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GAME 1:
Leading up to the playoffs, Vancouver has the battle just to secure an eighth-place berth. They were unbeaten in the last 10 games of the regular season, with 8 wins and 2 ties. On the other hand, Detroit, who had already clinched first-seed with 115 points and the President's Trophy for most points in the league, hadnot won a game forthe whole of April. With the momentum on Vancouver's side, it would prove to be an interesting battle against the highest paid team in the league.
New to the team this year after many in Los Angeles, Luc Robitaille got the game going in Detroit 17:51 through the first period. Todd Warriner promptly tied it up 21 seconds into the second period, forcing the teams to fight for a lead. It came when Sergei Fedorov put a power-play goal in at 8:23 of the second, but Vancouver tied it again at 2-2 with their own power-play goal from Andrew Cassels at 13:11. Detroit again tried for the lead with Igor Larionov scoring 1:55 into the third period. But Vancouver would not die, and Trevor Linden put away their third tying goal at 10:47, bringing the game back to square one and forcing overtime. Overtime fell to the Canucks, as Henrik Sedin put Vancouver ahead for the first time, giving his team the lead in their tough series. Dan Cloutier made 35 saves for Vancouver, while the renowned Dominik Hasek only stopped 26 shots.
GAME 2:
Dan Cloutier made 34 saves to improve Vancouver's record to 10-0-2 in their last twelve games, taking the highly favoured Detroit Red Wings by storm with a 2-0 lead in the series. The Canucks got their game-long lead halfway through the first period, when Todd Bertuzzi tapped an unlikely goal past "The Dominator" Dominik Hasek. They extended their lead 2-0 at 7 minutes into the second period with a goal by Andrew Cassels. Just over three minutes later, Detroit's defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom attempted to tighten the gap with another goal, but Vancouver took off again in another three minutes, when Scott Lachance made it 3-1, beating Hasek for the third time on just 10 shots.
Steve Yzerman, suffering from a knee injury that he received during the Olympic break, scored a power-play goal to bring the Red Wings back within one at 3-2. But captain Markus Naslund secured the win at 18:08 of the third period. An empty-netter was added by Matt Cooke with 1:11 to go in the game, sending Detroit out to Vancouver down two-games-to-none in the series.
GAME 3:
Reeling from their losses in the first two games, Detroit went to Vancouver determined to reclaim their status as the best team in the league. Steve Yzerman got started off scoring in the first period when he bumped over Vancouver netminder Dan Cloutier and went around the back of the net for a backhand wraparound goal while Cloutier was off balance. Todd Bertuzzi, playing extremely well for Vancouver in the series, scored on Hasek at 4:38 of the second period to tie the game. But Nicklas Lidstrom's slapper from centre ice set the tone for the rest of the series as he beat Dan Cloutier for a 2-1 lead. With the insurance goal added early in the third period by Brendan Shanahan, Detroit locked down to hold on to their lead. But they nearly came in jeopardy of being scored on when Bertuzzi was awarded a penalty shot late in the period. Hasek preserved Detroit's lead though, turning away the shot and holding on until the end of the game.
GAME 4:
Jiri Fischer surprised Dan Cloutier 3:22 into the game when he deflected the puck off of Vancouver player Brent Sopel, starting off the Red Wings with a lead once more. A first period power-play goal slapped in by Chris Chelios through traffic in front of the net brought the Red Wings up to 2-0. The lead was squandered in the second period as goals were scored for Vancouver by Mathias Ohlund at 9:50 and Matt Cooke at 19:28.
56 seconds into the third period, Steve Yzerman struck for his third goal ofthe series, passing the legendary Gordie Howe as the leading scorer of postseason goals in Red Wings history. By the end of the period, Vancouver was still down 3-2, and when the goalie was pulled for an extra attacker, Kris Draper knocked the puck into the empty net for a final score of 4-2 for Detroit, evening up their series at two games apiece as the teams headed back to Detroit for a best-of-three series.
GAME 5:
Dominik Hasek and the rest of the Red Wings were back in true from again as they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 to take a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference quarterfinals series. Sergei Fedorov got things started with a power-play goal 4:02 into the game. Then Mathieu Dandenault scored a shorthanded goal at 13:35, followed by another goal just under two minutes later by Boyd Devereaux, off of a long shot by Brett Hull. Dan Cloutier was replaced by Peter Skudra after the third goal, but Detroit wasn't finished with the first period yet. Sergei Fedorov poked the puck past Skudra at 18:31 for his second of the period, putting the scoring at 4-0. Despite multiple penalties against Detroit, Vancouver failed to capitalize on the man-advantages, giving Hasek his seventh career playoff shutout.
GAME 6:
Back in Vancouver and facing elimination after dropping 2-3 in a series that started off 2-0, the Canucks turned up the intensity with their backs pressed against the boards. After letting Detroit once again take a 2-0 lead early in the first period, Ed Jovanovski scored his first of the playoffs mid-way through the period. Henrik Sedin followed up just 44 seconds to tie it at 2-2. After Dan Cloutier let a shorthanded goal by Nicklas Lidstrom through in the second period, Peter Skudra was again put in net for Vancouver. But 30 seconds later, Brett Hull deked around Skudra and put away another shorthanded goal, giving Detroit their two goal lead back with 4-2. Hull got another goal at 17:39 of the second to make it 5-2 for Detroit.
At 6:55 of the third period, Henrik Sedin scored his third of the series for Vancouver to pull within two goals again, but seven minutes later Brett Hull completed his first playoff hat-trick with one of his characteristic slapshots from the right faceoff circle. Vancouver pulled up again with the extra attacker on the ice when Matt Cooke scored. But that would be the end of the Canucks' postseason as Detroit took a 6-4 final score in the 4-2 series winner. The playoffs would continue on to the next round where Detroit meets St. Louis.
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