2004/2005 NHL Playoffs | Conference Finals | Eastern Conference
Ottawa Senators Vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Insider:
Philly made easy work of their first round match-up against Tampa Bay and would end up against the Devils who were the Eastern Conference favorites to be in the Stanley Cup finals. Philly would not only shock some, but beat the Devils in a 4-2 series to get this far. Ottawa on the other hand, were expected to do well and to make it to this point. They took their first series in game six and made easy work out of the Rangers in game five to get to this point.
Players to Watch
PHI: Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte, Michal Handzus
OTT: Zdeno Chara, Martin Havlat, Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, Peter Schaefer
Goalies on Deck
PHI: Robert Esche
Antero Niittymaki
OTT: Dominik Hasek
Brian Elliott
Game One:
Philly made their fans happy at the 7:03 mark of the first as Jeff Carter would score to make it 1-0 for the home team. The lead held up til the 16:31 mark when Chris Neil managed to get one for the Senators to tie the game up going to the the second period.
Philly would waste little time in the second, as at 4:03: Todd Fedoruk would score the go ahead goal for Philly. The lead held up for some time, but at the 12:38 mark Peter Schaefer would score on the PP to even this game back up 2-2 going to the third.
Third would take some time, but Tony Amonte would break the tie and give the Flyers the lead yet again at the 9:21 mark of the third period. The fans would be on their feet as they seen the clock continue climbing down, as the 18:10 mark hit, fans were given more to worry about as Patrick Eaves would score to tie this game up and send it to sudden death overtime!
The overtime took 7mins of time, but when 7:03 hit, we seen Mike Knuble of the Flyers score the game winning goal on the power play to give the Flyers the first game of the series!
Philly Leads Series 1-0
Game Two:
Philly brought the momentum from the overtime victory in game one to this one, as 1min into the game, Marcus Ragnarsson score the first goal of the game Short Handed to give the Flyers a 1-0 Lead that would stand heading into the second period!
The second period seen Ottawa take 6 penalties in the period. Philly would capitalize on the 6th penalty by the senators at the 19:26 mark of the second, as Jeff Carter scores on the power play to give Philly a 2-0 lead going into the third period.
Jeff Carter would score his second of the game quickly in the starting moments of the third to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead.
Ottawa would finally crack Robert Esche at the 04:10 mark as Charlie Stephens gets the senators within two. Philly would answer quickly though, as 2 mins later Mike Knuble would score for the Flyers to give them back their three goal lead.
Ottawa would strike once more with Martin Havlat scoring 1mins after Knuble's goal, but it wouldn't get any closer, as Philly would sweep the home stand with a 4-2 win.
Philly Leads Series 2-0
Game Three:
Senators getting home were hoping for the same luck as Philly got in games one and two. They'd be challenged early as 5:25 into the first, Daniil Markov would score the first goal of the game for Philly to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
13:39 would seen Jason Spezza score for the Senators to tie the game up at 1 a piece. 5 mins later, Martin Havlat would give Ottawa their first lead of this series as they'd head to the second with a 2-1 lead over the Flyers.
Took 6mins before we seen another goal, but Brian Pothier would sneak one by Robert Esche to give the Senators a two goal lead heading into the third
38 seconds into the third the Senators made it a three goal lead as Christoph Schubert would score to make it 4-1.
Mike Richards would score on the PP at 16:44 to make it 4-2, but that would be all they would get as Ottawa gets into the series and trail by one game with the 4-2 victory.
Philly Leads Series 2-1
Game Four:
Philly continued tradition by scoring the first goal (4th time this series) at the 6:50 mark of the first period on the PP by Joni Pitkanen. That would be the lone goal heading into the second period.
Senators would tie the game up early only 1:06 into the second as Chris Neil would score. The game would stay tied until 18:13 when Zdeno Chara would rifle one past Esche to give the Senators a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
Ottawa's lead continued until the 15:52 mark as Jeff Carter would score for the Flyers to tie the game up at 2. The tie would be short lived though, as Jason Spezza would score a min later to give the Senators the lead again.
As the period hits the last minute mark, Senator fans continue to bite their nails as 25seconds were left, Branko Radivojevic would score for the Flyers to take this game into overtime! 3-3
Overtime would take awhile, but 14:50 we seen a hero as Jeff Carter would score his second of the game as the OT winner to give Ottawa a heart breaking lose. 4-3 Final
Philly Leads Series 3-1
Game Five:
Philly would return home where they feel comfortable and look to end this series in five. The Senators would show life though, scoring the first goal for the first time in this series only 1:46 into the period by Patrick Eaves! The Senators would hold the lead up until the 16:04 mark, when Patrick Sharp snipes home a PP goal to even the score 1-1 heading into the second period.
The second period would not see any scoring, but 4/5 of the penalties being towards Ottawa.
The third period would see the Flyers strike at 2:34 as Mike Richards would score a PP goal to give the Flyers a 2-1 Lead.
The Senators would pull the goalie in an attempt to tie the game in the last minute, but Flyers Marcus Ragnarsson would score on the empty net to give the Flyers a 3-1 victory.
