Schedule and 2002 Results
Regular Season Records: Detroit 51-17-10-4=116pts, Vancouver 42-30-7-3=94pts
Game 1 on Wednesday, 17 April: Vancouver wins at Detroit, 4-goals-3 (OT)
Game 2 on Friday, 19 April: Vancouver wins at Detroit, 5-goals-2
Game 3 on Sunday, 21 April: Detroit wins at Vancouver, 3-goals-1
Game 4 on Tuesday, 23 April: Detroit wins at Vancouver, 4-goals-2
Game 5 on Thursday, 25 April: Vancouver loses at Detroit, 4-goals-nil
Game 6 on Saturday, 27 April: Detroit wins at Vancouver, 6-goals-4

SERIES NOTES: Post Game 6 and series assessment: The Game 6 victory by Detroit raises its best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 6 record to 8-3 (7-2 on the road; those eight overall wins and seven road wins are NHL highs), while Vancouver's best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 6 record falls to 4-4 (2-4 at home). Detroit's best-of-7 series record is now 39-33 (10-5 in Preliminary round play; the ten wins tie St. Louis for an NHL Prelim-round high), while Vancouver's is now 8-11 (4-5 in Prelim-round play). The LLWWWW victory by Detroit is the sixth in NHL Preliminary round play, the 17th in NHL play (all rounds), and the 24th overall. The LLWWWW pattern by Detroit exactly follows that of the 2001 Los Angeles Kings, which used it in series 828 to eliminate Detroit last year. Post Game 5 assessment: With its Game 5 loss, Vancouver's best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 5 record falls to 3-5 (2-4 on the road), while Detroit's improves to 6-6 (6-4 at home). Setting a series-winning precedent for Vancouver is the 2001 Pittsburgh Penguins, which also went WWLLL @ VVHHV in best-of-7 series 832 (a Qtrs-round match-up vs. Buffalo), but won the series in seven games. When leading a best-of-7 series 3-games-2, Detroit's series record is 15-4, including six series wins in the last such six series. When trailing a best-of-7 series 3-games-2, Vancouver's series record is 2-6 (the wins came in the 1992 and 1994 Preliminary rounds). Post Game 4 assessment: This series is the sixth best-of-7 NHL Preliminary round series (2-2 site format) in which the road team has won the first four games. With its 4-goals-2 victory in Vancouver, Detroit improves its best-of-7 Prelim-round record to 8-7 (7-7 on the road; both the win and the loss totals are NHL highs), while that of Vancouver falls to 3-6 (2-5 at home). When tied 2-games-all in a best-of-7 playoff series, Detroit owns a 13-10 series record, while Vancouver owns a 1-4 series record. Post Game 3 assessment: By winning Game 3, Detroit improves its best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 3 record to 10-5 (9-5 on the road; the "9" is an NHL high in this category); by losing Game 3, Vancouver sees its best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 3 record fall to 2-7 (2-5 at home). When leading a best-of-7 series WWL, Vancouver has a 2-0 series record; when trailing a best-of-7 series LLW, Detroit has a 4-6 series record. Post Game 2 assessment: Entering this game, Detroit had a 10-4 record (10-3 at home) in best-of-7 Preliminary-round Game 2 action; both "10s" are NHL-highs. Entering this game, Vancouver had a 4-4 record (2-4 on the road) in such Game 2 action. Detroit has now lost six consecutive best-of-7 format playoff games -- the last six-plus-game best-of-7 losing streak by the Red Wings occurred from Game 3 of the 1966 NHL Finals [vs. Montreal] through a 1970 NHL Quarterfinals-round sweep [by Chicago] to Game 1 of a 1978 NHL Quarterfinals-round series vs. Montreal again (nine straight losses in three best-of-7 series over 12 years). Vancouver trailed Detroit by 22 regular-season points but has won the first two games of this series: The last NHL team to trail a best-of-7 opponent by >22 regular-season points but win the first two games was the 1996 Colorado Avalanche (in its 1996 Semifinals-round ... vs. Detroit); Colorado went on to capture the 1996 Stanley Cup despite having 27 fewer regular-season points than Detroit. The last team (NHL or otherwise) to lose Games 1 and 2 at home but win the best-of-7 series was the 2000 Philadelphia Flyers, in their NHL Quarterfinals-round series vs. Pittsburgh. Rallying cry for Detroit: 14 MLB, NBA, and NHL franchises have rebounded from LL@HH starts to win best-of-7 series, but no franchise in any league has done so more than the Detroit Red Wings (thrice -- 1945 Semifinals vs. Boston; 1987 Quarterfinals vs. Toronto; 1992 Prelim vs. the Minnesota North Stars). Post Game 1 assessment: Through 2001, Detroit had won more best-of-7 Preliminary-round first games on home ice (9) than any other NHL franchise, but fails in 2002 to take that total to double digits. In best-of-7 play, Detroit has now lost five consecutive games -- a streak last achieved by the Red Wings in Games 5-7 of the 1991 Preliminary round and Games 1-2 of the 1992 Preliminary round. The Vancouver win ends a best-of-7 format six-game losing streak that began with Game 5 of their 1996 Preliminary-round series against the Colorado Avalanche (series 703). From 1939-2001, NHL teams winning Game 1 of a best-of-7 series by a one-goal margin have posted a 111-60 (.649) series record. Pre-series assessment: In the 2001-02 regular season, Detroit finished with 22 more points than Vancouver. From 1939 through 2001, when NHL best-of-7 opponents were separated by 22 regular-season points, the better regular-season team has gone on to post a 5-1 (.833) best-of-7 series record in that series against that opponent.