1996 Stanley Cup playoffs

Playoff seeds

The top eight teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs. The top two seeds in each conference were awarded to the division winners; while the six remaining spots were awarded to the highest finishers in their respective conferences.

The following teams qualified for the playoffs:

Eastern Conference

1. Philadelphia Flyers, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 103 points
2. Pittsburgh Penguins, Northeast Division champions – 102 points
3. New York Rangers – 96 points
4. Florida Panthers – 92 points
5. Boston Bruins – 91 points
6. Montreal Canadiens – 90 points
7. Washington Capitals – 89 points
8. Tampa Bay Lightning – 88 points

Western Conference

1. Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 131 points
2. Colorado Avalanche, Pacific Division champions – 104 points
3. Chicago Blackhawks – 94 points
4. Toronto Maple Leafs – 80 points (34 wins)
5. St. Louis Blues – 80 points (32 wins)
6. Calgary Flames – 79 points (34 wins)
7. Vancouver Canucks – 79 points (32 wins)
8. Winnipeg Jets – 78 points

Playoff bracket

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series, following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). For any series played between Central and Pacific Division teams, the team with home ice advantage had the option of using a 2–3–2 format to reduce travel, with the sites for games five and six switched; if the 2–3–2 format was chosen, the team with home ice advantage then had the additional option to start the series on the road instead of at home. The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the two division winners seeded 1–2 based on regular season record, and the six remaining teams seeded 3–8.

The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

| RD2-group1=Eastern Conference | RD2-group2=Western Conference

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Conference quarterfinals

Eastern Conference quarterfinals

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first time that the Tampa Bay area was represented in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Game six was the final game they ever played at the Thunderdome.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =00:55 – Dale Hawerchuk (1) 05:56 – pp – Joel Otto (1) 06:27 – Trent Klatt (1) |1-2-1 =Jason Wiemer (1) – pp – 15:08 Mikael Andersson (1) – 16:26 |1-2-2 =03:41 – John LeClair (1) 07:32 – pp – Eric Lindros (1) 12:01 – Pat Falloon (1) |1-3-1 =John Cullen (1) – 04:01 |1-3-2 =12:27 – Rod Brind'Amour (1) |goalie1-1 =Daren Puppa 10 saves / 14 shots Jeff Reese 15 saves / 18 shots |goalie1-2 =Ron Hextall 14 saves / 17 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =01:48 – pp – Dale Hawerchuk (2) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Alexander Selivanov (1) – 04:02 |2-3-2 =No scoring |2-4-1 =Brian Bellows (1) – 09:05 |2-4-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Daren Puppa 26 saves / 27 shots |goalie2-2 =Ron Hextall 25 saves / 27 shots

|3-1-1 =02:52 – pp – Petr Klima (1) |3-1-2 =Joel Otto (2) – 10:30 Trent Klatt (2) – 18:33 |3-2-1 =02:56 – sh – Rob Zamuner (1) 14:43 – Rob Zamuner (2) |3-2-2 =Pat Falloon (2) – pp – 00:39 |3-3-1 =18:41 – Brian Bellows (2) |3-3-2 =Eric Lindros (2) – 03:20 |3-4-1 =02:04 – Alexander Selivanov (2) |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Jeff Reese 38 saves / 42 shots |goalie3-2 =Ron Hextall 27 saves / 32 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =John LeClair (2) – pp – 07:56 Joel Otto (3) – 12:43 |4-2-1 =09:24 – pp – Petr Klima (2) |4-2-2 =Dale Hawerchuk (3) – 16:55 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =John LeClair (3) – pp – 10:17 |goalie4-1 =Jeff Reese 29 saves / 33 shots |goalie4-2 =Ron Hextall 21 saves / 22 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =11:13 – pp – Mikael Renberg (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =01:50 – Shjon Podein (1) |5-3-1 =John Cullen (2) – sh – 17:59 |5-3-2 =01:21 – pp – Pat Falloon (3) 02:43 – pp – John LeClair (4) |goalie5-1 =Daren Puppa 20 saves / 24 shots Jeff Reese 3 saves / 3 shots |goalie5-2 =Ron Hextall 23 saves / 24 shots

|6-1-1 =09:27 – John Cullen (3) |6-1-2 =Karl Dykhuis (1) – pp – 05:45 Shawn Antoski (1) – 06:40 Trent Klatt (3) – 14:53 |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =Bob Corkum (1) – 12:12 Eric Lindros (3) – 12:59 |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Kjell Samuelsson (1) – 05:49 |goalie6-1 =Daren Puppa 16 saves / 21 shots Jeff Reese 3 saves / 4 shots |goalie6-2 =Ron Hextall 27 saves / 28 shots

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (7) Washington Capitals

This was the third consecutive and fifth overall playoff meeting between these two teams; with Pittsburgh winning three of the four previous series. Pittsburgh won last year's playoff meeting in seven games. Game four of this series is the seventh longest game in NHL history. Game six was the last playoff game at USAir Arena.

|1-1-1 =Peter Bondra (1) – 19:23 |1-1-2 =02:53 – Petr Nedved (1) 03:04 – Petr Nedved (2) |1-2-1 =Sylvain Cote (1) – 16:12 Todd Krygier (1) – 19:26 |1-2-2 =05:47 – pp – Ron Francis (1) 11:09 – Tomas Sandstrom (1) |1-3-1 =Sergei Gonchar (1) – pp – 07:58 Todd Krygier (2) – 12:26 Michal Pivonka (1) – en – 19:55 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Jim Carey 12 saves / 16 shots Olaf Kolzig 12 saves / 12 shots |goalie1-2 =Tom Barrasso 29 saves / 34 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =03:03 – pp – Petr Nedved (2) 03:39 – Chris Joseph (1) |2-2-1 =Pat Peake (1) – pp – 03:48 Pat Peake (2) – pp – 12:33 Mike Eagles (1) – 14:55 |2-2-2 =13:54 – Petr Nedved (3) |2-3-1 =Peter Bondra (2) – pp – 11:43 Michal Pivonka (2) – en – 19:08 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Olaf Kolzig 33 saves / 36 shots |goalie2-2 =Tom Barrasso 29 saves / 33 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Ron Francis (2) – pp – 08:29 Glen Murray (1) – 17:52 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Dave Roche (1) – 12:33 Kevin Miller (1) – 16:00 |3-3-1 =12:29 – pp – Sylvain Cote (2) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Jim Carey 15 saves / 19 shots |goalie3-2 =Tom Barrasso 38 saves / 39 shots

