / 24 shots

May 5	Toronto Maple Leafs		3–2		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Bryan McCabe (2) – pp – 09:30		First period			No scoring
Cory Cross (2) – 04:33		Second period			12:43 – Petr Sykora (3) 16:50 – pp – Jason Arnott (2)
Tomas Kaberle (1) – 19:30		Third period			No scoring
Curtis Joseph 24 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur17 saves / 20 shots

May 7	New Jersey Devils		4–2		Toronto Maple Leafs	Air Canada Centre	Recap
Petr Sykora (4) – 04:54		First period			No scoring
Randy McKay (5) – pp – 15:18 Brian Rafalski (4) – 19:52		Second period			05:07 – pp – Steve Thomas (5)
Jason Arnott (3) – 05:58		Third period			02:17 – pp – Mats Sundin (6)
Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Curtis Joseph 22 saves / 26 shots

May 9	Toronto Maple Leafs		1–5		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Steve Thomas (6) – pp – 09:06		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			01:32 – Sergei Nemchinov (1) 07:13 – pp – Patrik Elias (4) 09:12 – Patrik Elias (5) 14:41 – Scott Stevens (1)
No scoring		Third period			10:50 – John Madden (2)
Curtis Joseph 15 saves / 20 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 15 saves / 16 shots

New Jersey won series 4–3

(5) Buffalo Sabres vs. (6) Pittsburgh Penguins

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams; with Pittsburgh winning the only previous meeting in the 1979 Preliminary Round in three games. Pittsburgh won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

In game one, Penguins centre Mario Lemieux scored the game-winning goal in the first period. Centres Wayne Primeau and Jan Hrdina also scored. Penguins winger Jaromir Jagr, who assisted on the Lemieux goal in the first period, injured his leg in the third period and did not play in game two. In game two, the Penguins' Robert Lang, Ference and Kovalev scored goals. Sabres centre Stu Barnes scored. In game three, Sabres defenceman Jason Woolley scored the game-winning goal. His teammates Curtis Brown, Miroslav Satan and James Patrick also scored. In game four, Stu Barnes scored two goals, including the game-winning goal. Buffalo's Jean-Pierre Dumont and Curtis Brown also scored. The Penguins' Martin Straka and Janne Laukkanen scored. In game five, Stu Barnes scored the game-winning goal in overtime. His teammates Chris Gratton and Curtis Brown also scored goals. The Penguins' Jaromir Jagr and Aleksey Morozov scored. Martin Straka had an unsuccessful penalty shot. In game six, Martin Straka scored the game-winning goal in overtime. His teammates Mario Lemieux and Alexei Kovalev also scored. Buffalo's Maxim Afinogenov and Donald Audette scored for the Sabres. In game seven, Penguins defenceman Darius Kasparaitis scored the game-winning goal in overtime. Pittsburgh's Andrew Ference and Robert Lang also scored. Buffalo's Jean-Pierre Dumont and Steve Heinze scored for the Sabres.

April 26	Pittsburgh Penguins		3–0		Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
Mario Lemieux (5) – 05:07		First period			No scoring
Jan Hrdina (2) – 14:02		Second period			No scoring
Wayne Primeau (1) – 17:40		Third period			No scoring
Johan Hedberg 25 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Dominik Hasek 29 saves / 32 shots

April 28	Pittsburgh Penguins		3–1		Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Robert Lang (2) – 10:11		Second period			14:44 – pp – Stu Barnes (1)
Andrew Ference (2) – 08:09 Alexei Kovalev (3) – en – 19:57		Third period			No scoring
Johan Hedberg 21 saves / 22 shots		Goalie stats			Dominik Hasek 12 saves / 14 shots

April 30	Buffalo Sabres		4–1		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Curtis Brown (3) – 13:04		Second period			05:34 – pp – Kevin Stevens (3)
Jason Woolley (1) – 09:51 Miroslav Satan (3) – 13:03 James Patrick (1) – en – 19:39		Third period			No scoring
Dominik Hasek 19 saves / 20 shots		Goalie stats			Johan Hedberg 26 saves / 29 shots

