Game one

In game one, Carolina tied the biggest comeback in Stanley Cup finals history, overcoming a three-goal deficit to win 5–4. Edmonton scored first, 8:18 into the first period, with a goal from Fernando Pisani. In the second period, Chris Pronger scored the first penalty shot goal in finals history after defenceman Niclas Wallin illegally covered the puck inside his own goal crease, and Ethan Moreau's goal at 16:23 gave the Oilers a 3–0 lead. But at the 17:17 mark, Rod Brind'Amour scored the Hurricanes' first goal of the game. Carolina then tied the game in the third period with two scores by Ray Whitney. The Hurricanes jumped ahead 4–3 on a shorthanded breakaway goal by Justin Williams, but Edmonton's Ales Hemsky scored on a power play to tie the game with 6:29 remaining. Late in the final period, Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson suffered a series-ending knee injury in a collision and was replaced with Ty Conklin. With 32 seconds remaining in regulation, Conklin misplayed the puck behind his own net, where it deflected off Jason Smith's stick to the front of the empty net, allowing Brind'Amour to score the winning goal. Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward had to make the last of his 34 saves with 3.8 seconds remaining, robbing Shawn Horcoff for the second time in the third period with a glove save to preserve the victory.

Game two

With Roloson's injury, Jussi Markkanen started for the Oilers in game two. Although Markkanen had played 37 games in the regular season, sharing the job with Ty Conklin and Mike Morrison, he and Conklin switched back and forth during the playoff as the backup (with the other sitting in the press box as a healthy scratch); he also had not played in a game since March 1, 2006. The Hurricanes shut out the Oilers, 5–0, with five different Carolina players scoring goals. It was the first time three goaltenders had been used in the Stanley Cup Finals since May 1970, when the St. Louis Blues employed Jacques Plante, Glenn Hall and Ernie Wakely on their way to being swept by the Boston Bruins.

Game three

Markkanen once again started in net with Roloson still out. Shawn Horcoff scored just over two minutes into the first period. During the second period, a short-handed goal was waved off by the referee, because he had lost sight of the puck and had blown the whistle, despite the fact that the puck had not yet been covered. The Hurricanes responded midway through the third period with their captain, Rod Brind'Amour, taking a rebound off a blocked shot past Markkanen. However, with 2:15 left in the game, Edmonton's Ryan Smyth scored the winning goal after crashing into Ward inside the crease as they both tried to get control of a rebound off of a shot by Ales Hemsky.

Game four

Edmonton got off to a good start when Sergei Samsonov opened the scoring at 8:40 of the first period. However, the lead was short-lived as Cory Stillman replied just 29 seconds later to tie the game at 1–1. Stillman also made a sound defensive play on Chris Pronger late in the second period, tipping the puck away in the Edmonton zone to the front of the net, where Eric Staal fed a pass to Mark Recchi, who scored the eventual game-winning goal with 4:08 to go in the period. Once again Edmonton's power play was ineffective, failing to capitalize on five chances, including a two-man advantage in the first period. When the game ended, the Oilers were 1-for-25 on the power play to this point in the series.

Game five

Carolina had a 3–1 lead in the series and a chance to win the Stanley Cup on their home ice. However, Edmonton scored first on Fernando Pisani's redirect of a Pronger slapshot 16 seconds into the game. The Hurricanes then went ahead 2–1 on two power play goals by Eric Staal and Ray Whitney before the Oilers scored on the power play with a one-timer by Ales Hemsky to tie the game. Michael Peca then gave Edmonton a 3–2 lead with 17.4 seconds left in the first period. In the second period, Staal poked a goal between Jussi Markkanen and the post to tie the game. Early in the third period, Hurricanes centre Doug Weight got sandwiched by Chris Pronger and Raffi Torres, separating his shoulder and ending his night early. Weight would not return to play for the rest of the series, but would eventually raise the Cup. Carolina defenceman Aaron Ward also was injured in the third period, and with Carolina running out of healthy skaters, the Hurricanes were desperate to close out the game. With 7:47 remaining in the third period, Whitney missed what might have been the Hurricanes' best chance to win the series with a shot that just hit the post. The game went to overtime, where Steve Staios drew a penalty early in the period to put the Hurricanes on the power play. Fernando Pisani picked off a cross-ice pass from Cory Stillman and streaked in short-handed to beat Cam Ward top right corner (glove side) with a left-handed shot to score the first short-handed overtime goal in finals history, giving the Oilers the upset win.

Game six

Despite the emotional boost of Carolina winger Erik Cole returning to the ice for the first time since breaking his neck in March, Edmonton dominated for the entire 60 minutes. They shut out Carolina 4–0, tying the series after down 1–3 in front of a raucous crowd at Rexall Place. They scored three power-play goals and limited the Hurricanes to only 16 shots on goal. Edmonton held Carolina to seven shots through 40 minutes of play. Fernando Pisani scored his post-season-high fifth game-winning goal (and 13th in total, also tops amongst scorers in the 2006 playoffs). This game also marked Jussi Markkanen's first career playoff shutout. This turned out to be the final playoff game at Rexall Place, as the Oilers did not make it into playoffs again until 2017 but by then they relocated to Rogers Place.

