Avalanche KO Stars

2004 Playoffs

"The mentality of trying to maintain a killer instinct, you need to have that in the playoffs," Avalanche forward Dan Hinote said. "We felt we did that."

Milan Hejduk, Darby Hendrickson, Steve Konowalchuk and Joe Sakic also scored for the Avs, who won the series four games to one.

Flyers Eliminate Devils
Danny Markov scored the game-winning goal as the Philadelphia Flyers ousted the New Jersey Devils from the playoffs with a 3-1 victory in Game Five of first-round series.

"It was exciting," Flyers goalie Robert Esche said. "I could feel the ice shake. I didn't think the crowd could get that loud. I didn't think anything could get that loud."

The Flyers exorcised their old demons as the memory of the Devils's comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in the 2000 Conference finals was finally put to rest.

Red Wings Advance To Second Round
Ray Whitney and Steve Yzerman each scored in the first two minute of the game as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Nashville Predators 3-1 to win the Western Conference quarterfinals four games to two.

"We just seemed to do what we had to do to win," Detroit forward Darren McCarty said. "That's what we concentrated on, and we hadn't won a first-round series in a while so it feels good."

Robert Lang had two assists and Curtis Joseph stopped 15 shots to earn his 16th career postseason shutout.

Canadiens Even Series
Yanic Perreault had a goal and two assists as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 and forced decisive Game Seven in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

"We haven't won anything yet," Montreal coach Claude Julien said. "We have to be ready for anything on Monday night."

"We're going to throw everything at Montreal in Game Seven," Boston goaltender Andrew Raycroft said. "Our confidence is not shattered."

Canucks Force Game 7
Brendan Morrison scored 2:28 into triple overtime as the Vancouver Canucks stayed alive in the playoffs by beating the Calgary Flames 5-4 to even their first-round series.

"Being in the right spot at the right time," Morrison said. "We did what we wanted to do. We stayed alive. Now we have to go out and win the next one."

The Canucks squandered a four-goal lead as the Flames scored four unanswered goals to get into overtime.