Three Game 7s in one night closed out the first round of the NHL playoffs, leaving Detroit and Colorado -- the past two champions -- on the outside looking in on some new clubs in the race for the Stanley Cup.
Anaheim, Minnesota staged upsets to get into the conference semifinals, and Tampa Bay advanced for the first time in its 11-year history.
The Mighty Ducks delivered the initial shock when they dispatched the defending champion Red Wings in a stunning four-game sweep. The Wild had to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win their seven-game series against the Avalanche, the 2001 winners.
This surprising shake-up of the Western Conference leaves that side of the bracket wide open.
It's quite the contrary in the East, where the top four seeds advanced. Top-seeded Ottawa will face fourth-seeded Philadelphia, while the No. 3 Lightning will face No. 2 New Jersey.
Anaheim, the seventh seed in the West, used the sensational goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere to beat the Red Wings and earn a spot against the top-seeded Dallas Stars.
"They're a good team, there's no doubt about that," Giguere said of Dallas. "If we want to be successful, it's going to be all about us, not about them."
The Mighty Ducks missed the playoffs the past three years and had won only one playoff series in team history. In two previous postseason meetings with Detroit, Anaheim lost all eight games.
But this time Giguere made the difference.
It started in Game 1, when he made 63 saves in the Mighty Ducks' triple-overtime victory. He made 165 saves on 171 shots in the four games, posting a 1.24 goals-against average.
"The zone just doesn't come in and out, it's just something that you work and work and work," Giguere said.
The 3-year-old Wild won the final three games of their series against Colorado -- the last two in overtime -- to become just the eighth NHL team to come back from a 3-1 deficit and advance with two victories on the road. And they did it in their first trip to the postseason.
Their next opponent will be the Vancouver Canucks, who also came back from 3-1 down to eliminate St. Louis. On the final day of the regular season, the Canucks lost and dropped behind Colorado into second place in the Northwest Division.
That gave Vancouver the fourth seed instead of third and a seemingly more difficult matchup than Colorado had. Yet the Canucks advanced, and the Avalanche are out.
With the upset of Detroit, the Canucks now face the sixth-seeded Wild and have the added benefit of four home games, should the series go the distance.
Game 1 of the Mighty Ducks-Stars series is Thursday night in Dallas.
The Canucks and Wild have until Friday to recover from their first-round series and gear up for each other. Vancouver had an easier time in its Game 7, rallying from an early deficit to beat St. Louis 4-1.
The Wild won Game 6 on Richard Park's overtime goal, then clinched the series on Andrew Brunette's rush toward Patrick Roy.
"We were battling the whole season," forward Marian Gaborik said. "Nobody expected us to beat the Avalanche."
Another new face is the Lightning, who advanced by beating the Washington Capitals.
Tampa Bay and Washington were adversaries all season as they jockeyed for the Southeast Division title. The Lightning won that race and then recovered from dropping the first two home playoff games to win four straight.
The main reason for the Lightning's surge was the matching of forwards Martin St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal and Vincent Lecavalier. St. Louis scored five goals -- three game-winners -- on that line created after Game 2.
Starting on Thursday, New Jersey will be ready. The Devils shut down Joe Thornton and his partners in a five-game domination of the Boston Bruins in the first round.
Philadelphia had very few opportunities a year ago when Ottawa eliminated the Flyers in five games in the first round. The Senators scored 11 goals and held Philadelphia to just two. That series begins Friday.
Both clubs eliminated some bad vibes just by advancing. The Flyers lost in the first round in four of five years, but they gutted out a seven-game victory over Toronto, which had eliminated Ottawa the past three seasons.
Mark Recchi starred for Philadelphia, scoring six goals against the hard-hitting Maple Leafs. The Flyers hope to get more production from smaller, quicker forwards Sami Kapanen, Simon Gagne, and from Tony Amonte -- who was scoreless. They should have more room against the Senators, who rely on a finesse style and don't deliver much physical punishment.
