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Red Wings take 3-0 lead over Caps in Stanley Cup Finals
Another Stanley Cup Finals, perhaps another sweep. The Detroit Red Wings are one win away from their second straight Stanley Cup Finals sweep after posting a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals tonight in Game Three at Washington. The previous three Stanley Cup Finals have resulted in sweeps with the Red Wings involved in two of them. The New Jersey Jersey Devils victimized Detroit in 1995, and the Red Wings swept the Philadelphia Flyers last year when they won their first Stanley Cup in 42 years. "The fourth game is the most difficult one to win," said Detroit captain Steve Yzerman. "There are a lot of distractions. One thing you've got to concentrate most on is the hockey game. You've really got to focus and bear down on the game." The Red Wings are on the verge of becoming the first repeat champion since the 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins. Detroit coach Scotty Bowman was the Penguins' head coach for their repeat title in 1992. He is aiming for his eighth Stanley Cup championship overall. The Red Wings last repeated as Cup champions in the 1953-54 and 1954-55 seasons. Last year, the Red Wings won their first Stanley Cup since 1955. What has made the three games to none hole even more excruciating for the Capitals, who are in the Cup Finals for the first time in their 24-year history, is that all three losses have come by a one-goal margin. "That's the toughest part of it," said Washington defenseman Ken Klee, who played in place of the injured Jeff Brown. "If they were beating us 5-0, you could say they're better. But we've been right there every game." Tonight, Sergei Fedorov snapped a shot over goaltender Olaf Kolzig's left shoulder with 4:51 remaining to give the Red Wings a 2-1 win in the first Stanley Cup Finals game played at the nation's capital. Fedorov took a pass from Doug Brown as he reached the Capitals blue line, moved in on defenseman Calle Johansson and scored his league-leading 10th playoff goal. The game-winner came four minutes and 34 seconds after Brian Bellows ended an 11-game scoring drought and lifted Washington into a 1-1 tie. Detroit, which held the Capitals to a record-tying one shot in the first period, did not allow another one after Bellows' goal. "They scored, (but) we don't overreact," said Yzerman. "We're able to stay focused and comfortable, and not really fall apart." Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood only had to make 17 saves as the Red Wings outshot the Caps, 34-18. Game Four is in Washington on Tuesday, when the Red Wings will try to complete an unprecedented fourth straight Finals sweep. Western Conference teams have won 11 straight games in the Stanley Cup Finals, including seven by the Red Wings. The other four wins were by the Colorado Avalanche, who swept the Florida Panthers in 1996. The only team to rally from a three games to none deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who ironically victimized the Red Wings. But it's hard to imagine the Red Wings losing four straight to Washington since they are 9-0-1 against the Capitals since January 30th, 1994. Kris Draper scored 15:24 into overtime Thursday to give the Red Wings a come-from-behind 5-4 victory in Game Two at Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings were 2-1 winners in Game One on Tuesday.-----------------------------
Detroit 1 0 1--2
Washington 0 0 1--1
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FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Detroit, Holmstrom 7 (Yzerman, Mccarty),
0:35. Penalties: Simon, Was (slashing), 2:48; Hunter, Was (charging),
8:10; Housley, Was (elbowing), 12:29; Holmstrom, Det (goalie
interference), 13:11; M Lapointe, Det (interference), 17:01.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Krygier, Was (roughing),
2:05; Eriksson, Det (Obstr holding), 7:29; Larionov, Det (Obstr tripping),
10:17; Draper, Det (roughing), 15:23; Gonchar, Was (roughing), 15:23.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Washington, Bellows 5 (power play) (Oates,
Juneau), 10:35. 3, Detroit, Fedorov 10 (Brown, Fetisov), 15:09. Penalties:
Gonchar, Was (roughing), 5:50; Mccarty, Det (tripping), 9:22.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Detroit 13 11 10--34
Washington 1 12 5--18
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Power-play Conversions: Det - 0 of 5, Was - 1 of 5. Goalies: Detroit,
Osgood (18 shots, 17 saves; record: 15-6-0). Washington, Kolzig (34, 32;
record: 12-8-0). A:19,740. Referee: Gregson. Linesmen: Scapinello,
Schachte.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Detroit Washington
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Brown 0 1 +1 2 Bellows 1 0 even 3
Draper 0 0 even 1 Berube 0 0 even 0
Eriksson 0 0 +1 1 Bondra 0 0 even 2
Fedorov 1 0 +1 6 C Johansson 0 0 -2 1
Fetisov 0 1 +1 1 Gonchar 0 0 even 0
Holmstrom 1 0 +1 2 Housley 0 0 even 0
Kocur 0 0 even 0 Hunter 0 0 -1 0
Kozlov 0 0 +1 2 Juneau 0 1 even 1
Larionov 0 0 even 2 Klee 0 0 even 0
Lidstrom 0 0 +1 2 Krygier 0 0 -1 0
M Lapointe 0 0 even 1 Nikolishin 0 0 even 1
Macoun 0 0 even 2 Oates 0 1 even 4
Maltby 0 0 even 1 Reekie 0 0 even 2
Mccarty 0 1 +1 1 Simon 0 0 -1 0
Murphy 0 0 +1 4 Tikkanen 0 0 -2 1
Rouse 0 0 even 2 Tinordi 0 0 -2 1
Shanahan 0 0 even 1 Toms 0 0 -1 0
Yzerman 0 1 +1 3 Zednik 0 0 even 2
Dandenault Healthy Miller Healthy
D Laplante Healthy Witt Healthy
Knuble Healthy Pivonka Groin
Ward Healthy J Brown Concussion
Golubovsky Healthy Konowalchuk Wrist Injury
Mironov Healthy Eagles Healthy
Maracle Healthy Peake Foot Injury
Gilchrist Groin Svejkovsky Healthy