May 2	Buffalo Sabres		5–2		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
Jean-Pierre Dumont (3) – 01:28 Curtis Brown (4) – sh – 19:13		First period			11:10 – pp – Martin Straka (2)
No scoring		Second period			05:24 – Janne Laukkanen (2)
Stu Barnes (2) – 04:44 Vladimir Tsyplakov (1) – 14:24 Stu Barnes (3) – pp – 18:09		Third period			No scoring
Dominik Hasek 15 saves / 17 shots		Goalie stats			Johan Hedberg 23 saves / 28 shots

May 5	Pittsburgh Penguins		2–3	OT	Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
Jaromir Jagr (2) – pp – 14:51		First period			No scoring
Aleksey Morozov (1) – 02:36		Second period			09:54 – pp – Chris Gratton (6)
No scoring		Third period			11:16 – sh – Curtis Brown (5)
No scoring		First overtime period			08:34 – Stu Barnes (4)
Johan Hedberg 27 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Dominik Hasek 25 saves / 27 shots

May 8	Buffalo Sabres		2–3	OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
Maxim Afinogenov (2) – 09:26		First period			No scoring
Donald Audette (3) – 15:12		Second period			05:14 – Alexei Kovalev (4)
No scoring		Third period			18:42 – Mario Lemieux (6)
No scoring		First overtime period			11:29 – Martin Straka (3)
Dominik Hasek 30 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Johan Hedberg 16 saves / 18 shots

May 10	Pittsburgh Penguins		3–2	OT	Buffalo Sabres	HSBC Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Andrew Ference (3) – pp – 08:19		Second period			01:50 – Jean-Pierre Dumont (4)
Robert Lang (3) – 09:00		Third period			00:32 – pp – Steve Heinze (3)
Darius Kasparaitis (1) – 13:01		First overtime period			No scoring
Johan Hedberg 28 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Dominik Hasek 25 saves / 28 shots

Pittsburgh won series 4–3

Western Conference semifinals

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

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. These teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

In game one, the Avalanche took two minor penalties, one of which led to the game-winning power play goal by Kings defenceman Jaroslav Modry. In game three, Avalanche centre Joe Sakic injured his shoulder and would sit out part of the series. Game six featured 65 shots and one goal, scored by Kings winger Glen Murray in the second overtime.

April 26	Los Angeles Kings		4–3	OT	Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
Glen Murray (1) – 09:20		First period			15:59 – Chris Drury (5)
Nelson Emerson (1) – 09:29		Second period			02:40 – Rob Blake (2)
Glen Murray (2) – 13:00		Third period			15:30 – pp – Peter Forsberg (3)
Jaroslav Modry – pp – 14:23		First overtime period			No scoring
Felix Potvin 34 saves / 37 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 21 saves / 25 shots

April 28	Los Angeles Kings		0–2		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			02:29 – pp – Ville Nieminen (2)
No scoring		Third period			15:13 – Joe Sakic (5)
Felix Potvin 26 saves / 28 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 20 saves / 20 shots

April 30	Colorado Avalanche		4–3		Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
Rob Blake (3) – 04:33		First period			16:17 – pp – Luc Robitaille (3)
Peter Forsberg (4) – 10:43		Second period			No scoring
Milan Hejduk (2) – 08:21 Jon Klemm (1) – 10:33		Third period			10:00 – pp – Glen Murray (3) 19:20 – Zigmund Palffy (3)
Patrick Roy 22 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Felix Potvin 17 saves / 21 shots

May 2	Colorado Avalanche		3–0		Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Alex Tanguay (2) – 03:55 Milan Hejduk (3) – pp – 16:27 Chris Drury (6) – 18:13		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Patrick Roy 21 saves / 21 shots		Goalie stats			Felix Potvin 18 saves / 21 shots

May 4	Los Angeles Kings		1–0		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Luc Robitaille (4) – 10:05		Third period			No scoring
Felix Potvin 20 saves / 20 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 25 saves / 26 shots

May 6	Colorado Avalanche		0–1	2OT	Los Angeles Kings	Staples Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		Second overtime period			02:41 – Glen Murray (4)
Patrick Roy 31 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Felix Potvin 33 saves / 33 shots

May 9	Los Angeles Kings		1–5		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			18:29 – pp – Rob Blake (4)
Nelson Emerson (2) – 18:31		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			03:03 – Chris Drury (7) 06:22 – pp – Ville Nieminen (3) 11:07 – Shjon Podein (1) 16:25 – en – Milan Hejduk (4)
Felix Potvin 31 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 25 saves / 26 shots

Colorado won series 4–3

(3) Dallas Stars vs. (4) St. Louis Blues

This was the twelfth playoff meeting between these two teams; with Dallas winning six of the eleven previous series. They last met in the 1999 Western Conference Semifinals, which Dallas won in six games. St. Louis won this year's three-game regular season series earning four of six points.

