2009 Stanley Cup playoffs#Eastern Conference Final

Image:Hhof stanley cup.jpg]]

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. Boston Bruins, Northeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 116 points
2. Washington Capitals, Southeast Division champions – 108 points
3. New Jersey Devils, Atlantic Division champions – 106 points
4. Pittsburgh Penguins – 99 points (45 wins)
5. Philadelphia Flyers – 99 points (44 wins)
6. Carolina Hurricanes – 97 points
7. New York Rangers – 95 points
8. Montreal Canadiens – 93 points

1. San Jose Sharks, Pacific Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, President's Trophy winners – 117 points
2. Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions – 112 points
3. Vancouver Canucks, Northwest Division champions – 100 points
4. Chicago Blackhawks – 104 points
5. Calgary Flames – 98 points
6. St. Louis Blues – 92 points (41 wins, 8 points head-to-head vs. Columbus)
7. Columbus Blue Jackets – 92 points (41 wins, 2 points head-to-head vs. St. Louis)
8. Anaheim Ducks – 91 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

|RD2-group1=Eastern Conference

|RD2-group2=Western Conference

|RD1=Conference quarterfinals

|RD2=Conference semifinals

|RD3=Conference finals

|RD4=Stanley Cup Finals

|RD1-seed01 =1

|RD1-team01 =Boston

|RD1-score01 =4

|RD1-seed02 =8

|RD1-team02 =Montreal

|RD1-score02 =0

|RD1-seed03 =2

|RD1-team03 =Washington

|RD1-score03 =4

|RD1-seed04 =7

|RD1-team04 =NY Rangers

|RD1-score04 =3

|RD1-seed05 =3

|RD1-team05 =New Jersey

|RD1-score05 =3

|RD1-seed06 =6

|RD1-team06 =Carolina

|RD1-score06 =4

|RD1-seed07 =4

|RD1-team07 =Pittsburgh

|RD1-score07 =4

|RD1-seed08 =5

|RD1-team08 =Philadelphia

|RD1-score08 =2

|RD1-seed09 =1

|RD1-team09 =San Jose

|RD1-score09 =2

|RD1-seed10 =8

|RD1-team10 =Anaheim

|RD1-score10 =4

|RD1-seed11 =2

|RD1-team11 =Detroit

|RD1-score11 =4

|RD1-seed12 =7

|RD1-team12 =Columbus

|RD1-score12 =0

|RD1-seed13 =3

|RD1-team13 =Vancouver

|RD1-score13 =4

|RD1-seed14 =6

|RD1-team14 =St. Louis

|RD1-score14 =0

|RD1-seed15 =4

|RD1-team15 =Chicago

|RD1-score15 =4

|RD1-seed16 =5

|RD1-team16 =Calgary

|RD1-score16 =2

|RD2-seed01 =1

|RD2-team01 =Boston

|RD2-score01 =3

|RD2-seed02 =6

|RD2-team02 =Carolina

|RD2-score02 =4

|RD2-seed03 =2

|RD2-team03 =Washington

|RD2-score03 =3

|RD2-seed04 =4

|RD2-team04 =Pittsburgh

|RD2-score04 =4

|RD2-seed05 =2

|RD2-team05 =Detroit

|RD2-score05 =4

|RD2-seed06 =8

|RD2-team06 =Anaheim

|RD2-score06 =3

|RD2-seed07 =3

|RD2-team07 =Vancouver

|RD2-score07 =2

|RD2-seed08 =4

|RD2-team08 =Chicago

|RD2-score08 =4

|RD3-seed01 =6

|RD3-team01 =Carolina

|RD3-score01 =0

|RD3-seed02 =4

|RD3-team02 =Pittsburgh

|RD3-score02 =4

|RD3-seed03 =2

|RD3-team03 =Detroit

|RD3-score03 =4

|RD3-seed04 =4

|RD3-team04 =Chicago

|RD3-score04 =1

|RD4-seed01 =E4

|RD4-team01 =Pittsburgh

|RD4-score01 =4

|RD4-seed02 =W2

|RD4-team02 =Detroit

|RD4-score02 =3

}}}}

For an NHL-record 32nd time, the Bruins and Canadiens faced each other in the playoffs. The Boston Bruins entered the playoffs after finishing the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Conference with 116 points. The Montreal Canadiens qualified for the postseason as the eighth seed with 93 points, winning the tiebreaker over the Florida Panthers based on the season series (six points to three).

Boston swept Montreal, scoring at least four goals in each win. With the score tied 2–2 entering the third period of Game 1, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara scored a power play goal at 11:15 and Phil Kessel added an empty net score in the closing seconds to clinch the victory.{{cite web|title=Bruins top Canadiens 4-2 in opener|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030111|date=April 16, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 23, 2009}} Boston scored three power play goals, including two from Marc Savard, en route to a 5–1 victory in Game 2.{{cite web|title=Bruins bash Canadiens 5-1 in Game 2 |first=Shawn P. |last=Roarke |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030112 |date=April 18, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=April 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422012301/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030112 |archive-date=April 22, 2009 |url-status=live }} Game 3 resembled the first game in that both teams fought to a 2–2 tie midway through the game, but like the first contest the Bruins scored the go-ahead winning goal again. This time it was Michael Ryder at 17:21 in the second period.{{cite web|title=Ryder's goal leaves Habs in 3-0 hole |first=Shawn P. |last=Roarke |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030113 |date=April 20, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=April 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424032431/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030113 |archive-date=April 24, 2009 |url-status=live }} Montreal scored in the first minute of Game 4 off the stick of Andrei Kostitsyn, but Boston went on to dominate the rest of the game, grabbing two goals from Ryder in a 4–1 victory, to win the series.{{cite web|title=Bruins close out Canadiens|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030114|date=April 22, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 23, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Montreal Canadiens

|team2=Boston Bruins

|stadium2=Bell Centre

|stadium1=TD Banknorth Garden

|date1 =April 16

|score1 =2–4

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS030111.HTM

|1-1-1 =Chris Higgins (1) – 16:19

|1-1-2 =13:11 – Phil Kessel (1)
14:41 – David Krejci (1)

|1-2-1 =Alexei Kovalev (1) – 17:37

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =11:15 – pp – Zdeno Chara (1)
19:46 – en – Phil Kessel (2)

|goalie1-1 =Carey Price 35 saves / 38 shots

|goalie1-2 =Tim Thomas 26 saves / 28 shots

|date2 =April 18

|score2 =1–5

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS030112.HTM

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =09:59 – pp – Marc Savard (1)
15:12 – Chuck Kobasew (1)

|2-2-1 =Alexei Kovalev (2) – 00:46

|2-2-2 =05:45 – Shane Hnidy (1)
08:13 – pp – Marc Savard (2)
19:57 – pp – Michael Ryder (1)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Carey Price 21 saves / 26 shots
Jaroslav Halak 5 saves / 5 shots

|goalie2-2 =Tim Thomas 30 saves / 31 shots

|date3 =April 20

|score3 =4–2

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS030113.HTM

|3-1-1 =11:52 – Chris Higgins (2)

|3-1-2 =Phil Kessel (3) – 18:35

|3-2-1 =05:16 – Yannick Weber (1)

|3-2-2 =Shawn Thornton (1) – 03:36
Michael Ryder (2) – 17:21

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Chuck Kobasew (2) – en – 19:23

|goalie3-1 =Carey Price 26 saves / 29 shots

|goalie3-2 =Tim Thomas 23 saves / 25 shots

|date4 =April 22

|score4 =4–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS030114.HTM

|4-1-1 =00:39 – Andrei Kostitsyn (1)

|4-1-2 =Michael Ryder (3) – 17:27
David Krejci (2) – 19:25

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Phil Kessel (4) – 11:58
Michael Ryder (4) – 12:43

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Carey Price 26 saves / 30 shots

|goalie4-2 =Tim Thomas 26 saves / 27 shots

|series = Boston won series 4–0

}}

The Washington Capitals entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Southeast Division with 108 points. The New York Rangers earned the seventh seed with 95 points. The teams met in the playoffs four times previously, with each winning two series. They last met in the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals, which the Rangers won in five games.

The Capitals overcame a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Rangers in seven games. The Rangers won the first game by a 4–3 score, with Brandon Dubinsky scoring the game winner at 11:43 in the third period.{{cite web|title=Rangers 4, Capitals 3 |first=Dan |last=Rosen |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030121 |date=April 15, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805073715/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030121 |archive-date=August 5, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }} Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau benched starting goaltender Jose Theodore and replaced him with Semyon Varlamov for Game 2, after Theodore allowed four goals on just 21 shots.{{cite web|title=Rangers 1, Capitals 0 |first=Dan |last=Rosen |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030122 |date=April 18, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805204315/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030122 |archive-date=August 5, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }} The goaltending change was not immediately effective as New York netminder Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 35 Washington shots to give the Rangers a 1–0 victory (with Ryan Callahan providing the only tally) in the following game. Varlamov responded in game three by stopping all 33 Ranger shots, and Alexander Semin scored two goals to lead the Capitals to a 4–0 victory.{{cite web|title=Semin, Varlamov pace Caps to 4-0 win|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030123|date=April 20, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} However, Lundqvist stopped 38 of 39 shots, including 10 of 11 from the stick of Alexander Ovechkin, to give the Rangers a 2–1 victory in Game 4.{{cite web|title=Lundqvist has Rangers on brink of ousting Caps|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030124|date=April 22, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} The Capitals limited the Rangers to just 20 shots to win 4–0 in Game 5. Fourth liner Matt Bradley scored two goals in the game and Lundquist was pulled after allowing four goals on 14 shots.{{cite web|title=Caps force Game 6 with 4-0 win over Rangers |first=Dan |last=Rosen |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030125 |date=April 24, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428063638/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030125 |archive-date=April 28, 2009 |url-status=live }} Washington erupted in Game 6 to score five goals, including powerplay markers from Mike Green and Ovechkin, for a 5–3 victory.{{cite web|title=Capitals force seventh game with win over Rangers|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030126|date=April 26, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} After Game 6, the league suspended Capitals forward Donald Brashear for both a pre-game altercation with Rangers forward Colton Orr and what was ruled to be a late hit on Blair Betts, in which the Rangers center suffered an orbital eye socket fracture.{{cite web|title=Caps' Brashear out six games|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4105737|date=April 28, 2009|work=ESPN.com|access-date=April 29, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430062654/http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4105737|archive-date=April 30, 2009|url-status=dead}} Sergei Fedorov scored the game-winning goal 15:01 into the third period in Game 7 to give the Capitals a 2–1 victory and eliminate the Rangers for their first playoff series victory since reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998.{{cite web|title=Fedorov's goal gives Caps Game 7 victory|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030127|date=April 28, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=New York Rangers

|team2=Washington Capitals

|stadium2=Madison Square Garden

|stadium1=Verizon Center

|date1 =April 15

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030121

|score1 =4–3

|won1 =1

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Scott Gomez (1) – 07:49
Nik Antropov (1) – pp – 16:49
Markus Naslund (1) – pp – 18:28

|1-2-2 =06:40 – pp – Tomas Fleischmann (1)
19:11 – Viktor Kozlov (1)

|1-3-1 =Brandon Dubinsky (1) – 11:43

|1-3-2 =01:42 – pp – Alexander Semin (1)

|goalie1-1 =Henrik Lundqvist 32 saves / 35 shots

|goalie1-2 =Jose Theodore 17 saves / 21 shots

|date2 =April 18

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030122

|score2 =1–0

|won2 =1

|2-1-1 =Ryan Callahan (1) – 07:44

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Henrik Lundqvist 35 saves / 35 shots

|goalie2-2 =Semyon Varlamov 23 saves / 24 shots

|date3 =April 20

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030123

|score3 =4–0

|won3 =2

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Alexander Semin (2) – 06:57
Alexander Semin (3) – 11:36

