2006 Stanley Cup playoffs
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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 21 – June 19, 2006 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Carolina Hurricanes |
| Runner-up | Edmonton Oilers |
| Semifinalists | |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Scoring leader(s) |
Eric Staal (Carolina) (28 points) |
| MVP | Cam Ward (Carolina) |
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← 2004
2007 →
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The 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League (NHL) championship began on April 21, 2006, following the 2005–06 regular season. The 16 teams that qualified, seeded one through eight from each conference, played best-of-seven series with re-seeding after the Conference Quarterfinals. The conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the Stanley Cup.
The finals concluded on June 19 with the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in the final series four games to three. Carolina goaltender Cam Ward was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
While the 2005–06 season introduced a shootout to break ties after five minutes of four-on-four overtime, the Stanley Cup playoffs retained their traditional format of unlimited 20-minute periods of five-on-five sudden-death overtime to break ties.
The Western Conference made history in the first round when all four series were won by the lower-seeded teams (conversely, all four series in the Eastern Conference were won by the higher-seeded teams). The eighth- and lowest-seeded Oilers proceeded to win the Western Conference and participate in the Stanley Cup Finals. Four Canadian teams qualified for the playoffs this year, this total was not equaled again until 2013.
The Ottawa Senators entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference regular season and Northeast Division champions with 113 points. Tampa Bay qualified as the eighth seed earning 92 points during the regular season. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Ottawa won all four games during this year's regular season series.
The Senators defeated the Lightning in five games. The Senators used a two-man advantage in the third period of Game one to gain the lead as they took the game by a score of 4–1. In Game two the Lightning came back from a one-goal deficit by scoring two goals 55 seconds apart as they evened the series with a 4–3 victory. Six Ottawa skaters scored a goal in Game three as the Senators won 8–4. Ottawa scored three times in the second-period of Game four as they earned a 5–2 win. Martin Havlat scored the series-winning goal for the Senators at 15:02 of the second period as Ottawa closed out the series with a 3–2 victory.
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