2003 Stanley Cup playoffs#Western Conference Final

The top eight teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs. The top three seeds in each conference were awarded to the division winners; while the five remaining spots were awarded to the highest finishers in their respective conferences.

The following teams qualified for the playoffs:

1. Ottawa Senators, Northeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 113 points
2. New Jersey Devils, Atlantic Division champions – 108 points
3. Tampa Bay Lightning, Southeast Division champions – 93 points
4. Philadelphia Flyers – 107 points
5. Toronto Maple Leafs – 98 points
6. Washington Capitals – 92 points
7. Boston Bruins – 87 points
8. New York Islanders – 83 points

1. Dallas Stars, Pacific Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – 111 points
2. Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions – 110 points
3. Colorado Avalanche, Northwest Division champions – 105 points
4. Vancouver Canucks – 104 points
5. St. Louis Blues – 99 points
6. Minnesota Wild – 95 points (42 wins)
7. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim – 95 points (40 wins)
8. Edmonton Oilers – 92 points

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.

The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

{{#invoke:transcludable section|main|section=Bracket|text=

{{16TeamBracket|RD1-RD2-path=0

| RD1=Conference quarterfinals

| RD2=Conference semifinals

| RD3=Conference finals

| RD4=Stanley Cup Finals

| RD2-group1=Eastern Conference

| RD2-group2=Western Conference

| RD1-seed01=1

| RD1-team01=Ottawa

| RD1-score01=4

| RD1-seed02=8

| RD1-team02=NY Islanders

| RD1-score02=1

| RD1-seed03=2

| RD1-team03=New Jersey

| RD1-score03=4

| RD1-seed04=7

| RD1-team04=Boston

| RD1-score04=1

| RD1-seed05=3

| RD1-team05=Tampa Bay

| RD1-score05=4

| RD1-seed06=6

| RD1-team06=Washington

| RD1-score06=2

| RD1-seed07=4

| RD1-team07=Philadelphia

| RD1-score07=4

| RD1-seed08=5

| RD1-team08=Toronto

| RD1-score08=3

| RD1-seed09=1

| RD1-team09=Dallas

| RD1-score09=4

| RD1-seed10=8

| RD1-team10=Edmonton

| RD1-score10=2

| RD1-seed11=2

| RD1-team11=Detroit

| RD1-score11=0

| RD1-seed12=7

| RD1-team12=Anaheim

| RD1-score12=4

| RD1-seed13=3

| RD1-team13=Colorado

| RD1-score13=3

| RD1-seed14=6

| RD1-team14=Minnesota

| RD1-score14=4

| RD1-seed15=4

| RD1-team15=Vancouver

| RD1-score15=4

| RD1-seed16=5

| RD1-team16=St. Louis

| RD1-score16=3

| RD2-seed03=2

| RD2-team03=New Jersey

| RD2-score03=4

| RD2-seed04=3

| RD2-team04=Tampa Bay

| RD2-score04=1

| RD2-seed01=1

| RD2-team01=Ottawa

| RD2-score01=4

| RD2-seed02=4

| RD2-team02=Philadelphia

| RD2-score02=2

| RD2-seed05=1

| RD2-team05=Dallas

| RD2-score05=2

| RD2-seed06=7

| RD2-team06=Anaheim

| RD2-score06=4

| RD2-seed07=4

| RD2-team07=Vancouver

| RD2-score07=3

| RD2-seed08=6

| RD2-team08=Minnesota

| RD2-score08=4

| RD3-seed01=1

| RD3-team01=Ottawa

| RD3-score01=3

| RD3-seed02=2

| RD3-team02=New Jersey

| RD3-score02=4

| RD3-seed03=7

| RD3-team03=Anaheim

| RD3-score03=4

| RD3-seed04=6

| RD3-team04=Minnesota

| RD3-score04=0

| RD4-seed01=E2

| RD4-team01=New Jersey

| RD4-score01=4

| RD4-seed02=W7

| RD4-team02=Anaheim

| RD4-score02=3

}}

}}

The Ottawa Senators finished as the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 113 points. The New York Islanders earned 83 points during the regular season to finish eighth overall in the Eastern Conference. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Ottawa won the four game regular season series by earning five of eight points in their matchup.

The Senators defeated the Islanders in five games. In game one, Roman Hamrlik assisted on two of the three goals and Islanders goalie Garth Snow shut out the Senators stopping all 25 shots he faced in a 3–0 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304090OTT.html|title=New York Islanders at Ottawa Senators Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 9, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 19, 2003}} The Senators responded in game two by shutting out the Islanders 3–0; goalie Patrick Lalime stopped all 16 shots he faced.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304120OTT.html|title=New York Islanders at Ottawa Senators Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 12, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 18, 2003}} Overtime was required in game three with both teams tied at two at the end of the third period. At 2:25 of the second overtime, Todd White scored his second goal of the game to give the Senators a 3–2 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304140NYI.html|title=Ottawa Senators at New York Islanders Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 14, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 19, 2003}} In game four, Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist to help the Senators take a 3–1 series lead in a 3–1 win.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304160NYI.html|title=Ottawa Senators at New York Islanders Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 16, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 19, 2003}} In game five, Todd White's goal at 11:05 of the second period proved to be the game-winner and series-winner for the Senators with Radek Bonk providing two insurance goals in a 4–1 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304170OTT.html|title=New York Islanders at Ottawa Senators Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 17, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 19, 2016}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=New York Islanders

|team2=Ottawa Senators

|stadium1=Corel Centre

|stadium2=Nassau Coliseum

|date1 =April 9

|score1 =3–0

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-ott/2003/04/09/2002030111#game=2002030111,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Dave Scatchard (1) – 07:59
Alexei Yashin (1) – 11:35

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Shawn Bates (1) – pp – 09:06

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Garth Snow 25 saves / 25 shots

|goalie1-2 =Patrick Lalime 31 saves / 34 shots

|date2 =April 12

|score2 =0–3

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-ott/2003/04/12/2002030112#game=2002030112,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =06:43 – Marian Hossa (1)
08:24 – Vaclav Varada (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =14:25 – pp – Marian Hossa (2)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Garth Snow 28 saves / 31 shots
Rick DiPietro 3 saves / 3 shots

|goalie2-2 =Patrick Lalime 16 saves / 16 shots

|date3 =April 14

|score3 =3–2

|ot3 =2

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-nyi/2003/04/14/2002030113#game=2002030113,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =08:14 – Alexei Yashin (2)
19:06 – pp – Randy Robitaille (1)

|3-1-2 =Todd White (1) – pp – 18:42

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Chris Phillips (1) – 19:16

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Todd White (2) – 02:25

|goalie3-1 =Garth Snow 29 saves / 32 shots

|goalie3-2 =Patrick Lalime 30 saves / 32 shots

|date4 =April 16

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-nyi/2003/04/16/2002030114#game=2002030114,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Mike Fisher (1) – 00:28
Anton Volchenkov (1) – 04:12

|4-2-1 =02:48 – Adrian Aucoin (1)

|4-2-2 =Marian Hossa (3) – pp – 08:01

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Garth Snow 25 saves / 28 shots

|goalie4-2 =Patrick Lalime 21 saves / 22 shots

|date5 =April 17

|score5 =1–4

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-ott/2003/04/17/2002030115#game=2002030115,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =13:53 – pp – Martin Havlat (1)

|5-2-1 =Mark Parrish (1) – pp – 06:48

|5-2-2 =11:05 – Todd White (3)
18:13 – Radek Bonk (1)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =17:45 – en – Radek Bonk (2)

|goalie5-1 =Garth Snow 15 saves / 18 shots

|goalie5-2 =Patrick Lalime 31 saves / 32 shots

|series = Ottawa won series 4–1

}}

The New Jersey Devils entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference and won the Atlantic Division title with 108 points. The Boston Bruins finished seventh overall in the Eastern Conference with 87 points. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with New Jersey winning two of three previous series. They last met in the 1995 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals which New Jersey won in five games. New Jersey won this year's four game regular season series earning five of eight points.

The Devils defeated the Bruins in five games. In game one, Jamie Langenbrunner scored both New Jersey goals before Boston came within one goal in the third period. New Jersey hung on for a 2–1 win.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304090NJD.html|title=Boston Bruins at New Jersey Devils Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 9, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 20, 2016}} Jamie Langenbrunner had a goal and two assists in game two to help the Devils achieve a 4–2 victory and a 2–0 series lead.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304110NJD.html|title=Boston Bruins at New Jersey Devils Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 11, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 20, 2016}} In game three, goalie Martin Brodeur shut out the Bruins, stopping all 29 shots in a 3–0 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304130BOS.html|title=New Jersey Devils at Boston Bruins Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 13, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 20, 2016}} The Boston Bruins forced a fifth game on two goals by Dan McGillis as well as two assists provided by Mike Knuble and Brian Rolston in a 5–1 win.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304150BOS.html|title=New Jersey Devils at Boston Bruins Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 15, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 20, 2016}} The Devils closed out the series in game five with Jamie Langenbrunner scoring twice and Martin Brodeur stopping all 28 shots he faced in a 3–0 win.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304170NJD.html|title=Boston Bruins at New Jersey Devils Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 17, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 20, 2016}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Boston Bruins

|team2=New Jersey Devils

|stadium2=FleetCenter

|stadium1=Continental Airlines Arena

|date1 =April 9

|score1 =1–2

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-njd/2003/04/09/2002030121#game=2002030121,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No Scoring

|1-1-2 =15:35 – Jamie Langenbrunner (1)

|1-2-1 =No Scoring

|1-2-2 =11:38 – Jamie Langenbrunner (2)

|1-3-1 =Bryan Berard (1) – 03:29

|1-3-2 =No Scoring

|goalie1-1 =Steve Shields 26 saves / 28 shots

|goalie1-2 =Martin Brodeur 26 saves / 27 shots

|date2 =April 11

|score2 =2–4

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-njd/2003/04/11/2002030122#game=2002030122,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Glen Murray (1) – 08:52

