Detroit wins game #6 to advance to Stanley Cup Finals

The Stars come up short against talented Wings

Game #6 – Detroit Red Wings 4 - Dallas Stars 1

After looking shaky and losing the last 2 games, the Red Wings cracked Marty Turco for the final time this season, winning the game #6, 4-1 and the series 4-2. Dallas came out of the gates shaky, allowing 3 goals in the first period without giving themselves a chance to recover. NHL veteran and journeyman, Dallas Drake put on a surprise performance with a goal, an assist while attracting 2 penalties against the Stars.

Dallas applied the early pressure, until Kris Draper deflected the puck off his teeth past Turco to completely take the crowd of the game less than 4 minutes in. On Detroit’s first power play opportunity, Pavel Datsyuk roofed a goal at the 11:41 mark assisted by Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg to take a 2-0 lead. Less than 5 minutes later, Drake pounced on a sloppy rebound given by Turco, to take Detroit 3 goals up heading into the second.

Dallas started the 2 nd frame with a quick power play, on which they failed to score but Detroit did not. Zetterberg broke out on a shorthanded breakaway where he faked to the right side and scored on the left, finishing a beautiful goal. The rest of this period was still dominated by the Wings, even though the Stars had 4 power plays.

Being down 4-0 going in to the final period, Dallas had no choice but to attack. Stephane Robidas finally broke the goose egg, scoring on the Stars’ 7 th PP in the game, making the game 4-1. Chris Osgood took control of the final minutes, making clutch saves on one timers, breakaways and point blank rifles. With all the pressure Dallas was putting on, Detroit actually should have popped in at least 3 more goals with all their chances.

The game, the series and the dreams of Coach Tippett and his Dallas Stars ended when the final horn blew.

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Here are the key factors in this series as stated in our 2008 Western Conference finals preview:

Turco did not play as well as he did in games #4 and #5, but the first period goals were not all his fault. Detroit did catch lucky bounces of faces, skates and rebounds. Letting 4 goals on 29 shots will not win games and definitely not series’. Finally the Stars go home as I wanted them too in round 1. Osgood was brilliant when it counted in this series but will need to better than brilliant against the Penguins in the finals. He now improves his playoff record to 10-2, after replacing Domenic Hasek back in round 1.
Game #6 proved that the finesse and speed of Detroit was something Dallas could not handle for an entire series. The Wings played phenomenal in the first 2 periods until the Stars decided to come out in the 3 rd. Grittiness cannot contain the Presidents Trophy champions for seven games; Dallas was lucky to win twice.
Johan Franzen was not a factor since he was still out with an injury, but he was also not needed. Mike Ribeiro got an assist in game #6 and only 3 points the entire series. Actually, Ribeiro, Mike Modano and Brad Richards have 2 goals between them in the last 10 games. Complete disappointment from the Dallas scores, who did everything but score.

Detroit got 4 goals from 4 different players in game #6, proving they are much more than a one line team. They now get a few days of relaxation, as game #1 of the Stanley Cup finals takes place in Detroit, on Saturday.

Detroit wins series 4-2.

By Kevin Chaves
ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer

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