|4-1-1 =13:50 – pp – Michal Pivonka (3) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =07:36 – pp – Peter Bondra (3) |4-2-2 =Jaromir Jagr (1) – sh – 18:42 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Petr Nedved (5) – pp – 08:00 |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =Petr Nedved (6) – 19:15 |goalie4-1 =Olaf Kolzig 62 saves / 65 shots |goalie4-2 =Tom Barrasso 8 saves / 9 shots Ken Wregget 53 saves / 54 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =08:36 – Mario Lemieux (1) |5-2-1 =Andrew Brunette (1) – 14:51 |5-2-2 =10:14 – Francois Leroux (1) 13:15 – Bryan Smolinski (1) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =16:13 – Jaromir Jagr (2) |goalie5-1 =Olaf Kolzig 28 saves / 32 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Wregget 39 saves / 40 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =Mario Lemieux (2) – pp – 01:57 Jaromir Jagr (3) – pp – 06:03 Ron Francis (3) – 12:24 |6-2-1 =01:43 – Dale Hunter (1) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =00:50 – Sergei Gonchar (2) |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Jim Carey 2 saves / 4 shots Olaf Kolzig 21 saves / 22 shots |goalie6-2 =Ken Wregget 35 saves / 37 shots

(3) New York Rangers vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens

This was the fourteenth playoff meeting between these two teams; with Montreal winning seven of the thirteen previous series. They last met in the 1986 Prince of Wales Conference final, which Montreal won in five games.

|1-1-1 =Saku Koivu (1) – 19:50 |1-1-2 =07:17 – pp – Adam Graves (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Vincent Damphousse (1) – 06:44 |1-3-2 =05:58 – Niklas Sundstrom (1) |1-4-1 =Vincent Damphousse (2) – 05:04 |1-4-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Jocelyn Thibault 43 saves / 45 shots |goalie1-2 =Mike Richter 29 saves / 32 shots

|2-1-1 =Vincent Damphousse (3) – sh – 07:14 Mark Recchi (1) – pp – 18:29 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Lyle Odelein (1) – 05:43 |2-2-2 =16:01 – Sergio Momesso (1) |2-3-1 =Vincent Damphousse (4) – 16:34 Marc Bureau (1) – 19:54 |2-3-2 =07:12 – Sergio Momesso (2) 12:17 – Ulf Samuelsson (1) |goalie2-1 =Jocelyn Thibault 35 saves / 38 shots |goalie2-2 =Mike Richter 24 saves / 28 shots

|3-1-1 =19:00 – pp – Mark Recchi (2) |3-1-2 =Adam Graves (2) – pp – 15:30 Adam Graves (3) – pp –17:50 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Jocelyn Thibault 33 saves / 35 shots |goalie3-2 =Mike Richter 16 saves / 17 shots

|4-1-1 =17:11 – David Wilkie (1) |4-1-2 =Mark Messier (1) – pp – 12:56 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Shane Churla (1) – 06:00 Adam Graves (4) – pp – 09:04 Adam Graves (5) – 13:43 |4-3-1 =09:38 – Saku Koivu (2) 16:16 – Pierre Turgeon (1) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Jocelyn Thibault 15 saves / 19 shots |goalie4-2 =Mike Richter 28 saves / 31 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =18:31 – sh – Jari Kurri (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Saku Koivu (3) – 06:09 Rory Fitzpatrick (1) – 16:22 |5-3-2 =00:13 – pp – Brian Leetch (1) 03:03 – Alexei Kovalev (1) |goalie5-1 =Jocelyn Thibault 39 saves / 42 shots |goalie5-2 =Mike Richter 25 saves / 27 shots

|6-1-1 =12:41 – pp – Mark Recchi (3) |6-1-2 =Pat Verbeek (1) – 06:24 Adam Graves (6) – pp – 09:16 Alexei Kovalev (2) – 09:43 Jari Kurri (2) – 10:18 |6-2-1 =02:11 – Pierre Turgeon (2) |6-2-2 =Doug Lidster (1) – pp – 11:33 |6-3-1 =00:56 – Patrice Brisebois (1) |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Jocelyn Thibault 5 saves / 9 shots Pat Jablonski 16 saves / 17 shots |goalie6-2 =Mike Richter 27 saves / 30 shots

(4) Florida Panthers vs. (5) Boston Bruins

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first time that Miami was represented in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

|1-1-1 =Rick Tocchet (1) – pp – 15:04 |1-1-2 =07:37 – Ray Sheppard (1) 08:02 – Mike Hough (1) 08:54 – Jody Hull (1) |1-2-1 =Rick Tocchet (2) – pp – 03:16 |1-2-2 =05:08 – pp – Jason Woolley (1) 09:02 – pp – Ray Sheppard (2) |1-3-1 =Sandy Moger (1) – 19:27 |1-3-2 =18:34 – Johan Garpenlov (1) |goalie1-1 =Bill Ranford 24 saves / 30 shots |goalie1-2 =John Vanbiesbrouck 42 saves / 45 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =06:15 – Ed Jovanovski (2) |2-2-1 =Ray Bourque (1) – pp – 07:49 Steve Heinze (1) – pp – 18:39 |2-2-2 =04:15 – pp – Ray Sheppard (3) 08:31 – Dave Lowry (1) 11:40 – Dave Lowry (2) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =14:41 – Jason Woolley (2) 15:34 – Johan Garpenlov (2) |goalie2-1 =Craig Billington 22 saves / 28 shots |goalie2-2 =John Vanbiesbrouck 37 saves / 39 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Jody Hull (2) – 00:30 Scott Mellanby (1) – pp – 10:29 Mike Hough (2) – 12:19 |3-2-1 =18:40 – Shawn McEachern (1) |3-2-2 =Jody Hull (3) – 15:16 |3-3-1 =19:02 – pp – Rick Tocchet (3) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Bill Ranford 22 saves / 26 shots |goalie3-2 =John Vanbiesbrouck 40 saves / 42 shots

