Related Resources • Stanley Cup 2002: Setting up the second round • Six keys to survival in the playoffs

Dateline: April 30/02 -

If you managed to filter out the concussions, suspensions, temper tantrums, fabricated controversies and the NHL's occasionally coherent response to all of the above, you may have noticed that some hockey was played over the last two weeks. Much of it was excellent and a good deal of it was truly exhilarating.

We saw ordinary goaltending from unlikely sources (Hasek, Roy) and extraordinary goaltending from even less likely sources (Johnson, Lalime). The Devils went back to being the unfocused bunch they were most of the season. The Flyers set new standards for post-season implosion. The Canucks became the latest young team schooled in the rigours of playoff hockey by a wealthy, veteran opponent. The Senators showed that such lessons can be put to good use. And the Kings woke up feeling like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day." It's been fun.

Best series: Montreal and Boston scripted another memorable episode in one of hockey's great rivalries. The six games featured tons of scoring chances, plenty of goals and enough blood to keep emotions at a rolling boil. It ended with a pair of star-making performances by Montreal's goalie, Jose Theodore, who was assisted by a series of close calls and lucky bounces that left the Bruins wondering if the unseen hand of Jacques Plante or Howie Morenz might be guiding their shots astray.

Best game: Game three, Montreal versus Boston. They say the ghosts of champions past haunted the old Montreal Forum, giving the Canadiens a spiritual edge. It took a few years, but those ghosts finally migrated to the new Molson Centre this spring. The first playoff game in Montreal since 1998 had it all: a feverish crowd, an historic backdrop, a pair of inspired teams, a third period comeback and a game-winning goal by Quebec's latest hockey legend, Saku Koivu, who spent most of the season fighting abdominal cancer.

Best goal: The Avalanche and Kings were scoreless after 25 minutes of game seven when Chris Drury took a short pass inside his own blueline. Seeing open ice, Drury cruised through the neutral zone, cut to the middle at the Kings' blueline, split the L.A. defence while juggling the puck on his stick, and tucked it inside the left post. The play appeared to sap the life from the Kings, who allowed another goal less than a minute later and looked thoroughly defeated for the rest of Colorado's 3-0 victory.

Best save: A pair of saves, actually. During overtime in game five of the Carolina-New Jersey series, sloppy defence left the Devils' Stephane Richer all alone with puck in front of the Carolina net. Kevin Weekes, making his first start of the playoffs, stoned him. Then, lying on the ice, he stopped John Madden on the rebound. That was the moment when New Jersey was supposed to grab the series lead and re-establish themselves as an elite playoff team and serious Stanley Cup contender. Instead, the Hurricanes scored the winning goal and eliminated the Devils three days later.

Worst officiating: The best referees in the world could not have saved the Canucks once the Red Wings got rolling, but inconsistencies and a bewildering choice of penalty calls spoiled what was otherwise a thrilling series.

Dirtiest series: Everyone loves the undercurrent of hate that sends a charge of energy through a great playoff showdown. But most players manage to inflict abuse and punishment without turning into animals. Not the Maple Leafs and Islanders. Darcy Tucker, Shane Corson and Gary Roberts of Toronto gave new meaning to the term winning (and losing) ugly. New York was short on choirboys, too.

Worst excuse: After witnessing the Flyers' feeble efforts in their first three games against Ottawa, a Philadelphia columnist suggested that the team's best players - Gagne, Roenick, Leclair - might be worn out from leaving their best efforts at the Olympics. Tell that to Steve Yzerman, Chris Chelios, Joe Sakic, Bill Guerin, Sergei Federov, Brendan Shanahan...

Best job of hiding in the weeds: While everyone else was making headlines with dramatic comebacks, goaltending heroics, dirty hits, trash talk and finger pointing, the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks quietly and efficiently dispatched their opponents with a blend of balanced scoring and solid defence.