For the NHL, the 2000s comprised a split decade, if there ever was one.
The season-long 2004-05 lockout will forever live as a barrier between two eras. On one border was the end of the league’s black-and-orange shield and broadcast alliance with ESPN. The other side bore a fledgling black-and-silver emblem and a contract with the Outdoor Life Network (later Versus).
Yet two of the decade’s most thrilling Stanley Cup Finals combine to accentuate what didn’t change. Both the last pre-lockout and first post-lockout championship series had an upset-minded Alberta franchise collide with an American Southeastern market. A Game 7 was warranted each time.
One of those sets saw the eventual victor trail the series after dropping Game 5. The other had the underdog win back-to-back elimination contests to force the rubber match.
As it happens, the 2000s were laden with several series of both natures at all stages of the playoffs. To sweeten their legacy, many of those matchups ended in overtime, or at least one team barely averting it.
The quantity of these compelling series is all the more remarkable considering the decade had 135 total playoff sets. If not for the 2005 tournament’s cancellation, it could have had 150, just like the 1990s.
Furthermore, of the five Stanley Cup Finals in the 2000s to reach Game 7, three missed the cut for this list. Ditto four of the six conference finals to go the distance. (The 2009 Stanley Cup Final and 2003 Eastern Conference Final were especially tough omissions.)
Those who beat out that formidable competition with their close shaves, game-to-game seesaws and multiple OT contests (especially later in the series) are as follows.
10. 2008: Philadelphia vs. Washington
Despite garnerning fewer points than the Flyers (95-94), the Caps held home ice as the Southeast Division’s top finisher. A classic middleweight first-round set ensued.
In Game 1, Washington blew two early leads, trailed by two goals at the second intermission, then scored three unanswered. The Flyers responded to that 5-4 setback by overwhelmingly outshooting the Caps in 2-0 and 6-3 victories.
Facing a virtual must-win on the road in Game 4, Washington raised the upper hand three times. But the Flyers had an answer for everything, and ultimately walked off in double-overtime for a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Outshot yet again in Game 5, the Caps never trailed en route to a 3-2 win. Back in Philly, they surmounted an early 2-0 deficit, with Alex Ovechkin tallying twice to turn a 2-2 deadlock into a 4-2 win.
Each team had a lead in Game 7 before Ovechkin’s 2-2 equalizer held up long enough to force overtime. There the Flyers reran their act from Game 4, as Joffrey Lupul ended the series on a power-play conversion.
9. 2007: Vancouver vs. Dallas
This first-round matchup bore more drama earlier than later. With that said, even the third-place Canucks’ 4-1 victory in Game 7 was deceptively lopsided. They tripled their advantage on a pair of empty-net strikes within the final 63 seconds.
Moreover, Vancouver did not lead that game until Trevor Linden converted a power play for a 2-1 edge with exactly 13 minutes left. That came after Henrik Sedin scored an equalizer and ended the team’s lengthy production drought in the middle frame.
Dallas had previously taken Game 5, 1-0, and Game 6, 2-0. The former was the third overtime match of the series. Vancouver had claimed a 5-4 triple-OT thriller in Game 1 and restored its series lead to 2-1 with an identical result in Game 3.
In between, Stars goalie Marty Turco laid his first of three goose eggs in a 2-0 triumph. He came through with his second and third after Vancouver claimed a 2-1 regulation win in Game 4.
When the Canucks fed the empty net twice in Game 7, they secured a cumulative goal margin of 13-12 in the series. Yet Turco had still only surrendered 11 in the equivalent of eight-plus games.
8. 2006 Stanley Cup Final
The Oilers fell short of becoming the first eighth-seeded team in either conference to win the Cup. But after coming within one overtime goal of falling in five, they at least rallied to force a winner-take-all game.
And at least the aforementioned Capitals and Stars had their first-string goaltender when they turned 3-1 deficits into 3-3 draws. Edmonton lost Dwayne Roloson to an injury in Game 1, then let a 3-1 lead devolve into a 5-4 defeat in the third period.
Turning to Ty Conklin, and then Jussi Markanen, the Oilers looked bound to fizzle after a 5-0 Hurricanes blowout in Game 2. But after trading 2-1 squeakers at home, they took an entertaining 4-3 decision when facing elimination in Carolina. Fernando Pisani bookended the scoring by drawing first blood at the 16-second mark of regulation and converting a shorthanded breakaway in sudden death.
Pisani had the icebreaker and clincher again when Edmonton won Game 6, 4-0. But the Cinderella run finally wore down when Pisani could only cut a 2-0 deficit in half late in Game 7. The Hurricanes held on long enough for Justin Williams’ insurance to put the Cup away with 61 seconds remaining.
7. 2002: Colorado vs. San Jose
Seeking their first bid to the conference finals, the third-seeded Sharks led the defending champions three times. In each win, including two in Denver, they put at least four pucks past Patrick Roy. Overall, they tallied 14 plus three empty netters in those contests.
But the resolute Avalanche always had an answer. After pleasing their fans with an 8-2 bounce-back in Game 2 and a 4-1 runaway in Game 4, they won their fifth straight elimination contest dating back to the previous spring.
A 1-0 Sharks lead in Game 6 lasted all of 24 seconds before Steven Reinprecht tied things up. The remaining 24:19 of regulation past with no change to the score. All San Jose needed to do was reward its rabid home crowd by striking first and securing the stunner.
Instead, Avs superstar Peter Forsberg accounted for the rest of the goals in the series. He found the net in OT, then decided Colorado’s 1-0 regulation victory in Game 7.
6. 2000 Eastern Conference Final
The Devils needed to overcome a 3-1 deficit to secure their second-ever berth in the Stanley Cup Final. That phase in this series makes it easy to forget they were 20 minutes away from going home with a 2-0 advantage.