|4-1-1 =04:48 – Adam Oates (1) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =05:07 – Jon Rohloff (1) 05:49 – Rick Tocchet (4) 10:54 – Cam Stewart (1) |4-2-2 =Bill Lindsay (1) – 02:49 |4-3-1 =05:35 – sh – Adam Oates (2) 16:26 – Shawn McEachern (2) |4-3-2 =Ray Sheppard (4) – 01:58 |goalie4-1 =Bill Ranford 18 saves / 20 shots |goalie4-2 =John Vanbiesbrouck 18 saves / 22 shots Mark Fitzpatrick 9 saves / 11 shots

|5-1-1 =Ted Donato (1) – pp – 16:31 |5-1-2 =03:03 – Brian Skrudland (1) 08:11 – Paul Laus (1) |5-2-1 =Jozef Stumpel (1) – 09:33 |5-2-2 =16:42 – pp – Dave Lowry (3) |5-3-1 =Sandy Moger (2) – pp – 12:29 |5-3-2 =15:03 – Bill Lindsay (2) |goalie5-1 =Bill Ranford 32 saves / 36 shots |goalie5-2 =John Vanbiesbrouck 26 saves / 29 shots

Western Conference quarterfinals

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Winnipeg Jets

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the final playoff series for the original Winnipeg Jets as they relocated to Phoenix, Arizona after the season. Game six was the final NHL game played at the Winnipeg Arena.

|1-1-1 =Alexei Zhamnov (1) – 10:06 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =02:27 – Kris Draper (1) 04:06 – Viacheslav Fetisov (1) 04:48 – Greg Johnson (1) 08:07 – pp – Paul Coffey (1) |goalie1-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 30 saves / 34 shots |goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 13 saves / 14 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =06:35 – sh – Paul Coffey (2) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =04:56 – sh – Doug Brown (1) 12:26 – Kris Draper (2) 14:49 – pp – Igor Larionov (1) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 30 saves / 34 shots |goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 16 saves / 16 shots

|3-1-1 =16:03 – Keith Tkachuk (1) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =11:40 – Chad Kilger (1) 15:25 – Eddie Olczyk (1) 18:03 – Dave Manson (1) |3-3-2 =Igor Larionov (1) – 02:39 |goalie3-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 32 saves / 33 shots |goalie3-2 =Mike Vernon 21 saves / 25 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Vladimir Konstantinov (1) – 01:22 |4-2-1 =04:09 – Craig Janney (1) |4-2-2 =Igor Larionov (3) – pp – 05:39 Vyacheslav Kozlov (1) – pp – 07:22 Dino Ciccarelli (1) – pp – 19:05 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Greg Johnson (2) – 05:42 Steve Yzerman (1) – pp – 10:42 |goalie4-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 29 saves / 35 shots |goalie4-2 =Mike Vernon 19 saves / 20 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =Darrin Shannon (1) – 04:09 |5-2-2 =08:57 – pp – Dino Ciccarelli (2) |5-3-1 =Dave Manson (2) – 06:52 Alexei Zhamnov (2) – en – 19:19 |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 51 saves / 52 shots |goalie5-2 =Chris Osgood 16 saves / 18 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =Vyacheslav Kozlov (2) – 03:46 Vyacheslav Kozlov (3) – pp – 14:54 Steve Yzerman (2) – 16:31 |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =08:22 – Norm Maciver (1) |6-3-2 =Keith Primeau (1) – en – 19:45 |goalie6-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 23 saves / 26 shots |goalie6-2 =Mike Vernon 12 saves / 13 shots

(2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (7) Vancouver Canucks

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This series marked the first appearance of a team representing Colorado in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 18 years. The most recent team to represent Colorado prior to this was the Colorado Rockies who lost in the preliminary round in 1978.

|1-1-1 =Russ Courtnall (1) – 11:30 |1-1-2 =16:52 – Peter Forsberg (1) |1-2-1 =Esa Tikkanen (1) – 13:03 |1-2-2 =00:28 – Joe Sakic (1) 00:53 – Valeri Kamensky (1) 10:32 – pp – Sandis Ozolinsh (1) 16:47 – Peter Forsberg (2) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Kirk McLean 9 saves / 12 shots Corey Hirsch 13 saves / 15 shots |goalie1-2 =Patrick Roy 29 saves / 31 shots

|2-1-1 =Gino Odjick (1) – 03:00 Alexander Mogilny (1) – 06:09 |2-1-2 =00:59 – Peter Forsberg (3) 04:52 – Mike Ricci (1) 09:57 – pp – Sandis Ozolinsh (2) |2-2-1 =Trevor Linden (1) – 04:08 Martin Gelinas (1) – 10:41 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Gino Odjick (2) – 02:20 |2-3-2 =10:06 – Joe Sakic (2) |goalie2-1 =Corey Hirsch 28 saves / 32 shots |goalie2-2 =Patrick Roy 24 saves / 29 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Peter Forsberg (3) – pp – 11:49 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Valeri Kamensky (2) – pp – 04:19 Claude Lemieux (1) – pp – 08:27 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Scott Young (1) – 11:58 |goalie3-1 =Corey Hirsch 27 saves / 31 shots |goalie3-2 =Patrick Roy 28 saves / 28 shots