|2-1-2 =14:17 – Jeff Friesen (1)
19:34 – pp – Brian Rafalski (1)

|2-2-1 =Dan McGillis (1) – pp – 13:59

|2-2-2 =No Scoring

|2-3-1 =No Scoring

|2-3-2 =00:15 – pp – Jamie Langenbrunner (3)
14:24 – Joe Nieuwendyk (1)

|goalie2-1 =Steve Shields 26 saves / 30 shots

|goalie2-2 =Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 26 shots

|date3 =April 13

|score3 =3–0

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-bos/2003/04/13/2002030123#game=2002030123,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No Scoring

|3-1-2 =No Scoring

|3-2-1 =No Scoring

|3-2-2 =Scott Stevens (1) – 01:11

|3-3-1 =No Scoring

|3-3-2 =Jay Pandolfo (1) – 12:00
John Madden (1) – en – 18:54

|goalie3-1 =Jeff Hackett 19 saves / 21 shots

|goalie3-2 =Martin Brodeur 29 saves / 29 shots

|date4 =April 15

|score4 =1–5

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-bos/2003/04/15/2002030124#game=2002030124,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =19:47 – pp – Joe Thornton (1)

|4-1-2 =No Scoring

|4-2-1 =02:24 – pp – Dan McGillis (2)
17:15 – Dan McGillis (3)

|4-2-2 =No Scoring

|4-3-1 =01:45 – Martin Lapointe (1)
03:37 – Marty McInnis (1)

|4-3-2 =Scott Niedermayer (1) – 01:37

|goalie4-1 =Jeff Hackett 24 saves / 25 shots

|goalie4-2 =Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 24 shots
Corey Schwab 6 saves / 6 shots

|date5 =April 17

|score5 =0–3

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-njd/2003/04/17/2002030125#game=2002030125,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No Scoring

|5-1-2 =08:31 – pp – John Madden (2)

|5-2-1 =No Scoring

|5-2-2 =No Scoring

|5-3-1 =No Scoring

|5-3-2 =07:41 – Jamie Langenbrunner (4)
19:08 – en – Jamie Langenbrunner (5)

|goalie5-1 =Jeff Hackett 28 saves / 30 shots

|goalie5-2 =Martin Brodeur 29 saves / 29 shots

|series = New Jersey won series 4–1

}}

The Tampa Bay Lightning entered the playoffs for only the second time in their history as the third seed in the Eastern Conference and won the Southeast Division title with 93 points. The Washington Capitals finished sixth overall in the Eastern Conference with 92 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Washington won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

The Lightning came back from 2–0 down to defeat the Capitals in six games. Robert Lang provided two goals and Olaf Kolzig stopped all 28 shots to give the Capitals a 3–0 victory in game one.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304100TBL.html|title=Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 10, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 22, 2016}} Game two saw Jaromir Jagr score two goals and two assists in a 6–3 win for Washington.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304120TBL.html|title=Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 12, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 22, 2016}} The Lightning scored three times in game three; each time though Washington tied the score. Finally in overtime, Vincent Lecavalier scored a power-play goal to give Tampa Bay a 4–3 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304150WSH.html|title=Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 15, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 22, 2016}} With a chance to tie the series in game four, Martin St. Louis scored twice to help the Lightning earn a 3–1 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304160WSH.html|title=Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 16, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 22, 2016}} In game five, St. Louis contributed a goal and an assist to aid the Lightning in a 2–1 win and took a 3–2 series lead.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304180TBL.html|title=Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 18, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 22, 2016}} The Capitals tried to avoid elimination in game six by sending the game into overtime, however, St. Louis' power-play goal at 4:03 of the third overtime ended Washington's season despite putting up 61 shots against goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. The Lightning won the game 2–1.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304200WSH.html|title=Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 20, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 22, 2016}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Washington Capitals

|team2=Tampa Bay Lightning

|stadium1=St. Pete Times Forum

|stadium2=MCI Center

|date1 =April 10

|score1 =3–0

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-tbl/2003/04/10/2002030131#game=2002030131,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Robert Lang (1) – 16:01

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Robert Lang (2) – 17:57

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Michael Nylander (1) – 01:02

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Olaf Kolzig 28 saves / 28 shots

|goalie1-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 19 saves / 22 shots

|date2 =April 12

|score2 =6–3

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-tbl/2003/04/12/2002030132#game=2002030132,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Jaromir Jagr (1) – 04:47
Peter Bondra (1) – pp – 07:22
Jaromir Jagr (2) – pp – 18:24

|2-1-2 =11:48 – Vaclav Prospal (1)

|2-2-1 =Michael Nylander (2) – pp – 01:39

|2-2-2 =18:48 – Fredrik Modin (1)

|2-3-1 =Peter Bondra (2) – 03:09
Mike Grier (1) – en – 19:18

|2-3-2 =10:44 – Dave Andreychuk (1)

|goalie2-1 =Olaf Kolzig 40 saves / 43 shots

|goalie2-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 25 saves / 30 shots

|date3 =April 15

|score3 =4–3

|ot3 =1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-wsh/2003/04/15/2002030133#game=2002030133,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =14:21 – pp – Dainius Zubrus (1)

|3-1-2 =Vincent Lecavalier (1) – 03:46

|3-2-1 =10:25 – Dainius Zubrus (2)

|3-2-2 =Vaclav Prospal (2) – 03:44

|3-3-1 =17:04 – Brendan Witt (1)

|3-3-2 =Martin St. Louis (1) – 11:13

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Vincent Lecavalier (2) – pp – 02:29

|goalie3-1 =Olaf Kolzig 24 saves / 28 shots

|goalie3-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 16 saves / 19 shots

|date4 =April 16

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-wsh/2003/04/16/2002030134#game=2002030134,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =15:39 – Peter Bondra (3)

|4-2-2 =Martin St. Louis (2) – 11:55
Martin St. Louis (3) – sh – 17:40

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Vincent Lecavalier (3) – 01:24

|goalie4-1 =Olaf Kolzig 22 saves / 25 shots

|goalie4-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 22 saves / 23 shots

|date5 =April 18

|score5 =1–2

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-tbl/2003/04/18/2002030135#game=2002030135,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =13:52 – pp – Vaclav Prospal (3)

|5-2-1 =Michael Nylander (3) – 17:01

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =11:53 – Martin St. Louis (4)

|goalie5-1 =Olaf Kolzig 20 saves / 22 shots

|goalie5-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 22 saves / 23 shots

|date6 =April 20

|score6 =2–1

|ot6 =3

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-wsh/2003/04/20/2002030136#game=2002030136,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =17:34 – pp – Peter Bondra (4)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =Dave Andreychuk (2) – pp – 15:54

|6-4-1 =No scoring

|6-4-2 =Martin St. Louis (5) – pp – 04:03

|goalie6-1 =Olaf Kolzig 44 saves / 46 shots

|goalie6-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 60 saves / 61 shots

|series = Tampa Bay won series 4–2

}}

The Philadelphia Flyers finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 107 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference with 98 points. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Philadelphia winning three of the previous four series. They last met in the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, which Toronto won in six games. The teams split this year's four game regular season series.

The Flyers defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games. In game one, Alexander Mogilny scored a hat trick to give Toronto a 5–3 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304090PHI.html|title=Toronto Maple Leafs at Philadelphia Flyers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 9, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 23, 2016}} The Flyers responded to the loss with a 4–1 win in game two with John LeClair, Mark Recchi, and Simon Gagne all contributing a goal and an assist.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304110PHI.html|title=Toronto Maple Leafs at Philadelphia Flyers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 11, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 23, 2016}} In game three, Toronto came back from an early two-goal deficit to win the game in double overtime on a goal by Tomas Kaberle, his second of the game.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304140TOR.html|title=Philadelphia Flyers at Toronto Maple Leafs Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference|date=April 14, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 23, 2003}} Game four showcased a triple overtime game in which Philadelphia nearly doubled the shots Toronto took. On the 75th shot for the Flyers, at 13:54 of the third overtime Mark Recchi scored his second goal of the game to help the Flyers take a 3–2 win.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030144|title=Philadelphia Flyers 3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 2|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=April 16, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=August 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103753/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030144|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Sami Kapanen scored two power play goals in game five to assist the Flyers in a 4–1 win and took a 3–2 series lead.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304190PHI.html|title=Toronto Maple Leafs at Philadelphia Flyers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 19, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 23, 2003}} In game six, Ed Belfour helped Toronto force a seventh game with 35 saves in a double overtime 2–1 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304210TOR.html|title=Philadelphia Flyers at Toronto Maple Leafs Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 21, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 23, 2016}} The Flyers routed the Maple Leafs in game seven 6–1 with Mark Recchi scoring two goals and an assist and Justin Williams and Claude Lapointe both scoring a goal and two assists.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304220PHI.html|title=Toronto Maple Leafs at Philadelphia Flyers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 22, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 23, 2016}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Toronto Maple Leafs

|team2=Philadelphia Flyers

|stadium1=Wachovia Center

|stadium2=Air Canada Centre

|date1 =April 9

|score1 =5–3

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-phi/2003/04/09/2002030141#game=2002030141,game_state=final

|won1 =1

|1-1-1 =Alexander Mogilny (1) – sh – 08:10
Alexander Mogilny (2) – 12:10

|1-1-2 =09:12 – pp – Eric Weinrich (1)

|1-2-1 =Tie Domi (1) – 03:12

|1-2-2 =05:54 – Donald Brashear (1)
06:56 – Eric Desjardins (1)

|1-3-1 =Mikael Renberg (1) – pp – 14:21
Alexander Mogilny (3) – en – 19:08

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Ed Belfour 28 saves / 31 shots