The Senators, the NHL's top team in the regular season with 113 points, won their first series as the higher-seeded team when they recovered from an opening loss to the New York Islanders and captured four straight.
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Anaheim, Minnesota staged upsets to get into the conference semifinals, and Tampa Bay advanced for the first time in its 11-year history.
The Mighty Ducks delivered the initial shock when they dispatched the defending champion Red Wings in a stunning four-game sweep. The Wild had to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win their seven-game series against the Avalanche, the 2001 winners.
This surprising shake-up of the Western Conference leaves that side of the bracket wide open.
It's quite the contrary in the East, where the top four seeds advanced. Top-seeded Ottawa will face fourth-seeded Philadelphia, while the No. 3 Lightning will face No. 2 New Jersey.
Anaheim, the seventh seed in the West, used the sensational goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere to beat the Red Wings and earn a spot against the top-seeded Dallas Stars.
"They're a good team, there's no doubt about that," Giguere said of Dallas. "If we want to be successful, it's going to be all about us, not about them."
The Mighty Ducks missed the playoffs the past three years and had won only one playoff series in team history. In two previous postseason meetings with Detroit, Anaheim lost all eight games.
But this time Giguere made the difference.
It started in Game 1, when he made 63 saves in the Mighty Ducks' triple-overtime victory. He made 165 saves on 171 shots in the four games, posting a 1.24 goals-against average.
"The zone just doesn't come in and out, it's just something that you work and work and work," Giguere said.
The 3-year-old Wild won the final three games of their series against Colorado -- the last two in overtime -- to become just the eighth NHL team to come back from a 3-1 deficit and advance with two victories on the road. And they did it in their first trip to the postseason.
Their next opponent will be the Vancouver Canucks, who also came back from 3-1 down to eliminate St. Louis. On the final day of the regular season, the Canucks lost and dropped behind Colorado into second place in the Northwest Division.
That gave Vancouver the fourth seed instead of third and a seemingly more difficult matchup than Colorado had. Yet the Canucks advanced, and the Avalanche are out.
With the upset of Detroit, the Canucks now face the sixth-seeded Wild and have the added benefit of four home games, should the series go the distance.
Game 1 of the Mighty Ducks-Stars series is Thursday night in Dallas.
The Canucks and Wild have until Friday to recover from their first-round series and gear up for each other. Vancouver had an easier time in its Game 7, rallying from an early deficit to beat St. Louis 4-1.
The Wild won Game 6 on Richard Park's overtime goal, then clinched the series on Andrew Brunette's rush toward Patrick Roy.
"We were battling the whole season," forward Marian Gaborik said. "Nobody expected us to beat the Avalanche."
Another new face is the Lightning, who advanced by beating the Washington Capitals.
Tampa Bay and Washington were adversaries all season as they jockeyed for the Southeast Division title. The Lightning won that race and then recovered from dropping the first two home playoff games to win four straight.
The main reason for the Lightning's surge was the matching of forwards Martin St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal and Vincent Lecavalier. St. Louis scored five goals -- three game-winners -- on that line created after Game 2.
Starting on Thursday, New Jersey will be ready. The Devils shut down Joe Thornton and his partners in a five-game domination of the Boston Bruins in the first round.
Philadelphia had very few opportunities a year ago when Ottawa eliminated the Flyers in five games in the first round. The Senators scored 11 goals and held Philadelphia to just two. That series begins Friday.
Both clubs eliminated some bad vibes just by advancing. The Flyers lost in the first round in four of five years, but they gutted out a seven-game victory over Toronto, which had eliminated Ottawa the past three seasons.
Mark Recchi starred for Philadelphia, scoring six goals against the hard-hitting Maple Leafs. The Flyers hope to get more production from smaller, quicker forwards Sami Kapanen, Simon Gagne, and from Tony Amonte -- who was scoreless. They should have more room against the Senators, who rely on a finesse style and don't deliver much physical punishment.
The Senators, the NHL's top team in the regular season with 113 points, won their first series as the higher-seeded team when they recovered from an opening loss to the New York Islanders and captured four straight.
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