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GAME 1:
The Detroit Red Wings were itching to win their third Stanley Cup in six years as they met the Carolina Hurricanes, who were in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time ever. Sergei Fedorov scored 15:21 into the first period to give the Wings the early 1-0 lead, but Sean Hill tied it up 3:30 into the second on a two-man power-play. Kirk Maltby put Detroit up again seven minutes later. But Jeff O'Neill scored 19:10 into the second period to force another overtime game. Ron Francis scored the deciding goal as the Hurricanes put the veteran Red Wings down 1-0 in the finals series.
GAME 2:
Kirk Maltby's shorthanded goal 6:33 into the game set the tone as Detroit went up 1-0. Rod Brind'Amour tied with a shorthanded goal of his own 8 minutes later. It was Nick Lidstrom' power-play goal for Detroit at 14:52 of the third period that decided the game, with Kris Draper topping the score at 3-1 only 13 seconds later. Detroit pulled even with the Hurricanes as the Stanley Cup finals went down to Carolina for the first time in history.
GAME 3:
Igor Larionov was the hero of the third-longest Stanley Cup finals game in NHL history. At 14:49 of the game, Josef Vasicek scored for Carolina for a 1-0 lead. Then Larionov scored 5:33 into the second period to become the oldest player to score a goal in a Cup finals game. Jeff O'Neill took the lead back 7:34 into the third period, but Brett Hull's goal with 1:14 remaining pushed the game through two whole overtime periods and into a third. It was Larionov who relieved everyone by scoring at 14:47 of triple-overtime for his second of the game, putting Detroit up 2-1 in the series. The game was the 19th overtime game in the 2002 playoffs, for a total of 23 extra periods.
GAME 4:
Dominik Hasek etched his name in NHL history books one more time this year as he recorded his sixth shutout of the playoff season, beating his previous record of five. It was his 12th career shutout of the same kind, pushing Carolina to the edge of elimination as the Red Wings went up 3-1 in the Cup finals. Brett Hull opened up the scoring at 6:32 of the second period to give Detroit their game-long lead. Igor Larionov tallied his third goal of the playoffs 3:43 into the third period, and Brendan Shanahan finished off with a 3-0 win at 14:43.
GAME 5:
The Detroit Red Wings waited all year for this. The 2002 Stanley Cup champions finished off Carolina in five games with a 3-1 victory. Tomas Holmstrom got Detroit's first goal followed by Jeff O'Neill to tie it again. But Brendan Shanahan took the game away with a 2-1 lead, which he increased to three with his empty-netter 44.5 seconds before the end of the game.
The win marked the 10th Cup for Detroit and the third in just six years. Head coach Scotty Bowman announced his retirement after the game, and will leave the NHL with 9 Cups to his name, the most ever won by a coach. Nicklas Lidstrom beat out Steve Yzerman as the playoff MVP, receiving the Conn Smythe Trophy. Luc Robitaille and Steve Duchesne were two of the veterans whom the Cup had eluded over the years. This would also mark the last game for Dominik Hasek, also his first Cup, as he announced his retirement a few weeks later.
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