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Brooks Laich (1) – pp – 11:29

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Tom Poti (1) – pp – 18:35

|goalie3-1 =Henrik Lundqvist 36 saves / 40 shots

|goalie3-2 =Semyon Varlamov 33 saves / 33 shots

|date4 =April 22

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030124

|score4 =1–2

|won4 =1

|4-1-1 =13:55 – Paul Mara (1)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =02:23 – Chris Drury (1)

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Alexander Ovechkin (1) – 02:13

|goalie4-1 =Henrik Lundqvist 38 saves / 39 shots

|goalie4-2 =Semyon Varlamov 19 saves / 21 shots

|date5 =April 24

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030125

|score5 =0–4

|won5 =2

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =04:58 – sh – Matt Bradley (1)
12:07 – Matt Bradley (2)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =04:57 – Alexander Semin (4)
19:31 – Alexander Ovechkin (2)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Henrik Lundqvist 10 saves / 14 shots
Steve Valiquette 7 saves / 7 shots

|goalie5-2 =Semyon Varlamov 20 saves / 20 shots

|date6 =April 26

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030126

|score6 =5–3

|won6 =2

|6-1-1 =08:15 – pp – Scott Gomez (2)

|6-1-2 =Milan Jurcina (1) – 07:09
Mike Green (1) – pp – 13:58
Tom Poti (2) – 17:14

|6-2-1 =No scoring

|6-2-2 =Viktor Kozlov (2) – 09:21
Alexander Ovechkin (3) – pp – 16:44

|6-3-1 =04:21 – pp – Ryan Callahan (2)
19:54 – Marc Staal (1)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Henrik Lundqvist 15 saves / 20 shots
Steve Valiquette 2 saves / 2 shots

|goalie6-2 =Semyon Varlamov 29 saves / 32 shots

|date7 =April 28

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030127

|score7 =1–2

|won7 =2

|7-1-1 =Nik Antropov (2) – 05:35

|7-1-2 =15:34 – Alexander Semin (5)

|7-2-1 =No scoring

|7-2-2 =No scoring

|7-3-1 =No scoring

|7-3-2 =15:01 – Sergei Fedorov (1)

|goalie7-1 =Henrik Lundqvist 22 saves / 24 shots

|goalie7-2 =Semyon Varlamov 14 saves / 15 shots

|series = Washington won series 4–3

}}

The New Jersey Devils entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Atlantic Division with 106 points. The Carolina Hurricanes earned the sixth seed with 97 points. These teams met three times previously in the playoffs, with the Hurricanes winning two series. They last met in the 2006 Eastern Conference semifinals, with the Hurricanes winning in five games.

The Hurricanes defeated the Devils in seven games. New Jersey won the first game with goaltender Martin Brodeur stopping 18 of 19 shots and the Devils' top line playing phenomenally, with Zach Parise and Patrik Elias coming up with goals. .{{cite web|title=Devils 4, Hurricanes 1|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030131|date=April 15, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} In game two, Tim Gleason scored 2:40 into overtime for his first goal of the season to give Carolina a 2–1 victory. The game was a goaltending battle that saw Brodeur and Cam Ward each stop over 30 shots{{cite web|title=Gleason's OT goal lifts 'Canes over Devils|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030132|date=April 17, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} Game 3 also went into overtime, but this time the Devils prevailed, 3–2, with Travis Zajac scoring at 4:48 into the extra period.{{cite web|title=Zajac's OT winner gives Devils edge|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030133|date=April 19, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} It appeared that game four would also go into overtime, but it ended with an epic conclusion. Carolina led 3–0, but New Jersey rallied to tie the game in the third. Jussi Jokinen proved to be the hero, as he scored on a deflection with 0.2 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Hurricanes a 4–3 victory.{{cite web|title=Hurricanes shock Devils 4-3 with late goal|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030134|date=April 21, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} This goal was the latest game winning regulation goal in Stanley Cup Playoff history.{{cite web|title=Wild finish has Devils, 'Canes all tied up |first=Brian |last=Compton |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=419533&navid=DL%7cNHL%7cHome%7ctitle |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910184800/http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=419533&navid=DL |archive-date=September 10, 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=June 15, 2009 }} The next two games of the series were shutouts: Brodeur stopped 44 shots in a 1–0 victory for the Devils in game five (with David Clarkson providing the game's sole goal),{{cite web|title=Brodeur's gem gives Devils 1-0 win over 'Canes|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030135|date=April 23, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} while Cam Ward stopped 28 shots and Eric Staal scored twice in a 4–0 victory for Carolina in game six.{{cite web|title=Hurricanes blank Devils, series goes distance|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030136|date=April 26, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} The Hurricanes were behind for much of game seven but scored two goals inside the last 1:20 of the third period, one by Jokinen and the other by Staal, to win the contest 4–3 and eliminate the Devils.{{cite web|title=Hurricanes stun Devils to win game 7|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030137|date=April 28, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Carolina Hurricanes

|team2=New Jersey Devils

|stadium2=RBC Center

|stadium1=Prudential Center

|date1 =April 15

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030131

|score1 =1–4

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =16:03 – Mike Mottau (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =00:59 – Zach Parise (1)
11:33 – Patrik Elias (1)

|1-3-1 =Ray Whitney (1) – 09:22

|1-3-2 =09:51 – Jamie Langenbrunner (1)

|goalie1-1 =Cam Ward 35 saves / 39 shots

|goalie1-2 =Martin Brodeur 18 saves / 19 shots

|date2 =April 17

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030132

|score2 =2–1

|ot2 =1

|won2 =1

|2-1-1 =Eric Staal (1) – 19:35

|2-1-2 =10:44 – Zach Parise (2)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|2-4-1 =Tim Gleason (1) – 02:40

|2-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Cam Ward 33 saves / 34 shots

|goalie2-2 =Martin Brodeur 30 saves / 32 shots

|date3 =April 19

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030133

|score3 =3–2

|ot3 =1

|won3 =2

|3-1-1 =06:35 – Ryan Bayda (1)

|3-1-2 =Zach Parise (3) – 06:04
Brian Gionta (1) – 19:51

|3-2-1 =15:30 – Chad LaRose (1)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Travis Zajac (1) – 04:58

|goalie3-1 =Cam Ward 31 saves / 34 shots

|goalie3-2 =Martin Brodeur 28 saves / 30 shots

|date4 =April 21

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030134

|score4 =3–4

|won4 =1

|4-1-1 =07:44 – Eric Staal (2)
08:47 – Ryan Bayda (2)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =06:30 – Chad LaRose (2)

|4-2-2 =Brian Gionta (2) – 19:32

|4-3-1 =19:59 – Jussi Jokinen (1)

|4-3-2 =Brendan Shanahan (1) – 04:21
David Clarkson (1) – 08:46

|goalie4-1 =Cam Ward 26 saves / 29 shots

|goalie4-2 =Martin Brodeur 42 saves / 46 shots

|date5 =April 23

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030135

|score5 =0–1

|won5 =2

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =11:22 – pp – David Clarkson (2)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Cam Ward 41 saves / 42 shots

|goalie5-2 =Martin Brodeur 44 saves / 44 shots

|date6 =April 26

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030136

|score6 =0–4

|won6 =1

|6-1-1 =10:32 – Ray Whitney (2)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =04:44 – Eric Staal (3)
07:30 – Eric Staal (4)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =09:12 – pp – Jussi Jokinen (2)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Cam Ward 28 saves / 28 shots

|goalie6-2 =Martin Brodeur 33 saves / 37 shots

|date7 =April 28

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030137

|score7 =4–3

|won7 =1

|7-1-1 =Tuomo Ruutu (1) – 01:02

|7-1-2 =02:31 – Jamie Langenbrunner (2)
13:27 – Jay Pandolfo (1)

|7-2-1 =Ray Whitney (3) – 03:42

|7-2-2 =08:47 – pp – Brian Rolston (1)

|7-3-1 =Jussi Jokinen (3) – 18:40
Eric Staal (5) – 19:28

|goalie7-1 =Cam Ward 32 saves / 35 shots

|goalie7-2 =Martin Brodeur 27 saves / 31 shots

|series = Carolina won series 4–3

}}

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers qualified for the playoffs by finishing the regular season tied with 99 points, but the Penguins earned the fourth seed because they won the tiebreaker on total wins (45–44) while the Flyers got the fifth seed. The Penguins and Flyers had previously met in the previous season's Eastern Conference Final, with the Penguins winning in five games. It was the Penguins first win against the Flyers, having lost against them in three previous series (1989, 1997 and 2000).