|4-1-1 =16:39 – pp – Esa Tikkanen (2) |4-1-2 =Mike Keane (1) – 14:43 |4-2-1 =08:30 – pp – Jyrki Lumme (1) 13:18 – Josef Beranek (1) 19:40 – Gino Odjick (3) |4-2-2 =Adam Deadmarsh (1) – 03:46 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Joe Sakic (3) – 06:36 |goalie4-1 =Corey Hirsch 30 saves / 33 shots |goalie4-2 =Patrick Roy 22 saves / 26 shots

|5-1-1 =Josef Beranek (2) – 15:15 |5-1-2 =09:07 – pp – Joe Sakic (4) |5-2-1 =Trevor Linden (2) – pp – 14:29 Trevor Linden (3) – pp – 15:56 |5-2-2 =08:17 – Valeri Kamensky (3) |5-3-1 =Trevor Linden (4) – 10:08 |5-3-2 =09:12 – Rene Corbet (1) 14:07 – pp – Joe Sakic (5) |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =00:51 – Joe Sakic (6) |goalie5-1 =Corey Hirsch 28 saves / 33 saves |goalie5-2 =Patrick Roy 16 saves / 20 shots Stephane Fiset 0 saves / 0 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =03:43 – pp – Markus Naslund (1) 10:45 – pp – Esa Tikkanen (3) |6-2-2 =Curtis Leschyshyn (1) – 04:29 Claude Lemieux (2) – pp – 12:06 |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Joe Sakic (7) – 17:18 |goalie6-1 =Corey Hirsch 19 saves / 22 shots |goalie6-2 =Patrick Roy 20 saves / 22 shots

(3) Chicago Blackhawks vs. (6) Calgary Flames

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams; with Calgary winning both previous series. They last met in the 1989 Clarence Campbell Conference final, which Calgary won in five games.

|1-1-1 =Sheldon Kennedy (1) – 03:23 |1-1-2 =04:33 – pp – Bernie Nicholls (1) 15:34 – Joe Murphy (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =07:05 – Joe Murphy (2) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =00:31 – Eric Daze (1) |goalie1-1 =Trevor Kidd 22 saves / 26 shots |goalie1-2 =Ed Belfour 19 saves / 20 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =18:09 – pp – Gary Suter (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =13:50 – Jeremy Roenick (1) 17:00 – Jeff Shantz (1) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Rick Tabaracci 29 saves / 32 shots |goalie2-2 =Ed Belfour 33 saves / 33 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =James Black (1) – 07:15 Eric Daze (2) – 19:03 |3-2-1 =12:24 – Theoren Fleury (1) |3-2-2 =Tony Amonte (1) – pp – 01:52 Eric Weinrich (1) – pp – 02:29 Brent Sutter (1) – 03:17 |3-3-1 =01:27 – Theoren Fleury (2) 03:07 – Steve Chiasson (1) 05:51 – Cory Stillman (1) 18:50 – Steve Chiasson (2) |3-3-2 =Eric Daze (3) – 13:12 Joe Murphy (3) – 13:40 |goalie3-1 =Trevor Kidd 9 saves / 14 shots Rick Tabaracci 7 saves / 9 shots |goalie3-2 =Ed Belfour 28 saves / 33 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =05:53 – Jarome Iginla (1) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Jeremy Roenick (2) – 19:51 |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =Joe Murphy (4) – 10:02 |goalie4-1 =Rick Tabaracci 41 saves / 43 shots |goalie4-2 =Ed Belfour 55 saves / 56 shots

(4) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) St. Louis Blues

This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams: with the teams splitting the four previous playoff series. They last met in the 1993 Norris Division Finals, which Toronto won in seven games. Game five was the last playoff game at Maple Leaf Gardens.

|1-1-1 =Shayne Corson (1) – pp – 15:13 |1-1-2 =09:49 – pp – Mats Sundin (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Brett Hull (1) – 11:13 Stephen Leach (1) – 12:32 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Grant Fuhr 33 saves / 34 shots |goalie1-2 =Felix Potvin 26 saves / 29 shots

|2-1-1 =Shayne Corson – pp – 16:51 |2-1-2 =10:24 – Mike Gartner (1) 14:42 – Wendel Clark (1) 18:40 – Mats Sundin (2) |2-2-1 =Charlie Huddy (1) – 03:50 Murray Baron (1) – sh – 18:26 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Brett Hull (2) – pp – 10:44 |2-3-2 =14:10 – pp – Kirk Muller (1) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =04:02 – pp – Mats Sundin (3) |goalie2-1 =Jon Casey 23 saves / 28 shots Grant Fuhr 11 saves / 11 shots |goalie2-2 =Felix Potvin 30 saves / 34 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Kirk Muller (2) – pp – 16:04 |3-2-1 =10:28 – Brian Noonan (1) 12:31 – pp – Peter Zezel (1) |3-2-2 =Mark Kolesar (1) – sh – 03:53 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |3-4-1 =01:24 – Glenn Anderson (1) |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Jon Casey 19 saves / 21 shots |goalie3-2 =Felix Potvin 37 saves / 40 shots Don Beaupre 0 saves / 0 shots

|4-1-1 =08:42 – sh – Shayne Corson (3) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =00:45 – Shayne Corson (4) 19:54 – sh – Brett Hull (3) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =07:02 – Brian Noonan (2) 16:11 – Brain Noonan (3) |4-3-2 =Kirk Muller (3) – 17:32 |goalie4-1 =Jon Casey 41 saves / 42 shots |goalie4-2 =Felix Potvin 18 saves / 21 shots Don Beaupre 11 saves / 13 shots

|5-1-1 =Shayne Corson (5) – pp – 02:31 Chris Pronger (1) – 06:42 |5-1-2 =10:42 – pp – Mike Gartner (2) 11:55 – pp – Doug Gilmour (1) 14:42 – Todd Warriner (1) |5-2-1 =Peter Zezel (2) – 02:33 |5-2-2 =18:04 – Mike Gartner (3) |5-3-1 =Al MacInnis (1) – pp – 19:47 |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =07:31 – pp – Mike Gartner (4) |goalie5-1 =Jon Casey 35 saves / 40 shots |goalie5-2 =Felix Potvin 35 saves / 39 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =Wendel Clark (2) – pp – 07:55 |6-3-1 =Al MacInnis (2) – 01:40 Stephen Leach (2) – 14:03 |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Jon Casey 23 saves / 24 shots |goalie6-2 =Felix Potvin 33 saves / 35 shots

