1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs , the championship of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) , began at the conclusion of the 1992 – 93 NHL season on April 18 , and ended with the Stanley Cup win on June 9 . The Presidents ' Trophy - winning Pittsburgh Penguins , who had won the Cup the two previous years , were the favourite to " three - peat " . However , the championship went instead to the Montreal Canadiens , won in a five - game series with the Los Angeles Kings . Division semi - finals . Adams Division . Boston vs . Buffalo . Buffalo ' s four - game upset sweep of the heavily - favored Bruins ended with a memorable overtime goal by Brad May at Buffalo ' s Memorial Auditorium as they avenged their loss to Boston from the year before . " Buffalo wins best - of - seven series 4 – 0 " Quebec vs . Montreal . Montreal coach Jacques Demers held himself to a promise he made to goaltender Patrick Roy earlier in the season and kept him as the starting goalie despite a couple of weak goals allowed in the first two games of the series against the Nordiques . With the Canadiens staring a potential 3 – 0 series deficit to the rival Nords in the face , overtime in Game 3 was marked by two disputed goals that were reviewed by the video goal judge . The first review ruled that Stephan Lebeau had knocked the puck in with a high stick , but the second upheld the Habs ' winning goal , as it was directed in by the skate of Quebec defenceman Alexei Gusarov , and not that of a Montreal player . As it turned out , this was the final playoff series between the provincial rivals before The Nords moved to Colorado to become the Avalanche . " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 – 2 " Patrick Division . Pittsburgh vs . New Jersey . The Devils had been a struggling team prior to the 1992 – 93 season but qualified for the Patrick Division playoffs for the second consecutive year . Here they met the Presidents ' Trophy winners and two - time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins . With their win in Game 1 the Penguins recorded their twelfth consecutive playoff victory , beating the record the Chicago Blackhawks had set in the 1992 playoffs ( and that Pittsburgh had tied in Game 4 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals against those same Blackhawks ) . The streak ended at 14 when the Devils won Game 4 to stave off elimination . " Pittsburgh wins best - of - seven series 4 – 1 " Washington vs . New York Islanders . Game 6 of this series was marred by a vicious check on the Islanders ' leading scorer , Pierre Turgeon , by the Capitals ' Dale Hunter , moments after Turgeon scored a third - period goal to put the game and the series out of reach for Washington . Turgeon suffered a separated shoulder on the play and missed almost all of the next round . Hunter received a 21 - game suspension for the hit , the longest in NHL history up to that time , which was served during the 1993 – 94 season . " NYI win best - of - seven series 4 – 2 " Norris Division . Chicago vs . St . Louis . The Blackhawks , on an overtime goal in Game 4 , became the second division champion to be swept in the first round of the playoffs . Chicago goaltender Ed Belfour claimed he had been interfered with by St . Louis star Brett Hull on the play , but to no avail as the tally stood as the game - and series - winner . Belfour famously went on a rampage after the game , breaking a hot tub , coffee maker , and television in the visitors ' locker room at the St . Louis Arena . In 1999 , Hawk fans would be left to contemplate the irony of the situation when Belfour and Hull were teammates on that year ' s championship team , the Dallas Stars , who in 1993 were known as the Minnesota North Stars . The Blackhawks , with the sweep , saw their playoff losing streak extended to eight games dating back to 1992 . " St . Louis wins best - of - seven series 4 – 0 " Detroit vs . Toronto . In a revival of the heated Original Six rivalry , Nikolai Borschevsky ' s Game 7 overtime goal gave Toronto the series and made them the sixth club to eliminate a team with a better regular season record in the first round of the playoffs . This was also Toronto ' s first playoff win over Detroit since the Leafs beat the Wings in the full seven games back in the 1964 Stanley Cup finals . " Toronto wins best - of - seven series 4 – 3 " Smythe Division . Vancouver vs . Winnipeg . The Smythe Division champions from Vancouver managed to shut down the Jets in six games . " Vancouver wins best - of - seven series 4 – 2 " Calgary vs . Los Angeles . The Kings upset the Flames in a high - scoring six - game series . " Los Angeles wins best - of - seven series 4 – 2 " Division finals . Adams Division Final : Montreal vs . Buffalo . The long - awaited series between Patrick Roy and Grant Fuhr had finally arrived . However , the Canadiens swept the series , winning every game