The Penguins defeated the Flyers in six games. Sidney Crosby scored a power play goal early in the first period of game one, sparking the Penguins to a 4–1 win against an undisciplined Flyers team that took 12 penalties.{{cite web|title=Penguins 4, Flyers 1|first=Adam|last=Kimelman|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030141|date=April 15, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 26, 2009}} In game two, Bill Guerin scored two goals including the game-winner during a five-on-three power play at 18:29 in overtime to give Pittsburgh a 3–2 victory.{{cite web|title=Penguins top Flyers on Guerin's OT goal|first=Adam|last=Kimelman|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030142|date=April 17, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 26, 2009}} The Flyers bounced back in game three with a 6–3 victory that featured two goals by Simon Gagne.{{cite web|title=Giroux, Flyers bounce back with big effort |first=Adam |last=Kimelman |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030143 |date=April 19, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422012311/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030143 |archive-date=April 22, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }} Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 45 shots and helped kill off nine Philadelphia power plays, while Tyler Kennedy scored the game winner, to give Pittsburgh a 3–1 win in Game 4.{{cite web|title=Fleury steals one for Penguins|first=Adam|last=Kimelman|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030144|date=April 21, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 26, 2009}} Flyers goaltender Martin Biron stopped all 28 shots, and Philadelphia got scoring from unlikely sources such as Arron Asham, to give the Flyers a 3–0 victory in game five.{{cite web|title=Flyers blank Penguins 3-0 to force Game 6|first=Adam|last=Kimelman|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030145|date=April 23, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 26, 2009}} Then in game six, Philadelphia jumped to a 3–0 lead in the second period and appeared to be on their way to force a game seven. However, a fight between Philadelphia's Daniel Carcillo and Pittsburgh's Max Talbot reenergized the Penguins, who erupted to score five unanswered goals, including two by Crosby, to win the game and the series.{{cite web|title=Penguins' rally eliminates Flyers from playoffs|first=Adam|last=Kimelman|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030146|date=April 25, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 26, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Philadelphia Flyers

|team2=Pittsburgh Penguins

|stadium2=Wachovia Center

|stadium1=Mellon Arena

|date1 =April 15

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030141

|score1 =1–4

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =04:41 – pp – Sidney Crosby (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =01:39 – Tyler Kennedy (1)

|1-3-1 =Simon Gagne (1) – pp – 15:25

|1-3-2 =06:28 – Evgeni Malkin (1)
10:27 – Mark Eaton (1)

|goalie1-1 =Martin Biron 29 saves / 33 shots

|goalie1-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 26 saves / 27 shots

|date2 =April 17

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030142

|score2 =2–3

|ot2 =1

|won2 =2

|2-1-1 =Scott Hartnell (1) – pp – 13:26

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =16:38 – Bill Guerin (1)

|2-3-1 =Darroll Powe (1) – 02:09

|2-3-2 =16:23 – pp – Evgeni Malkin (2)

|2-4-1 =No scoring

|2-4-2 =18:29 – pp – Bill Guerin (2)

|goalie2-1 =Martin Biron 46 saves / 49 shots

|goalie2-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 38 saves / 40 shots

|date3 =April 19

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030143

|score3 =3–6

|won3 =1

|3-1-1 =02:59 – Jeff Carter (1)
05:14 – pp – Mike Richards (1)

|3-1-2 =Evgeni Malkin (3) – 19:48

|3-2-1 =04:32 – Claude Giroux (1)
08:58 – sh – Simon Gagne (2)

|3-2-2 =Rob Scuderi (1) – 00:13

|3-3-1 =03:42 – Jared Ross (1)
18:24 – en – Simon Gagne (3)

|3-3-2 =Evgeni Malkin (4) – pp – 08:30

|goalie3-1 =Martin Biron 26 saves / 29 shots

|goalie3-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 24 saves / 29 shots

|date4 =April 21

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030144

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Sidney Crosby (2) – 03:19
Tyler Kennedy (2) – 07:41

|4-3-1 =11:44 – Daniel Carcillo (1)

|4-3-2 =Maxime Talbot (1) – en – 19:08

|goalie4-1 =Martin Biron 23 saves / 25 shots

|goalie4-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 45 saves / 46 shots

|date5 =April 23

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030145

|score5 =3–0

|won5 =1

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =Arron Asham (1) – 06:23

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Claude Giroux (2) – 03:25
Mike Knuble (1) – 13:13

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Martin Biron 28 saves / 28 shots

|goalie5-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 26 shots

|date6 =April 25

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030146

|score6 =5–3

|won6 =2

|6-1-1 =17:48 – Mike Knuble (2)
18:39 – Joffrey Lupul (1)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =04:06 – pp – Daniel Briere (1)

|6-2-2 =Ruslan Fedotenko (1) – 04:35
Mark Eaton (2) – 06:32
Sidney Crosby (3) – 16:59

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =Sergei Gonchar (1) – 02:19
Sidney Crosby (4) – en – 19:32

|goalie6-1 =Martin Biron 30 saves / 34 shots

|goalie6-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 22 saves / 25 shots

|series = Pittsburgh won series 4–2

}}

The series between the Sharks and Ducks was just the second time in NHL history that two California teams were facing each other in the playoffs. The first series was in 1969 between the Los Angeles Kings and the Oakland Seals. The San Jose Sharks entered the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winner, earning the NHL's best regular season record with 117 points. The Anaheim Ducks earned 91 points to clinch the eighth playoff seed in the Western Conference.

The Ducks defeated the Sharks in six games, to become just the second California team (after the 2000 Sharks over the St. Louis Blues) to eliminate a Presidents' Trophy winner in the first round of the playoffs. Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller earned two shutout victories in games one and four, stopping a total of 66 shots. Game one was deadlocked until a Scott Niedermayer powerplay goal broke the ice at 5:18 in the third, while game four was dominated by Anaheim and featured two goals from Bobby Ryan{{cite web|title=Ducks get jump on San Jose with 2-0 win |author=NHL.com staff |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030151 |date=April 16, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420015622/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030151 |archive-date=April 20, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}{{cite web|title=Ducks push Sharks to brink with 4-0 win|first=Eric|last=Stephens|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030154|date=April 23, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} Hiller also stopped 42 out of 44 shots in game two, as Drew Miller picked up the game winner,{{cite web|title=Hiller's heroics have Sharks in a hole |first=Eric |last=Stephens |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030152 |date=April 19, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423024249/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030152 |archive-date=April 23, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }} and 36 out of 37 shots in a game six that saw the Ducks produce powerplay goals from Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne. In total, Hiller allowed only ten goals in the series.{{cite web|title=Ducks complete upset of Sharks with 4-1 Game 6 win|first=Eric|last=Stephens|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030156|date=April 27, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} For the Sharks, Dan Boyle scored two goals in game three to give San Jose a 4–3 win in that contest,{{cite web|title=Sharks get a W thanks to vets on D|first=Eric|last=Stephens|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030153|date=April 21, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} while Patrick Marleau scored the game-winning goal in game five to give the Sharks a 3–2 overtime victory.{{cite web|title=Sharks stay alive with 3-2 overtime win|first=Eric|last=Stephens|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030155|date=April 25, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} However, back in Anaheim for game six, the Ducks grabbed goals from big-name players like Selanne and Perry, dominating the Sharks to win the game 4–1, and eliminating the Sharks.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Anaheim Ducks

|team2=San Jose Sharks

|stadium2=Honda Center

|stadium1=HP Pavilion

|date1 =April 16

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030151

|score1 =2–0

|won1 =1

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Scott Niedermayer (1) – pp – 05:18
Ryan Getzlaf (1) – 17:35

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Jonas Hiller 35 saves / 35 shots

|goalie1-2 =Evgeni Nabokov 15 saves / 17 shots

|date2 =April 19

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030152

|score2 =3–2

|won2 =1

|2-1-1 =Bobby Ryan (1) – pp – 03:45

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =05:38 – Ryan Clowe (1)

|2-3-1 =Andrew Ebbett (1) – 09:44
Drew Miller (1) – 13:17

|2-3-2 =15:54 – Jonathan Cheechoo (1)

|goalie2-1 =Jonas Hiller 42 saves / 44 shots

|goalie2-2 =Evgeni Nabokov 23 saves / 26 shots

|date3 =April 21

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030153

|score3 =4–3

|won3 =2

|3-1-1 =11:12 – pp – Bobby Ryan (2)
14:50 – James Wisniewski (1)

|3-1-2 =Rob Blake (1) – 05:34
Dan Boyle (1) – pp – 13:07

|3-2-1 =11:50 – Chris Pronger (1)

|3-2-2 =Dan Boyle (2) – 01:05

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Patrick Marleau (1) – pp – 10:33

|goalie3-1 =Jonas Hiller 31 saves / 35 shots

|goalie3-2 =Evgeni Nabokov 27 saves / 30 shots

|date4 =April 23

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030154

|score4 =0–4

|won4 =1

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =06:33 – Bobby Ryan (3)
10:13 – Bobby Ryan (4)

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =14:09 – Corey Perry (1)
19:19 – en – Drew Miller (2)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Jonas Hiller 31 saves / 31 shots

|goalie4-2 =Evgeni Nabokov 22 saves / 25 shots

|date5 =April 25

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030155

|score5 =2–3

|ot5 =1

|won5 =2

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =07:25 – pp – Joe Thornton (1)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =17:16 – Devin Setoguchi (1)

|5-3-1 =Ryan Carter (1) – 00:55
Corey Perry (2) – 04:42

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|5-4-1 =No scoring

|5-4-2 =06:02 – Patrick Marleau (2)

|goalie5-1 =Jonas Hiller 45 saves / 48 shots

|goalie5-2 =Evgeni Nabokov 23 saves / 25 shots

|date6 =April 27

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030156

|score6 =1–4

|won6 =1

|6-1-1 =12:33 – pp – Corey Perry (3)

|6-1-2 =Milan Michalek (1) – pp – 10:19

|6-2-1 =13:03 - pp - Teemu Selanne (1)
14:26 - Francois Beauchemin (1)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =17:06 – Ryan Getzlaf (2)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Jonas Hiller 36 saves / 37 shots

|goalie6-2 =Evgeni Nabokov 28 saves / 32 shots

|series = Anaheim won series 4–2

}}

The Detroit Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, entered the playoffs as the second overall seed in the Western Conference, having clinched the Central Division title with 112 points. The Columbus Blue Jackets qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, clinching the seventh seed with 92 points but lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with the St. Louis Blues. This was the first Western Conference playoff series played entirely within the Eastern Time Zone since the Red Wings played the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1993 Norris Division semifinals, and this proved to be the last ever occurrence, as both of these teams were realigned into the Eastern Conference prior to the start of the 2013–14 season.