Game seven

The Hurricanes returned to the RBC Center defeating the Oilers in game seven, 3–1, to win the Stanley Cup. Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle gave Carolina a 2–0 lead before Fernando Pisani scored for Edmonton 1:03 into the third period to cut the lead in half.

With just over a minute to go in regulation, the Oilers pulled the goalie in hopes of forcing overtime. A loose puck wound up on the stick of Bret Hedican, who passed to Eric Staal, who himself passed it down-ice to Justin Williams. Williams skated down the length of the ice and tapped the puck into the empty net, sealing the Stanley Cup for the Hurricanes. Cam Ward became the first NHL rookie goaltender to win the Stanley Cup Finals series since Patrick Roy led the Montreal Canadiens in 1986, and he was also the first rookie since the Philadelphia Flyers' Ron Hextall in 1987 to be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the playoffs.

Cory Stillman earned a Stanley Cup title for the second-straight season, having won in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, becoming the first player to win back-to-back titles with different teams since Claude Lemieux (1995 New Jersey Devils, 1996 Colorado Avalanche).

The Hurricanes' victory ended Glen Wesley's 18-year drought without winning the Cup. He had played close to 1,500 regular season and playoff games before winning the Cup, the longest such drought in the NHL. Wesley was the last player remaining from the franchise's days as the Hartford Whalers. Other notable veterans to win their first Cup were Rod Brind'Amour, Doug Weight, Ray Whitney and Bret Hedican. Hedican was on the losing end of another final decided in a game seven, in 1994, while with the Vancouver Canucks. Mark Recchi won the second Cup of his career, having won it 15 years prior as a member of the 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins. He would later retire a Stanley Cup winner with the 2011 Boston Bruins, where he teamed up with Frantisek Kaberle's brother Tomas.

The Hurricanes became the third former World Hockey Association franchise to win the Stanley Cup, following the Oilers and Quebec Nordiques, who won as the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001.

The 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs marked the second time in a row that an Alberta-based team had made it to the finals only to lose in seven games to the Southeast Division champions, as the Calgary Flames were defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers were not able to complete their Cinderella run, having entered the playoffs seeded eighth, denying General Manager Kevin Lowe and Head Coach Craig MacTavish from joining Lester Patrick and Frank Boucher as the only duos to win the Stanley Cup together as players and then as a coach-managerial team, as the two were with the Oilers as players in 1987, 1988 and 1990 and the New York Rangers in 1994.^[3][4]

This was the first major-league professional championship for the state of North Carolina by a men's team (the Carolina Courage of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association won the 2002 Founders Cup). It is also, the only world championship by an active North Carolina based team in any of the four major league sports. The Hurricanes made it to the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Detroit Red Wings in five games; and the Carolina Panthers made it to Super Bowl XXXVIII, but lost to the New England Patriots, and Super Bowl 50, losing to the Denver Broncos.

Carolina Hurricanes

Goaltenders
#	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
29	Martin Gerber	L	2005–06		Burgdorf, Switzerland	second (2003), (did not play)
30	Cam Ward	L	2002		Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	first

Defencemen
#	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
2	Glen Wesley – A	L	1994–95		Red Deer, Alberta	fourth (1988, 1990, 2002)
4	Aaron Ward	R	2001–02		Windsor, Ontario	fourth (1997, 1998, 2002)
5	Frantisek Kaberle	L	2005–06		Kladno, Czechoslovakia	first
6	Bret Hedican	L	2001–02		Saint Paul, Minnesota	third (1994, 2002)
7	Niclas Wallin	L	2000		Boden, Sweden	second (2002)
22	Mike Commodore	R	2005–06		Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta	second (2004)
24	Andrew Hutchinson	R	2005–06		Evanston, Illinois	first (did not play)
33	Anton Babchuk	R	2005–06		Kyiv, Soviet Union	first (did not play)
70	Oleg Tverdovsky	L	2005–06		Donetsk, Soviet Union	second (2003)

Forwards
#	Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
8	Matt Cullen	C	L	2005–06		Virginia, Minnesota	first
11	Justin Williams	RW	R	2003–04		Cobourg, Ontario	first
12	Eric Staal	C	L	2003		Thunder Bay, Ontario	first
13	Ray Whitney	LW	R	2005–06		Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta	first
14	Kevyn Adams – A	C	R	2001–02		Washington, D.C.	second (2002)
16	Andrew Ladd	LW	L	2004		Maple Ridge, British Columbia	first
17	Rod Brind'Amour – C	C	L	1999–2000		Ottawa, Ontario	third (1997, 2002)
18	Mark Recchi	RW	L	2005–06		Kamloops, British Columbia	second (1991)
26	Erik Cole	RW	R	1998		Oswego, New York	second (2002)
27	Craig Adams	RW	R	1996		Seria, Brunei	second (2002)
39	Doug Weight	C	L	2005–06		Warren, Michigan	first
59	Chad LaRose	RW	R	2005–06		Fraser, Michigan	first
61	Cory Stillman – A	LW	L	2005–06		Peterborough, Ontario	second (2004)
63	Josef Vasicek	C	L	1998		Havlíčkův Brod, Czechoslovakia	second (2002)

Edmonton Oilers

Goaltenders
#	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
29	Ty Conklin	L	2001–02		Phoenix, Arizona	first
30	Jussi Markkanen	L	2001		Imatra, Finland	first
35	Dwayne Roloson	L	2005–06		Simcoe, Ontario	second (1999)

Defencemen
#	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
2	Matt Greene	R	2002		Grand Ledge, Michigan	first
6	Jaroslav Spacek	L	2005–06		Rokycany, Czechoslovakia	first
21	Jason Smith – C	R	1998–99		Calgary, Alberta	first
23	Dick Tarnstrom	L	2005–06		Sundbyberg, Sweden	first
24	Steve Staios	R	2001–02		Hamilton, Ontario	first
44	Chris Pronger	L	2005–06		Dryden, Ontario	first
47	Marc-Andre Bergeron	L	2001–02		Saint-Louis-de-France, Quebec	first

Forwards
#	Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
10	Shawn Horcoff	C	L	1998		Trail, British Columbia	first
12	Sergei Samsonov	LW	R	2005–06		Moscow, Soviet Union	first
13	Todd Harvey	RW	R	2005–06		Hamilton, Ontario	first
14	Raffi Torres	LW	L	2002–03		Toronto, Ontario	first
16	Jarret Stoll	C	R	2002		Melville, Saskatchewan	first
18	Ethan Moreau – A	LW	L	1998–99		Huntsville, Ontario	first
20	Radek Dvorak	RW	R	2002–03		Tábor, Czechoslovakia	second (1996)
22	Rem Murray	C	L	2005–06		Stratford, Ontario	first
26	Brad Winchester	LW	L	2000		Madison, Wisconsin	first (did not play)
27	Georges Laraque	RW	R	1995		Montreal, Quebec	first
34	Fernando Pisani	RW	L	1996		Edmonton, Alberta	first
37	Michael Peca	C	R	2005–06		Toronto, Ontario	second (1999)
45	Toby Petersen	C	L	2005–06		Minneapolis, Minnesota	first (did not play)
83	Ales Hemsky	RW	R	2001		Pardubice, Czechoslovakia	first
94	Ryan Smyth – A	LW	L	1994		Banff, Alberta	first

Players

Nine players remained from the 2002 Carolina team that lost in the finals – Craig Adams, Kevyn Adams, Rod Brind'Amour, Erik Cole, Bret Hedican, Josef Vasicek, Niclas Wallin, Glen Wesley, Aaron Ward. Jeff Daniels also played in 2002, but was an Assistant Coach in 2006. Assistant Coach Kevin McCarthy was the only remaining member of 2002 Carolina Coaching Staff.

Stanley Cup engraving

• †-Carolina formally requested that Anton Babchuk and Andrew Hutchinson be included, as they fell just short of the NHL minimum 41 regular season games played. The NHL agreed. Babchuk played 39 NHL regular-season games – 17 games for Chicago, and 22 games for Carolina. Hutchinson played 36 games for Carolina, spending the whole season with the team.
• Frantisek Kaberle became the first player to win the Olympic bronze medal in ice hockey (with team Czech Republic) and the Stanley Cup (with Carolina) in the same year.
• Eric Staal's name was misspelt "Staaal" on the Stanley Cup. Engraver Louise St. Jacques was able to correct the mistake and removed the last "A."
• Canadian Craig Adams was the first player born in Brunei; he grew up in Calgary.
• The ring with winners from 1940-41 to 1952-53 was retired to make for a new ring at the bottom. The ring from 1940-41 to 1952-53 was retired 1 year later than originally planned because of the 2004-05 season lock out. NHL decided to include "2004-05 season not played" taking up the size of a regular list of names to the left Carolina Hurricanes section.

Included on team picture, but left off the Stanley Cup

• Dr. Douglas Martini (Head Physician-Orthopedist), Dr. Jay Stevens (Head Physician-General Practitioner),
• Dr. Mike Peters (Team Eye Doctor), Dr. Ken Carnes (Team Neurologist),
• Dr. Tom Long (Team Dentist), Dr. Gabreil Rich (Team Dentist),

Spare players for the playoffs – left off Stanley Cup and team picture

• #37 Keith Aucoin (C) played 6 regular-season NHL games and 72 in the minors.
• #34 David Gove (C) played in 1 NHL game and 65 in the minors.
• #50 Craig Kowalski (G) did not play in any NHL games that season.

All nine above received a Stanley Cup ring, along with many other members.

Notes

References

• Diamond, Dan (2008). Total Stanley Cup (PDF). Dan Diamond & Associates, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.