|goalie1-2 =Roman Cechmanek 10 saves / 14 shots

|date2 =April 11

|score2 =1–4

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-phi/2003/04/11/2002030142#game=2002030142,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =12:09 – sh – Simon Gagne (1)
17:47 – Jeremy Roenick (1)

|2-2-1 =Alexander Mogilny (4) – 04:38

|2-2-2 =06:20 – Mark Recchi (1)
10:34 – pp – John LeClair (1)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Ed Belfour 32 saves / 36 shots

|goalie2-2 =Roman Cechmanek 16 saves / 17 shots

|date3 =April 14

|score3 =3–4

|ot3 =2

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-tor/2003/04/14/2002030143#game=2002030143,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =08:39 – Robert Reichel (1)

|3-1-2 =Eric Weinrich (2) – 04:02
Eric Desjardins (2) – 08:02

|3-2-1 =02:18 – pp – Tomas Kaberle (1)
16:00 – Alexander Mogilny (5)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Mark Recchi (2) – 02:59

|3-4-1 =07:20 – Tomas Kaberle (2)

|3-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Ed Belfour 36 saves / 39 shots

|goalie3-2 =Roman Cechmanek 37 saves / 41 shots

|date4 =April 16

|score4 =3–2

|ot4 =3

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-tor/2003/04/16/2002030144#game=2002030144,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =04:06 – sh – Travis Green (1)

|4-1-2 =Mark Recchi (3) – 01:16

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Jeremy Roenick (2) – 00:54

|4-3-1 =01:51 – pp – Mats Sundin (1)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|4-4-1 =No scoring

|4-4-2 =Mark Recchi (4) – 13:54

|goalie4-1 =Ed Belfour 72 saves / 75 shots

|goalie4-2 =Roman Cechmanek 36 saves / 38 shots

|date5 =April 19

|score5 =1–4

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-phi/2003/04/19/2002030145#game=2002030145,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Aki Berg (1) – 02:34

|5-1-2 =14:30 – pp – Sami Kapanen (1)
16:25 – Dmitri Yushkevich (1)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =14:35 – Simon Gagne (2)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =08:41 – pp – Sami Kapanen (2)

|goalie5-1 =Ed Belfour 25 saves / 29 shots

|goalie5-2 =Roman Cechmanek 22 saves / 23 shots

|date6 =April 21

|score6 =1–2

|ot6 =2

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-tor/2003/04/21/2002030146#game=2002030146,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =10:35 – Robert Reichel (2)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =No scoring

|6-2-2 =Jeremy Roenick (3) – 15:23

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|6-4-1 =10:51 – Travis Green (2)

|6-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Ed Belfour 35 saves / 36 shots

|goalie6-2 =Roman Cechmanek 34 saves / 36 shots

|date7 =April 22

|score7 =1–6

|won7 =2

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-phi/2003/04/22/2002030147#game=2002030147,game_state=final

|7-1-1 =No scoring

|7-1-2 =16:23 – Simon Gagne (3)
19:08 – Justin Williams (1)

|7-2-1 =Gary Roberts (1) – 13:50

|7-2-2 =08:18 – Keith Primeau (1)
16:16 – Mark Recchi (5)
19:22 – pp – Mark Recchi (6)

|7-3-1 =No scoring

|7-3-2 =08:28 – Claude Lapointe (1)

|goalie7-1 =Ed Belfour 30 saves / 36 shots

|goalie7-2 =Roman Cechmanek 18 saves / 19 shots

|series = Philadelphia won series 4–3

}}

The Dallas Stars finished first in the Western Conference with 111 points. The Edmonton Oilers finished as the eighth seed in the Western Conference with 92 points. This was the sixth playoff meeting within the last seven years and the eighth overall between these two teams; Dallas won five of the previous seven playoff series. They last met in the 2001 Western Conference Quarterfinals which Dallas won in six games. Dallas won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

In game one, Edmonton scored two goals in the second period 3:48 apart to take the lead and then win the game 2–1.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304090DAL.html|title=Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 9, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 26, 2003}} Dallas controlled game two by allowing only 13 shots on goal, and five different players scored in a 6–1 victory including Scott Young who had two goals and an assist.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304110DAL.html|title=Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 11, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 26, 2003}} In game three, Edmonton scored three times within 3:05 to take a 3–2 lead early in the third period to win the game. Eric Brewer assisted on two of the goals.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304130EDM.html|title=Dallas Stars at Edmonton Oilers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 13, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 26, 2016}} The Stars evened the series in game four by scoring 23 seconds apart in the third period taking a 3–1 victory as a result.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304150EDM.html|title=Dallas Stars at Edmonton Oilers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 15, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 26, 2003}} In game five, Sergei Zubov scored two goals in a 5–2 win for the Stars.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304170DAL.html|title=Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference|date=April 17, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 26, 2016}} Although Edmonton tied the game in the second period after being down two goals, Mike Modano's goal at 13:08 of the third period proved to be the series-winner.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304190EDM.html|title=Dallas Stars at Edmonton Oilers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference|date=April 19, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 26, 2016}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Edmonton Oilers

|team2=Dallas Stars

|stadium2=Skyreach Centre

|stadium1=American Airlines Center

|date1 =April 9

|score1 =2–1

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-dal/2003/04/09/2002030151#game=2002030151,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =08:52 – pp – Mike Modano (1)

|1-2-1 =Ryan Smyth (1) – sh – 03:22
Shawn Horcoff (1) – 07:10

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Tommy Salo 20 saves / 21 shots

|goalie1-2 =Marty Turco 21 saves / 23 shots

|date2 =April 11

|score2 =1–6

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-dal/2003/04/11/2002030152#game=2002030152,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Marty Reasoner (1) – pp – 06:35

|2-1-2 =10:03 – pp – Sergei Zubov (1)
14:12 – pp – Scott Young (1)
19:10 – Scott Young (2)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =18:52 – Jason Arnott (1)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =04:21 – Mike Modano (2)
06:39 – pp – Ulf Dahlen (1)

|goalie2-1 =Tommy Salo 24 saves / 29 shots
Jussi Markkanen 11 saves / 12 shots

|goalie2-2 =Marty Turco 12 saves / 13 shots

|date3 =April 13

|score3 =2–3

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-edm/2003/04/13/2002030153#game=2002030153,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Jason Arnott (2) – pp – 10:50

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =02:33 – Georges Laraque (1)
04:40 – Fernando Pisani (1)
05:38 – Radek Dvorak (1)

|3-3-2 =Jere Lehtinen (1) – 03:23

|goalie3-1 =Tommy Salo 30 saves / 32 shots

|goalie3-2 =Marty Turco 22 saves / 25 shots

|date4 =April 15

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-edm/2003/04/15/2002030154#game=2002030154,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Sergei Zubov (2) – 01:18

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =02:07 – Shawn Horcoff (2)

|4-3-2 =Stu Barnes (1) – 05:52
Niko Kapanen (1) – 06:15

|goalie4-1 =Tommy Salo 25 saves / 28 shots

|goalie4-2 =Marty Turco 23 saves / 24 shots

|date5 =April 17

|score5 =2–5

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-dal/2003/04/17/2002030155#game=2002030155,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =09:02 – pp – Scott Young (3)
09:55 – pp – Sergei Zubov (3)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =05:34 – Mike Modano (3)

|5-3-1 =Mike Comrie (1) – 09:58
Eric Brewer (1) – 18:08

|5-3-2 =05:39 – Sergei Zubov (4)
19:33 – en – Manny Malhotra (1)

|goalie5-1 =Tommy Salo 23 saves / 27 shots

|goalie5-2 =Marty Turco 15 saves / 17 shots

|date6 =April 19

|score6 =3–2

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-edm/2003/04/19/2002030156#game=2002030156,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =Scott Young (4) – 00:43
Philippe Boucher (1) – 10:39

|6-2-1 =02:22 – Ryan Smyth (2)
08:34 – Shawn Horcoff (3)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =Mike Modano (4) – 13:08

|goalie6-1 =Tommy Salo 21 saves / 24 shots

|goalie6-2 =Marty Turco 30 saves / 32 shots

|series = Dallas won series 4–2

}}

The Detroit Red Wings finished as the second seed in the Western Conference, winning the Central Division with 110 points. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim finished as the seventh seed with 95 points (losing the tiebreaker with Minnesota in total wins). This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Detroit winning both previous series via four-game sweeps. They last met in the 1999 Western Conference Quarterfinals which Detroit won in four games. Detroit won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

For the first time in their history, Anaheim won a series in a four-game sweep. In game one, the score remained tied 1–1 through three periods of play. In the first overtime, Luc Robitaille appeared to score the game-winner with most Detroit players heading down the locker room when replay actually showed the puck hit the crossbar and post but stayed out.{{cite news|last1=Foster|first1=Chris|last2=Elliott|first2=Helene|date=April 12, 2003|title=Red Wings More Rested, Used to Playoff Grind|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-12-sp-duxrep12-story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626223010/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/apr/12/sports/sp-duxrep12|url-status=live|archive-date=June 26, 2013|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 27, 2016}} Finally in the third overtime, Paul Kariya scored at 3:18 to end the game; Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 63 saves in the 2–1 win for the Mighty Ducks.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304100DET.html|title=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at Detroit Red Wings Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 10, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 27, 2016}} Rob Niedermayer had two assists in the Mighty Ducks' 3–2 victory in game two.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304120DET.html|title=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at Detroit Red Wings Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 12, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 27, 2016}} Detroit almost tied the game in game three cutting the deficit to one goal late in the third period, however the Mighty Ducks would reign victorious in a 2–1 triumph with J.S. Giguere making 36 saves in the process.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304140MDA.html|title=Detroit Red Wings at Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 14, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 27, 2016}} Anaheim ended Detroit's season in the first overtime of game four on Steve Rucchin's goal.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304160MDA.html|title=Detroit Red Wings at Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 16, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 27, 2016}} The Red Wings became only the second defending Stanley Cup champions to be swept in four games the following year in a first round series, the other being the 1952 Toronto Maple Leafs. They also became only the third defending Stanley Cup champions to be swept in four games the following year in any round series, joining the 1952 Maple Leafs and 1995 New York Rangers.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim

|stadium1=Joe Louis Arena

|date1 =April 10

|score1 =2–1

|ot1 =3

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-det/2003/04/10/2002030161#game=2002030161,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Adam Oates (1) – 15:33

|1-1-2 =04:15 – pp – Brendan Shanahan (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|1-4-1 =Paul Kariya (1) – 03:18

|1-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 63 saves / 64 shots

|goalie1-2 =Curtis Joseph 42 saves / 44 shots

|date2 =April 12

|score2 =3–2

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-det/2003/04/12/2002030162#game=2002030162,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Stanislav Chistov (1) – 07:17