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference semifinals

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (4) Florida Panthers

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Game five was the last game played at the CoreStates Spectrum.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Stu Barnes (1) – 05:56 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Dave Lowry (4) – pp – 15:50 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 18 saves / 18 shots |goalie1-2 =Ron Hextall 13 saves / 15 shots

|2-1-1 =Ray Sheppard (5) – 19:37 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =04:47 – Karl Dykhuis (2) 15:39 – pp – John LeClair (5) |2-3-1 =Dave Lowry (5) – pp – 04:36 |2-3-2 =09:11 – Eric Lindros (4) |goalie2-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 44 saves / 47 shots |goalie2-2 =Ron Hextall 24 saves / 26 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Dan Quinn (1) – pp – 16:19 Eric Lindros (5) – pp – 17:13 |3-2-1 =07:34 – Paul Laus (2) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Trent Klatt (4) – 06:36 |goalie3-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 31 saves / 34 shots |goalie3-2 =Ron Hextall 24 saves / 25 shots

|4-1-1 =01:02 – Rob Niedermayer (1) 08:23 – pp – Rob Niedermayer (2) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =19:54 – Stu Barnes (2) |4-2-2 =Mikael Renberg (2) – 16:18 Rod Brind'Amour (2) – pp – 17:36 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Mikael Renberg (3) – 18:53 |4-4-1 =04:06 – Dave Lowry (6) |4-4-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 43 saves / 46 shots |goalie4-2 =Ron Hextall 28 saves / 32 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =07:02 – pp – Eric Lindros (6) |5-3-1 =Stu Barnes (3) – 02:39 |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =Mike Hough (3) – 08:05 |5-4-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 34 saves / 35 shots |goalie5-2 =Ron Hextall 40 saves / 42 shots

|6-1-1 =14:54 – sh – Bill Lindsay (3) |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =02:55 – pp – Rob Niedermayer (3) 11:12 – Dave Lowry (7) 18:35 – en – Johan Garpenlov (3) |6-3-2 =John LeClair (6) – 15:43 |goalie6-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 34 saves / 35 shots |goalie6-2 =Ron Hextall 26 saves / 29 shots Garth Snow 0 saves / 0 shots

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (3) New York Rangers

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams; with Pittsburgh winning both previous series. They last met in the 1992 Patrick Division Finals, which Pittsburgh won in six games.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Niklas Sundstrom (2) – 13:52 |1-2-2 =05:41 – pp – Jaromir Jagr (4) 16:32 – Jaromir Jagr (5) |1-3-1 =Pat Verbeek (2) – 03:22 Mark Messier (2) – 06:44 |1-3-2 =07:44 – Dave Roche (2) 12:43 – Mario Lemieux (3) |goalie1-1 =Mike Richter 25 saves / 29 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Wregget 26 saves / 29 shots

|2-1-1 =Luc Robitaille (1) – 05:10 Bill Berg (1) – 17:26 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Alexei Kovalev (3) – 01:25 Mark Messier (3) – 06:33 Pat Verbeek (3) – pp – 15:17 |2-2-2 =06:21 – pp – Mario Lemieux (4) |2-3-1 =Jari Kurri (3) – en – 19:20 |2-3-2 =06:27 – Bryan Smolinski (2) 14:19 – pp – Jaromir Jagr (6) |goalie2-1 =Mike Richter 25 saves / 28 shots |goalie2-2 =Ken Wregget 26 saves / 31 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Mario Lemieux (5) – 06:33 Mario Lemieux (6) – 10:18 Tomas Sandstrom (2) – 15:25 |3-2-1 =03:02 – Shane Churla (2) 03:36 – Niklas Sundstrom (3) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Mike Richter 29 saves / 32 shots |goalie3-2 =Ken Wregget 37 saves / 39 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Jaromir Jagr (7) – 04:35 |4-2-1 =06:28 – pp – Adam Graves (7) |4-2-2 =Petr Nedved (7) – 01:27 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Glen Murray (2) – 12:19 Mario Lemieux (7) – en – 19:31 |goalie4-1 =Mike Richter 27 saves / 30 shots |goalie4-2 =Ken Wregget 40 saves / 41 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =11:49 – sh – Mario Lemieux (8) |5-2-1 =Mark Messier (4) – pp – 05:50 Sergio Momesso (3) – 10:39 Niklas Sundstrom (4) – pp – 13:26 |5-2-2 =02:35 – pp – Jaromir Jagr (8) 09:53 – pp – Mario Lemieux (9) 15:04 – Jaromir Jagr (9) 19:47 – Jaromir Jagr (10) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =07:23 – Bryan Smolinski (3) 15:14 – Mario Lemieux (10) |goalie5-1 =Mike Richter 17 saves / 24 shots |goalie5-2 =Ken Wregget 29 saves / 32 shots