After an embarrassing 4-1 loss in the opener, the Flyers flipped a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 victory. They did it by bagging both the equalizer and the clincher in the second minute of Game 2’s third period.
Philadelphia then claimed back-to-back victories in New Jersey, after which Devils coach Larry Robinson famously ripped into his club. The Jersey boys responded with their second 4-1 road win of the series. Back home, they forced the deciding match by eking out a 2-1 victory after a scoreless first and second period.
Game 7 was another tight tilt, and marred from a Flyers perspective by Scott Stevens’ injurious hit on Eric Lindros. But on the board, visitor Patrik Elias sandwiched his second- and third-period goals around Rick Tocchet’s middle-stanza strike. That spelled the difference in New Jersey’s 2-1 clincher.
5. 2001: Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo
The road team prevailed in five games, the last three required overtime and three others were deadlocked after two periods.
After blanking Buffalo in the opener, 3-0, the Penguins doubled their edge in this Eastern Conference semifinal more climactically. Andrew Ference broke a 1-1 tie with 11:49 left in regulation, and Alexei Kovalev put Game 2 away on an empty net.
The Sabres similarly broke away after entering the closing frame of Games 3 and 4 in 1-1 and 2-2 knots, respectively. They tied the series by tallying two even-strength and one empty-net or power-play goal.
Buffalo needed to surmount a 2-0 deficit to claim the set’s first home victory in Game 5. But the Pens matched that feat in Game 6, burying two equalizers and claiming an identical 3-2 sudden-death triumph.
The same basic sequence reprised itself in Buffalo in Game 7. The Sabres struck early in the second and third period. Pittsburgh responded near the midway point of both stanzas, then won the series in OT via Darius Kasparaitus.
4. 2006 Eastern Conference Final
By the 1:55 mark of Game 5’s second period, the visiting Sabres had already led the series twice. Now they had twice compelled Carolina coach Peter Laviolette to make an in-game goaltending switch.
With his team trailing the game, 3-1, Cam Ward returned to action after giving way to Martin Gerber amidst a Game 3 loss. He would help stop the bleeding while his teammates stormed back for a 4-3 overtime victory.
The Hurricanes trailed again in Game 6 until Bret Hedican’s 1-1 equalizer with 3:53 left in regulation. The resultant overtime would ensure the fifth one-goal outcome of the series, and Buffalo’s Danny Briere would ensure a Game 7.
After a perfect first period, the rookie Ward let a 1-0 lead devolve into a 2-1 deficit, with Jochen Hecht putting the Sabres ahead five seconds before the second intermission. But the Canes regrouped, regained the momentum and ultimately regained the lead for good.
After captain Rod Brind’Amour restored Carolina’s lead, Justin Williams provided the insurance with 52 seconds remaining.
3. 2004: Calgary vs. Vancouver
Starting their first playoff appearance in eight years, the Flames foretold an unlikely run no later than Game 4. With a 4-0 shutout by goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, they tied the first-round series in what would be its most lopsided game.
Other than that and Vancouver’s 5-3 victory in the opener, all of the matches ended in a one-goal difference. The teams traded 2-1 road wins in Games 2 and 3, and Calgary pushed the Canucks to the brink with the same result in Game 5.
The Pengrowth Saddledome was entitled to a sense of momentum late in Game 6. Entering the third period down by a pair, the Flames scored two unanswered goals to force overtime. But the Canucks rebounded and staved off elimination via Brendan Morrison in triple-OT.
Back home, Vancouver took its turn with a cardiac third period. Visiting centerpiece Jarome Iginla and Canucks forward Matt Cooke alternated goals, with Cooke burying his second equalizer at 19:54 of the closing frame.
Once again, however, the visitor regrouped at intermission. And at the 85-second mark of sudden death, Martin Gelinas put away his first of three straight series clinchers.
2. 2003: Minnesota vs. Colorado
Colorado’s 3-0 shutout in Game 3 was the second and final time either side managed a three-goal lead in this series. While the Avs went on to double their series lead in Game 4, a goalie swap would spawn delayed gratification for Minnesota.
Upon replacing Roloson, Manny Fernandez did not get the decision in the Wild’s third consecutive loss. But he did get the nod for their first do-or-die game, then their second and then their third.
The Wild sculpted and subsisted on an intial 3-0 lead en route to a 3-2 season-saver in Denver. Back home, they let a pair of leads evaporate before Richard Park scored in overtime.
The host Avalanche led the ensuing Game 7 twice. But the Wild, putting in their first playoff appearance in three years of operation, would reward Fernandez’s unprecedented valiance. While turning away a series-high 43 shots, the backup would watch his teammates bag the second equalizer, then the stunning sudden-death clincher via Andrew Brunette.
1. 2004 Stanley Cup Final
Building on its first-round upset of Vancouver, Calgary had its turn as the Cinderella story of the year. After subsequently disposing of Detroit and San Jose, it made the best threat of any such team to not come out on top in the final.
Facing the Eastern Conference’s second seed in Tampa, the Flames took two of the three three-goal decisions to start the final. After conceding a tough 1-0 decision in Game 4, they took their third lead over the Lightning with a 3-2 overtime victory.
Taking that commanding advantage back home, Calgary deleted two deficits in Game 6’s middle frame. In the third period, a controversial near-miss by Gelinas potentially nullified a would-be Cup clincher.
Instead, Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis struck in double-overtime to force Game 7. Back home, the Bolts opened the first multi-goal lead for either team since Game 3, as Ruslan Fedotenko scored two unanswered.
Craig Conroy’s power-play conversion cut the deficit in half with 10:39 remaining in regulation. But that was as far as the threat went. Tampa held on to fulfill its destiny with the 2-1 final.
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