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =02:14 – Jason Woolley (1)
06:39 – Luc Robitaille (1)

|2-3-1 =Jason Krog (1) – 13:34
Steve Thomas (1) – 15:46

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 34 saves / 36 shots

|goalie2-2 =Curtis Joseph 20 saves / 23 shots

|date3 =April 14

|score3 =1–2

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-ana/2003/04/14/2002030163#game=2002030163,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =02:31 – Samuel Pahlsson (1)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =01:44 – Stanislav Chistov (2)

|3-3-2 =Tomas Holmstrom (1) – pp – 13:44

|goalie3-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 36 saves / 37 shots

|goalie3-2 =Curtis Joseph 24 saves / 26 shots

|date4 =April 16

|score4 =2–3

|ot4 =1

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-ana/2003/04/16/2002030164#game=2002030164,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =15:08 – Paul Kariya (2)

|4-1-2 =Henrik Zetterberg (1) – 13:23

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =04:35 – Jason Krog (2)

|4-3-2 =Sergei Fedorov (1) – 17:45

|4-4-1 =06:53 – Steve Rucchin (1)

|4-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 32 saves / 34 shots

|goalie4-2 =Curtis Joseph 24 saves / 27 shots

|series = Anaheim won series 4–0

}}

The Colorado Avalanche finished as the third seed in the Western Conference, winning the Northwest Division with 105 points. The Minnesota Wild finished as the sixth seed in the Western Conference with 95 points (winning the tiebreaker with Anaheim in total wins). This was the Wild's first playoff appearance since joining the League in 2000. This was also the first time since 1992 that an NHL team from Minnesota made the playoffs. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Colorado won this year's four game regular season series earning six of eight points.

The Minnesota Wild came back from a 3–1 deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. In game one, Minnesota scored three goals in the second period, two on the power play, to win the game 4–2.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304100COL.html|title=Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 10, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 28, 2016}} Colorado vanquished the Wild in game two with defenceman Rob Blake assisting twice in a 3–2 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304120COL.html|title=Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 12, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 28, 2016}} Patrick Roy earned his 23rd and final playoff shutout in game three stopping all 18 shots he faced in a 3–0 win for the Avalanche.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304120COL.html|title=Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 14, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 28, 2016}} In game four, Minnesota Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire replaced goaltender Dwayne Roloson who had given up two goals, both to Joe Sakic, on four shots with Manny Fernandez. The switch did not help the Wild as they fell to the Avalanche in a 3–1 loss.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304160MIN.html|title=Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 16, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 28, 2016}} Minnesota gained a 3–0 lead within the first two periods of game five before they had to withstand a comeback by the Avalanche in the third period notching the score within one goal. The Wild forced a sixth game with a 3–2 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304190COL.html|title=Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 19, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 28, 2016}} Game six was a scoreless affair until the third period in which both teams each scored twice with Greg de Vries scoring the tying goal for the Avalanche with 1:32 left in the third period. In overtime, Richard Park scored his second goal of the game for the Wild to force a seventh game.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304210MIN.html|title=Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 21, 2016|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 28, 2016}} In game seven, the Avalanche twice had one goal leads before the Wild tied the game a minute and a half later. Finally in overtime, Minnesota completed the comeback with Andrew Brunette's goal to send the Wild to the Conference Semifinals.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304220COL.html|title=Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 22, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 28, 2016}} This game was also Patrick Roy's last NHL game as he announced his retirement during the offseason.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Minnesota Wild

|team2=Colorado Avalanche

|stadium2=Xcel Energy Center

|stadium1=Pepsi Center

|date1 =April 10

|score1 =4–2

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-col/2003/04/10/2002030171#game=2002030171,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Filip Kuba (1) – pp – 05:33
Marian Gaborik (1) – pp – 09:28
Wes Walz (1) – 09:53

|1-2-2 =13:22 – Joe Sakic (1)

|1-3-1 =Andrew Brunette (1) – 16:00

|1-3-2 =17:01 – Milan Hejduk (1)

|goalie1-1 =Dwayne Roloson 39 saves / 41 shots

|goalie1-2 =Patrick Roy 23 saves / 27 shots

|date2 =April 12

|score2 =2–3

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-col/2003/04/12/2002030172#game=2002030172,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Wes Walz (2) – sh – 08:09

|2-1-2 =04:22 – pp – Milan Hejduk (2)
14:41 – Greg de Vries (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Andrew Brunette (1) – pp – 19:24

|2-3-2 =05:49 – Brian Willsie (1)

|goalie2-1 =Dwayne Roloson 25 saves / 28 shots

|goalie2-2 =Patrick Roy 24 saves / 26 shots

|date3 =April 14

|score3 =3–0

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-min/2003/04/14/2002030173#game=2002030173,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Alex Tanguay (1) – 03:33

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Joe Sakic (2) – 13:58

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Peter Forsberg (1) – pp – 07:55

|goalie3-1 =Dwayne Roloson 15 saves / 18 shots

|goalie3-2 =Patrick Roy 18 saves / 18 shots

|date4 =April 16

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-min/2003/04/16/2002030174#game=2002030174,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Joe Sakic (3) – 06:10
Joe Sakic (4) – pp – 08:04

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =17:20 – pp – Marian Gaborik (2)

|4-3-2 =Dan Hinote (1) – 18:41

|goalie4-1 =Dwayne Roloson 2 saves / 4 shots
Manny Fernandez 16 saves / 17 shots

|goalie4-2 =Patrick Roy 24 saves / 25 shots

|date5 =April 19

|score5 =3–2

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-col/2003/04/19/2002030175#game=2002030175,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Willie Mitchell (1) – 03:41

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =Filip Kuba (2) – pp – 03:45
Pascal Dupuis (1) – 18:42

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =02:01 – Steven Reinprecht (1)
19:32 – Rob Blake (1)

|goalie5-1 =Manny Fernandez 26 saves / 28 shots

|goalie5-2 =Patrick Roy 25 saves / 28 shots

|date6 =April 21

|score6 =2–3

|ot6 =1

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-min/2003/04/21/2002030176#game=2002030176,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =No scoring

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =01:45 – Richard Park (1)
12:06 – Marian Gaborik (3)

|6-3-2 =Joe Sakic (5) – 16:34
Greg de Vries (2) – 18:28

|6-4-1 =04:22 – Richard Park (2)

|6-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Manny Fernandez 22 saves / 24 shots

|goalie6-2 =Patrick Roy 20 saves / 23 shots

|date7 =April 22

|score7 =3–2

|ot7 =1

|won7 =1

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-col/2003/04/22/2002030177#game=2002030177,game_state=final

|7-1-1 =No scoring

|7-1-2 =No scoring

|7-2-1 =Pascal Dupuis (2) – pp – 07:38

|7-2-2 =06:16 – Peter Forsberg (2)

|7-3-1 =Marian Gaborik (4) – pp – 15:32

|7-3-2 =13:15 – pp – Joe Sakic (6)

|7-4-1 =Andrew Brunette (3) – 03:25

|7-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie7-1 =Manny Fernandez 43 saves / 45 shots

|goalie7-2 =Patrick Roy 27 saves / 30 shots

|series = Minnesota won series 4–3

}}

The Vancouver Canucks finished as the fourth seed in the Western Conference with 104 points. The St. Louis Blues finished as the fifth seed in the Western Conference with 99 points. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous series was during the 1995 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Vancouver won in seven games. Vancouver won this year's four game regular season series earning five of eight points.

The Vancouver Canucks became the first team in league history to come back from a 3–1 series deficit for the third time in team history, defeating St. Louis in seven games. In game one, goaltender Chris Osgood stopped all 20 shots and Alexander Khavanov scored twice for the Blues in a 6–0 win.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304100VAN.html|title=St. Louis Blues at Vancouver Canucks Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 10, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 31, 2016}} Game two saw both Trent Klatt and Ed Jovanovski score power-play goals for the Canucks in a 2–1 victory.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030182|title=St Louis Blues 1 @ Vancouver Canucks 2|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=April 12, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=August 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081019/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030182|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Doug Weight scored twice and added an assist for the Blues' 3–1 win in game three.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304140STL.html|title=Vancouver Canucks at St. Louis Blues Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 14, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 31, 2016}} In game four, Martin Rucinsky scored twice and recorded an assist for the Blues in their 4–1 win against the Canucks.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304160STL.html|title=Vancouver Canucks at St. Louis Blues Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 16, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 31, 2016}} Five players scored in the Canucks' 5–3 victory in game five.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304180VAN.html|title=St. Louis Blues at Vancouver Canucks Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLc|date=April 18, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 31, 2016}} Markus Naslund helped the Canucks force a seventh game by scoring a goal and two assists in a 4–3 win in game six.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304200STL.html|title=Vancouver Canucks at St. Louis Blues Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 20, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 31, 2016}} The Canucks finished the comeback in game seven with help from goaltender Dan Cloutier, who made 33 saves and both Trevor Linden and Brendan Morrison scored a goal and an assist in a 4–1 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304220VAN.html|title=St. Louis Blues at Vancouver Canucks Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 22, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=August 31, 2016}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=St. Louis Blues

|team2=Vancouver Canucks

|stadium1=General Motors Place

|stadium2=Savvis Center

|date1 =April 10

|score1 =6–0

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-van/2003/04/10/2002030181#game=2002030181,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Cory Stillman (1) – pp – 01:30
Tyson Nash (1) – 02:01

