Detroit 2, Calgary 1, 2OT
During Saturday’s game and after the NHL suspended their backup goalie, and fined their coach and the Calgary Flames organization, the Flames were seeing red. When they entered the Saddledome for Sunday’s rematch, they were seeing red again. The Sea of Red. 
A sea of tears washed the Sea of Red away. “Disappointment,” Jarome Iginla said after the Detroit Red Wings eliminated the Flames with last night’s 2-1 double overtime win. “We wanted to go further. We wanted to push them and get another crack in Game 7. It hurts because you’re one goal away from moving on to a Game 7 where anything can happen but we didn’t get it.”
Detroit’s Johan Franzen fired a top-corner shot 4:23 into the second OT to dash the championship hopes of the Flames and their 19,289 red-clad faithful on hand at the ‘Dome. By being the first team to win on the road in the best-of-seven series, the Wings claimed the opening-round playoff set in six games. Detroit awaits the result of tonight’s Game 7 between Vancouver and Dallas for its next opponent.
Although the Flames held in there, it was mainly due to the brilliant netminding of Miikka Kiprusoff, who capped his season with a sparkling 53-save outing. It was a performance worthy of first-star selection but that was of no solace to unflappable goalie. “It’s tough losing in the first round,” he said. “It’s over now. It was a tough game tonight, we fought well.” Kiprusoff faced 255 shots through the four games, while Dominik Hasek was forced to only handle 129.
Iginla’s second-period goal put the Flames ahead with the hopes of a chance to return to Detroit for the deciding game. 
But Robert Lang replied to force the extra sessions. Both teams failed to convert on a pair of powerplay chances in overtime.
The Flames were not aggressive enough last night but veteran defenceman Rhett Warrener pinned the first-round exit on the team’s inability to win on the road, which was a lingering problem since the beginning of the season. “When your back’s against the wall and it’s a win-or-you’re-done situation you might play a little bit tighter. We certainly didn’t want to make a glaring mistake that cost us,” Warrener said. “Maybe we played a little tighter but tonight wasn’t the problem. It was the road games that put us behind.”
New Jersey 3, Tampa Bay 2
Martin Brodeur is the life and pulse of the New Jersey Devils. Usually it is his play that will determine if they win or lose. That pulse was a little weak in the first three games against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Well, the pulse is back and as strong as a young man’s on his first date.
Faced with criticism after playing poorly in the first three games, the 34-year-old goaltender reverted to the form that helped him set a regular-season record for victories and win three straight to end the best-of-seven matchup in six games. “We won, and it doesn’t matter if you play well or not,” Brodeur said. “It’s a fine line in the playoffs — winning and losing, and how somebody performs — because the luck factor is such a big factor.”
Brian Gionta scoring two goals, Brian Rafalski also scored and Patrick Elias assisted on all three of New Jersey’s goals in a 3-2 victory. Brad Richards scored two power-play goals for Tampa Bay, which was shutout by Brodeur in Game 5 after scoring three goals in each of the first four. The Devils advanced to the East semifinals against the Ottawa Senators, who eliminated Pittsburgh in five games.
“It wasn’t like he (Brodeur) was playing horrible. It was just some bounces. The two game-winning goals that they did get came off shin pads,” New Jersey’s John Madden said. “It wasn’t like everybody was out of position or anything like that. You’ve got to keep plugging away.”
“When you’ve been through it, you just put your head down and work harder. I can’t make the bounces go my way if I don’t believe that I’m able to stop the puck,” Brodeur said. “I know when it doesn’t go well, I’ll get that criticism.”
“I don’t think he was totally on his game through the first four (games),” Lightning coach John Tortorella said. “The opportunity we had in overtime, we didn’t get it done. But you knew he was going to come up sooner or later, and I think the last two games he was the difference.”
“They’re moving on and we’re not,” Martin St. Louis said. “It’s an empty feeling and it’s disappointing, but we have to remember how this feels.”
