They were led by two Norris Trophy candidates captain Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, the scoring touches of Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, and the goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

The Ducks were looking to shut down Ottawa's offense with the checking line of Rob Niedermayer, Samuel Pahlsson and Travis Moen, and overall team defence.

The fourth-seeded Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, and upset both the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres, all in five games apiece, en route to their first Eastern Conference championship.

Ottawa was led by the top line of captain Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, and Jason Spezza, who combined for 23 goals in the first three rounds, and the goaltending of Ray Emery.

Other Senators who played pivotal roles were forwards Mike Fisher and Dean McAmmond and defencemen Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov.

Only four players remained on the Ducks roster from 2003, including the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

These finals marked the third straight in which a Canadian franchise lost against a franchise based in the southern half of the United States (previous Canadian teams in the last few Stanley Cup Finals were the 2004 Calgary Flames and the 2006 Edmonton Oilers, and not counting the 2004–05 NHL season lockout).

The idea to have a Sens Mile began as a grassroots campaign on Facebook by Ottawa residents before game four of the Ottawa-Buffalo Eastern Conference Finals series.

When the Senators beat the Sabres in game five of the Eastern Conference Final, people flocked to Elgin Street in celebration.

For the Stanley Cup Finals, large video screens were installed at Ottawa City Hall for fans to view.

The scene was festive at Honda Center in Anaheim with several Hollywood celebrities on hand, including former movie star and then California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who dropped the puck for the ceremonial face-off.

Mike Fisher started off the scoring in the series with a power-play goal 1:38 into the first period that travelled high in the air, landed behind Giguere and trickled over the line.

After an energetic crowd took over the singing of O Canada from Ontario Provincial Police Constable Lyndon Slewidge, the Senators came out tentative and Andy McDonald opened the scoring in game three to give Anaheim a 1–0 lead 5:39 into the first period.

Neither team scored any goals through the balance of the period, and Ottawa won the game 5–3, their first and only win in the Stanley Cup Finals, as of 2022.

Once again, the Ducks had to deal with the loss of Pronger while the Senators were itching to win both home games and tie the series.

After nearly a full period of scoreless play, Daniel Alfredsson scored at 19:59 (0.3 seconds remained) of the first to give the Senators a 1–0 lead on a powerplay goal.

Niedermayer was not injured, but the Ducks were furious, sparking a post-buzzer scrum next to the Anaheim bench before the teams left the ice for the intermission.

To the surprise of NBC's broadcasters, Alfredsson was not penalized for his actions, but Mike Fisher and Samuel Pahlsson were each handed matching minors for roughing.

However, the turning point of the game came when Chris Phillips and Ray Emery were involved in a mix-up resulting in an own goal, which was awarded to Travis Moen, giving Anaheim a 3–1 lead.

It appeared that he was trying to carry the whole team on his back, but on the same power play, defenceman Francois Beauchemin scored moments later to restore the Ducks two-goal lead, 4–2.

The Senators kept trying, and Antoine Vermette was awarded a rare penalty shot; however the puck rolled off his stick at the last moment.

Corey Perry scored the final goal off of a loose pass by Ottawa to provide the winning margin of 6–2, and, with the exception of Scott Niedermayer, every member of the Ducks franchise won their first Stanley Cup.

[6] As a whole, NBC's ratings for the championship series were down 20 percent from the previous season, making it the least watched finals in the United States.

At the time, Versus was only available to 50 percent of cable-equipped homes in the Los Angeles area, which hurt the buzz around the Ducks' playoff run in a traditionally crowded sports and entertainment market.

[7] Versus was the fifth-most watched cable network in the Los Angeles market for game one, good only for a 1.7 local rating.

This symbolic, if short-lived, win over one of the region's flagship teams allowed the Ducks to close the series on a relatively high note, with the Los Angeles Times' Larry Stewart calling their final ratings performance "pretty good".