Game Recap

DETROIT 2, DALLAS 0 DETROIT (AP) - The Stanley Cup will go through Detroit -- again. Larry Murphy and Sergei Fedorov scored and Chris Osgood notched his fifth career playoff shutout as the Red Wings defeated the Dallas Stars 2-0 Friday night to wrap up the Western Conference title in six games. The defending Stanley Cup champions advanced to the Finals for the third time in four years. Detroit will open the best-of-7 championship series Tuesday night against the Eastern Conference champion Washington Capitals at Joe Louis Arena. "This is another big step to where we want to be," said forward Darren McCarty, who set up Detroit's first goal. "We're not done, yet. Our mission is not over. Our sights are set higher. Not to downplay what we've done, but we've done this before." The Stars won the Presidents' Trophy for having the best record in the NHL during the regular season (49-22-11), and had the best road record at 23-14-4. Still, the Red Wings were 2-1-2 against Dallas during the regular season. "They played well at home and we didn't play well enough," Dallas defenseman Derian Hatcher said. "Everybody's disappointed; no question about it. But there's not a lot you can do about it. We gave it our all." Yet if any one thing did Dallas in during the conference finals, it probably was the disappearance of its power play. The Stars were just 1-for-30 with the man advantage during the series with Detroit, and 0-for-5 in the sixth and deciding game. "I don't think that was the difference," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I think the big difference was that we were over-extending ourselves. You can't score one or two goals and expect to beat a team like Detroit. "We had more opportunities, by far, in this series but we didn't finish them off. I think that was the key to the series." Dallas peppered Osgood with 30 or more shots in Games 3, 4 and 5, but the Red Wings had a 31-26 shot edge in Game 6. And the Red Wings only added to Dallas' frustration by opening the scoring with a short-handed goal, their second of the series. With a few seconds left in Kris Draper's roughing penalty, Steve Yzerman snared a loose puck and slid it over to McCarty near center ice. McCarty hurried over the blue line, turned at the left circle and fed the puck to Murphy, who had a step on Dallas defenseman Sergei Zubov. Murphy faked Ed Belfour toward the right side of the net, then flipped a backhander over the goalie's stick for a short-handed goal and 1-0 lead at 6:20 of the first period. Fedorov scored his first goal in eight games on a no-look shot from the top of the slot. Fedorov, who leads the NHL with nine playoff goals, seemed to catch Belfour by surprise for a 2-0 lead 1:48 into the second period. The Stars came alive after that. But then it was Osgood's turn to shine. Dallas peppered Osgood, outshooting Detroit 11-7 in the second period. But Osgood, who also shut out Dallas in Game 1, came up with big saves to frustrate Mike Keane, Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen and Pat Verbeek, among others. DETROIT RED WINGS 2, Dallas Stars 0 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- DALLAS 0 0 0 0 DETROIT 1 1 0 2 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Detroit, Murphy 2 (McCarty, Yzerman), 6:20 (sh). PENALTIES: Keczmer, Dal (roughing), 1:47; Draper, Det (roughing), 4:31; Marshall, Dal (roughing), 6:49; Ludwig, Dal (interference), 10:54; Eriksson, Det (interference), 13:55; Osgood, Det, served by Shanahan (interference), 18:06. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 2, Detroit, Fedorov 9 (Murphy), 1:48. PENALTIES: McCarty, Det (hooking), 4:44; Hatcher, Dal (cross-checking), 11:37; McCarty, Det (holding), 16:52; Matvichuk, Dal (interference), 19:46; Skrudland, Dal (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:46; Maltby, Det (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:46. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: None. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- DALLAS 7 11 8 26 DETROIT 14 7 10 31 POWER PLAY: Dallas 0 of 5; Detroit 0 of 5. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 10-7 (31 shots-29 saves). Detroit, Osgood 12-6 (26-26). Referee: Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Dan Schachte, Kevin Collins. A: 19,983 (19,983).