Schedule and 2001 Results
Regular Season Records: Detroit 49-20-9-4=111pts, Los Angeles 38-28-13-3=92pts
Game 1 on Wednesday, 11 April: Los Angeles loses at Detroit, 5-goals-3
Game 2 on Saturday, 14 April: Los Angeles loses at Detroit, 4-goals-nil
Game 3 on Sunday, 15 April: Detroit loses at Los Angeles, 2-goals-1
Game 4 on Wednesday, 18 April: Detroit loses at Los Angeles in OT, 4-goals-3
Game 5 on Saturday, 21 April: Los Angeles wins at Detroit, 3-goals-2
Game 6 on Monday, 23 April: Detroit loses at Los Angeles in OT, 3-goals-2

OVERALL SUBSTANCE: Los Angeles defeats Detroit LLWWWW:
The six-game LLWWWW victory by Los Angeles over Detroit is the 5th in NHL Prelim round best-of-7 series, the 16th in NHL best-of-7 series (all rounds), and the 23rd in NHL, NBA, or MLB best-of-7 series. In the NHL, when a team finishes 19 regular season points ahead of its best-of-7 playoff series opponent (as Ottawa did this year vs. Toronto and as Detroit did this year vs. Los Angeles), the series record of that team is now only 1-8.

SERIES NOTES: Game 6: Los Angeles defeats Detroit 3-goals-2 in overtime to win series 828 by a 4-games-2 margin; the Kings now have a 5-5 best-of-7 Prelim-round series record, while the Red Wings now have a 9-5 best-of-7 Prelim-round series record; in best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 6 action, the Wings record falls to 7-3 (6-2 on the road), while the Kings record improves to 5-1 (and an NHL-best 3-0 at home, just ahead of the 2-0 New York Islanders and the 2-0 Pittsburgh Penguins) . . . Game 5: Los Angeles defeats Detroit 3-goals-2 to take a 3-games-2 lead in series 828; after six straight best-of-7 playoff games in which Los Angeles never led in six straight losses to Detroit, the Kings have now won three straight games against the Red Wings; in light of the shift in this series, re-examining the 19-point regular season differential might be worthwhile -- going into the 2001 NHL playoffs, the team with the 19-point regular season lead had only a 1-6 series record, and with Toronto having upset Ottawa, that record is now 1-7 (the sample size is probably too small to be meaningful, but it is nevertheless cold comfort to Detroit); Detroit is now 6-5 in best-of-7 NHL Prelim-round Game 5 action (and 5-4 at home), while Los Angeles is now 4-4 in best-of-7 NHL Prelim-round Game 5 action (and 2-3 on the road) . . . Game 4: Los Angeles defeats Detroit 4-goals-3 in overtime, in a game Los Angeles never led; the Kings trailed Detroit 3-goals-nil before scoring at the 13:53, 17:33, and 19:07 marks of the third period to send the game into overtime; note that in the 2369 games played in best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through 2000, teams leading by three goals with 13:52 elapsed in the third period had a 355-2 (.994) record, teams leading by two goals with 17:32 elapsed in the third had a 556-3 (.995) record, and teams leading by one with 19:06 elapsed in the third had a 659-17 (.975) record -- the only two previous teams to surmount that three-goal deficit and win the game were Philadelphia (over Toronto in Game 4 of the 1977 NHL Stanley Cup Quarterfinals -- series 323) and Edmonton (over Dallas in Game 3 of the 1997 NHL Prelim round -- series 728), while the only three previous teams to surmount that two-goal deficit and win the game were Philadelphia (in 1977, as mentioned), Edmonton (in 1997, as mentioned), and Quebec (over Montreal in Game 1 of the 1993 NHL Prelim round -- series 627; of course, Montreal rebounded to win that series and the next three best-of-7 series to take the 1993 NHL Stanley Cup Championship) . . . Game 3: Los Angeles defeats Detroit, 2-goals-1; Los Angeles thus ends its 14-game losing streak in the NHL playoffs, while Detroit has its 13-game winning streak in NHL Prelim round best-of-7 action ended . . . Game 2: Detroit shuts out Los Angeles, 4-goals-nil; Detroit is now 10-4 in Game 2 of best-of-7 Prelim round playoff series -- those 10 wins are the most wins and most home wins in Game 2 of best-of-7 NHL Prelim round series; Detroit's 13 home appearances in Game 2 are the most home Game 2 appearances in NHL best-of-7 Prelim round history; Los Angeles is now 3-7 in Game 2 of NHL best-of-7 Preliminary round playoff action . . . Game 1: Detroit defeated Los Angeles 5-goals-3 in Detroit, extending the Kings' playoff game losing streak to 13 since their Game 1 victory in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals; Detroit last won a Game 1 of a best-of-7 series by a 5-3 score in the 1999 NHL Prelim round against Anaheim -- the Red Wings proceeded to sweep that series; Game 1 was the fifth straight playoff game in which the Kings failed to take a lead vs. Detroit . . . Pre-series: Both Detroit and Los Angeles bring streaks into this series, as Detroit has won its last six Preliminary-round series (1995-2000), and as Los Angeles has lost twelve consecutive playoff games since Game 1 of the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals against Montreal; Detroit leads the NHL in Preliminary-round best-of-7 series wins (9) and game wins (47); in best-of-7 NHL playoff history from 1939 through 2000, the team with the 19-point regular season advantage vs. a playoff opponent (such as what Detroit holds over Los Angeles) had only a 1-6 series record in best-of-7 playoff rounds vs. that opponent -- the single series victory occurred in the last such best-of-7 NHL series, when Philadelphia defeated 19-point underdog Pittsburgh in best-of-7 series 725 (in the 1997 NHL Prelim round).