The 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League (NHL), began at the conclusion of the 1992–93 NHL season on April 18, and ended with the Stanley Cup win on June 9.
The Presidents' Trophy-winning Pittsburgh Penguins, who had won the Stanley Cup the previous two years, were the favourite to "three-peat". However, both conferences saw numerous upsets, and the championship went instead to the Montreal Canadiens, who won in a five-game series with the Los Angeles Kings. The Canadiens had 11 consecutive wins in total (tying the record), and they also set an NHL playoff record by winning 10 overtime games.
This was the first time since the 1979 NHL-WHA merger that the Edmonton Oilers had missed the playoffs. It was also the first time that longtime Oiler and then-New York Rangers captain Mark Messier had missed the playoffs in his career.
Contents |
| Division semi-finals | Division finals | Conference finals | Stanley Cup final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Quebec Nordiques | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| A3 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Prince of Wales Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| P3 | New York Islanders | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | New Jersey Devils | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | New York Islanders | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Washington Capitals | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | New York Islanders | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| A3 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Los Angeles Kings | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Chicago Blackhawks | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Louis Blues | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Louis Blues | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| N3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Clarence Campbell Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vancouver Canucks | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Winnipeg Jets | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vancouver Canucks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Calgary Flames | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Buffalo's four-game upset sweep of the heavily-favored Bruins ended with a memorable overtime goal by Brad May at Buffalo's Memorial Auditorium as they avenged their loss to Boston from the year before.
Buffalo wins best-of-seven series 4–0
The Canadiens lost the first two games of this series against the rival Nordiques, due in part to a couple of weak goals let in by star Montreal goaltender (and Quebec City native) Patrick Roy. Afterward, a newspaper in Roy's hometown district suggested that he be traded, while Nordiques goaltending coach Dan Bouchard also proclaimed that his team had solved Roy. However, Montreal coach Jacques Demers held himself to a promise he had made to Roy earlier in the season and kept him as the starting goalie.
With the Habs staring a potential 3–0 series deficit to the Nords in the face, overtime in Game 3 was marked by two disputed goals that were reviewed by the video goal judge. The first review ruled that Stephan Lebeau had knocked the puck in with a high stick, but the second upheld the Habs' winning goal, as it was directed in by the skate of Quebec defenceman Alexei Gusarov and not that of a Montreal player.
As it turned out, this was the final playoff series between the provincial rivals before the Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche.
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–2
The Devils had been a struggling team prior to the 1992–93 season but qualified for the Patrick Division playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. Here they met the Presidents' Trophy winners and two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins. With their win in Game 1 the Penguins recorded their twelfth consecutive playoff victory, beating the record the Chicago Blackhawks had set in the 1992 playoffs (and that Pittsburgh had tied in Game 4 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals against those same Blackhawks). The streak ended at 14 when the Devils won Game 4 to stave off elimination.
Pittsburgh wins best-of-seven series 4–1
Game 6 of this series was marred by a vicious hit by the Capitals' Dale Hunter on the Islanders' leading scorer, Pierre Turgeon, moments after Turgeon scored a third-period goal to put the game and the series out of reach for Washington. Turgeon suffered a separated shoulder on the play and missed almost all of the next round. Hunter received a 21-game suspension for his actions, the longest in NHL history up to that time, which was served during the 1993–94 season.
NYI win best-of-seven series 4–2
The Blackhawks, on an overtime goal in Game 4, became the second division champion after the Bruins to be swept in the first round of the playoffs. Chicago goaltender Ed Belfour complained that St. Louis star Brett Hull had interfered with him on the play, but to no avail as the tally stood as the game- and series-winner. Belfour famously went on a rampage after the game, breaking a hot tub, coffee maker, and television in the visitors' locker room at the St. Louis Arena. In 1999, Hawk fans would be left to contemplate the irony of the situation when Belfour and Hull were teammates on the Cup-winning Dallas Stars, who in 1993 were known as the Minnesota North Stars. With the sweep at the hands of the Blues, Chicago saw their playoff losing streak extended to eight games, dating back to the Stanley Cup Finals of the previous year against the Penguins.
St. Louis wins best-of-seven series 4–0
In a revival of the heated Original Six rivalry, Nikolai Borschevsky's Game 7 overtime goal gave Toronto the series and made them the sixth club to eliminate a team with a better regular season record in the first round of the playoffs. This was also Toronto's first playoff series win over Detroit since the Leafs beat the Wings in the seven-game 1964 Stanley Cup Finals.
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4–3
The Smythe Division champions from Vancouver managed to shut down the Jets in six games.
Vancouver wins best-of-seven series 4–2
The Kings upset the Flames in a high-scoring six-game series.
