 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
DETROIT (Ticker) -- Dominik Hasek moved another step closer in his quest for a Stanley Cup. Hasek recorded his third shutout of the postseason and Brendan Shanahan came to life with two goals and two assists as the Detroit Red Wings advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time in four years with a 4-0 blanking of the St. Louis Blues. Considered by many the top goaltender in the world, Hasek has reached the Stanley Cup Finals just twice in his 12-year career, losing in 1992 with the Chicago Blackhawks and 1999 with the Buffalo Sabres. Last June, he was traded to a Detroit team loaded with veterans that had not gotten past the second round of the playoffs since capturing a second straight championship in 1998. Despite being pulled in the third period of a 6-1 loss in Game Three, Hasek surrendered just five goals in the Red Wings' four wins as they eliminated the Blues from the playoffs for the fourth time in seven years. "I thought we played a very solid game from the beginning," Hasek said. "We were talking about it before the game, that we didn't want to go back to St. Louis." Shanahan was held to one point in the first four games but erupted in the Game Five clincher. He set up second-period tallies by defenseman Jiri Fischer and Tomas Holmstrom, then scored twice in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the third. "We really played a good hockey game," Shanahan said. "We learned from Game Four not to let them back into it by sitting there and not chasing the puck. We talked about how the best defense can be a smothering offense." The top-seeded Red Wings await the winner of the other Western Conference series between San Jose and Colorado. The Sharks will take a three games to two lead back home for Game Six. "No matter who you play, Colorado or San Jose, it's a battle," Detroit right wing Darren McCarty said. "We have a history with Colorado and everybody wants to see that come out. But San Jose has a great hockey team, too. It's just nice to be able to sit back and watch and wait." While St. Louis has reached the playoffs each of the last 23 years for the longest active streak in professional sports, it remains without a Stanley Cup and has gotten past the second round just once since 1986. The Blues were without captain Chris Pronger, who tore a knee ligament in Game Four. "We're very disappointed we weren't a little more desperate," St. Louis left wing Keith Tkachuk said. "We didn't lose because of Chris' injury. He's a big part of the hockey team, no question about it. But that's not the reason we lost. ... With or without Chris, we weren't desperate enough, and they were." Kirk Maltby was typical of the Red Wings' effort. He blocked three shots during a penalty kill in the second period, including two after losing his stick. "You don't want to lose your stick, especially when you're shorthanded," said Maltby, who received a standing ovation after dragging himself to the bench. "It was just a matter of trying to stay in the lane with the puck and block what I could." By the time Detroit killed that penalty, it had a 1-0 lead. St. Louis escaped a scoreless first period, despite being outshot, 11-3. But Fischer scored the only goal Hasek needed 4:42 into the second. He snapped a shot from just above the left faceoff circle through traffic and over the right pad of goaltender Brent Johnson for his third playoff goal. "Cheli (Chris Chelios) has been talking to me so much. He says don't rush it, just get it on the net," Fischer said. "No matter what happens, you have to get it on the net. And it sometimes doesn't have to be the hardest shot." "They smelled blood," Blues center Ray Ferraro said. "They didn't want to go back to St. Louis. ... It wasn't like they weren't intense the other night; that's a really good team. They're real deep." Tomas Holmstrom made it 2-0 on the power play just over five minutes later, getting a piece of Shanahan's shot from the left point and deflecting it past Johnson for his fourth playoff goal. The Blues continued to struggle for scoring chances and were outshot through two periods, 21-12. "They didn't have many chances," said Hasek, who has nine career playoff shutouts. "It was a question of time until we scored the first goal." Shanahan effectively ended it with 3:03 left in the third period, surprising Johnson with a shot from the left circle. "I thought I made a couple of big saves to give our team a chance to win. Then, with three minutes left, they get a bad goal on me," Johnson said. "It was something where I lost my angle. But I definitely think I can build off this and the team can learn from this." Shanahan's empty-netter with 42 seconds to play capped the scoring. |
|
||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