Philly Advances to the Stanley Cup Finals
2004/2005 NHL Playoffs | Conference Finals | Western Conference
Colorado Avalanche Vs Detroit Red Wings
Insider:
This series was voted as "the series to watch", as both Detroit and the Avalanche proved dominating up to this point. Not only that, each of these contenders have pure talent throughout their entire roster. Words out that whom ever advances from this series will be the favourite in hoisting the Stanley Cup.
Players to Watch
COL: Rob Blake, Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Teemu Selanne
DET: Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman, Jiri Hudler
Goalies on Deck
COL: Peter Budaj
Scott Clemmensen
DET: Justin Pogge
Mike Dunham
Game One:
Detroit: As previously trending in their game ones throughout the playoffs came out of the gate fast. Goals from Tomas Holmstrom and Kirk Maltby in the first helped Detroit take a commanding 2-0 lead after the first period.
The second period had only one lone goal which was scored by Robert Lang, 4:44 into the period to help pad the lead going into the third period.
Jiri Hudler would score the fourth goal for Detroit 4:51 in the 3rd to give Detroit the 4-0 lead. Joe Sakic would get a goal late in the third, but too little to late as Detroit would take game one with a 4-1 Win.
Detroit Leads Series 1-0
Game Two:
We seen a lot of goals in the first. Firstly coming from Detroit's Ray Whitney on the PP 3:50 into the period to give the Red Wings a short lived 1-0 lead.
Ian Laperrier would even up the game at 8:18. The Avalanche would take another penalty though, as Detroit would capitalize on the man advantage again with Kirk Maltby scoring at the 10:15.
The lead would be short lived again, as Milan Hejduk would score 2:12 seconds later to even the game after the first period buzzer.
The second period seen only one goal and coming from the Detroit Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom on the Power play again at the 12min mark of the second giving the Red Wings another lead in the game. They went into the third with a 3-2 lead.
6:02 into the third seen Detroit pad their lead as Kris Draper scored to give Detroit a lead of 4-2 with 14mins left in the third period.
At 13:10 Joe Sakic would get the Avalanche within one and with only 2:49 left in the third, Peter Forsberg would score the tying goal to send Game Two into overtime!
We didn't have to wait long as at the 7:23 mark we had the game winner from Colorado's Steve Konowalchuk with the final being 5-4
Avalanche tie series 1-1
Game Three:
Avalanche get home ice advantage and waste little time with it in game three as they're the ones to get on the board first. At 5:05 John-Michael Liles would score the first goal of the game on the powerplay to give the home team the 1-0 lead.
At the 12:17, John-Michael Liles would strike again on the powerplay, scoring his second goal of the game, to give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.
Brendan Shanahan would finally break the goose egg for Detroit only 2:12 into the period scoring on the PP to bring the score to 2-1. The Avalanche would strike back, again on the PP, as Joe Sakic would bring one home to give the home team the two goal lead again.
It would be at the 17:05 mark of the second where things got a little scary for the Avalanche as Pavel Datsyuk would score his first goal of the game on the PP and his second goal on the PP at the 18:29 mark to tie this game up going into the third!
The third period seen nothing change, no penalties. We began overtime and the hometown erupted early as only 4:17 into the period Milan Hejduk would snipe home the game winner and ending the game with a 4-3 win.
Avalanche Lead Series 2-1
Game Four:
The tension was seen in this one, as the first period seen no scoring, but a lot of hitting and penalties (mostly on the side of Detroit) So we had a scoreless first going into the second.
We finally seen the goal light lit, as Paul Kariya scores on the PP to give the Avalanche the 1-0 lead. Detroit knew they had to get on the board before the third and that they did at the 15:55 mark of the second when Nicklas Lidstrom fired home his 5th of the playoffs to even the game up at 1-1 heading into the 3rd.
Avalanche fans were on their toes most of this period, but finally the tie would be broken as Peter Forsberg would score 13:32 into the period to give his team the 2-1 lead. The tension continued on the side of Detroit as Jiri Hudler would take a bad slashing penalty, and allow the Avalanche to score on the power play by Jamie Langenbrunner to get Colorado a 3-1 lead with only 2:30 left in the game!
The Avalanche would see Steve Konowalchuk kicked from the game with a 2min cross-checking penalty and 10min game misconduct at the 17:58 mark of the third. At the 18min mark though, Peter Forsberg would score his second goal of the game short handed to give the Avalanche a commanding 4-1 lead.
Henrik Zetterberg would score on the PP 41 seconds later, but that would be it as the Avalanche would take game four 4-2.
Avalanche Lead Series 3-1
Game Five:
Returning home Detroit hoped to get back into this series. They would have to wait, as the first period would end scoreless.
The second period did not fair well for the home team this time as at the 7:10 mark of the second, Teemu Selanne would score the first goal of the game to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead on the road. 16:26 seen another goal, this time from Jamie Langenbrunner as Colorado would take a commanding 2-0 lead as the period ended.
Detroit would see their run fading even more at the 8:57 mark of the third, as Teemu Selanne would score his second goal of the game on the PP to up the score to 3-0. Jamie Langenbrunner would also score on the PP for his second of the game at the 11:05 mark to give the Avalanche a 4-0 lead and would be the final of the game.
Avalanche Win Series 4-1 to Advance to the Stanley Cup Finals