The Red Wings swept the Blue Jackets in four games. Detroit scored four goals in each of the first three games of the series, while goaltender Chris Osgood only allowed two total goals out of 78 Columbus shots in those three games, including a shutout victory in game two. Jiri Hudler broke the ice at 10:48 in the second period for the game one win. Detroit picked up powerplay goals from Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, and Hudler in game two. Henrik Zetterberg scored twice in a game three victory{{cite web|title=Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 1|first=John|last=Kreiser|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030161|date=April 16, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}{{cite web|title=Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 0|first=Larry|last=Wigge|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030162|date=April 18, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}{{cite web|title=Wings top Jackets 4-1, lead series 3-0|first=Mike G.|last=Morreale|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030163|date=April 21, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}

The fourth game proved to be the most competitive contest of the series. Nicklas Lidstrom scored a power play goal early in the first period to give the Red Wings the lead before Kristian Huselius tied the score about three minutes later on a power play goal of his own.{{cite web|title=Wings' late goal eliminates Jackets|first=Mike G.|last=Morreale|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030164|date=April 23, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary then scored to give Detroit a 3–1 lead before the end of the opening period. Columbus fought to tie the score again at 5:38 of the second period with goals by Rick Nash and R. J. Umberger, but the Red Wings Marian Hossa answered with two consecutive goals to give his team a two-goal lead again. The Blue Jackets then rallied to tie the score, 5–5, by the closing minutes of the second period with scores by Kris Russell and Fredrik Modin. The third period remained scoreless until the closing minutes of regulation. With less than two minutes left, the Blue Jackets were called for too many men on the ice, which enabled Johan Franzen to score the series winning power play goal with 46.6 seconds remaining.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Columbus Blue Jackets

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=Nationwide Arena

|stadium1=Joe Louis Arena

|date1 =April 16

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030161

|score1 =1–4

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =R. J. Umberger (1) – 11:40

|1-2-2 =10:48 – Jiri Hudler (1)
14:21 – Jonathan Ericsson (1)
15:09 – pp – Niklas Kronwall (1)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =02:54 – Johan Franzen (1)

|goalie1-1 =Steve Mason 30 saves / 34 shots

|goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 20 saves / 21 shots

|date2 =April 18

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030162

|score2 =0–4

|won2 =2

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =13:13 – pp – Brian Rafalski (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =07:18 – pp – Pavel Datsyuk (1)
15:30 – Henrik Zetterberg (1)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =03:38 – pp – Jiri Hudler (2)

|goalie2-1 =Steve Mason 35 saves / 39 shots

|goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 25 saves / 25 shots

|date3 =April 21

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030163

|score3 =4–1

|won3 =2

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Tomas Holmstrom (1) – 01:07
Daniel Cleary (1) – 19:14

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Henrik Zetterberg (2) – 13:55

|3-3-1 =16:07 – pp – R. J. Umberger (2)

|3-3-2 =Henrik Zetterberg 3 – en – 19:29

|goalie3-1 =Steve Mason 22 saves / 25 shots

|goalie3-2 =Chris Osgood 31 saves / 32 shots

|date4 =April 23

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030164

|score4 =6–5

|won4 =2

|4-1-1 =06:12 – pp – Kristian Huselius (1)

|4-1-2 =Nicklas Lidstrom (1) – pp – 02:58
Tomas Holmstrom (2) – 07:09
Daniel Cleary (2) – 10:02

|4-2-1 =01:44 – Rick Nash (1)
05:38 – pp – R. J. Umberger (3)
15:45 – Kris Russell (1)
18:04 – Fredrik Modin (1)

|4-2-2 =Marian Hossa (1) – 06:59
Marian Hossa (2) – pp – 11:26

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Johan Franzen (2) – pp – 19:13

|goalie4-1 =Steve Mason 35 saves / 41 shots

|goalie4-2 =Chris Osgood 27 saves / 32 shots

|series = Detroit won series 4–0

}}

The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the third overall seed in the Western Conference, having clinched the Northwest Division title with 100 points. The St. Louis Blues qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2004, clinching the sixth seed with 92 points and winning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Columbus Blue Jackets. This was the third meeting in the playoffs for these two teams, the Canucks winning both previous series. They last met in the 2003 Western Conference quarterfinals, with the Canucks winning in seven games.

Vancouver swept St. Louis in four games, their first sweep of a best-of-seven series in franchise history, to move on to the second round. The Canucks held off the Blues in game one, winning 2–1 by gaining goals from Daniel Sedin and Sami Salo and killing off a long Blues five-on-three power play midway through the first period.{{cite web|title=Canucks 2, Blues 1|first=Derek|last=Jory|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030171|date=April 15, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 22, 2009}} Vancouver then shut out St. Louis in game two, 3–0, with goaltender Roberto Luongo stopping all 30 Blues shots and Mats Sundin providing the game-winning goal.{{cite web|title=Luongo, Canucks blank Blues 3-0|first=Derek|last=Jory|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030172|date=April 17, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 22, 2009}} The Blues were hoping to gain momentum when the series shifted to St. Louis for game three, but Vancouver held on to a 3–2 win, scoring three power play goals, with Mattias Ohlund, Sedin, and Steve Bernier providing the man-advantage tallies.{{cite web|title=Sedins put stamp on Game 3|first=Larry|last=Wigge|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030173|date=April 19, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 22, 2009}} In game four, Brad Boyes and David Perron helped St. Louis to tie the game after falling behind early. However, Alexandre Burrows scored with 18.9 seconds left in the first overtime period to give the Canucks a 3–2 victory and the four-game sweep.{{cite web|title=Canucks complete sweep with 3-2 overtime win|first=Larry|last=Wigge|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030174|date=April 21, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 22, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=St. Louis Blues

|team2=Vancouver Canucks

|stadium2=Scottrade Center

|stadium1=General Motors Place

|date1 =April 15

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030171

|score1 =1–2

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =10:03 – Daniel Sedin (1)

|1-2-1 =Brad Boyes (1) – pp – 18:16

|1-2-2 =05:11 – pp – Sami Salo (1)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Chris Mason 29 saves / 31 shots

|goalie1-2 =Roberto Luongo 25 saves / 26 shots

|date2 =April 17

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030172

|score2 =0–3

|won2 =2

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =18:04 – Mats Sundin (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =09:46 – Alexandre Burrows (1)
18:36 – en – Henrik Sedin (1)

|goalie2-1 =Chris Mason 24 saves / 26 shots

|goalie2-2 =Roberto Luongo 30 saves / 30 shots

|date3 =April 19

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030173

|score3 =3–2

|won3 =2

|3-1-1 =03:11 – David Backes (1)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =16:13 – Andy McDonald (1)

|3-2-2 =Mattias Ohlund (1) – pp – 07:57
Daniel Sedin (2) – pp – 10:18

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Steve Bernier (1) – pp – 01:41

|goalie3-1 =Chris Mason 23 saves / 26 shots

|goalie3-2 =Roberto Luongo 24 saves / 26 shots

|date4 =April 21

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030174

|score4 =3–2

|ot4 =1

|won4 =2

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Kyle Wellwood (1) – 05:20

|4-2-1 =13:30 – Brad Boyes (2)
16:54 – David Perron (1)

|4-2-2 =Alexandre Burrows (2) – 09:23

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|4-4-1 =No scoring

|4-4-2 =Alexandre Burrows (3) – 19:41

|goalie4-1 =Chris Mason 33 saves / 36 shots

|goalie4-2 =Roberto Luongo 47 saves / 49 shots

|series = Vancouver won series 4–0

}}

The Chicago Blackhawks finished the regular season in second place in the Central division with 104 points and thus entered the playoffs as the fourth-overall seed in the Western Conference. The Calgary Flames earned 98 points during the regular season to finish fifth-overall in the Western Conference. Chicago made the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The two teams met in the playoffs three times previously, with the Flames winning two series. They last met in the 1996 Western Conference quarterfinals, with the Blackhawks winning in four games.

Chicago won the series over Calgary in six games, with the home team winning the first five games of the series. Martin Havlat scored the game-winning goal 12 seconds into overtime to win game one for the Blackhawks, 3–2.{{cite web|title=Hawks win 3-2 on Havlat's OT goal|first=Stuart|last=Shea|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030181|date=April 16, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 27, 2009}} Then in game two, Chicago overcame a 2-goal deficit by scoring 3 goals in the second period, including a pair from Jonathan Toews, to win 3–2.{{cite web|title=Toews, Blackhawks comeback for 3-2 win|first=Brett|last=Ballantini|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030182|date=April 18, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 27, 2009}} When the series shifted to Calgary for game three, David Moss scored two goals to help the Flames earn a 4–2 victory.{{cite web|title=Moss strikes twice as Flames bounce back|first=Todd|last=Kimberley|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030183|date=April 20, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 27, 2009}} In game four, Calgary scored six goals, including two by each of their top stars Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen, to win 6–4.{{cite web|title=Nystrom's goal gives Flames series-tying win|first=Todd|last=Kimberley|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030184|date=April 22, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 27, 2009}} The Blackhawks responded in game five by exploding to a 5–1 victory, going up 3–0 after one period with goals from Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp, and Kris Versteeg, and limiting the Flames to 20 shots on goal.{{cite web|title=Hawks dump Flames 5-1 to take 3-2 series lead|first=Mike G.|last=Morreale|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030185|date=April 25, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 27, 2009}} Chicago defeated Calgary by a score of 4–1 in game six to win the series, with Patrick Kane providing the early game winner and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin stopping 43 out of 44 shots.{{cite web|title=Khabibulin stars as Hawks close out Flames|first=Todd|last=Kimberley|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030186|date=April 27, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=April 27, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Calgary Flames

|team2=Chicago Blackhawks

|stadium2=Pengrowth Saddledome

|stadium1=United Center

|date1 =April 16

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030181

|score1 =2–3

|ot1 =1

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =David Moss (1) – 08:38

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =13:17 – Cam Barker (1)

|1-3-1 =Michael Cammalleri (1) – 03:54

|1-3-2 =14:27 – Martin Havlat (1)

|1-4-1 =No scoring

|1-4-2 =00:12 – Martin Havlat (2)

|goalie1-1 =Miikka Kiprusoff 25 saves / 28 shots

|goalie1-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 23 saves / 25 shots

|date2 =April 18

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030182

|score2 =2–3

|won2 =2

|2-1-1 =Jarome Iginla (1) – pp – 07:44
Adrian Aucoin (1) – 16:15

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =00:46 – pp – Jonathan Toews (1)
13:58 – Patrick Sharp (1)
19:36 – Jonathan Toews (2)

|goalie2-1 =Miikka Kiprusoff 30 saves / 33 shots

|goalie2-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 30 saves / 32 shots

|date3 =April 20

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030183

|score3 =2–4

|won3 =1

|3-1-1 =06:40 – Eric Nystrom (1)