Dallas was swept for the first time since relocating from Minnesota; the franchise had not been swept since 1984 when the Minnesota North Stars were swept by the Edmonton Oilers. ^[4] Game two was the last game played in the Reunion Arena.

April 27	St. Louis Blues		4–2		Dallas Stars	Reunion Arena	Recap
Pavol Demitra (2) – 09:02 Marty Reasoner (1) – 15:08		First period			09:55 – John MacLean (2)
Marty Reasoner (2) – 03:30 Pierre Turgeon (3) – 08:46		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			12:22 – Brad Lukowich (1)
Roman Turek 21 saves / 23 shots		Goalie stats			Ed Belfour 17 saves / 21 shots

April 29	St. Louis Blues		2–1		Dallas Stars	Reunion Arena	Recap
Marty Reasoner (3) – 01:25 Scott Young (3) – sh – 09:32		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			19:08 – Joe Nieuwendyk (3)
Roman Turek 28 saves / 29 shots		Goalie stats			Ed Belfour 22 saves / 24 shots

May 1	Dallas Stars		2–3	2OT	St. Louis Blues	Savvis Center	Recap
Mike Keane (3) – 05:29		First period			No scoring
Brett Hull (2) – pp – 07:53		Second period			17:59 – Jochen Hecht (2)
No scoring		Third period			17:45 – Alexander Khavanov (1)
No scoring		Second overtime period			09:26 – Cory Stillman (3)
Ed Belfour 45 saves / 48 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Turek 25 saves / 27 shots

May 3	Dallas Stars		1–4		St. Louis Blues	Savvis Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Joe Nieuwendyk (4) – 16:40		Second period			09:28 – Alexander Khavanov (2) 14:37 – pp – Keith Tkachuk (2)
No scoring		Third period			16:11 – Chris Pronger (1) 18:36 – en – Scott Young (4)
Ed Belfour 29 saves / 32 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Turek 32 saves / 33 shots

St. Louis won series 4–0

Conference finals

See also: NHL conference finals

Eastern Conference final

(1) New Jersey Devils vs. (6) Pittsburgh Penguins

This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams; with Pittsburgh winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals where Pittsburgh won in seven games. This was New Jersey's second consecutive and fifth overall appearance in the Conference Finals; they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games in the previous year's Eastern Conference Final. This was Pittsburgh's fourth appearance in the Conference Finals; they last made it to the Conference Finals in 1996, where they lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games. Pittsburgh won this year's five-game regular season series by earning seven of ten points.

Game three was Martin Brodeur's eleventh career postseason shutout, and it was also the first home shutout loss for the Penguins since 1975. In game four, Martin Brodeur recorded his twelfth career playoff shutout.

May 12	Pittsburgh Penguins		1–3		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Martin Straka (4) – pp – 03:06		First period			14:09 – pp – Randy McKay (6)
No scoring		Second period			17:04 – pp – Petr Sykora (5)
No scoring		Third period			01:20 – Petr Sykora (6)
Johan Hedberg 18 saves / 21 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 14 saves / 15 shots

May 15	Pittsburgh Penguins		4–2		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			08:52 – Jay Pandolfo (1) 16:34 – sh – Petr Sykora (7)
Aleksey Morozov (2) – sh – 09:20 Alexei Kovalev (5) – 12:17 Rene Corbet (1) – 15:55		Second period			No scoring
Robert Lang (4) – 05:19		Third period			No scoring
Johan Hedberg 27 saves / 29 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 23 shots

May 17	New Jersey Devils		3–0		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
Brian Rafalski (5) – 08:42 Jason Arnott (4) – pp – 12:37		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Patrik Elias (6) – 01:27		Third period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 20 saves / 20 shots		Goalie stats			Johan Hedberg 33 saves / 36 shots