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Keith Tkachuk (1) – 01:38
Alexander Khavanov (1) – pp – 15:05

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Alexander Khavanov (2) – 10:10
Doug Weight (1) – pp – 16:18

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Chris Osgood 20 saves / 20 shots

|goalie1-2 =Dan Cloutier 23 saves / 29 shots

|date2 =April 12

|score2 =1–2

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-van/2003/04/12/2002030182#game=2002030182,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =03:33 – pp – Trent Klatt (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =18:54 – pp – Ed Jovanovski (1)

|2-3-1 =Pavol Demitra (1) – pp – 19:05

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Chris Osgood 21 saves / 23 shots

|goalie2-2 =Dan Cloutier 26 saves / 27 shots

|date3 =April 14

|score3 =1–3

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/van-vs-stl/2003/04/14/2002030183#game=2002030183,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =01:44 – Pavol Demitra (2)
10:07 – pp– Doug Weight (2)

|3-2-2 =Marek Malik (1) – pp – 18:53

|3-3-1 =19:41 – pp-en – Doug Weight (3)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Chris Osgood 13 saves / 14 shots

|goalie3-2 =Dan Cloutier 21 saves / 23 shots

|date4 =April 16

|score4 =1–4

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/van-vs-stl/2003/04/16/2002030184#game=2002030184,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Markus Naslund (1) – 11:57

|4-2-1 =04:35 – Chris Pronger (1)
15:07 – Dallas Drake (1)

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =14:09 – Martin Rucinsky (1)
15:46 – Martin Rucinsky (2)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Chris Osgood 32 saves / 33 shots

|goalie4-2 =Dan Cloutier 16 saves / 20 shots

|date5 =April 18

|score5 =3–5

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-van/2003/04/18/2002030185#game=2002030185,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =02:15 – Brent Sopel (1)

|5-2-1 =Tyson Nash (2) – 07:02

|5-2-2 =08:36 – Todd Bertuzzi (1)
16:24 – Brendan Morrison (1)
18:28 – pp – Markus Naslund (2)

|5-3-1 =Cory Stillman (2) – pp – 07:57
Martin Rucinsky (3) – 19:04

|5-3-2 =19:11 – Sami Salo (1)

|goalie5-1 =Chris Osgood 30 saves / 35 shots

|goalie5-2 =Dan Cloutier 29 saves / 32 shots

|date6 =April 20

|score6 =4–3

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/van-vs-stl/2003/04/20/2002030186#game=2002030186,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =10:42 – pp – Doug Weight (4)

|6-1-2 =Markus Naslund (3) – 03:49
Mattias Ohlund (1) – 14:25

|6-2-1 =No scoring

|6-2-2 =Henrik Sedin (1) – pp – 08:52
Ed Jovanovski (2) – pp – 16:12

|6-3-1 =06:21 – pp – Eric Boguniecki (1)
10:13 – pp – Doug Weight (5)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Chris Osgood 22 saves / 26 shots

|goalie6-2 =Dan Cloutier 29 saves / 32 shots

|date7 =April 22

|score7 =1–4

|won7 =2

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-van/2003/04/22/2002030187#game=2002030187,game_state=final

|7-1-1 =Martin Rucinsky (4) – 01:00

|7-1-2 =11:54 – Henrik Sedin (2)

|7-2-1 =No scoring

|7-2-2 =07:20 – Brendan Morrison (2)
12:25 – pp – Markus Naslund (4)

|7-3-1 =No scoring

|7-3-2 =00:28 – sh – Trevor Linden (1)

|goalie7-1 =Chris Osgood 28 saves / 32 shots

|goalie7-2 =Dan Cloutier 33 saves / 34 shots

|series = Vancouver won series 4–3

}}

This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and second overall between these two teams; Ottawa won in the previous year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in five games. The teams split this year's four game regular season series.

The Senators defeated the Flyers in six games. In game one, Ottawa came back from a two-goal deficit in the first period to win 4–2.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304250OTT.html|title=Philadelphia Flyers at Ottawa Senators Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 25, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 1, 2016}} The Flyers shutout the Senators in game two 2–0; goaltender Roman Cechmanek made 33 saves in the effort.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304270OTT.html|title=Philadelphia Flyers at Ottawa Senators Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 27, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 1, 2016}} In overtime of game three, Wade Redden scored to give the Senators a 3–2 win over the Flyers.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304290PHI.html|title=Ottawa Senators at Philadelphia Flyers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 29, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 1, 2016}} Michal Handzus scored the only goal in the Flyers' 1–0 win in game four with Cechmanek stopping all 28 shots he faced.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305010PHI.html|title=Ottawa Senators at Philadelphia Flyers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 1, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 1, 2016}} In game five, Marian Hossa had two assists in the Senators 5–2 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305030OTT.html|title=Philadelphia Flyers at Ottawa Senators Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 3, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 1, 2016}} In game six, Ottawa limited the Flyers to just one goal while the Senators themselves laid five goals on Philadelphia each from different players. Ottawa won the game 5–1 and advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time in their history.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305050PHI.html|title=Ottawa Senators at Philadelphia Flyers Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 5, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 1, 2016}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Philadelphia Flyers

|team2=Ottawa Senators

|stadium1=Corel Centre

|stadium2=Wachovia Center

|date1 =April 25

|score1 =2–4

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-ott/2003/04/25/2002030211#game=2002030211,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Tony Amonte (1) – 01:19
Sami Kapanen (3) – 10:48

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =02:34 – Martin Havlat (2)
05:33 – Marian Hossa (4)
09:32 – pp – Daniel Alfredsson (1)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =11:49 – Zdeno Chara (1)

|goalie1-1 =Roman Cechmanek 13 saves / 17 shots

|goalie1-2 =Patrick Lalime 23 saves / 25 shots

|date2 =April 27

|score2 =2–0

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-ott/2003/04/27/2002030212#game=2002030212,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Simon Gagne (4) – 06:57

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Mark Recchi (7) – 13:02

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Roman Cechmanek 33 saves / 33 shots

|goalie2-2 =Patrick Lalime 21 saves / 23 shots

|date3 =April 29

|score3 =3–2

|ot3 =1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-phi/2003/04/29/2002030213#game=2002030213,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =04:35 – John LeClair (2)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =12:46 – Sami Kapanen (4)

|3-2-2 =Daniel Alfredsson (2) – pp – 01:06

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Marian Hossa (5) – pp – 00:22

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Wade Redden (1) – 06:43

|goalie3-1 =Roman Cechmanek 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie3-2 =Patrick Lalime 20 saves / 22 shots

|date4 =May 1

|score4 =0–1

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-phi/2003/05/01/2002030214

|4-1-1 =17:06 – Michal Handzus (1)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Roman Cechmanek 28 saves / 28 shots

|goalie4-2 =Patrick Lalime 25 saves / 26 shots

|date5 =May 3

|score5 =2–5

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-ott/2003/05/03/2002030215#game=2002030215,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Claude Lapointe (2) – 00:21

|5-1-2 =07:15 – Bryan Smolinski (1)
15:24 – pp – Daniel Alfredsson (3)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =08:07 – Martin Havlat (3)
09:56 – pp – Radek Bonk (3)

|5-3-1 =Radovan Somik (1) – 07:55

|5-3-2 =06:59 – sh – Peter Schaefer (1)

|goalie5-1 =Roman Cechmanek 12 saves / 16 shots
Robert Esche 13 saves / 14 shots

|goalie5-2 =Patrick Lalime 17 saves / 19 shots

|date6 =May 5

|score6 =5–1

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-phi/2003/05/05/2002030216#game=2002030216,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =Peter Schaefer (2) – 02:41
Mike Fisher (2) – sh – 07:00

|6-2-1 =18:07 – Michal Handzus (2)

|6-2-2 =Daniel Alfredsson (4) – pp – 14:06
Bryan Smolinski (2) – 16:27

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =Martin Havlat (4) – 13:37

|goalie6-1 =Roman Cechmanek 25 saves / 30 shots

|goalie6-2 =Patrick Lalime 18 saves / 19 shots

|series = Ottawa won series 4–2

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

The Devils defeated the Lightning in five games. In game one, Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur stopped all 15 shots he faced in a 3–0 win.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304240NJD.html|title=Tampa Bay Lightning at New Jersey Devils Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 24, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 3, 2016}} Although the Lightning led twice in game two, the Devils were able to tie the score twice and in overtime Jamie Langenbrunner's goal at 2:09 gave New Jersey a 3–2 victory.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030222|title=Tampa Bay Lightning 2 @ New Jersey Devils 3|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=April 26, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122102/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030222|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} In game three, Tampa Bay built a 3–0 lead in the first period until New Jersey tied it up in the second period. In the third period, Dave Andreychuk scored the game-winning goal for the Lightning; Tampa Bay won 4–3.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030223|title=New Jersey Devils 3 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 4|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=April 28, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304123139/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030223|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Scott Gomez scored a goal and an assist for the Devils in their 3–1 victory over the Lightning in game four.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304300TBL.html|title=New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 30, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 3, 2016}} After the teams each scored once in the first period of game five, neither team scored for four consecutive periods, including two overtime periods. Finally at 11:12 of the third overtime, Grant Marshall scored the series winner for the Devils in a 2–1 victory.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030225|title=Tampa Bay Lightning 1 @ New Jersey Devils 2|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 2, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115422/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030225|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Tampa Bay Lightning