|3-1-2 =Patrick Sharp (2) – pp – 02:03

|3-2-1 =17:07 – Rene Bourque (1)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =01:18 – David Moss (2)
05:24 – David Moss (3)

|3-3-2 =Martin Havlat (3) – 15:35

|goalie3-1 =Miikka Kiprusoff 36 saves / 38 shots

|goalie3-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 24 saves / 28 shots

|date4 =April 22

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030184

|score4 =4–6

|won4 =1

|4-1-1 =05:47 – pp – Jarome Iginla (2)

|4-1-2 =Patrick Kane (1) – 04:40

|4-2-1 =00:50 – Olli Jokinen (1)
08:10 – Adrian Aucoin (2)
09:16 – Olli Jokinen (2)

|4-2-2 =Kris Versteeg (1) – pp – 12:13
Cam Barker (2) – 16:44
Samuel Pahlsson (1) – pp – 19:27

|4-3-1 =13:04 – Eric Nystrom (2)
19:49 – en – Jarome Iginla (3)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Miikka Kiprusoff 28 saves / 32 shots

|goalie4-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 21 saves / 26 shots

|date5 =April 25

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030185

|score5 =1–5

|won5 =2

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =09:19 – pp – Brent Seabrook (1)
10:49 – Patrick Sharp (3)
11:08 – Kris Versteeg (2)

|5-2-1 =Dustin Boyd (1) – 02:45

|5-2-2 =06:14 – Andrew Ladd (1)
14:56 – Cam Barker (3)

|goalie5-1 =Miikka Kiprusoff 14 saves / 18 shots
Curtis McElhinney 9 saves / 10 shots

|goalie5-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 19 saves / 20 shots

|date6 =April 27

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030186

|score6 =4–1

|won6 =2

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =Patrick Kane (2) – pp – 02:20
Adam Burish (1) – 10:11

|6-2-1 =No scoring

|6-2-2 =Brian Campbell (1) – pp – 14:57

|6-3-1 =00:54 – Todd Bertuzzi (1)

|6-3-2 =Dustin Byfuglien (1) – en – 19:55

|goalie6-1 =Miikka Kiprusoff 12 saves / 15 shots

|goalie6-2 =Nikolai Khabibulin 43 saves / 44 shots

|series = Chicago won series 4–2

}}

For the first time since the 2001 playoffs, at least three Conference Semifinal series extended to seven games.{{cite web|title=Conference semifinals peak with three Game 7s|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=422638|date=May 13, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 14, 2009}}

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bruins winning all three previous series. They last met in the 1999 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Boston won in six games. The Carolina Hurricanes eliminated the Boston Bruins in seven games to advance to their first Eastern Conference Final since their Stanley Cup championship season in 2006. Marc Savard scored two goals to help give the Bruins a 4–1 victory in game one,{{cite web|title=Bruins 4, Hurricanes 1|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030211|date=May 1, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} but the Hurricanes won the next three games of the series. First, Carolina goaltender Cam Ward stopped all 36 shots and Matt Cullen provided a shorthanded marker in a 3–0 victory in game two.{{cite web|title=No longer perfect, Bruins fall to 'Canes|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030212|date=May 3, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} Next, Jussi Jokinen scored at 2:48 into overtime of game three to give the Hurricanes a 3–2 victory.{{cite web|title=Jokinen's OT goal lifts Carolina over Boston|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030213|date=May 6, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} In game four, Eric Staal scored two goals and Ward stopped 18 out of only 19 shots en route to a 4–1 victory.{{cite web|title=Jokinen, Staal stake 'Canes to 3-1 series lead|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030214|date=May 8, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} However, Phil Kessel scored two goals and goaltender Tim Thomas stopped all 19 shots to give Boston a 4–0 victory in game five.{{cite web|title=Bruins blank 'Canes, cut series deficit to 3-2|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030215|date=May 10, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} Thomas then stopped 31 out of 33 shots and Mark Recchi provided an early game winner to help the Bruins win 4–2 in game six.{{cite web|title=Bruins even series with 4-2 victory over Hurricanes|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030216|date=May 12, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} The Hurricanes led game seven after two periods, but Milan Lucic tied the game at 6:19 in the third. However, Scott Walker scored the game-winning goal at 18:46 into the first overtime period to give the Hurricanes a 3–2 victory and the series.{{cite web|title=Walker's OT goal lifts 'Canes into East final|first=Shawn P.|last=Roarke|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030217|date=May 14, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Carolina Hurricanes

|team2=Boston Bruins

|stadium2=RBC Center

|stadium1=TD Banknorth Garden

|date1 =May 1

|score1 =1–4

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030211

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =Jussi Jokinen (4) – 18:50

|1-1-2 =01:34 – Aaron Ward (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =07:21 – Marc Savard (3)
12:41 – Michael Ryder (5)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =07:21 – Marc Savard (4)

|goalie1-1 =Cam Ward 20 saves / 24 shots

|goalie1-2 =Tim Thomas 26 saves / 27 shots

|date2 =May 3

|score2 =3–0

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030212

|won2 =1

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Joe Corvo (1) – 02:30
Matt Cullen (1) – sh – 07:32

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Eric Staal (6) – en – 19:32

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Cam Ward 36 saves / 36 shots

|goalie2-2 =Tim Thomas 22 saves / 24 shots

|date3 =May 6

|score3 =2–3

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030213

|ot3 =1

|won3 =1

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Milan Lucic (1) - 08:43

|3-2-1 =16:49 – pp – Eric Staal (7)
17:58 – Sergei Samsonov (1)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Mark Recchi (1) – 09:03

|3-4-1 =02:48 – Jussi Jokinen (5)

|3-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Cam Ward 21 saves / 23 shots

|goalie3-2 =Tim Thomas 38 saves / 41 shots

|date4 =May 8

|score4 =1–4

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030214

|won4 =1

|4-1-1 =04:54 – pp – Eric Staal (8)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Marc Savard (5) – pp – 02:37

|4-3-1 =02:42 – pp – Jussi Jokinen (6)
14:31 – Sergei Samsonov (2)
15:41 – Eric Staal (9)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Cam Ward 18 saves / 19 shots

|goalie4-2 =Tim Thomas 27 saves / 31 shots

|date5 =May 10

|score5 =0–4

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030215

|won5 =2

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =14:48 – pp – Mark Recchi (2)
18:36 – Phil Kessel (5)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =04:40 – Phil Kessel (6)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =12:21 – Milan Lucic (2)

|goalie5-1 =Cam Ward 36 saves / 40 shots

|goalie5-2 =Tim Thomas 19 saves / 19 shots

|date6 =May 12

|score6 =4–2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030216

|won6 =2

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =Mark Recchi (3) – 02:01
Steve Montador (1) – 05:04

|6-2-1 =02:49 – Matt Cullen (2)

|6-2-2 =Marc Savard (6) – 08:53
Chuck Kobasew (3) – 18:03

|6-3-1 =07:20 – Sergei Samsonov (3)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Cam Ward 15 saves / 19 shots

|goalie6-2 =Tim Thomas 31 saves / 33 shots

|date7 =May 14

|score7 =3–2

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030217

|ot7 =1

|won7 =1

|7-1-1 =Rod Brind'Amour (1) – 13:59

|7-1-2 =07:42 – Byron Bitz (1)

|7-2-1 =Sergei Samsonov (4) – 07:45

|7-2-2 =No scoring

|7-3-1 =No scoring

|7-3-2 =06:19 – Milan Lucic (3)

|7-4-1 =Scott Walker (1) – 18:46

|7-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie7-1 =Cam Ward 34 saves / 36 shots

|goalie7-2 =Tim Thomas 34 saves / 37 shots

|series = Carolina won series 4–3

}}

This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Penguins winning six of the previous seven series. They last met in the 2001 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, with the Penguins winning in seven games. The Pittsburgh Penguins advanced to their second consecutive Eastern Conference Final after defeating the Washington Capitals, 6–2, in game seven of their Conference Semifinal series. The Capitals appeared to have control of the series after winning the first two games. In game one, Washington goaltender Semyon Varlamov came up with a career-high 34 saves and Tomas Fleischmann provided a decisive third period goal in a 3–2 victory.{{cite web|title=Caps nip Pens 3-2 in series opener|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030221|date=May 2, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 14, 2009}} Then in game two, both the Penguins' Sidney Crosby and the Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin each earned hat tricks, but David Steckel's goal in the second period ultimately made the difference in Washington's 4–3 win.{{cite web|title=Ovechkin, Caps prevail as rivalry hits next level|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030222|date=May 4, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 14, 2009}} However, Pittsburgh went on to win three consecutive games. Late in the third period of game three, Evgeni Malkin appeared to have the game winning powerplay marker for the Penguins, but Nicklas Backstrom tied the game on a Washington powerplay at 18:10. Kris Letang's game-winning goal at 11:23 into overtime gave the Penguins a 3–2 win.{{cite web|title=Penguins stun Caps 3-2 on Letang's OT goal|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030223|date=May 6, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} Pittsburgh then erupted to score three goals in the first period of game four, coming from the sticks of Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin, and Ruslan Fedotenko, en route to a 5–3 victory.{{cite web|title=Penguins even series with 5-3 win over Caps|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030224|date=May 8, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} The Penguins also had another overtime victory in game five, with Evgeni Malkin scoring this time on a power play at 3:28 into the extra period for a 4–3 win.{{cite web|title=Penguins stun Caps 4-3 in overtime |first=Dan |last=Rosen |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030225 |date=May 9, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805074523/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030225 |archive-date=August 5, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }} The Capitals rebounded in game six with an overtime victory of their own, as David Steckel scored at 6:22 into the extra period to give Washington a 5–4 win.{{cite web|title=Steckel's OT winner extends epic series|first=Dan|last=Rosen|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030226|date=May 11, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}

In the deciding seventh game of the series, Varlamov, who had posted a 2.21 GAA and two shutouts in the playoffs, was pulled in the second period as the Penguins took a 4–0 lead only 2:13 into the second period.{{cite web|title=Penguins eliminate Caps with 6-2 victory |first=Dan |last=Rosen |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030227 |date=May 13, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=May 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805071521/http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030227 |archive-date=August 5, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}{{cite news|title=Caps insert Theodore in Game 7 blowout|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4165261|date=May 14, 2009|agency=The Associated Press|work=ESPN.com|access-date=May 14, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515154008/http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4165261|archive-date=May 15, 2009 |url-status=dead}} At the time that Varlamov was replaced by Jose Theodore, Pittsburgh had outshot Washington 18–5.{{cite news|title=This round, Caps can't escape mistakes|first=Pierre|last=LeBrun|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4165417|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723013806/http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4165417|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 23, 2012|date=May 14, 2009|work=ESPN.com|access-date=May 14, 2009}} The Penguins won 6–2 in dominating fashion, picking up a pair of goals from Crosby, to close out the series.