May 19	New Jersey Devils		5–0		Pittsburgh Penguins	Mellon Arena	Recap
Patrik Elias (7) – 18:11		First period			No scoring
Brian Rafalski (6) – 07:58 Petr Sykora (8) – 15:34		Second period			No scoring
Jason Arnott (5) – 04:17 Brian Rafalski (7) – pp – 13:14		Third period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 21 saves / 21 shots		Goalie stats			Johan Hedberg 25 saves / 30 shots

May 22	Pittsburgh Penguins		2–4		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Aleksey Morozov (3) – 16:38		First period			00:57 – Jason Arnott (6)
Martin Straka (5) – pp – 13:09		Second period			07:31 – pp – Jason Arnott (7) 12:23 – Bobby Holik (6)
No scoring		Third period			03:32 – John Madden (3)
Johan Hedberg 19 saves / 23 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 18 saves / 20 shots

New Jersey won series 4–1

Western Conference final

(1) Colorado Avalanche vs. (4) St. Louis Blues

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was Colorado's third consecutive and seventh overall appearance in the Conference Finals; they lost to the Dallas Stars in seven games during the previous year's Western Conference Final. St. Louis made their second Conference Finals appearance; they last made it to the Conference Finals in 1986 where they lost to the Calgary Flames in seven games. Colorado won this year's four-game regular season series by earning six of eight points.

In game one, Joe Sakic's penalty shot goal was awarded when Blues goaltender Roman Turek was ruled to have thrown his stick. ^[5]

May 12	St. Louis Blues		1–4		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			04:32 – pp – Milan Hejduk (5)
Scott Young (5) – sh – 00:25		Second period			06:45 – ps – Joe Sakic (6)
No scoring		Third period			05:18 – Joe Sakic (7) 14:00 – pp – Milan Hejduk (6)
Roman Turek 26 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 30 saves / 31 shots

May 14	St. Louis Blues		2–4		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			13:22 – pp – Ray Bourque (1)
Scott Mellanby (2) – pp – 08:27		Second period			18:04 – Adam Foote (2)
Al MacInnis (2) – pp – 15:52		Third period			13:21 – Shjon Podein (2) 19:52 – en – Chris Drury (8)
Roman Turek 16 saves / 19 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 28 saves / 30 shots

May 16	Colorado Avalanche		3–4	2OT	St. Louis Blues	Savvis Center	Recap
Ray Bourque (2) – pp – 06:46 Dan Hinote (1) – 08:36		First period			05:54 – pp – Alexander Khavanov (3)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Eric Messier (2) – 12:40		Third period			10:13 – Scott Mellanby (3) 14:17 – Jamal Mayers (1)
No scoring		Second overtime period			10:27 – Scott Young (6)
Patrick Roy 56 saves / 60 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Turek 30 saves / 33 shots

May 18	Colorado Avalanche		4–3	OT	St. Louis Blues	Savvis Center	Recap
Steve Reinprecht (1) – 14:13 Joe Sakic (8) – 15:17 Ray Bourque (3) – 15:31		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			04:40 – Pierre Turgeon (4) 09:24 – Pierre Turgeon (5)
No scoring		Third period			00:58 – Jamal Mayers (2)
Stephane Yelle (1) – 04:23		First overtime period			No scoring
Patrick Roy 28 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats			Roman Turek 23 saves / 27 shots

May 21	St. Louis Blues		1–2	OT	Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
Bryce Salvador (2) – 13:31		Second period			11:20 – pp – Milan Hejduk (7)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			00:24 – pp – Joe Sakic (9)
Brent Johnson 34 saves / 36 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 28 saves / 29 shots

Colorado won series 4–1

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 2001 Stanley Cup Finals

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Colorado made its second Finals appearance and first since defeating the Florida Panthers in a four-game sweep in 1996. New Jersey made its second consecutive and third overall Finals appearance after defeating the Dallas Stars the year before. It was the first Finals match-up to feature both regular season conference champions since 1989. New Jersey won both games in this year's regular season series. The Colorado Avalanche did not win the Stanley Cup again until 2022.

