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Detroit 3, Vancouver 1

Posted: Monday April 22, 2002 04:14 AM

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Dominik Hasek made all the big saves, Dan Cloutier did not. As a result, the Detroit Red Wings are alive and well in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Hasek stopped Todd Bertuzzi on a penalty shot after Cloutier was beaten from center ice as the Red Wings pulled away for a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Hasek surrendered nine goals in losing the first two games and was saddled with a personal eight-game winless streak as the best-of-seven series shifted to the West Coast.

"It feels great to win a game again. I don't remember when I won my last game," he said. "I wasn't really calm, I was nervous to be down 2-0 and after the two games I had in Detroit. I was more nervous than usual."

Bertuzzi scored 4:38 into the second period to forge a 1-1 tie, but Hasek helped Detroit kill three straight power plays and preserved the deadlock into the final minute of the period.

With 25 seconds to go, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom carried from his own zone, reached the red line and fired a slap shot that snuck past Cloutier to put the Red Wings ahead for good.

"It's one of those things that is going to happen," Cloutier said. "I just have to keep working hard and not let it affect me."

"I was just trying to get the puck low and at the net for a rebound," Lidstrom said. "I didn't actually see how it went in. I know it went low glove side, but I was a little surprised." The 95-foot goal stunned the raucous crowd at GM Place and shifted the momentum back to Detroit, which padded the lead 3:18 into the third on Brendan Shanahan's first goal of the series.

"It's a tough break for a young goalie. He's a good goalie and he'll bounce back," Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman said. "I thought we could have taken a few more shots in the third. We had that one shot by Shanahan. He can really shoot the puck. Not many goalies can probably stop that one."

The rest was up to Hasek, who made a handful of key saves before denying Bertuzzi with 3:06 to go on the second postseason penalty shot in Canucks' history.

Hooked from behind by Lidstrom on a breakaway, Bertuzzi tried to beat Hasek between the pads. But Hasek -- who has faced more postseason penalty shots than any goalie in NHL history -- closed them to protect the two-goal lead.

"I saw an opening on the five-hole," Bertuzzi said. "He just got down and he quickly closed it up."

"I think the advantage was that it was at the end of the third period. The ice wasn't the best," Hasek said. "I think he tried to shoot it five-hole, and I closed it. I don't think he had any hole there."

Vancouver also hosts Game Four on Tuesday.

"We've been a resilient team all year and losses in the playoffs are one of those things where you get up the next day and you look at what you can do better," Canucks center Trevor Linden said.

Hobbled by a knee injury, Steve Yzerman contributed a goal and an assist to stop Detroit's six-game playoff losing streak.

"We have a lot of guys in the dressing room who have been here before," Yzerman said. "I've been in this situation before and I know we weren't out of it at 2-0. I didn't expect to be coming out of Detroit down two games, but we knew they'd be playing strong coming into the series."

The Red Wings played a spirited first period and outshot the Canucks, 13-4. But they came away with just a 1-0 lead as Yzerman bumped Cloutier at the left side of the net, circled around and scored on a backhander from the other side before the goalie could recover.

Detroit's Sergei Fedorov failed to connect on solid scoring chances in each of the first two periods and Bertuzzi got the equalizer early in the second, three seconds after Darren McCarty was penalized for hooking.

Andrew Cassels won a faceoff just inside the Red Wings' blue line and worked the puck to a wide-open Bertuzzi, who moved down the right side and flipped a shot over Hasek for his second goal of the series.

Vancouver had several chances to take the lead, but Bertuzzi put a deflection off the right goalpost during a two-man advantage in the second period and could not put the rebound past Hasek. Game One hero Henrik Sedin was unable to squeeze a rebound past Hasek, who lost his stick but covered a loose puck in the crease with Linden on the doorstep during another second-period power play.

"He's probably the world's best goalie. He's expected to play like that," Bertuzzi said. "He played really well tonight."

Before allowing Lidstrom's long-range goal, Cloutier reached out with the paddle of his stick to rob Fedorov with 6:08 left in the second.

But Cloutier was unable to stop Shanahan, who got a puck off a scrum along the right boards, moved to the faceoff circle and wristed a shot between the goalie's pads to make it 3-1. "I didn't see it. There was a screen on the play," said Cloutier, who made 23 saves. "And it's one of those things where Shanahan has a pretty good shot and if you don't get a good look at it, he'll get it by you."