Crosby finished the series with thirteen points—one fewer than Ovechkin's fourteen points, which was the highest single-series point total since the 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs.{{cite news|title=Recap|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/viewcast/2009/05/13/index.html?contestId=25038&vendorId=2009051323&pageType=recap|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026145454/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/viewcast/2009/05/13/index.html?contestId=25038&vendorId=2009051323&pageType=recap|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 26, 2012|date=May 13, 2009|magazine=Sports Illustrated|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=May 14, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Pittsburgh Penguins

|team2=Washington Capitals

|stadium2=Mellon Arena

|stadium1=Verizon Center

|date1 =May 2

|score1 =2–3

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030221

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =Sidney Crosby (5) – 04:09

|1-1-2 =13:50 – Dave Steckel (1)
17:03 – pp – Alexander Ovechkin (4)

|1-2-1 =Mark Eaton (3) – 12:54

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =01:46 – Tomas Fleischmann (2)

|goalie1-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 26 shots

|goalie1-2 =Semyon Varlamov 34 saves / 36 shots

|date2 =May 4

|score2 =3–4

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030222

|won2 =2

|2-1-1 =Sidney Crosby (6) – pp – 06:38

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Sidney Crosby (7) – 10:57

|2-2-2 =02:18 – Alexander Ovechkin (5)
15:49 – Dave Steckel (2)

|2-3-1 =Sidney Crosby (8) – pp – 19:29

|2-3-2 =12:53 – pp – Alexander Ovechkin (6)
15:22 – Alexander Ovechkin (7)

|goalie2-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 29 saves / 33 shots

|goalie2-2 =Semyon Varlamov 33 saves / 36 shots

|date3 =May 6

|score3 =2–3

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030223

|ot3 =1

|won3 =1

|3-1-1 =09:29 – Ruslan Fedotenko (2)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Alexander Ovechkin (8) – 01:23

|3-3-1 =15:01 – pp – Evgeni Malkin (5)

|3-3-2 =Nicklas Backstrom (1) – pp – 18:10

|3-4-1 =11:23 – Kris Letang (1)

|3-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 21 saves / 23 shots

|goalie3-2 =Semyon Varlamov 39 saves / 42 shots

|date4 =May 8

|score4 =3–5

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030224

|won4 =1

|4-1-1 =03:55 – pp – Sergei Gonchar (2)
10:47 – Bill Guerin (3)
15:25 – Ruslan Fedotenko (3)

|4-1-2 =Nicklas Backstrom (2) – 00:36

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Chris Clark (1) – 15:08

|4-3-1 =04:16 – Sidney Crosby (9)
14:46 – Maxime Talbot (2)

|4-3-2 =Milan Jurcina (2) – sh – 06:23

|goalie4-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 19 saves / 22 shots

|goalie4-2 =Semyon Varlamov 23 saves / 28 shots

|date5 =May 9

|score5 =4–3

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030225

|ot5 =1

|won5 =1

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =Jordan Staal (1) – 05:17

|5-2-2 =06:16 – Alexander Ovechkin (9)
14:35 – pp – Nicklas Backstrom (3)

|5-3-1 =Ruslan Fedotenko (4) – 00:51
Matt Cooke (1) – 06:27

|5-3-2 =15:52 – Alexander Ovechkin (10)

|5-4-1 =Evgeni Malkin (6) – pp – 03:28

|5-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 28 saves / 31 shots

|goalie5-2 =Semyon Varlamov 38 saves / 42 shots

|date6 =May 11

|score6 =5–4

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030226

|ot6 =1

|won6 =2

|6-1-1 =05:55 – Bill Guerin (4)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =19:26 – Mark Eaton (4)

|6-2-2 =Viktor Kozlov (3) – 06:27
Tomas Fleischmann (3) – 14:42

|6-3-1 =04:40 – pp – Kris Letang (2)
15:42 – Sidney Crosby (10)

|6-3-2 =Alexander Semin (6) – pp – 05:38
Viktor Kozlov (4) – 06:07

|6-4-1 =No scoring

|6-4-2 =Dave Steckel (3) – 06:22

|goalie6-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 19 saves / 24 shots

|goalie6-2 =Semyon Varlamov 38 saves / 42 shots

|date7 =May 13

|score7 =6–2

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030227

|won7 =1

|7-1-1 =Sidney Crosby (11) – pp – 12:36
Craig Adams (1) – 12:44

|7-1-2 =No scoring

|7-2-1 =Bill Guerin (5) – 00:28
Kris Letang (3) – 02:12
Jordan Staal (2) – 11:37

|7-2-2 =18:09 – Alexander Ovechkin (11)

|7-3-1 =Sidney Crosby (12) – 02:32

|7-3-2 =06:36 – Brooks Laich (2)

|goalie7-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 19 saves / 21 shots

|goalie7-2 =Semyon Varlamov 14 saves / 18 shots
Jose Theodore 10 saves / 12 shots

|series = Pittsburgh won series 4–3

}}

The Detroit Red Wings advanced to their third consecutive Western Conference Final, and eighth since 1995, after eliminating the Anaheim Ducks in seven games. This Conference Semifinal match up featured the last two winners of the Stanley Cup, with Anaheim and Detroit winning the Cup in 2007 and 2008 respectively.{{cite news |title=Past two Cup champs set to battle it out |first=Rocky |last=Bonanno |url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=420471 |date=April 28, 2009 |publisher=NHL.com |access-date=April 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501113558/http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=420471 |archive-date=May 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }} This also marked the fifth series the two teams faced each other in since their first encounter in 1997. Both teams had won two series' each with the Wings winning in 1997 and 1999, and the Ducks winning in 2003 and 2007.

In game one, Nicklas Lidstrom scored two goals, including the game-winner with about 49 seconds left in regulation to break a 2–2 tie to give the Red Wings the victory.{{cite web|title=Lidstrom's goal lifts Wings over Ducks|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030231|date=May 1, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} Anaheim's Todd Marchant scored at 1:15 into triple overtime of game two to give the Ducks a 4–3 victory, after goaltender Jonas Hiller stopped 59 Red Wing shots.{{cite web|title=Marchant ends marathon, Ducks even series|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030232|date=May 3, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} Game three then ended in controversy: Anaheim was nursing a 2–1 lead with 1:04 remaining in the third period, aided by Hiller's eventual 45 saves and goals from Teemu Selanne and Scott Neidermayer. Detroit's Marian Hossa appeared to have scored the game-tying goal, but referee Brad Watson blew the play dead after losing sight of the puck and the Ducks held on to win the game.{{cite web|title=Hiller's heroics carry Ducks past Red Wings|first=Eric|last=Stephens|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030233|date=May 5, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} Despite the controversial call, the Red Wings bounced back to even the series in game four, with Hossa and Johan Franzen scoring two goals apiece en route to a 6–3 victory.{{cite web|title=Wings get even with 6-3 victory over Ducks|first=Eric|last=Stephens|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030234|date=May 7, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} Detroit then went on to win game five, 4–1, with Franzen and Jiri Hudler scoring just 39 seconds apart in the second period to provide the game's first goals.{{cite web|title=Wings down Ducks for 3-2 series lead|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030235|date=May 10, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} In game six, goaltender Jonas Hiller stopped 38 out of 39 shots as Ryan Getzlaf and Cory Perry each scored to give the Ducks a 2–1 victory.{{cite web|title=Ducks edge Wings 2-1 to force Game 7|first=Eric|last=Stephens|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030236|date=May 12, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 15, 2009}} In game seven, Bobby Ryan pulled the Ducks into a 3–3 tie at 7:37 of the third period. However, Red Wings forward Dan Cleary scored the game-winning goal with 3:00 left in regulation after Hiller lost sight of the puck behind him and pushed it over the goal line, to give the Red Wings a 4–3 victory and the series.{{cite web|title=Wings advance with 4-3 win over Ducks|first=Brian|last=Compton|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030237|date=May 14, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Anaheim Ducks

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=Honda Center

|stadium1=Joe Louis Arena

|date1 =May 1

|score1 =2–3

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030231

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =Corey Perry (4) – 07:28

|1-1-2 =12:33 – pp – Johan Franzen (3)

|1-2-1 =Teemu Selanne (2) – pp – 19:43

|1-2-2 =14:24 – pp – Nicklas Lidstrom (2)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =19:10 – Nicklas Lidstrom (3)

|goalie1-1 =Jonas Hiller 34 saves / 37 shots

|goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 22 saves / 24 shots

|date2 =May 3

|score2 =4–3

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030232

|ot2 =3

|won2 =1

|2-1-1 =Ryan Getzlaf (3) – 08:16
Chris Pronger (2) – pp – 08:50

|2-1-2 =06:00 – pp – Brad Stuart (1)
13:54 – Mikael Samuelsson (1)

|2-2-1 =Ryan Carter (2) – pp – 04:42

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =05:19 – Johan Franzen (4)

|2-4-1 =Todd Marchant (1) – 01:14

|2-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Jonas Hiller 59 saves / 62 shots

|goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 42 saves / 46 shots

|date3 =May 5

|score3 =1–2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030233

|won3 =1

|3-1-1 =12:49 – Teemu Selanne (3)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =08:16 – pp – Scott Niedermayer (2)

|3-2-2 =Henrik Zetterberg (4) – pp – 14:20

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Jonas Hiller 45 saves / 46 shots

|goalie3-2 =Chris Osgood 21 saves / 23 shots

|date4 =May 7

|score4 =6–3

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030234

|won4 =2

|4-1-1 =00:42 – Corey Perry (5)

|4-1-2 =Johan Franzen (5) – 11:49
Johan Franzen (6) – 19:24

|4-2-1 =11:03 – Corey Perry (6)

|4-2-2 =Marian Hossa (3) – 16:02
Marian Hossa (4) – pp – 19:04

|4-3-1 =10:03 – pp – Scott Niedermayer (3)

|4-3-2 =Mikael Samuelsson (2) – 02:46
Henrik Zetterberg (5) – en – 17:27

|goalie4-1 =Jonas Hiller 28 saves / 33 shots
Jean-Sebastien Giguere 6 saves / 6 shots