by a score of 4 – 3 and winning the Adams Division playoffs . As in their previous series , the Canadiens played three overtime games , this time winning all three . " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 – 0 " Patrick Division Final : Pittsburgh vs . New York Islanders . The Isles ' improbable upset of the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins , who finished far ahead of New York in the regular season , was capped off by David Volek ' s overtime goal in Game 7 . The Islanders won the Patrick Division playoffs and advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 1984 . To date , this is the last time the Islanders have won a playoff series , as they have been eliminated in the first round in each of their subsequent appearances . " New York Islanders win best - of - seven series 4 – 3 " Norris Division Final : Toronto vs . St . Louis . The Maple Leafs defeated the Blues in seven games to win the Norris Division playoffs , despite Blues ' goaltender Curtis Joseph ' s efforts . The Blues were heavily outshot throughout the series including more than 60 shots in game one alone . Game 7 was the first to be played at Maple Leaf Gardens since the 1964 Finals when Andy Bathgate scored the cup clinching goal . " Toronto wins best - of - seven series 4 – 3 " Smythe Division Final : Vancouver vs . Los Angeles . Despite Vancouver ' s huge win in Game 4 , Game 5 in Vancouver saw a stoppage of play as Kings center Gary Shuchuk got hurt and was sent into the dressing room . Many thought he was out of the playoffs , but he later came back in the game and ended up winning Game 5 in double overtime for the Kings . The Canucks could not recover and thus the Kings advanced to the Campbell Conference finals as the winners of the Smythe Division playoffs . " Los Angeles wins best - of - seven series 4 – 2 " Conference finals . All teams in the Conference finals were seeded third in their division . Wales Conference Final : Montreal vs . New York Islanders . Montreal ' s win in game three was their eleventh straight , tying the single - playoff record set a year earlier by Pittsburgh and Chicago . They also added two more overtime victories , bringing their total to seven straight for the playoffs ( they lost their first OT game in this year ' s playoffs ) , and won the final Wales Conference championship . " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 – 1 " Campbell Conference Final : Toronto vs . Los Angeles . This Conference Final was the first one since 1982 that " neither " the Calgary Flames or the Edmonton Oilers represented the Smythe Division . The Toronto Maple Leafs iced a competitive team for the first time in many years and were hoping to reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since their championship in 1967 . The Los Angeles Kings , led by captain Wayne Gretzky , also had high ambitions . Gretzky had never played a postseason game in Toronto prior to the series . During Game 1 , Los Angeles blue - liner Marty McSorley delivered a serious open ice hit on Toronto ' s Doug Gilmour . Leafs captain Wendel Clark took exception to the hit and went after McSorley for striking their star player . Toronto coach Pat Burns tried scaling the bench to get at Los Angeles coach Barry Melrose because he thought he ordered the hit on Gilmour ( McSorley later remarked in interviews that he received dozens of death threat messages on his hotel phone from angry fans ) . Toronto would take a 3 – 2 series lead after five games . Game 6 was also not without controversy . With the game tied at 4 in overtime , Wayne Gretzky highsticked Doug Gilmour in the face , cutting his chin open . Many thought that referee Kerry Fraser should have called a 5 minute major and a game misconduct ( generally given for high sticking penalties that result in a cut at that time ) on the play ( linesmen can also call penalties for stick infractions , or at least advise the referee that an infraction occurred ) , but Gretzky was not penalized , and he went on to score the overtime goal moments later , evening the series at 3 – 3 . Toronto would play another game 7 at Maple Leaf Gardens . Gretzky would score three goals and add one assist in the deciding game to give Los Angeles their first Campbell Conference championship and a berth in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history . Gretzky has been quoted as saying that his performance in Game 7 was the best NHL game of his career . " Los Angeles wins best - of - seven series 4 – 3 " Final . This was Montreal ' s first trip to the Final since 1989 . It was Los Angeles ' first appearance ever in the Final , and Wayne Gretzky ' s first and only appearance in the Final with the Kings . Montreal would win the series to win their 24th Stanley Cup title . Montreal vs . Los Angeles . " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 – 1 . Patrick Roy ( Montreal ) wins Conn Smythe Trophy "