Henrik Zetterberg and Dallas Drake each scored one goal and assisted on another to spark the Detroit Red Wings into the National Hockey League finals on Monday with a 4-1 victory over Dallas.
The Red Wings won the best-of-seven Western Conference final four games to two and will face the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup championship series.
“This is why we’re moving on. It’s a total team effort,” Draper said. “We know we’re going to do that. We need some secondary scoring. Give all credit to Dallas and everything they threw at us. Now we’re moving on to the big one.”
PHOTO: AFP
The finals begin on Saturday in Detroit. The finalists did not meet in the regular season.
Kris Draper gave Detroit a 1-0 lead just 3:46 into the game off a pass from Drake and Pavel Datsyuk added his ninth goal of the playoffs on a power play with an assist from Zetterberg 7:55 later to give the Red Wings a 2-0 edge.
“Losing two games in a row, they had the momentum going into their building and their fans were really into it early on in the game — and I thought we took it out of them right away,” Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom said.
“With the first few shifts, we were coming after them hard and getting the puck to the net.”
Drake put the Red Wings ahead 3-0 with his first post-season goal just 3:43 before the end of the first period.
Zetterberg boosted the Red Wings to a 4-0 edge with a shorthanded goal 3:11 into the second period, his 11th goal of the playoffs coming unassisted.
Needing a victory to force a seventh game, the Stars fought back, finally getting on the scoreboard on a power play goal by Stephane Robidas 2:27 into the third period.
But Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood was equal to the challenge, frustrating Dallas to the finish, even after the Stars pulled netminder Marty Turco for an extra attacker over the final 2:35.
Osgood made 28 saves, 15 of them in the final period to keep the Stars at bay and win his 48th playoff game, moving past Hall of Famer Tarry Sawchuk for the all-time Red Wings playoff win lead and improving to 10-2 in the playoffs.
“We’re just going to regroup, relax and enjoy it for now until we’re ready to go again,” Osgood said.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tomorrow for the final berth at next year's World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome yesterday. The home team's loss means that Nicaragua finishes No. 1 in the qualifier round held in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to the games. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier yesterday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, finished third, while South Africa placed at the bottom
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