|team2=New Jersey Devils

|stadium1=Continental Airlines Arena

|stadium2=St. Pete Times Forum

|date1 =April 24

|score1 =0–3

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-njd/2003/04/24/2002030221#game=2002030221,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No Scoring

|1-1-2 =No Scoring

|1-2-1 =No Scoring

|1-2-2 =No Scoring

|1-3-1 =No Scoring

|1-3-2 =07:41 – Jamie Langenbrunner (6)
11:28 – John Madden (3)
17:09 – Turner Stevenson (1)

|goalie1-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 29 saves / 32 shots

|goalie1-2 =Martin Brodeur 15 saves / 15 shots

|date2 =April 26

|score2 =2–3

|ot2 =1

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-njd/2003/04/26/2002030222#game=2002030222,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Chris Dingman (1) – 12:25

|2-1-2 =No Scoring

|2-2-1 =Martin St. Louis (6) – sh – 19:38

|2-2-2 =19:26 – pp – Brian Rafalski (2)

|2-3-1 =No Scoring

|2-3-2 =10:26 – Grant Marshall (1)

|2-4-1 =No Scoring

|2-4-2 =02:09 – Jamie Langenbrunner (7)

|goalie2-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 33 saves / 36 shots

|goalie2-2 =Martin Brodeur 26 saves / 28 shots

|date3 =April 28

|score3 =3–4

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-tbl/2003/04/28/2002030223#game=2002030223,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =04:19 – pp – Vaclav Prospal (4)
09:21 – Martin St. Louis (7)
16:16 – Fredrik Modin (2)

|3-1-2 =No Scoring

|3-2-1 =No Scoring

|3-2-2 =John Madden (4) – pp – 06:38
Grant Marshall (2) – 07:34
Jeff Friesen (2) – 15:06

|3-3-1 =06:08 – Dave Andreychuk (3)

|3-3-2 =No Scoring

|goalie3-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie3-2 =Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 29 shots

|date4 =April 30

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-tbl/2003/04/30/2002030224#game=2002030224,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =11:30 – Jassen Cullimore (1)

|4-1-2 =Scott Gomez (1) – 04:52
Patrik Elias (1) – 16:33

|4-2-1 =No Scoring

|4-2-2 =No Scoring

|4-3-1 =No Scoring

|4-3-2 =Scott Stevens (2) – pp – 13:13

|goalie4-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 23 saves / 26 shots

|goalie4-2 =Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 26 shots

|date5 =May 2

|score5 =1–2

|ot5 =3

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tbl-vs-njd/2003/05/02/2002030225#game=2002030225,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Nikita Alexeev (1) – 11:18

|5-1-2 =13:27 – pp – Scott Niedermayer (2)

|5-2-1 =No Scoring

|5-2-2 =No Scoring

|5-3-1 =No Scoring

|5-3-2 =No Scoring

|5-4-1 =No Scoring

|5-4-2 =11:12 – Grant Marshall (3)

|goalie5-1 =John Grahame 46 saves / 48 shots

|goalie5-2 =Martin Brodeur 38 saves / 39 shots

|series = New Jersey won series 4–1

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Dallas won three of the five games in this year's regular season series. Game one is the fifth longest playoff game in NHL history.{{cite web|url=https://www.nhl.com/news/nhls-longest-playoff-games/c-630492|title=NHL's Longest Playoff Games|publisher=NHL Enterprise, L.P.|date=May 2, 2012|website=NHL.com|access-date=September 3, 2016}}

The Mighty Ducks defeated the Stars in six games. In game one, Anaheim gained a 3–1 lead midway through the second period, until Dallas tied the score with 2:47 left in the third period. After four scoreless overtime periods, Petr Sykora scored 48 seconds into the fifth overtime to give the Mighty Ducks a 4–3 victory.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030231|title=Anaheim Mighty Ducks 4 @ Dallas Stars 3|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=April 24, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095050/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030231|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Sykora continued his point streak in game two, assisting on all three goals in a 3–2 overtime win for Anaheim.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304260DAL.html|title=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at Dallas Stars Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 26, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 5, 2016}} Jere Lehtinen scored twice for Dallas in game three, closing out a 2–1 win on Marty Turco's 31-save performance.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304280MDA.html|title=Dallas Stars at Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 28, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 5, 2016}} In game four, J.S. Giguere stopped all 28 shots he faced and Mike Leclerc scored the only goal in a 1–0 affair for the Mighty Ducks.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304300MDA.html|title=Dallas Stars at Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 30, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 5, 2016}} The Dallas Stars stayed alive in game five, forcing a sixth game with two goals from Niko Kapanen.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305030DAL.html|title=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at Dallas Stars Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 3, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 5, 2016}} In game six, the Mighty Ducks closed out the series and were able to move onto the Conference Finals on Sandis Ozolinsh's goal which gave Anaheim a 4–3 lead with 1:06 left in the third period.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030236|title=Dallas Stars 3 @ Anaheim Mighty Ducks 4|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 5, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916133937/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030236|archive-date=September 16, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

|team2=Dallas Stars

|stadium2=Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim

|stadium1=American Airlines Center

|date1 =April 24

|score1 =4–3

|ot1 =5

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-dal/2003/04/24/2002030231#game=2002030231,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Jason Krog (3) – 13:08

|1-1-2 =17:39 – Derian Hatcher (1)

|1-2-1 =Rob Niedermayer (1) – sh – 04:04
Steve Rucchin (2) – 08:58

|1-2-2 =16:32 – Jason Arnott (3)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =17:13 – Brenden Morrow (1)

|1-4-1 =Petr Sykora (1) – 00:48

|1-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 60 saves / 63 shots

|goalie1-2 =Marty Turco 50 saves / 54 shots

|date2 =April 26

|score2 =3–2

|ot2 =1

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-dal/2003/04/26/2002030232#game=2002030232,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Adam Oates (2) – pp – 10:17

|2-1-2 =19:58 – pp – Brenden Morrow (2)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =08:39 – Mike Modano (5)

|2-3-1 =Rob Niedermayer (2) – 18:51

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|2-4-1 =Mike Leclerc (1) – 01:44

|2-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 29 saves / 31 shots
Martin Gerber 0 saves / 0 shots

|goalie2-2 =Marty Turco 24 saves / 27 shots

|date3 =April 28

|score3 =2–1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-ana/2003/04/28/2002030233#game=2002030233,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =16:09 – pp – Steve Rucchin (3)

|3-1-2 =Jere Lehtinen (2) – 02:24

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Jere Lehtinen (3) – pp – 03:41

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 30 saves / 32 shots

|goalie3-2 =Marty Turco 31 saves / 32 shots

|date4 =April 30

|score4 =0–1

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-ana/2003/04/30/2002030234#game=2002030234,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =18:13 – pp – Mike Leclerc (2)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 28 saves / 28 shots

|goalie4-2 =Marty Turco 21 saves / 22 shots

|date5 =May 3

|score5 =1–4

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-dal/2003/05/03/2002030235#game=2002030235,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =09:20 – Rob DiMaio (1)
14:20 – Stu Barnes (2)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =18:10 – sh – Niko Kapanen (2)

|5-3-1 =Paul Kariya (3) – 04:02

|5-3-2 =15:12 – Niko Kapanen (3)

|goalie5-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 16 saves / 19 shots
Martin Gerber 5 saves / 6 shots

|goalie5-2 =Marty Turco 14 saves / 15 shots

|date6 =May 5

|score6 =3–4

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-ana/2003/05/05/2002030236#game=2002030236,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =Kirk Muller (1) – 05:10

|6-2-1 =02:25 – pp – Steve Thomas (2)
04:23 – Stanislav Chistov (3)

|6-2-2 =Niko Kapanen (4) – 14:20

|6-3-1 =03:22 – Ruslan Salei (1)
18:54 – Sandis Ozolinsh (1)

|6-3-2 =Brenden Morrow (3) – pp – 14:49

|goalie6-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 26 saves / 29 shots

|goalie6-2 =Marty Turco 22 saves / 26 shots

|series = Anaheim won series 4–2

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's five-game regular season series. Both teams had come off of 3–1 comebacks in the first round, and fittingly enough, the same thing happened in this series.

The Minnesota Wild became the first team in NHL history to come back from being down 3–1 twice in one playoff season to win both series in seven games. In game one, Markus Naslund and Trent Klatt each had a goal an assist in Vancouver's 4–3 victory.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304250VAN.html|title=Minnesota Wild at Vancouver Canucks Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 25, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} Minnesota tied the series in game two via Pascal Dupuis's two assists and Marian Gaborik's goal and assist.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304270VAN.html|title=Minnesota Wild at Vancouver Canucks Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 27, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} In game three, Markus Naslund assisted on two of Vancouver's goals.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200304290MIN.html|title=Vancouver Canucks at Minnesota Wild Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=April 29, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} Brent Sopel scored the game-winner in overtime in game four as the Canucks took a 3–1 series lead.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030244|title=Vancouver Canucks 3 @ Minnesota Wild 2|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 2, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304125325/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030244|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Minnesota began their comeback in game five outscoring Vancouver 7–2 with Cliff Ronning scoring two of those goals.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305050VAN.html|title=Minnesota Wild at Vancouver Canucks Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 5, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} Minnesota continued to outscore Vancouver into game six, with Ronning assisting thrice on the Wild's 5–1 effort.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305070MIN.html|title=Vancouver Canucks at Minnesota Wild Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 7, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} In game seven, Vancouver took a 2–0 lead midway through the second period, however, Minnesota's three goals in the third period sealed their fate. Minnesota won the game 4–2 and moved onto the Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030247|title=Minnesota Wild 4 @ Vancouver Canucks 2|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 8, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072411/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030247|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Minnesota Wild

|team2=Vancouver Canucks

|stadium1=General Motors Place

|stadium2=Xcel Energy Center

|date1 =April 25

|score1 =3–4

|ot1 =1

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-van/2003/04/25/2002030241#game=2002030241,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Sergei Zholtok (1) – 17:08