May 26	New Jersey Devils		0–5		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			11:07 – Joe Sakic (10)
No scoring		Second period			09:35 – Chris Drury (9) 15:06 – Joe Sakic (11)
No scoring		Third period			05:36 – pp – Rob Blake (5) 17:36 – Steve Reinprecht (2)
Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 30 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 25 saves / 25 shots

May 29	New Jersey Devils		2–1		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
Bob Corkum (1) – 14:29 Turner Stevenson (1) – 17:20		First period			05:58 – pp – Joe Sakic (12)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 20 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 18 saves / 20 shots

May 31	Colorado Avalanche		3–1		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Martin Skoula (1) – 10:38		First period			03:16 – pp – Jason Arnott (8)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Ray Bourque (4) – pp – 00:31 Dan Hinote (2) – 06:28		Third period			No scoring
Patrick Roy 21 saves / 22 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 18 saves / 21 shots

June 2	Colorado Avalanche		2–3		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Rob Blake (6) – 03:58		First period			No scoring
Chris Drury (10) – 13:54		Second period			03:42 – sh – Patrik Elias (8)
No scoring		Third period			08:09 – Scott Gomez (5) 17:23 – Petr Sykora (9)
Patrick Roy 32 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 10 saves / 12 shots

June 4	New Jersey Devils		4–1		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
Patrik Elias (9) – 03:09 Alexander Mogilny (5) – 18:47		First period			10:09 – pp – Alex Tanguay (3)
Sergei Brylin (3) – pp – 04:39		Second period			No scoring
John Madden (4) – 18:05		Third period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 22 saves / 23 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 22 saves / 26 shots

June 7	Colorado Avalanche		4–0		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Adam Foote (3) – 18:02		First period			No scoring
Ville Nieminen (4) – pp – 02:26 Chris Drury (11) – 18:27		Second period			No scoring
Alex Tanguay (4) – 13:46		Third period			No scoring
Patrick Roy 24 saves / 24 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 14 saves / 18 shots

June 9	New Jersey Devils		1–3		Colorado Avalanche	Pepsi Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			07:58 – Alex Tanguay (5)
Petr Sykora (10) – pp – 09:33		Second period			04:57 – Alex Tanguay (6) 06:16 – pp – Joe Sakic (13)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 22 shots		Goalie stats			Patrick Roy 25 saves / 26 shots

Colorado won series 4–3

Playoff statistics

Skaters

Colorado Avalanche captain Joe Sakic led the playoffs in scoring for the second time in his career. Patrik Elias of the New Jersey Devils finished second in playoff scoring with 23 points. The table lists the top 10 point producers. ^{[6] [7]}

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Joe Sakic	Colorado Avalanche	21	13	13	26	+6	6
Patrik Elias	New Jersey Devils	25	9	14	23	+11	10
Milan Hejduk	Colorado Avalanche	23	7	16	23	+8	6
Petr Sykora	New Jersey Devils	25	10	12	22	+15	12
Alex Tanguay	Colorado Avalanche	23	6	15	21	+13	8
Rob Blake	Colorado Avalanche	23	6	13	19	+6	16
Brian Rafalski	New Jersey Devils	25	7	11	18	+10	7
Mario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	18	6	11	17	+4	4
Chris Drury	Colorado Avalanche	23	11	5	16	+5	4
Bobby Holik	New Jersey Devils	25	6	10	16	+1	37
Alexander Mogilny	New Jersey Devils	25	5	11	16	+3	8

Goaltenders

The following table lists goaltenders with at least 420 minutes. ^[8]

Player	Team	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
Patrick Roy	Colorado Avalanche	23	16	7	622	41	1.70	.934	4	1450:56
Roman Turek	St. Louis Blues	14	9	5	382	31	2.05	.919	0	908:26
Martin Brodeur	New Jersey Devils	25	15	10	507	52	2.07	.897	4	1504:43
Dominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	13	7	6	347	29	2.09	.916	1	833:00
Curtis Joseph	Toronto Maple Leafs	11	7	4	329	24	2.10	.927	3	684:56

See also

• 2000–01 NHL season
• List of NHL seasons

References

1. "2000-01 NHL Season Schedule and Results". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
2. "2000-01 NHL Standings". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
3. "Vancouver Canucks Franchise Index". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
4. "Stars fall in four". May 4, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
5. "Avs more game-ready than rested Blues". May 12, 2001. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
6. "2001 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Leaders". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
7. "Statistics". nhl.com. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
8. "Statistics". nhl.com. Retrieved June 16, 2016.

Preceded by 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs	Stanley Cup playoffs	Succeeded by 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs