Hockeytown sweep-peat
Wings cruise past Caps for 2nd straight title
Posted: Wednesday June 17, 1998 12:00 AM
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Yzerman, who won the Conn Smythe Award, hoists the Stanley Cup for the second straight year (AP) | |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- This Stanley Cup wasn't for players or fans. This one
was for friends -- Vlady and Sergei.
The Detroit Red Wings
became the first team to win consecutive Stanley Cups since 1992,
completing a sweep of the Washington Capitals with a
4-1 victory Tuesday night behind a two-goal performance by Doug Brown.
The Red Wings' second straight sweep also gave Scotty Bowman a
record-tying eighth Stanley Cup as a coach and capped an emotional and
tumultuous season that followed the team's first championship in 42
years.
Six days after the 1997 celebration started, it tragically ended in a
automobile accident that left defenseman Vladimir
Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov with severe head
injuries.
Konstantinov, considered one of the NHL's top defenseman, was in the
stands at the MCI Center for the game. When the Red Wings opened a 4-1 lead
early in the third period, chants of "Vlady! Vlady! Vlady!" cascaded
through the arena from the thousands of Detroit fans who somehow got
tickets.
When the chants reached a peak, Konstantinov's wife, Irina, helped her
husband to his feet. He waved his fist and the cheers grew louder.
Konstantinov, wearing a Red Wings jersey, was wheeled onto the ice
immediately after the game to take part in the trophy presentation.
Osgood (30) made 30 saves and held the Capitals to just one goal for the third time in four games (AP) | |
Even Washington fans seemed to join in as their team's first trip
to the NHL finals ended quickly. It was the fourth straight sweep, the
first time that has happened in major pro sports history.
Martin
LaPointe and Larry Murphy also
scored for the Red Wings, while goalie Chris Osgood
completed a spectacular series by making 30 saves. He allow but seven goals
in 99 shots in the series.
Osgood, who had been maligned for giving up three long goals earlier in
the playoffs, was every bit the equal of Washington's Olaf Kolzig, who was
outstanding in defeat.
Brian Bellows,
whose wife gave birth to a son between the first two games of the series,
got his second goal in as many games for Washington. The Caps had the
fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference under new coach Ron Wilson and
came into the finals as a heavy underdog after New Jersey, Pittsburgh and
Philadelphia were eliminated in the first round.
"Guys have different reasons why they want to win," Detroit associate
coach Dave Lewis said prior to Game 4. "The biggest reason now is for
Sergei and Vlady. Not much has been said about it, but that has been the
driving force for this team since Day 1 of training camp."
The Red Wings wore patches all season on their right shoulders with their
friends' initials and the word "believe" in English and Russian.
The accident wasn't the only obstacle in the way of the team's bid to
become the first repeat champion since the Pittsburgh Penguins in
1991-92.
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Early woes: Kolzig was beaten for a first-period goal for the fourth straight game (AP) | |
During the offseason, the Red Wings traded goaltender Mike Vernon, the MVP
of last year's playoffs, and decided to go with Osgood, a younger
goaltender. Osgood was just as dominant and the Wings retained the MVP
award as well. It went to Steve Yzerman.
There was further adversity with a contract holdout that caused dynamic
center Sergie Fedorov to miss the first 59 games of the season. He didn't
return until the Red Wings matched a six-year, $38 million offer sheet from
the Carolina
Hurricanes, that included a $14 million signing bonus and a $12 million
incentive clause if Fedorov's team made the conference final this year.
As the final seconds ticked off, Osgood held his hands high above his head
while Murphy handled the puck in front of his own net.
With about three seconds to go, Osgood threw off his glove, tossed his
stick away and reached out to accept hugs from teammates.
After the teams exchanged handshakes, the Stanley Cup was presented to
Konstantinov, who beamed as it teetered on his lap. His teammates formed a
circle around him and he feebly raised two fingers to signify the second
title.
With the Cup still on his wheelchair, his teammates pushed him around the
ice in a victory lap.
The Red Wings celebrate their first back-to-back championships since 1954-55 (AP) | |
As they have done each game of the series, the Red Wings scored the first
goal. Brown got it on a power play at 10:30 following a great play by
Fedorov, who had the game winner late in Game 3.
This time the $38 million man took the puck from Murphy just inside the
Washington blue line, carried it to the faceoff circle, turned completely
around and finished at the top of the circle. He made a cross-ice pass that
found Brown in full stride and he beat Kolzig with a wrist shot from the
dot in the left faceoff circle.
Lapointe stretched the lead to two goals early in the second period with a
shot from just inside the blue line that beat Kolzig to the right corner at
2:26. Igor
Larionov set up the shot with a pass from the sideboards.
The goal seemed to take the life out of the sellout crowd. But they got
back into the game with just over 12 minutes left in the period when Brian
Bellows got his second goal in two games by capitalizing on one of the rare
mistakes by the Red Wings' defense, a turnover by Jamie Macoun.
Osgood, who was outstanding the whole series despite limited work, made a
shoulder save on a 20-footer by Bellows a little more than two minutes late
to kept Detroit ahead.
Murphy, a former Cap who was hooted every time he touched the puck in the
series, seemed to put the final nail in the Capitals with 8:14 to play on a
power play. Tomas
Holmstrom controlled the puck behind the net and eventually found
Murphy sneaking in from the right point for a shot from the faceoff circle
that beat Kolzig up high.
Brown got his second goal early in the third period, capping a 2-on-1
break with Vyacheslav Kozlov.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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