|goalie4-2 =Chris Osgood 25 saves / 28 shots

|date5 =May 10

|score5 =1–4

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030235

|won5 =2

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =Ryan Whitney (1) – pp – 15:37

|5-2-2 =03:23 – Johan Franzen (7)
04:02 – Jiri Hudler (3)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =16:52 – Darren Helm (1)
19:08 – en – Henrik Zetterberg (6)

|goalie5-1 =Jonas Hiller 34 saves / 37 shots

|goalie5-2 =Chris Osgood 16 saves / 17 shots

|date6 =May 12

|score6 =1–2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030236

|won6 =1

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =02:21 – pp – Ryan Getzlaf (4)
17:35 – Corey Perry (7)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =Johan Franzen (8) – pp – 17:35

|goalie6-1 =Jonas Hiller 38 saves / 39 shots

|goalie6-2 =Chris Osgood 26 saves / 28 shots

|date7 =May 14

|score7 =3–4

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030237

|won7 =2

|7-1-1 =No scoring

|7-1-2 =15:43 – pp – Jiri Hudler (4)

|7-2-1 =Teemu Selanne (4) – 14:50
Corey Perry (8) – pp – 17:12

|7-2-2 =01:17 – Darren Helm (2)
16:23 – Mikael Samuelsson (3)

|7-3-1 =Bobby Ryan (5) – 07:37

|7-3-2 =17:00 – Daniel Cleary (3)

|goalie7-1 =Jonas Hiller 36 saves / 40 shots

|goalie7-2 =Chris Osgood 24 saves / 27 shots

|series = Detroit won series 4–3

}}

The Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Vancouver Canucks in six games, to advance to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 1995. This was just the third time that these two teams faced each other in the playoffs. In 1982, the Canucks eliminated the Blackhawks in five games in the Campbell Conference final, while the Blackhawks won a 1995 conference semifinals series in a four-game sweep.

Sami Salo scored at 18:47 in the third period of game one to break a 3–3 tie, giving the Canucks an eventual 5–3 win.{{cite web|title=Salo's goal gives Canucks Game 1 win|first=Derek|last=Jory|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030241|date=April 30, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} The Blackhawks bounced back in game two, overcoming a 2–0 deficit in the second period to go on to a 6–3 victory, with Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland scoring two goals each.{{cite web|title=Hawks make another comeback, even series|first=Derek|last=Jory|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030242|date=May 2, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} Vancouver regained the series lead in game three, with goaltender Roberto Luongo stopping 23 out of 24 shots and Steve Bernier providing a powerplay goal to earn a 3–1 victory.{{cite web|title=Canucks shut down Blackhawks 3-1 to win Game 3|first=Mike G.|last=Morreale|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030243|date=May 5, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} However, Chicago went on to win the next three games to close the series. First, Martin Havlat tied game four at 17:16 in the third period and Andrew Ladd scoring at 2:52 into overtime to give the Blackhawks a 2–1 victory.{{cite web|title=Hawks rally, stun Canucks 2-1 in OT|first=Mike G.|last=Morreale|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030244|date=May 7, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} Dustin Byfuglien then scored two goals en route to a 4–2 Chicago win in game five.{{cite web|title=Hawks top Canucks 4-2 in Game 5|first=Derek|last=Jory|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030245|date=May 9, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}} Finally, the Blackhawks won a high-scoring game six, 7–5, with Patrick Kane earning a hat trick.{{cite web|title='Hawks win a wild one, advance to West finals|first=Mike G.|last=Morreale|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030246|date=May 11, 2009|publisher=NHL.com|access-date=May 17, 2009}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Chicago Blackhawks

|team2=Vancouver Canucks

|stadium2=United Center

|stadium1=General Motors Place

|date1 =April 30

|score1 =3–5

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030241

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =15:22 – pp – Pavol Demitra (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =05:13 – Henrik Sedin (2)
15:23 – Ryan Kesler (1)

|1-3-1 =Patrick Kane (3) – 01:01
Patrick Kane (4) – pp – 10:11
Dave Bolland (1) – 14:31

|1-3-2 =18:47 – Sami Salo (2)
19:44 – en – Ryan Johnson (1)

|goalie1-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 22 saves / 26 shots

|goalie1-2 =Roberto Luongo 28 saves / 31 shots

|date2 =May 2

|score2 =6–3

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030242

|won2 =1

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =05:35 – pp – Sami Salo (3)
06:44 – pp – Alexander Edler (1)

|2-2-1 =Patrick Sharp (4) – 10:24
Patrick Sharp (5) – pp – 13:30
Dave Bolland (2) – sh – 16:50

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Ben Eager (1) – 02:13
Patrick Kane (5) – 05:48
Dave Bolland (3) – en – 18:50

|2-3-2 =17:15 – pp – Henrik Sedin (3)

|goalie2-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 18 saves / 21 shots

|goalie2-2 =Roberto Luongo 26 saves / 31 shots

|date3 =May 5

|score3 =3–1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030243

|won3 =2

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Mason Raymond (1) – 15:34

|3-2-1 =11:09 – pp – Brian Campbell (2)

|3-2-2 =Steve Bernier (2) – pp – 01:00
Henrik Sedin (4) – 08:04

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 18 saves / 21 shots

|goalie3-2 =Roberto Luongo 23 saves / 24 shots

|date4 =May 7

|score4 =1–2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030244

|ot4 =1

|won4 =1

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Darcy Hordichuk (1) – 08:32

|4-3-1 =17:16 – Martin Havlat (4)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|4-4-1 =02:52 – Andrew Ladd (2)

|4-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 14 saves / 15 shots

|goalie4-2 =Roberto Luongo 26 saves / 28 shots

|date5 =May 9

|score5 =4–2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030245

|won5 =1

|5-1-1 =Dustin Byfuglien (2) – 15:27

|5-1-2 =17:54 – pp – Ryan Kesler (2)

|5-2-1 =Dustin Byfuglien (3) – 18:22

|5-2-2 =11:16 – Mats Sundin (2)

|5-3-1 =Dave Bolland (4) – pp – 14:55
Martin Havlat (5) – en – 18:58

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 19 saves / 21 shots

|goalie5-2 =Roberto Luongo 26 saves / 29 shots

|date6 =May 11

|score6 =5–7

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030246

|won6 =1

|6-1-1 =13:13 – Patrick Kane (6)

|6-1-2 =Mason Raymond (2) – 11:13

|6-2-1 =03:54 – pp – Kris Versteeg (3)
10:17 – pp – Jonathan Toews (3)

|6-2-2 =Daniel Sedin (3) – 11:09
Shane O'Brien (1) – 14:49

|6-3-1 =05:41 – Adam Burish (2)
13:00 – Patrick Kane (7)
13:49 – pp – Jonathan Toews (4)
16:17 – Patrick Kane (8)

|6-3-2 =Mats Sundin (3) – 03:43
Daniel Sedin (4) – pp – 12:15

|goalie6-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 33 saves / 38 shots

|goalie6-2 =Roberto Luongo 23 saves / 30 shots

|series = Chicago won series 4–2

}}

{{See also|NHL conference finals}}

This was the first time these two teams met in the playoffs. The Penguins swept the Hurricanes to advance to their second consecutive Stanley Cup Finals (in the process denying a rematch of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals between the Hurricanes and Red Wings).

Pittsburgh jumped to a 2–0 lead in the first period of Game 1, with goals by Miroslav Satan and Evgeni Malkin, before Philippe Boucher added a third period power play goal. Marc-Andre Fleury made a sprawling save on an Eric Staal one-timer in the closing seconds to allow the Penguins to hang on for a 3–2 victory. Game 2 featured offensive assaults by both teams. Patrick Eaves tied the game for Carolina early in the third period, but Malkin responded by scoring two highlight reel markers to complete a hat trick en route to a 7–4 win. In Game 3, Malkin had two goals and an assist in a 6–2 victory. Carolina outplayed Pittsburgh for much of Game 4 and got off to a hot start when Staal scored on a wrap around move. However, the Penguins scored four unanswered goals, including a Max Talbot tally that ricocheted strangely off of goaltender Cam Ward to let the Penguins take the lead late in the opening frame, as they picked up a 4–1 win.

After the loss to Pittsburgh, the Hurricanes entered a decade-long slump and would not return to the playoffs until 2019.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Carolina Hurricanes

|team2=Pittsburgh Penguins

|stadium2=RBC Center

|stadium1=Mellon Arena

|date1 =May 18

|score1 =2–3

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030311

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =09:17 – Miroslav Satan (1)
10:41 – Evgeni Malkin (7)

|1-2-1 =Chad LaRose (3) – 13:04

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Joe Corvo (2) – pp – 18:34

|1-3-2 =11:33 – pp – Philippe Boucher (1)

|goalie1-1 =Cam Ward 28 saves / 31 shots

|goalie1-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 25 shots

|date2 =May 21

|score2 =4–7

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030312

|won2 =2

|2-1-1 =Chad LaRose (4) – 03:07
Jussi Jokinen (7) – 08:40
Dennis Seidenberg (1) – 12:10

|2-1-2 =01:51 – Sidney Crosby (13)
08:15 – Evgeni Malkin (8)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =03:11 – Maxime Talbot (3)
19:52 – Chris Kunitz (1)

|2-3-1 =Patrick Eaves (1) – 02:35

|2-3-2 =08:50 – Evgeni Malkin (9)
12:25 – Evgeni Malkin (10)
18:11 – en – Tyler Kennedy (3)

|goalie2-1 =Cam Ward 35 saves / 41 shots

|goalie2-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 24 saves / 28 shots

|date3 =May 23

|score3 =6–2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030313

|won3 =2

|3-1-1 =04:06 – Matt Cullen (3)

|3-1-2 =Evgeni Malkin (11) – pp – 06:50
Sidney Crosby (14) – 19:17
Evgeni Malkin (12) – 19:48

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =01:58 – Sergei Samsonov (5)

|3-3-2 =Ruslan Fedotenko (5) – 11:29
Craig Adams (2) – en – 18:12
Bill Guerin (6) – pp – 18:52

|goalie3-1 =Cam Ward 34 saves / 39 shots

|goalie3-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 32 saves / 34 shots

|date4 =May 26

|score4 =4–1

|recap4=www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030314

|won4 =2

|4-1-1 =01:36 – Eric Staal (10)

|4-1-2 =Ruslan Fedotenko (6) – 08:21
Maxime Talbot (4) – 18:31

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Bill Guerin (7) – 12:10

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Craig Adams (3) – en – 18:50

|goalie4-1 =Cam Ward 21 saves / 24 shots

|goalie4-2 =Marc-Andre Fleury 30 saves / 31 shots

|series = Pittsburgh won series 4–0

}}

This was the fifteenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Blackhawks winning eight of the previous fourteen series. They last met in the 1995 Western Conference Final, which the Red Wings won in five games.