Western Conference semifinals

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) St. Louis Blues

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams; with St. Louis winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the 1991 Norris Division Semifinals, which St. Louis won in seven games.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =15:17 – pp – Dino Ciccarelli (3) |1-2-1 =Shayne Corson (6) – pp – 11:03 |1-2-2 =18:21 – Darren McCarty (1) |1-3-1 =Brett Hull (4) – pp – 02:19 |1-3-2 =17:54 – Sergei Fedorov (1) |goalie1-1 =Jon Casey 25 saves / 28 shots |goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 31 saves / 33 shots

|2-1-1 =Shayne Corson (7) – pp – 13:37 |2-1-2 =03:40 – Steve Yzerman (3) 04:45 – Vladimir Konstantinov (2) 07:02 – Nicklas Lidstrom (1) 11:41 – Darren McCarty (2) 15:40 – Martin Lapointe (1) |2-2-1 =Peter Zezel (3) – 02:48 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Adam Creighton (1) – 08:03 |2-3-2 =06:19 – pp – Nicklas Lidstrom (2) 17:56 – pp – Steve Yzerman (4) 19:35 – pp – Marc Bergevin (1) |goalie2-1 =Jon Casey 23 saves / 31 shots Bruce Racine 0 saves / 0 shots |goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 18 saves / 21 shots

|3-1-1 =04:43 – Al MacInnis (3) 05:05 – Brian Noonan (4) 07:58 – pp – Shayne Corson (8) |3-1-2 =Vladimir Konstantinov (3) – 01:34 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Steve Yzerman (5) – pp – 02:57 Steve Yzerman (6) – 08:56 |3-3-1 =08:46 – Tony Twist (1) |3-3-2 =Steve Yzerman (7) – pp – 03:08 |3-4-1 =3:23 – Igor Kravchuk (1) |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Jon Casey 30 saves / 34 shots |goalie3-2 =Mike Vernon 18 saves / 23 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =04:40 – pp – Wayne Gretzky (1) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Jon Casey 29 saves / 29 shots |goalie4-2 =Chris Osgood 14 saves / 15 shots

|5-1-1 =Brett Hull (5) – 05:15 |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =Wayne Gretzky (2) – 18:46 |5-2-2 =03:05 – Kris Draper (3) |5-3-1 =Yuri Khmylev (1) – 09:11 |5-3-2 =10:23 – Vyacheslav Kozlov (4) |goalie5-1 =Jon Casey 37 saves / 39 shots |goalie5-2 =Chris Osgood 18 saves / 21 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =Igor Larionov (4) – 10:17 Kris Draper (4) – sh – 14:05 |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =15:13 – pp – Stephen Leach (3) 16:12 – Brett Hull (6) |6-3-2 =Dino Ciccarelli (4) – pp – 09:15 Nicklas Lidstrom (3) – 19:31 |goalie6-1 =Jon Casey 18 saves / 22 shots |goalie6-2 =Chris Osgood 18 saves / 20 shots

|7-1-1 =No scoring |7-1-2 =No scoring |7-2-1 =No scoring |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =No scoring |7-3-2 =No scoring |7-4-1 =No scoring |7-4-2 =01:15 – Steve Yzerman (8) |goalie7-1 =Jon Casey 39 saves / 40 shots |goalie7-2 =Chris Osgood 29 saves / 29 shots

(2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (3) Chicago Blackhawks

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

|1-1-1 =Enrico Ciccone (1) – 02:02 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =03:10 – Claude Lemieux (3) 04:25 – Joe Sakic (8) |1-3-1 =Murray Craven (1) – pp – 01:58 |1-3-2 =No scoring |1-4-1 =Jeremy Roenick (3) – pp – 06:29 |1-4-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Ed Belfour 28 saves / 30 shots |goalie1-2 =Patrick Roy 23 saves / 26 shots

|2-1-1 =Tony Amonte (2) – 04:28 |2-1-2 =11:38 – pp – Valeri Kamensky (4) 12:48 – Craig Wolanin (1) 13:41 – Joe Sakic (9) 16:22 – Uwe Krupp (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =15:14 – pp – Adam Deadmarsh (2) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Jeff Hackett 27 saves / 32 shots |goalie2-2 =Patrick Roy 30 saves / 31 shots

|3-1-1 =10:39 – pp – Gary Suter (2) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =19:23 – Joe Murphy (5) |3-2-2 =Peter Forsberg (5) – 04:31 Mike Ricci (2) – 12:53 Joe Sakic (10) – pp – 18:37 |3-3-1 =06:48 – Jeremy Roenick (4) |3-3-2 =No scoring |3-4-1 =00:46 – Sergei Krivokrasov (1) |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Ed Belfour 18 saves / 21 shots |goalie3-2 =Patrick Roy 21 saves / 25 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =04:40 – Gary Suter (3) |4-2-2 =Joe Sakic (11) – 01:41 |4-3-1 =06:15 – Jeff Shantz (2) |4-3-2 =Valeri Kamensky (5) – pp – 03:49 |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =Joe Sakic (12) – 04:33 |goalie4-1 =Ed Belfour 54 saves / 57 shots |goalie4-2 =Patrick Roy 32 saves / 34 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =14:33 – Chris Simon (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =12:37 – Valeri Kamensky (6) |5-3-1 =Jeremy Roenick (5) – 14:42 |5-3-2 =05:19 – Scott Young (2) 16:43 – Valeri Kamensky (7) |goalie5-1 =Ed Belfour 24 saves / 28 shots |goalie5-2 =Patrick Roy 22 saves / 23 shots

|6-1-1 =12:10 – Denis Savard (1) |6-1-2 =Valeri Kamensky (8) – 04:55 |6-2-1 =19:36 – Bernie Nicholls (2) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =19:00 – Joe Murphy (6) |6-3-2 =Joe Sakic (13) – pp – 01:29 Valeri Kamensky (9) – 07:02 |6-4-1 =No scoring |6-4-2 =Sandis Ozolinsh (3) – 05:18 |goalie6-1 =Ed Belfour 41 saves / 45 shots |goalie6-2 =Patrick Roy 31 saves / 34 shots

Conference finals

Eastern Conference final

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (4) Florida Panthers

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was Pittsburgh's third Conference Final appearance. They last made the Conference Final in 1992, where they defeated the Boston Bruins in four games. This was Florida's first Conference Final appearance in their third season since entering the league as an expansion team in 1993.