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =01:33 – sh – Ed Jovanovski (3)

|1-3-1 =Wes Walz (3) – 02:58
Wes Walz (4) – 08:11

|1-3-2 =11:12 – Markus Naslund (5)
19:58 – Matt Cooke (1)

|1-4-1 =No scoring

|1-4-2 =03:42 – pp – Trent Klatt (2)

|goalie1-1 =Manny Fernandez 35 saves / 39 shots

|goalie1-2 =Dan Cloutier 18 saves / 21 shots

|date2 =April 27

|score2 =3–2

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-van/2003/04/27/2002030242#game=2002030242,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Marian Gaborik (5) – 04:40

|2-2-2 =17:18 – Ed Jovanovski (4)

|2-3-1 =Sergei Zholtok (2) – 01:02
Wes Walz (5) – 02:05

|2-3-2 =18:28 – Mattias Ohlund (2)

|goalie2-1 =Dwayne Roloson 29 saves / 31 shots

|goalie2-2 =Dan Cloutier 15 saves / 18 shots

|date3 =April 29

|score3 =3–2

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/van-vs-min/2003/04/29/2002030243#game=2002030243,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =11:47 – pp – Filip Kuba (3)

|3-1-2 =Brendan Morrison (3) – pp – 06:25

|3-2-1 =10:08 – pp – Marian Gaborik (6)

|3-2-2 =Ed Jovanovski (5) – pp – 04:34
Daniel Sedin (1) – pp – 12:33

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Dwayne Roloson 10 saves / 13 shots

|goalie3-2 =Dan Cloutier 16 saves / 18 shots

|date4 =May 2

|score4 =3–2

|ot4 =1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/van-vs-min/2003/05/02/2002030244#game=2002030244,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =19:22 – Marian Gaborik (7)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =03:14 – Marian Gaborik (8)

|4-3-2 =Matt Cooke (2) – 02:09
Ed Jovanovski (6) – 17:54

|4-4-1 =No scoring

|4-4-2 =Brent Sopel (2) – pp – 15:52

|goalie4-1 =Manny Fernandez 27 saves / 30 shots

|goalie4-2 =Dan Cloutier 25 saves / 27 shots

|date5 =May 5

|score5 =7–2

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-van/2003/05/05/2002030245#game=2002030245,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Richard Park (3) – 03:20

|5-1-2 =18:13 – Brendan Morrison (4)

|5-2-1 =Cliff Ronning (1) – pp – 01:08
Jason Marshall (1) – 07:44
Andrew Brunette (4) – 10:16
Marian Gaborik (9) – 12:47
Cliff Ronning (2) – 16:07

|5-2-2 =19:17 – Henrik Sedin (3)

|5-3-1 =Wes Walz (6) – sh – 16:20

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Dwayne Roloson 25 saves / 27 shots

|goalie5-2 =Dan Cloutier 15 saves / 21 shots
Alex Auld 4 saves / 5 shots

|date6 =May 7

|score6 =1–5

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/van-vs-min/2003/05/07/2002030246#game=2002030246,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =05:22 – pp – Andrew Brunette (5)
15:31 – pp – Lubomir Sekeras (1)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =06:57 – Darby Hendrickson (1)
09:25 – Antti Laaksonen (1)
10:37 – pp – Andrew Brunette (6)

|6-3-2 =Ed Jovanovski (7) – pp – 08:57

|goalie6-1 =Dwayne Roloson 30 saves / 31 shots

|goalie6-2 =Dan Cloutier 18 saves / 23 shots

|date7 =May 8

|score7 =4–2

|won7 =1

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-van/2003/05/08/2002030247#game=2002030247,game_state=final

|7-1-1 =No scoring

|7-1-2 =No scoring

|7-2-1 =Pascal Dupuis (3) – 15:30

|7-2-2 =11:29 – Mattias Ohlund (3)
12:30 – Todd Bertuzzi (2)

|7-3-1 =Wes Walz (7) – 08:05
Darby Hendrickson (2) – 14:48
Pascal Dupuis (4) – pp – 17:27

|7-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie7-1 =Dwayne Roloson 24 saves / 26 shots

|goalie7-2 =Dan Cloutier 12 saves / 16 shots

|series = Minnesota won series 4–3

}}

{{See also|NHL conference finals}}

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous series was during the 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals which Ottawa won in six games. Ottawa won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

The Devils defeated the Senators in seven games after giving up a 3–1 series lead. After giving up a 2–0 lead in game one, the Senators won in overtime on Shaun Van Allen's goal giving Ottawa a 3–2 win.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030311|title=New Jersey Devils 2 @ Ottawa Senators 3|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 10, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102457/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030311|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} In game two, Jay Pandolfo scored a goal and an assist to help the Devils win 4–1.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305130OTT.html|title=New Jersey Devils at Ottawa Senators Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 13, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} Game three was a low-scoring affair as Sergei Brylin had the only goal in the Devils' 1–0 victory; Martin Brodeur stopped all 24 shots he faced.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305150NJD.html|title=Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 15, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} New Jersey scored three times in the third period to take game four 5–2 and extend their home winning streak to eight games.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030314|title=Ottawa Senators 2 @ New Jersey Devils 5|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 17, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924140904/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030314|archive-date=September 24, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist during game five in the Senators' 3–1 victory forcing a sixth game.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305190OTT.html|title=New Jersey Devils at Ottawa Senators Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 19, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} In overtime of game six, both teams were deadlocked at one goal each until Chris Phillips scored the game-winner for the Senators becoming the fourth team this season to force a seventh game after facing a 3–1 series deficit.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305210NJD.html|title=Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 21, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 6, 2016}} In game seven, Ottawa scored the first goal, but Jamie Langenbrunner, who did not score a goal in this series up until this game, scored twice in the second period. Ottawa tied it up early in the third period on Radek Bonk's goal. The game looked like it was going into overtime, until Jeff Friesen of the Devils gave New Jersey the lead with 2:14 left in the third period. New Jersey hung on for a 3–2 victory, moving onto the Stanley Cup Finals for the fourth time in franchise history, and avoiding the same fates as St. Louis, Colorado, and Vancouver.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030317|title=New Jersey Devils 3 @ Ottawa Senators 2|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 23, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090552/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030317|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=New Jersey Devils

|team2=Ottawa Senators

|stadium1=Corel Centre

|stadium2=Continental Airlines Arena

|date1 =May 10

|score1 =2–3

|ot1 =1

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ott/2003/05/10/2002030311#game=2002030311,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No Scoring

|1-1-2 =06:10 – Chris Neil (1)
07:23 – Todd White (4)

|1-2-1 =Joe Nieuwendyk (2) – 14:19
Jay Pandolfo (2) – 16:51

|1-2-2 =No Scoring

|1-3-1 =No Scoring

|1-3-2 =No Scoring

|1-4-1 =No Scoring

|1-4-2 =03:08 – Shaun Van Allen (1)

|goalie1-1 =Martin Brodeur 27 saves / 30 shots

|goalie1-2 =Patrick Lalime 32 saves / 34 shots

|date2 =May 13

|score2 =4–1

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ott/2003/05/13/2002030312#game=2002030312,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Tommy Albelin (1) – 04:15
Jeff Friesen (3) – 17:21

|2-1-2 =No Scoring

|2-2-1 =John Madden (5) – 16:33

|2-2-2 =02:02 – Radek Bonk (4)

|2-3-1 =Jay Pandolfo (3) – 14:29

|2-3-2 =No Scoring

|goalie2-1 =Martin Brodeur 30 saves / 31 shots

|goalie2-2 =Patrick Lalime 17 saves / 21 shots

|date3 =May 15

|score3 =0–1

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-njd/2003/05/15/2002030313#game=2002030313,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =10:48 – Sergei Brylin (1)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 24 shots

|goalie3-2 =Patrick Lalime 23 saves / 24 shots

|date4 =May 17

|score4 =2–5

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-njd/2003/05/17/2002030314#game=2002030314,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =07:25 – pp – Grant Marshall (4)

|4-1-2 =Karel Rachunek (1) – 19:45

|4-2-1 =16:43 – Jay Pandolfo (4)

|4-2-2 =Vaclav Varada (2) – 07:08

|4-3-1 =00:41 – pp – Jeff Friesen (4)
04:17 – Patrik Elias (2)
07:35 – sh – John Madden (6)

|4-3-2 =No Scoring

|goalie4-1 =Martin Brodeur 26 saves / 28 shots

|goalie4-2 =Patrick Lalime 15 saves / 20 shots

|date5 =May 19

|score5 =1–3

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ott/2003/05/19/2002030315#game=2002030315,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No Scoring

|5-1-2 =No Scoring

|5-2-1 =Scott Stevens (3) – 06:19

|5-2-2 =03:59 – sh – Todd White (5)

|5-3-1 =No Scoring

|5-3-2 =07:59 – Martin Havlat (5)
12:28 – pp – Jason Spezza (1)

|goalie5-1 =Martin Brodeur 15 saves / 18 shots

|goalie5-2 =Patrick Lalime 21 saves / 22 shots

|date6 =May 21

|score6 =2–1

|ot6 =1

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-njd/2003/05/21/2002030316#game=2002030316,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No Scoring

|6-1-2 =No Scoring

|6-2-1 =No Scoring

|6-2-2 =Radek Bonk (5) – pp – 17:49

|6-3-1 =02:41 – pp – Joe Nieuwendyk (3)

|6-3-2 =No Scoring

|6-4-1 =No Scoring

|6-4-2 =Chris Phillips (2) – 15:51

|goalie6-1 =Martin Brodeur 32 saves / 34 shots

|goalie6-2 =Patrick Lalime 30 saves / 31 shots

|date7 =May 23

|score7 =3–2

|won7 =1

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ott/2003/05/23/2002030317#game=2002030317,game_state=final

|7-1-1 =No Scoring

|7-1-2 =03:33 – Magnus Arvedson (1)

|7-2-1 =Jamie Langenbrunner (8) – 03:52
Jamie Langenbrunner (9) – 05:46

|7-2-2 =No Scoring

|7-3-1 =Jeff Friesen (5) – 17:46

|7-3-2 =01:53 – Radek Bonk (6)

|goalie7-1 =Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 26 shots

|goalie7-2 =Patrick Lalime 24 saves / 27 shots

|series = New Jersey won series 4–3

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first Western Conference Final since 1994 to not feature either the Detroit Red Wings or Colorado Avalanche. This was the first Conference Finals appearance for both teams; the Mighty Ducks made the Conference Finals in their tenth season, while the Wild did so in their third season; the teams entered the NHL in 1993 and 2000, respectively. Anaheim won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points.