The Red Wings eliminated the Blackhawks in five games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight year and the third time in eight years. Three of the five games in the series were decided in overtime. Dan Cleary scored two goals en route to a 5–2 Detroit victory in Game 1. In Game 2, Jonathan Toews scored two Chicago goals, including one that tied the game at 12:20 in the third period. However, Mikael Samuelsson scored at 5:14 into overtime to give the Red Wings a 3–2 win. Chicago bounced back in Game 3 with a 4–3 win of Patrick Sharp's overtime goal at 1:52 into the extra period. The Blackhawks took an early 3–0 lead in the game but saw Detroit bounce back with three goals from defencemen in the second period. During the game, Blackhawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin was injured and replaced for the third period and overtime by Cristobal Huet. The game also featured a controversial hit from Nicklas Kronwall that injured star Chicago winger Martin Havlat. In Game 4, the Red Wings blew out the Blackhawks 6–1, with Marian Hossa and Henrik Zetterberg each tallying a pair of goals. Game 5 was an exhibition in goaltending with Chris Osgood and Cristobal Huet each making a variety of spectacular saves. However, Darren Helm proved to be the eventual hero, scoring at 3:58 into overtime to give the Red Wings a 2–1 win and the series. This was the last Western Conference Final to be played entirely outside of California until 2018.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Chicago Blackhawks

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=United Center

|stadium1=Joe Louis Arena

|date1 =May 17

|score1 =2–5

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030321

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =Adam Burish (3) – 05:25

|1-1-2 =08:23 – Daniel Cleary (4)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =16:38 – Johan Franzen (9)

|1-3-1 =Kris Versteeg (4) – pp – 03:12

|1-3-2 =07:31 – Mikael Samuelsson (4)
08:58 – Daniel Cleary (5)
19:17 – en – Henrik Zetterberg (7)

|goalie1-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 38 saves / 42 shots

|goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 30 saves / 32 shots

|date2 =May 19

|score2 =2–3

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030322

|ot2 =1

|won2 =2

|2-1-1 =Jonathan Toews (5) – pp – 12:49

|2-1-2 =16:43 – pp – Brian Rafalski (2)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =14:06 – Daniel Cleary (6)

|2-3-1 =Jonathan Toews (6) – 12:20

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|2-4-1 =No scoring

|2-4-2 =05:14 – Mikael Samuelsson (5)

|goalie2-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 35 saves / 38 shots

|goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 37 saves / 39 shots

|date3 =May 22

|score3 =3–4

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030323

|ot3 =1

|won3 =1

|3-1-1 =08:45 – pp – Patrick Sharp (6)
09:50 – Andrew Ladd (3)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =00:45 – Samuel Pahlsson (2)

|3-2-2 =Nicklas Lidstrom (4) – pp – 14:38
Brian Rafalski (3) – 17:10
Jonathan Ericsson (2) – 19:01

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =01:52 – Patrick Sharp (7)

|3-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 21 saves / 24 shots
Cristobal Huet 6 saves / 6 shots

|goalie3-2 =Chris Osgood 23 saves / 27 shots

|date4 =May 24

|score4 =6–1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030324

|won4 =2

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Marian Hossa (5) – sh – 08:41
Johan Franzen (10) – 19:39

|4-2-1 =03:53 – pp – Jonathan Toews (7)

|4-2-2 =Valtteri Filppula (1) – pp – 01:13
Marian Hossa (6) – 04:05
Henrik Zetterberg (8) – pp – 07:42

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Henrik Zetterberg (9) – pp – 12:47

|goalie4-1 =Cristobal Huet 21 saves / 26 shots
Corey Crawford 6 saves / 7 shots

|goalie4-2 =Chris Osgood 18 saves / 19 shots
Ty Conklin 9 saves / 9 shots

|date5 =May 27

|score5 =1–2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030325

|ot5 =1

|won5 =2

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Patrick Kane (9) – 12:53

|5-3-2 =06:08 – Daniel Cleary (8)

|5-4-1 =No scoring

|5-4-2 =03:58 – Darren Helm (3)

|goalie5-1 =Cristobal Huet 44 saves / 46 shots

|goalie5-2 =Chris Osgood 30 saves / 31 shots

|series = Detroit won series 4–1

}}

{{main|2009 Stanley Cup Finals}}

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams and a rematch of the previous year's Stanley Cup Finals which Detroit won in six games. This was the first time since 1983 and 1984 that same teams met in consecutive finals. This was Detroit's twenty-fourth Finals appearance; while Pittsburgh made their fourth appearance in the Finals. The teams split their two-game regular season series.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Pittsburgh Penguins

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=Mellon Arena

|stadium1=Joe Louis Arena

|date1 =May 30

|score1 =1–3

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030411

|won1 =2

|1-1-1 =Ruslan Fedotenko (7) – 18:37

|1-1-2 =13:38 – Brad Stuart (2)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =19:02 – Johan Franzen (11)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =02:46 – Justin Abdelkader (1)

|goalie1-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 27 saves / 30 shots

|goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 31 saves / 32 shots

|date2 =May 31

|score2 =1–3

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030412

|won2 =2

|2-1-1 =Evgeni Malkin (13) – pp – 16:50

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =04:21 – Jonathan Ericsson (3)
10:29 – Valtteri Filppula (2)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =02:47 – Justin Abdelkader (2)

|goalie2-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 26 shots

|goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 31 saves / 32 shots

|date3 =June 2

|score3 =2–4

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030413

|won3 =1

|3-1-1 =04:48 – Maxime Talbot (5)
15:57 – pp – Kris Letang (4)

|3-1-2 =Henrik Zetterberg (10) – 06:19
Johan Franzen (12) – pp – 11:33

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =10:29 – pp – Sergei Gonchar (3)
19:03 – en – Maxime Talbot (6)

|goalie3-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 27 saves / 29 shots

|goalie3-2 =Chris Osgood 17 saves / 20 shots

|date4 =June 4

|score4 =2–4

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030414

|won4 =1

|4-1-1 =02:39 – pp – Evgeni Malkin (14)

|4-1-2 =Darren Helm (4) – 18:19

|4-2-1 =08:35 – sh – Jordan Staal (3)
10:34 – Sidney Crosby (15)
14:12 – Tyler Kennedy (4)

|4-2-2 =Brad Stuart (3) – 00:46

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 37 saves / 39 shots

|goalie4-2 =Chris Osgood 27 saves / 31 shots

|date5 =June 6

|score5 =0–5

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030415

|won5 =2

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =13:32 – Daniel Cleary (9)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =01:44 – Valtteri Filppula (3)
06:11 – pp – Niklas Kronwall (2)
08:26 – pp – Brian Rafalski (3)
15:40 – pp – Henrik Zetterberg (11)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 16 saves / 21 shots
Mathieu Garon 8 saves / 8 shots

|goalie5-2 =Chris Osgood 22 saves / 22 shots

|date6 =June 9

|score6 =1–2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030416

|won6 =1

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =00:51 – Jordan Staal (4)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =05:35 – Tyler Kennedy (5)

|6-3-2 =Kris Draper (1) – 08:01

|goalie6-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 25 saves / 26 shots

|goalie6-2 =Chris Osgood 29 saves / 31 shots

|date7 =June 12

|score7 =2–1

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030417

|won7 =1

|7-1-1 =No scoring

|7-1-2 =No scoring

|7-2-1 =Maxime Talbot (7) – 01:13
Maxime Talbot (8) – 10:07

|7-3-1 =No scoring

|7-3-2 =13:53 – Jonathan Ericsson (4)

|goalie7-1 =Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 24 shots

|goalie7-2 =Chris Osgood 16 saves / 18 shots

|series = Pittsburgh won series 4–3

}}

These are the top ten skaters based on points. If the list exceeds ten skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are shown.{{cite web |title= 2008–2009 - Playoffs - All Skaters - Summary - Total points |url= http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20093ALLSASAll&sort=points&viewName=summary |publisher= NHL.com |access-date=April 18, 2009 }}

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

This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion is bolded.{{cite web |title= 2008–2009 - Playoffs - Goalie - Summary - Goals against average |url= http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20093ALLGAGAll&sort=goalsAgainstAverage&viewName=wlt |publisher= NHL.com |access-date=April 18, 2009 }}{{cite web |title= 2008–2009 - Playoffs - Goalie - Summary - Save percentage |url= http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20093ALLGAGAll&sort=savePercentage&viewName=wlt |publisher= NHL.com |access-date=April 18, 2009 }}

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

National Canadian English-language coverage of the playoffs were split between the CBC and TSN, with the CBC holding exclusive rights to the Stanley Cup Finals. French-language telecasts were broadcast on RDS and RDS2. This was the first postseason that the CBC and TSN selected the rights to individual series in the first three rounds using a draft-like setup. The CBC had first, second, fourth, and sixth choices of first-round series; first and third in the second round, and first in the conference finals. TSN then had third, fifth, seventh, and eighth choices of first-round series; second and fourth in the second round; and second in the conference finals. These changes also allowed TSN to broadcast playoff games involving Canadian teams for the first time, removing the CBC's exclusivity on them.{{cite web |url=https://playbackonline.ca/2008/06/03/tsn-20080603/ |title=TSN clinches landmark NHL deal |publisher=playbackonline.ca |date=June 3, 2008 |access-date=July 13, 2021}}

In the United States, coverage was split between NBC and Versus. During the first three rounds, NBC primarily televised weekend afternoon games and Versus aired evening games. During the first and second round, excluding games exclusively broadcast on NBC, the regional rights holders of each participating U.S. team produced local telecasts of their respective games. Not all first and second-round games were nationally televised, while the conference finals were exclusively broadcast on either NBC or Versus. NBC then aired the first two and final three games of the Stanley Cup Finals, while Versus broadcast games three and four.

• 2008–09 NHL season
• List of NHL seasons

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090531152529/http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/matchup/_/teams/redwings-penguins 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs at ESPN]
• [https://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/NHL_2009.html 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs at Hockey Reference]

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

|before = 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs

|after = 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs

|title = Stanley Cup playoffs

|years = 2009|

}}

{{s-end}}

{{2008–09 NHL season by team}}

{{Stanley Cup playoffs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs}}

playoffs

Category:Stanley Cup playoffs