1994 NHL Playoffs
Eastern Conference
Quebec showed their age, being unable to stay with the young
Islanders, getting shut out three times, and losing in five.
Boston and
Montreal renew their rivalry, but the
Habs get the W this time. The
Bruins fell down 3 games to zero, and couldn’t rebound. In round two,
NY grabs a 3-1 series lead on
Montreal, but watch as their inexpedience lets the
Habs back in the series.
Montreal forces a game 7, in which they get a
Wendel Clark hat trick, but the
Islanders had an answer for each goal, and just a bit more.
NY wins game seven 5-4, to advance to the semi finals.
Hartford has an easy time with a team that has a bunch of players making their playoff debuts.
Buffalo goes down in five. The defending champs had two 9 goal games in their five game series win over
Philly. In what I thought was the best 2nd round series on paper,
New Jersey goes right through the
Whalers, winning convincingly in 5 games.
Western Conference
Edmonton gets another chance at
San Jose. The
Sharks take the opener in overtime, sending panic across Northern Alberta. The
Oilers put those fears to rest though, winning the next four games.
St. Louis had a strong regular season, but get upset by the
Blackhawks in 6 games.
Chicago then takes
Edmonton to the limit. In a back and forth series, the
Oilers need everything they have to win a game 7.
Edmonton didn’t have it easy, but they advance.
Detroit is never in danger in their 4 game sweep of the
Canucks. In the 3 games played in the city of
Winnipeg in their series,
Dallas does not manage to score a goal. That’s not good, and it’s the cause of their 6 game series loss.
Detroit takes on the
Jets in round two, and gives up just 3 goals in the first three games.
Winnipeg doubles their offensive output in game four, but the
Red Wings double that up themselves.
Detroit sweeps the
Jets, and improve to 8-0 in the first two rounds.
Eastern Conference Finals
In last years second round, the
Islanders took
NJ to seven games, and then to overtime, before finally falling. The two teams meet again with a trip to the finals on the line. The first period features four goals from unexpected places.
NY’s Randy McKay and
Terry Yake each get their 2nd of the playoffs, while
NJ’s Shafranov and
Sylvain Lefebvre each get their first. The
Islanders offense then dried up, while
NJ’s did not.
Marty McInnis assists on 3 goals in the 2nd period, leading the
Devils to a 6-3 win. Game 2 was the same story. 2-2 after a period. It’s like
NJ just needs to warm up, because after the first, they dominated.
Bill Houlder would score short handed, while
Benoit Hogue added two more. The
Islanders score twice late, but by then it was over. 6-4
Devils win.
New Jersey's Marty McInnis is the first star of game one!
NJ leads 2-0 on home ice after a period, but the
Islanders do respond.
Jaromir Jagr and
Jonas Hoglund tied it at two.
Brett Hull gives the
Devils the lead back, but
Jagr’s 2nd ties it again. Late in the third,
Ray Bourque gets his first of the series, only to see
NJ answer 12 seconds later, forcing overtime. They play 13 minutes of overtime before deciding this one.
Marty McInnis roofs a shot in tight, giving
NJ the 5-4 win.
NY holds a tight, 2-1 lead heading into the 3rd period of game four.
Brett Hull would tie it early, but the
Islanders respond of the stick of
Chris Pronger. Again, the
Devils tie it, but this time, the
Islanders had no response.
Glenn Anderson scores with a few minutes left, the series winning goal. 4-3
Devils, they sweep the president’s trophy winning
Islanders to go back to the Stanley Cup!
Western Conference Final
Oh boy, the
Oilers were not ready for game one.
Mario Lemieux scores a goal and dishes out 3 assists.
Edmonton is outshot 54-22, and take 28 PIM’s while
Detroit takes just 2.
Detroit wins 5-1. A much more disciplined
Oilers teams came out for game two, and despite them staying out of the box, Detroit outshoots them 38-19. Still
Ron Hextall is fantastic, only allowing a single goal.
Edmonton gets goals from
Ronnie Stern and
John LeClair. Oilers are lucky to win it 2-1.
Hextall steals game two for Edmonton!
Another strong effort from
Detroit has me believing the
Oilers do not have what it takes. After an early
Edmonton goal,
Bob Probert scores to tie it.
Mike Modano gets two points in the 2nd, while
Edmonton is held to just 10 shots in the final two frames. 4-1
Red Wings win. The domination continues in game four.
Mike Modano gets a hat trick.
Mario Lemieux has 4 points.
Edmonton manages 7 shots.
Detroit scored 8 goals!! 8-0
Detroit. It’s only a matter of time, probably 60 more minutes at this point.
Modano is dominating Edmonton
Detroit doesn’t score 8 goals in game five. Infact, after
Mario Lemieux and
Petr Nedved score in the first, they don’t score again, but
Edmonton can’t get anything going either. They are shutout for the 2nd straight game. 2-0
Detroit wins. The series is over in 5 games!