Los Angeles wins best-of-seven series 4–2
The long-awaited series between two of the NHL's top goaltenders, Montreal's Patrick Roy and Buffalo's Grant Fuhr, had finally arrived. However, the Canadiens swept the series, winning every game by a score of 4–3 and claiming the Adams Division championship. As in their previous series, the Habs played three overtime games, this time winning all three.
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–0
The Isles' improbable upset of the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, who had finished far ahead of New York in the regular season, was capped off by David Volek's overtime goal in Game 7. Islanders defenceman Darius Kasparaitis played a large role in his team's win, neutralizing Pittsburgh stars Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr with big hits. With their upset of the Pens, the Isles reached the Wales Conference Finals for the first time since 1984. This upset also prevented any chance of a Lemieux-Gretzky Finals, and was the closest it ever came to happening.
New York Islanders win best-of-seven series 4–3
The Maple Leafs defeated the Blues in seven games to win the Norris Division playoffs, despite Blues' goaltender Curtis Joseph's best efforts. St. Louis was heavily outshot throughout the series, including more than 60 shots in Game 1 alone. Game 7 of the series was the first to be played at Maple Leaf Gardens since Game 7 of the 1964 Stanley Cup Finals, when Andy Bathgate scored the Cup-clinching goal for the Leafs over the Red Wings.
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4–3
Despite Vancouver's huge win in Game 4, Game 5 in Vancouver saw a stoppage of play as Kings forward Gary Shuchuk got hurt and was sent into the dressing room. Many thought he was out of the playoffs, but he later came back in the game and ended up winning Game 5 in double overtime for the Kings. The Canucks could not recover and thus the Kings advanced to the Campbell Conference finals as the winners of the Smythe Division playoffs.
It was the only one of the twelve Smythe Division Finals contested from 1982 through 1993 to be won by an American team.
Los Angeles wins best-of-seven series 4–2
All teams in the Conference finals were seeded third in their division.
Montreal's win in game three was their eleventh straight, tying the single-playoff record set a year earlier by Pittsburgh and Chicago. They also added two more overtime victories, bringing their total to seven straight for the playoffs (they lost their first OT game in this year's playoffs), and won the final Wales Conference championship.
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–1
This conference final was the first one since 1982 not to feature the Calgary Flames or the Edmonton Oilers representing the Smythe Division. The Toronto Maple Leafs iced a competitive team for the first time in many years and were hoping to reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since their championship in 1967. The Los Angeles Kings, led by captain Wayne Gretzky, also had high ambitions. Gretzky had never played a postseason game in Toronto prior to the series. During Game 1, Los Angeles blue-liner Marty McSorley delivered a serious open-ice hit on Toronto's Doug Gilmour. Leafs captain Wendel Clark took exception to the hit and went after McSorley for striking their star player, and Toronto coach Pat Burns tried scaling the bench to get at Los Angeles coach Barry Melrose because he thought Melrose ordered the hit on Gilmour (McSorley later remarked in interviews that he received dozens of messages threatening death on his hotel phone from angry fans).
Toronto took a 3–2 series lead heading into the controversial Game 6 in Los Angeles. With the game tied at 4-4 in overtime, Gretzky high-sticked Gilmour in the face, cutting his chin open.[1] Many thought that referee Kerry Fraser should have called a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct on the play (generally given for high sticking penalties that result in a cut at that time; linesmen can also call penalties for stick infractions, or at least advise the referee that an infraction occurred). However, Gretzky was not penalized and went on to score the winning goal moments later, evening the series at 3–3. In Game 7 at Toronto, Gretzky scored a hat trick (three goals) and added an assist to give the Kings another 5-4 win and the first Stanley Cup Finals berth in team history. Gretzky later called Game 7 of the 1993 Campbell Conference Finals the greatest game he had ever played.
Los Angeles wins best-of-seven series 4–3
This was Montreal's first trip to the Final since 1989. It was Los Angeles' first appearance ever in the Final, and Wayne Gretzky's first and only appearance in the Final with the Kings. Montreal would capture their 24th and most recent Stanley Cup championship.
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1 | Los Angeles | 4 | Montreal | 1 | |
| June 3 | Los Angeles | 2 | Montreal | 3 | (OT) |
| June 5 | Montreal | 4 | Los Angeles | 3 | (OT) |
| June 7 | Montreal | 3 | Los Angeles | 2 | (OT) |
| June 9 | Los Angeles | 1 | Montreal | 4 |
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–1. Patrick Roy wins Conn Smythe Trophy
| Preceded by 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs |
Stanley Cup playoffs | Succeeded by 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs |
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