1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs , the championship of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) , began in April , 1999 , following the 1998 – 99 NHL season . The sixteen teams that qualified , eight from each conference , played best - of - 7 series for conference quarterfinals , semifinals and championships , and then the conference champions played a best - of - 7 series for the Stanley Cup . This is the last time all 4 WHA teams made the playoffs . The playoffs ended in June , with the Dallas Stars defeating the Buffalo Sabres to win their first Stanley Cup championship in their history . Brett Hull scored the controversial overtime goal in Game 6 for Dallas , while Joe Nieuwendyk was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs . Eastern Conference Finals . The Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres met in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals . The Maple Leafs were coming off a six - game series win over the Pittsburgh Penguins , while the Sabres were coming off a six - game series win themselves , over the Boston Bruins . Toronto was having its best playoff since 1994 , when they last made a conference final series . Buffalo , on the other hand , was in the third round for the second consecutive year . Dwayne Roloson filled in for injured Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek , in a close game one at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto . Leading 3 – 2 midway through the game , Toronto appeared to be in control , but Stu Barnes tied the game for Buffalo at 14 : 37 of the second period . The Sabres went on to score twice in the third period , on goals by Curtis Brown at 5 : 21 and Geoff Sanderson at 11 : 02 . Steve Thomas ' goal with 6 : 01 remaining in the game brought Toronto to within one , but Buffalo held on to win 5 – 4 . Roloson impressed the critics , stopping 28 of 32 shots . In game two , the Maple Leafs got two goals 18 seconds apart in the first period , as Steve Sullivan scored at 10 : 28 followed by Sylvain Cote at 10 : 46 . With just over ten minutes to go in the game , Toronto held a 4 – 3 lead with Buffalo pressing . Steve Thomas ' goal at with 7 : 43 to go gave the Maple Leafs a 5 – 3 lead and Garry Valk sealed the 6 – 3 win with an empty - net goal at 19 : 30 . With series tied at 1 – 1 , the two teams traveled south to the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo for games three and four . Dominik Hasek returned for the Sabres in game three , but it was the away team that netted the first goal , as Maple Leafs forward Yanic Perreault scored at 16 : 08 of the first period . But Buffalo was not to be denied , and they scored three goals in the first 7 minutes and 38 seconds of the second period . Alexander Karpovtsev scored at 13 : 09 of the second to pull the Maple Leafs to within one , but they could not score the equalizer and Curtis Brown iced the game with an empty - net goal at 19 : 31 of the third period and the Sabres won , 4 – 2 . Dominik Hasek made 24 saves in the victory . Buffalo came out flying again in game four , holding a 5 – 0 lead after two periods . Hasek ' s shutout bid was erased when Mats Sundin scored on a penalty shot at 6 : 59 . He scored again with 1 : 57 remaining in the game as Buffalo won , 5 – 2 . This time Hasek made 31 saves . In game five at the Air Canada Centre on Monday , May 31 , the Sabres looked to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1975 . After a scoreless first period , Steve Sullivan got Toronto on the board first just 33 seconds into the second . After goals by Curtis Brown , Kris King and Vaclav Varada , the game was tied 2 – 2 after two periods . Erik Rasmussen broke the tie with a goal at 11 : 35 of the third period . With less than two minutes remaining , the Maple Leafs got a power play and pulled Joseph to get a six - on - four situation , could not score on Hasek . Dixon Ward added a shorthanded empty - net net goal with 1 : 02 remaining as the Sabres went on to win 4 – 2 and take the series four games to one . With the victory , they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 24 years . Western Conference Finals . The Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche met in the 1999 Western Conference Finals . Each team had won its previous series in six games , with Dallas ousting the St . Louis Blues and Colorado defeating the Stanley - Cup champion Detroit Red Wings . The Stars were hoping to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1991 , while the Avalanche were trying to get back to the Cup Finals for the second time in four years . In game one at Reunion Arena in Dallas , the Stars jumped out to a 1 – 0 lead on Brett Hull ' s goal at 8 : 42 of the first period . The Avalanche came back to tie the game in the second period on Peter Forsberg ' s goal at 14 : 07 . Valeri Kamensky scored the go - ahead goal with 5 : 58 remaining in the game , as Colorado hung on to win 2 – 1 . Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy made 30 saves in the victory . With the score tied at 2 – 2 in game two , Joe Nieuwendyk gave Dallas a 3 – 2 lead with a goal at 11 : 52 of the third period . Mike Modano would add a power - play goal with 3 : 32 remaining as the Stars won 4 – 2 to tie the series at 1 – 1 . Dallas outshot Colorado 45 – 19 in the game . In game three at McNichol ' s Arena in Denver , Ed Belfour stopped all 34 Colorado shots he faced , and Dallas won 3 – 0 . Joe Nieuwendyk , Jamie Langenbrunner and Dave Reid scored for the Stars . The Avalanche came back in game four and led 2 – 1 with under five minutes remaining in the third period , but Brett Hull scored at 16 : 07 to tie the score and send the game into overtime . In the extra period , 22 year - old rookie Chris Drury scored at 19 : 29 to give Colorado a 3 – 2 win and tie the series at two games apiece . Patrick Roy made 43 saves in the win . Game five in Dallas was the highest - scoring game in the series , as the two teams combined for 12 goals on just 56 shots . Chris Drury and Valeri Kamensky both scored twice as the Avalanche won 7 – 5 . Leading three games to two in the series , Colorado looked to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals at home in game six . The veteran Claude Lemieux got the Avalanche on the board first with just 35 seconds remaining in the first period . However , the Stars responded early in the second on Jere Lehtinen ' s goal at 1 : 55 . In the third period , Jamie Langenbrunner scored twice at 6 : 49 at 17 : 15 , and just 14 seconds later , Richard Matvichuk scored to give Dallas a 4 – 1 lead , which they hung on to . Ed Belfour stopped 26 of 27 Colorado shots . With the series tied at 3 – 3 , the two teams headed back to Reunion Arena for the pivotal game seven . The Stars dominated , building a 4 – 0 lead in the first 46 minutes and 18 seconds of the game . Mike Keane scored twice and Jamie Langenbrunner and Jere Lehtinen both had goals . Joe Sakic got the Avalanche on the board with a goal with 6 : 02 remaining in the third , but that was all they would get as Dallas won the game 4 – 1 and the series four games to three . Ed Belfour needed to make only 18 saves in the victory . With the win , the Stars advanced to the Cup Finals for the first time since 1991 when they were the Minnesota North Stars . Despite getting eliminated , Colorado Avalanche forward Peter Forsberg lead the playoffs in scoring with 24 points in 19 games . Controversial Brett Hull goal . When Brett Hull scored his series - clinching goal in triple overtime of game six , his foot was in the crease but the puck was not . During the middle of the season , the NHL sent out a memo clarifying the " skate in the crease " rule that allowed goals in instances where the goalscorer established possession of the puck prior to entering the crease . On this play , Hull kicked the puck with his left skate ( while still outside of the crease ) into a shooting position . Because of that action , he became the possessor of the puck prior to his skate entering the crease , which the NHL determined made the goal legitimate . Others have pointed out that similar plays were called differently during the regular season . Many Buffalo fans felt that this call was incorrectly made and the term " No Goal ! " became their rallying cry . Hull ' s goal ended the series , and the Stars were awarded the Cup . In 1999 , it was illegal to score a goal if an offensive player ' s skate entered the crease before the puck did . At the time , even Dallas Morning News hockey writer Keith Gave questioned the legality of the goal . NHL officials , however , maintained that Hull ' s two shots in the goal mouth constituted a single possession of the puck since the puck deflected off Hasek , and their ruling stood , citing that they were going to change the rule the following year anyway . Al Strachan , Hockey Writer of the Toronto Sun , and all time NHL scoring leader Wayne Gretzky are on record as saying that the goal was legally scored and should have stood . NHL Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis said there was no crease violation because " Hull had possession of the puck when his skate entered the crease . "