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Red Wings crush Stars to advance to Stanley Cup Finals

Mon 19th, May 2008

Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Henrik Zetterberg registered a goal and an assist, as Detroit secured a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since capturing the title in 2002 with a 4-1 win over Dallas at American Airlines Center.

Dallas Drake also posted a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who won the Western Conference finals, 4-2. Chris Osgood stopped 28-of-29 shots to pick up the win.

"It's a huge thrill for me to get a chance to play in the Stanley Cup," Drake said. "I've played 16 years now. I've never even gotten close to having an opportunity."

The Red Wings will be going for their fourth championship since 1997 and 11th overall in the franchise's storied 82-year history.

Stephane Robidas tallied the lone goal for the Stars, while Marty Turco allowed four goals on 29 shots in defeat. Dallas became the 13th team in NHL history (out of 156 opportunities) to force a Game 6 after losing the first three games of a series.

But Detroit closed the series out with a dominating performance, and will battle Pittsburgh, after the Penguins needed only five games to dispatch the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals.

Games 1 and 2 of the Finals are scheduled for Saturday and Monday in Detroit.

Detroit made a statement with three goals in the first period.

Kris Draper put the Red Wings on the board 3:45 into the game. Drake skated down the left wing and threw the puck on net. Draper, stationed on the edge of the crease, had the centering feed hit him above the chin and fall in behind Turco. Immediately following the tally, the checking winger retreated to the locker room for repairs, but was back on the bench later in the frame.

The Red Wings grabbed a 2-0 lead on the power play with 8:19 remaining. Nicklas Lidstrom's blast from the point got caught up in the skates of Stars defenseman Nicklas Grossman in the low slot and Pavel Datsyuk jumped on the loose puck, lifting it up and over a sprawled Turco.

Drake completed the scoring barrage with 3:43 to go before the first intermission. Brett Lebda sped down the right side and backhanded the puck on goal. Turco had trouble handling the shot, which allowed Drake to jam home the rebound.

Zetterberg tacked on a short-handed goal at the 3:11 mark of the second period. The talented Swede intercepted an intended rink-wide pass by Dallas' Brenden Morrow at the blue line and broke in alone on Turco. As Morrow tried frantically to get back in the play, Zetterberg dipped the shoulder and tucked the puck in on the forehand.

While up a man, Robidas broke up Osgood's shutout bid at the 2:27 mark of the third, one-timing a feed from Mike Ribeiro past the Detroit netminder.

"I think we're all pretty disappointed still," Morrow said. "We did come a long way this year. This wasn't our ultimate goal. We did make some progress. It's going to make us hungrier and we're going to come back stronger next year."

Game Notes

Detroit is making its 23rd appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals...The team that scored first won every game in this series...Detroit had not lost three straight games since a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) from February 22-29, 2008...Datsyuk has scored nine goals in the postseason, all coming on the road...With 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in the playoffs, Zetterberg is tied with Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby for the league lead... Detroit forward Johan Franzen, who leads the NHL with a franchise-record 12 playoff goals, missed his fifth straight game with concussion-like symptoms. Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios also sat out due to a lingering leg injury...The Stars were without forwards Stu Barnes (concussion) and Jere Lehtinen (leg), and defenseman Philippe Boucher (strained hip)...Dallas finished 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Red Wings went 1-for-2.

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