Schedule and 2007 Results
Regular Season Records: Detroit 50-19-13=113pts, San Jose 51-26-5=107pts
Game 1 on Thursday, 26 April: San Jose wins at Detroit, 2-goals-nil
Game 2 on Saturday, 28 April: San Jose loses at Detroit, 3-goals-2
Game 3 on Monday, 30 April: Detroit loses at San Jose, 2-goals-1
Game 4 on Wednesday, 2 May: Detroit wins at San Jose, 3-goals-2 (OT)
Game 5 on Saturday, 5 May: San Jose loses at Detroit, 4-goals-1
Game 6 on Monday, 7 May: Detroit wins at San Jose, 2-goals-nil

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 6: The Detroit Red Wings visited and defeated the San Jose Sharks 2-goals-nil for a 4-games-2 victory in best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1000. With the series 1000 win, Detroit improves its best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 45-36 overall and 8-6 in the Quarterfinals. With the series 1000 loss, San Jose has its best-of-7 NHL playoff series record fall to 8-10 overall and 1-6 in the Quarterfinals. The victorious Detroit Red Wings in series 1000 followed a win order of LWLWWW: Series 1000 thus becomes the fourth best-of-7 NHL Quarterfinals series, the 12th best-of-7 NHL series (all rounds), and the 23rd best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow this win order. With their series 1000 Game 6 achievement, the Detroit Red Wings become only the ninth NHL team to close out a best-of-7 playoff series 4-games-2 with a Game 6 shutout on the road. The last team to do so? The Detroit Red Wings (in series 910, with a 2-goals-nil win in Nashville to oust the Predators 4-games-2 from the 2004 playoffs in the NHL Preliminary round that year).

After Game 5: With best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1000 back in Michigan for Game 5, the host Detroit Red Wings defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-goals-1 to take a 3-games-2 series lead. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the Detroit Red Wings have an 18-4 series record (with an active nine-series winning streak) and a 14-8 Game 6 record (with an active nine-Game 6 winning streak). When trailing a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the San Jose Sharks have a 1-5 series record (with an active five-series losing streak) and a 1-5 Game 6 record (with an active five-Game 6 losing streak). The sole San Jose series win upon trailing 3-games-2 occurred in series 678, in which the Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames in their 1995 NHL Preliminary-round series.

After Game 4: Tying the game with 34 seconds left in regulation and winning it 16:04 into the first overtime period, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the host San Jose Sharks 3-goals-2 to tie best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1000 at 2-games-all. When tied 2-games-all in a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Detroit Red Wings sport a 17-12 series record and a 14-15 Game 5 record, while the San Jose Sharks have a 2-7 series record (with an active six-series losing streak) and a 3-6 Game 5 record. Detroit trailed by one goal with as little as 35 seconds left in regulation in series 1000 Game 4: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2006, when the road team trailed by one goal with 35 seconds remaining, its game record was 7-400 (.017). The win/site order for the Detroit Red Wings is now LWLW @ HHVV: In the history of best-of-7 NBA/NHL Quarterfinals, teams such as Detroit with this win/site order have an 11-4 series record ... but the last team in this situation lost its series (specifically, series 916, to the Calgary Flames in the 2004 NHL Quarterfinals). The losing team? The Detroit Red Wings. The San Jose Sharks, with the historical victory probabilities against them even though series 1000 is tied 2-games-all, thus must hope to follow the precedent set for them by the 2004 Calgary Flames.

After Game 3: With best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1000 in San Jose for Games 3-4, the host Sharks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-goals-1 to take a 2-games-1 series 1000 lead. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the San Jose Sharks have a series record of 6-3 and a Game 4 record of 5-4. When trailing a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Detroit Red Wings have a series record of 9-18 and a Game 4 record of 12-15.

After Game 2: The Detroit Red Wings gave up a goal in the first minute of play and trailed 2-goals-nil shortly thereafter, but rallied to defeat the San Jose Sharks 3-goals-2 in regulation, thus tying best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1000 at 1-game-all. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Detroit Red Wings have a series record of 17-15 and a Game 3 record of 16-16, while the San Jose Sharks have a series record of 5-3 and a Game 3 record of 6-2. Series 1000 now shifts to San Jose for Games 3-4.

After Game 1: Scoring two goals within 24 seconds of each other in the first period, the San Jose Sharks visited and defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-goals-nil to take a 1-game-nil lead of best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1000. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the San Jose Sharks have a series record of 6-3 and a Game 2 record of 4-5. When trailing a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Detroit Red Wings have a series record of 14-24 and a Game 2 record of 18-20. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through the 2007 NHL Preliminary round, teams that post a Game 1 shutout on the road have a series record of 16-17; the last road team to post a Game 1 shutout was the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, in series 886 (in the 2003 NHL Semifinals) against the Wild in Minnesota.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2006-07 regular season, Detroit finished six points ahead of San Jose. From 1905 through the 2007 NHL Preliminary round, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by six regular-season points, they have posted a 17-8 (.680) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents (with an active series winning streak of four games). Best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1000 is the 18th best-of-7 NHL playoff series for San Jose, and the 81st for Detroit. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series, San Jose has an 8-9 series record, a 1-5 Quarterfinals-round series record, and a 9-8 Game 1 record, while Detroit has a 44-36 series record, a 7-6 Quarterfinals-round series record, and a 42-38 Game 1 record. Series 1000 is the third best-of-7 NHL playoff series meeting between San Jose and Detroit: San Jose defeated the Red Wings in series 655 in the 1994 NHL Preliminary round (the first playoff series for the San Jose Sharks), but Detroit topped the Sharks in series 683 in the 1995 NHL Quarterfinals.