Despite being outshot 33–25 in game one, the Panthers came out on top with an impressive 5–1 win. Florida goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck made 32 saves and Florida forward Tom Fitzgerald scored twice. The Penguins wanting to avoid going down two games to none against the Panthers came out with a better effort in game two and won the game 3–2 and evened the series at one game each. In game three, the Panthers fired an incredible 61 shots on Penguins goaltender Tom Barrasso and it paid off as the Panthers won 5–2 to take a 2–1 series lead, with Florida forward Stu Barnes scoring twice. Going into the third period of game four, the Penguins trailed 1–0. Pittsburgh tied the score on Brad Lauer's goal with 11:03 remaining in regulation, then Bryan Smolinski scored the go ahead goal with 3:31 to go to give the Penguins a 2–1 lead. Pittsburgh hung on to win the game 2–1 and tie the series at two games apiece. In game five, the Penguins shut-out the Panthers 3–0, with Tom Barrasso stopping all 28 Florida shots he faced.

Leading the series three games to two, Pittsburgh looked to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in game six. The Penguins led 2–1 in the second period, but the Panthers scored three of the next four goals and edged the Penguins 4–3 to tie the series at 3–3. In game seven, Florida took a 1–0 lead on Mike Hough's goal at 13:13 of the first period. After a scoreless second period, Pittsburgh tied the game on Petr Nedved's power-play goal at 1:23 of the third period. The Panthers regained the lead on Tom Fitzgerald's bizarre 58-foot slapshot at 6:18 and got an insurance goal from Johan Garpenlov at 17:23. Florida hung on to win the game 3–1 and the series four games to three, John Vanbiesbrouck making 39 saves in the victory. This was the last playoff series victory for the Panthers until 2022 when they beat the Washington Capitals in six games, and was their last appearance in the Conference Finals until 2023.

|1-1-1 =Dave Lowry (8) – pp – 01:52 Tom Fitzgerald (1) – 16:11 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Tom Fitzgerald (2) – 07:12 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Dave Lowry (9) – 15:41 Scott Mellanby (2) – pp – 18:48 |1-3-2 =07:03 – Kevin Miller (2) |goalie1-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 32 saves / 33 shots |goalie1-2 =Ken Wregget 20 saves / 25 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =07:31 – pp – Sergei Zubov (1) 13:57 – pp – Jaromir Jagr (11) |2-3-1 =Ray Sheppard (6) – 00:29 Bill Lindsay (4) – 12:19 |2-3-2 =08:12 – Mario Lemieux (11) |goalie2-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck35 saves / 38 shots |goalie2-2 =Tom Barrasso 30 saves / 32 shots

|3-1-1 =01:46 – Ray Sheppard (7) |3-1-2 =Bryan Smolinski (4) – 16:02 |3-2-1 =03:51 – Radek Dvorak (1) |3-2-2 =Petr Nedved (8) – 00:27 |3-3-1 =00:55 – pp – Stu Barnes (4) 04:55 – Stu Barnes (5) 07:37 – Martin Straka (1) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 26 saves / 28 shots |goalie3-2 =Tom Barrasso 56 saves / 61 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =12:50 – Dave Lowry (10) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Brad Lauer (1) – 08:57 Bryan Smolinski (5) – 16:29 |goalie4-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 22 saves / 24 shots |goalie4-2 =Tom Barrasso 32 saves / 33 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =08:48 – pp – J. J. Daigneault (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =18:27 – Petr Nedved (9) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =18:42 – en – Tomas Sandstrom (3) |goalie5-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 36 saves / 38 shots |goalie5-2 =Tom Barrasso 28 saves / 28 shots

|6-1-1 =07:45 – Scott Mellanby (3) |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =14:56 – Bill Lindsay (5) |6-2-2 =Kevin Miller (3) – 01:55 Joe Dziedzic (1) – 10:16 |6-3-1 =09:35 – Martin Straka (2) 13:58 – Rob Niedermayer (4) |6-3-2 =Tomas Sandstrom (4) – 12:17 |goalie6-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 20 saves / 23 shots |goalie6-2 =Tom Barrasso 36 saves / 40 shots

|7-1-1 =Mike Hough (4) – 13:13 |7-1-2 =No scoring |7-2-1 =No scoring |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =Tom Fitzgerald (3) – 06:18 Johan Garpenlov (4) – 17:23 |7-3-2 =01:23 – pp – Petr Nedved (10) |goalie7-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 39 saves / 40 shots |goalie7-2 =Tom Barrasso 25 saves / 28 shots

Western Conference final

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (2) Colorado Avalanche

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was Detroit's second consecutive and fourth overall Conference Final appearance. They defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in the previous year in five games. This was Colorado's third Conference Final appearance in franchise history and first since relocating to Colorado. They last went to the Conference Final in 1985, which they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games when the team was known as the Quebec Nordiques.

Game 1 was a hard-fought battle. The score was tied at two in the first overtime period when Mike Keane scored at 17:31 to give Colorado a 3–2 win. The Avalanche won Game 2, 3–0, with Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy stopping all 35 shots faced. Down two games to none, the Red Wings played solidly in Game 3. Detroit defencemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov combined to score three goals (including a shorthanded goal by Konstantinov) and Detroit won 6–4. In game four the Red Wings outshot the Avalanche 31–17 but lost the game 4–2 thanks to 29 saves made by Patrick Roy.