Anaheim earned their second four-game sweep this playoffs season. Anaheim also only allowed one goal in the four games they played against Minnesota setting an NHL record for the fewest goals allowed by one team in a playoff series. In game one, Petr Sykora scored the only goal of the game in the second overtime period. Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped all 39 shots he faced.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030321|title=Anaheim Mighty Ducks 1 @ Minnesota Wild 0|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 10, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084726/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030321|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Kurt Sauer and Rob Niedermayer both scored short-handed goals in game two as the Mighty Ducks shut out the Wild again, this time 2–0.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030322|title=Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2 @ Minnesota Wild 0|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 12, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095203/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030322|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Paul Kariya scored twice in game three, and J.S. Giguere shut out the Wild for the third time this series, stopping 35 shots, bringing his total consecutive shutout time to 213 minutes and 17 seconds.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200305140MDA.html|title=Minnesota Wild at Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Box Score|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 14, 2003|website=Hockey Reference|access-date=September 7, 2016}} Determined to score, Minnesota got on the board for the first time since game seven of the Conference Semifinals when Andrew Brunette scored on a power-play. However, Anaheim followed up by scoring two power-play goals themselves, both by Adam Oates. The score remained 2–1 as the Mighty Ducks moved onto the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their history.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030324|title=Minnesota Wild 1 @ Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2|publisher=Hockey Summary Project|date=May 16, 2003|website=Flyers History|access-date=September 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916131211/http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/poboxscore.cgi?O20030324|archive-date=September 16, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} As of 2024, this remains the Wild's only appearance in the Western Conference final.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

|team2=Minnesota Wild

|stadium1=Xcel Energy Center

|stadium2=Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim

|date1 =May 10

|score1 =1–0

|ot1 =2

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-min/2003/05/10/2002030321#game=2002030321,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|1-4-1 =Petr Sykora (2) – 08:06

|1-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 39 saves / 39 shots

|goalie1-2 =Manny Fernandez 25 saves / 26 shots

|date2 =May 12

|score2 =2–0

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-min/2003/05/12/2002030322#game=2002030322,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Kurt Sauer (1) – sh – 07:24

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Rob Niedermayer (3) – sh – 08:06

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 24 saves / 24 shots

|goalie2-2 =Dwayne Roloson 20 saves / 22 shots

|date3 =May 14

|score3 =0–4

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-ana/2003/05/14/2002030323#game=2002030323,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =04:59 – Steve Rucchin (4)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =08:20 – Paul Kariya (4)
12:16 – Stanislav Chistov (4)
13:51 – Paul Kariya (5)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 35 saves / 35 shots

|goalie3-2 =Dwayne Roloson 13 saves / 16 shots
Manny Fernandez 15 saves / 16 shots

|date4 =May 16

|score4 =1–2

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/min-vs-ana/2003/05/16/2002030324#game=2002030324,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =08:30 – pp – Adam Oates (3)

|4-1-2 =Andrew Brunette (7) – pp – 04:37

|4-2-1 =09:31 – pp – Adam Oates (4)

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 24 saves / 25 shots

|goalie4-2 =Manny Fernandez 26 saves / 28 shots

|series = Anaheim won series 4–0

}}

{{Main|2003 Stanley Cup Finals}}

This was the first playoff series between these two teams. New Jersey made their fourth appearance in the Finals, they last made the Finals in {{scfy|2001}}, where they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. Anaheim made their first Finals appearance in their tenth season since entering the league in 1993–94. New Jersey won both games during this year's two-game regular season series.

This was only the third time in NHL history and the first time since {{scfy|1965}} that the home team won all the games in the Stanley Cup Finals.

{{cite news|title=E-Rupp-Tion—New Jersey Celebrates Third Cup with Big Lift from Little-Used Player|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=June 10, 2003|first=Alan|last=Robinson|agency=Associated Press|page=C1}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

|team2=New Jersey Devils

|stadium1=Continental Airlines Arena

|stadium2=Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim

|date1 =May 27

|score1 =0–3

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-njd/2003/05/27/2002030411#game=2002030411,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No Scoring

|1-1-2 =No Scoring

|1-2-1 =No Scoring

|1-2-2 =01:45 – Jeff Friesen (6)

|1-3-1 =No Scoring

|1-3-2 =05:34 – Grant Marshall (5)
19:38 – en – Jeff Friesen (7)

|goalie1-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 27 saves / 29 shots

|goalie1-2 =Martin Brodeur 16 saves / 16 shots

|date2 =May 29

|score2 =0–3

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-njd/2003/05/29/2002030412#game=2002030412,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No Scoring

|2-1-2 =No Scoring

|2-2-1 =No Scoring

|2-2-2 =04:42 – pp – Patrik Elias (3)
12:11 – Scott Gomez (2)

|2-3-1 =No Scoring

|2-3-2 =04:22 – Jeff Friesen (8)

|goalie2-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 22 saves / 25 shots

|goalie2-2 =Martin Brodeur 16 saves / 16 shots

|date3 =May 31

|score3 =2–3

|ot3 =1

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ana/2003/05/31/2002030413#game=2002030413,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No Scoring

|3-1-2 =No Scoring

|3-2-1 =03:39 – Marc Chouinard (1)
14:47 – Sandis Ozolinsh (2)

|3-2-2 =Patrik Elias (4) – 14:02

|3-3-1 =No Scoring

|3-3-2 =Scott Gomez (3) – 09:11

|3-4-1 =06:59 – Ruslan Salei (2)

|3-4-2 =No Scoring

|goalie3-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 29 saves / 31 shots

|goalie3-2 =Martin Brodeur 30 saves / 33 shots

|date4 =June 2

|score4 =0–1

|ot4 =1

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ana/2003/06/02/2002030414#game=2002030414,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No Scoring

|4-1-2 =No Scoring

|4-2-1 =No Scoring

|4-2-2 =No Scoring

|4-3-1 =No Scoring

|4-3-2 =No Scoring

|4-4-1 =00:39 – Steve Thomas (3)

|4-4-2 =No Scoring

|goalie4-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 26 saves / 26 shots

|goalie4-2 =Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 26 shots

|date5 =June 5

|score5 =3–6

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-njd/2003/06/05/2002030415

|5-1-1 =Petr Sykora (3) – 00:42
Steve Rucchin (5) – 12:50

|5-1-2 =03:35 – Pascal Rheaume (1)
07:45 – pp – Patrik Elias (5)

|5-2-1 =Samuel Pahlsson (2) – 06:35

|5-2-2 =03:12 – Brian Gionta (1)
09:02 – Jay Pandolfo (5)

|5-3-1 =No Scoring

|5-3-2 =05:39 – Jamie Langenbrunner (10)
12:52 – Jamie Langenbrunner (11)

|goalie5-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 31 saves / 37 shots

|goalie5-2 =Martin Brodeur 20 saves / 23 shots

|date6 =June 7

|score6 =2–5

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ana/2003/06/07/2002030416

|6-1-1 =04:26 – Steve Rucchin (6)
13:42 – Steve Rucchin (7)
15:59 – pp – Steve Thomas (4)

|6-1-2 =No Scoring

|6-2-1 =17:15 – Paul Kariya (6)

|6-2-2 =Jay Pandolfo (6) – 02:18

|6-3-1 =03:57 – pp – Petr Sykora (4)

|6-3-2 =Grant Marshall (6) – pp – 10:46

|goalie6-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 26 saves / 28 shots

|goalie6-2 =Martin Brodeur 17 saves / 22 shots
Corey Schwab 2 saves / 2 shots

|date7 =June 9

|score7 =0–3

|won7 =2

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ana-vs-njd/2003/06/09/2002030417#game=2002030417,game_state=final

|7-1-1 =No Scoring

|7-1-2 =No Scoring

|7-2-1 =No Scoring

|7-2-2 =02:22 – Michael Rupp (1)
12:18 – Jeff Friesen (9)

|7-3-1 =No Scoring

|7-3-2 =16:16 – Jeff Friesen (10)

|goalie7-1 =Jean-Sebastien Giguere 22 saves / 25 shots

|goalie7-2 =Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 24 shots

|series = New Jersey won series 4–3

}}

There was a tie for the playoff point lead between Jamie Langenbrunner and Scott Niedermayer, both of the New Jersey Devils and both with 18 points. Langenbrunner led the playoffs with 11 goals and Niedermayer led the playoffs with 16 assists. The 18 points to lead the playoffs was the lowest total since the 1968–69 season.

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

These are the top six goaltenders based on either goals against average or save percentage with at least four games played.

GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts

• 2002–03 NHL season
• 2003 in sports
• List of NHL seasons

{{reflist}}

{{S-start}}

{{Succession box|before=2002 Stanley Cup playoffs|after=2004 Stanley Cup playoffs|title=Stanley Cup playoffs|years=|}}

{{S-end}}

{{2002–03 NHL season by team}}

{{Stanley Cup playoffs}}

playoffs

Category:Stanley Cup playoffs