Detroit played with desperation and determination in game five. Inspired by Vladimir Konstantinov's big body check on Avalanche forward Claude Lemieux, the Red Wings went on to win 5–2. The Red Wings victory forced a Game 6 back in Colorado. Game 6 became famous in the history of the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry. At 14:07 of the first period, Detroit forward Kris Draper was down along the half-boards at centre ice when Colorado forward Claude Lemieux checked Draper's head from behind into the edge of the bench. The hit sent Draper to the hospital with a broken jaw and a shattered cheek and orbital bone, which required surgery and stitches. Draper did not return to play until the middle of the 1996–97 season. While Lemieux was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct match penalty for the hit, the Avalanche went on to win the game 4–1 and completed the upset. The controversial hit on Draper by Lemieux was a catalyst (along with a rough hit by Kozlov on Foote in Game 3) for the Detroit–Colorado rivalry that endured for a decade. In a 2021 Documentary, Lemieux and Draper moved past the incident and are now friends.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =06:00 – pp – Paul Coffey (3) |1-2-1 =Stephane Yelle (1) – sh – 00:44 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Adam Deadmarsh (3) – 01:34 |1-3-2 =05:33 – sh – Paul Coffey (4) |1-4-1 =Mike Keane (2) – 17:31 |1-4-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Patrick Roy 29 saves / 31 shots |goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 27 saves / 30 shots

|2-1-1 =Joe Sakic (14) – pp – 11:36 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Warren Rychel (1) – 05:45 Sandis Ozolinsh (4) – 08:03 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Patrick Roy 35 saves / 35 shots |goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 17 saves / 20 shots

|3-1-1 =15:37 – pp – Claude Lemieux (4) |3-1-2 =Darren McCarty (3) – 09:22 Nicklas Lidstrom (4) – 10:31 |3-2-1 =05:56 – Sandis Ozolinsh (5) 19:44 – Adam Foote (1) 19:51 – Adam Deadmarsh (4) |3-2-2 =Dino Ciccarelli (5) – pp – 05:36 Vladimir Konstantinov (4) – sh – 15:34 Igor Larionov (5) – pp – 17:41 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Nicklas Lidstrom (5) – 00:32 |goalie3-1 =Patrick Roy 16 saves / 22 shots |goalie3-2 =Chris Osgood 15 saves / 19 shots

|4-1-1 =16:23 – Adam Deadmarsh (5) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =07:20 – Joe Sakic (15) |4-2-2 =Dino Ciccarelli (6) – pp – 04:17 |4-3-1 =03:25 – pp – Uwe Krupp (2) 19:58 – en – Peter Forsberg (6) |4-3-2 =Doug Brown (2) – 14:02 |goalie4-1 =Patrick Roy 29 saves / 31 shots |goalie4-2 =Chris Osgood 13 saves / 16 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =11:35 – Vyacheslav Kozlov (5) 12:39 – Igor Larionov (6) |5-2-1 =Mike Ricci (3) – pp – 02:10 Mike Ricci (4) – pp – 08:00 |5-2-2 =04:18 – Sergei Fedorov (2) 12:15 – Doug Brown (3) 19:28 – Greg Johnson (3) |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Patrick Roy 21 saves / 26 shots |goalie5-2 =Chris Osgood 26 saves / 28 shots

|6-1-1 =11:57 – Joe Sakic (16) |6-1-2 =Paul Coffey (5) – pp – 15:36 |6-2-1 =05:55 – pp – Joe Sakic (17) 07:51 – pp – Mike Ricci (5) 16:44 – Peter Forsberg (7) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Patrick Roy 23 saves / 24 shots |goalie6-2 =Chris Osgood 18 saves / 22 shots

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1996 Stanley Cup Finals

Since the formation of the NHL in 1917 this was the only time to date that both teams competing in the Stanley Cup Finals made their first appearance.

This was the first and to date only playoff series between these two teams. This was also the first Stanley Cup Finals ever played in the Deep South. Colorado made their first Finals appearance in their first season in Denver, this was the franchise's seventeenth season in the league, while Florida made their first Finals appearance in just their third season of existence. Colorado became the third NHL team to win the Stanley Cup following a relocation, and the first to do so in their inaugural season after relocation. This was the Panthers' last Finals appearance until 2023. The Avalanche swept the Panthers to win their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history.

|1-1-1 =Tom Fitzgerald (4) – 16:51 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =10:32 – Scott Young (3) 12:21 – Mike Ricci (6) 14:21 – Uwe Krupp (3) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 27 saves / 30 shots |goalie1-2 =Patrick Roy 25 saves / 26 shots

|2-1-1 =Stu Barnes (6) – pp – 07:52 |2-1-2 =04:11 – Peter Forsberg (8) 10:43 – pp – Rene Corbet (2) 13:46 – pp – Peter Forsberg (9) 15:05 – pp – Peter Forsberg (10) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =04:37 – Rene Corbet (3) 05:08 – Valeri Kamensky (10) 10:03 – Jon Klemm (1) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =17:28 – pp – Jon Klemm (2) |goalie2-1 = John Vanbiesbrouck 7 saves / 11 shots Mark Fitzpatrick 15 saves / 19 shots |goalie2-2 =Patrick Roy 27 saves / 28 shots

|3-1-1 =09:14 – pp – Ray Sheppard (8) 11:19 – Rob Niedermayer (5) |3-1-2 =Claude Lemieux (5) – 02:44 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Mike Keane (3) – 01:38 Joe Sakic (18) – 03:00 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 19 saves / 22 shots |goalie3-2 =Patrick Roy 32 saves / 34 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =Uwe Krupp (4) – 04:31 |goalie4-1 =John Vanbiesbrouck 55 saves / 56 shots |goalie4-2 =Patrick Roy 63 saves / 63 shots

Playoff statistics

Skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points.

Goaltenders

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.

References

before = 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs | after = 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs | title = Stanley Cup Champions | years = |

References

1. [http://archives.cbc.ca/clip.asp?page=1&IDClip=15111&IDCat=274&IDCatPa=153 1996: Rogue Claude clips Draper's Wings - CBC Archives]
2. [http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?reportType=season&seasonFrom=19951996&seasonTo=19951996&gameType=3&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=points,goals,assists NHL.com - Skater Stats]
3. [http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?report=goaliesummary&reportType=season&seasonFrom=19951996&seasonTo=19951996&gameType=3&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=goalsAgainstAverage NHL.com - Goalie Stats]