Dominik Hasek had 24 saves as the Detroit Red Wings forced a decisive seventh game with a 2-0 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of the NHL Western Conference final at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday.
Game 7 goes Friday at Joe Louis Arena (7 p.m. ET, CBC).
"We definitely didn't play well enough to win," Avalanche head coach Bob Hartley said. "The Red Wings were better than us.
Brendan Shanahan is greeted by Sergei Fedorov after scoring.(AP Photo)
"I feel the Red Wings could have won the three games in Colorado, but we managed to win one and we're going to Detroit for Game 7 where we've played very well. It's just another Game 7."
Awaiting the winner of this series are the Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes, who toppled the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games.
"There's no comfort zone for either team in this series," Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman said. "I don't think there's been any games where they haven't played all out."
- FULL COVERAGE:
- CBC's Stanley Cup Playoffs Page
- Avalanche-Red Wings Series Page
Heavily criticized for failing to outperform Roy in the series, Hasek picked the perfect time to finally outduel his Colorado counterpart.
In doing so, he tied an NHL record with his fourth shutout of these playoffs and 10th overall.
"The one thing about playing with this pressure, it makes you feel so good when you win the game," Hasek said.
"They had their chances, but Dom came up big when he needed to," added Red Wings defenceman Chris Chelios.
Brendan Shanahan and Darren McCarty scored for the Red Wings, who had lost their last four games when facing elimination dating back to 1996.
Roy made 26 saves for the Avalanche, who were also extended to seven games by the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks in Rounds 1 and 2, respectively.
"We are not happy going back to Detroit," Roy said. "It is a big challenge, but it's been like this for us all year.
"We have a hard time making it easy on ourselves."
"With our backs against the wall, we'll have to go out and win it," added Avalanche winger Chris Drury said. "We've been there.
"Hopefully, we can draw upon our experience."
Already minus Dan Hinote (leg), Mike Keane (ribs) and Alex Tanguay (leg), the Avalanche lost Stephane Yelle with a sprained neck midway through the game.
Yelle suffered the injury when brusquely checked by Steve Duschesne.
"We will never use injuries as an excuse," Hartley said. "We are a very proud organization and we are going to battle to the last second.
"We are going to Detroit with the firm intention of coming back here for the finals."
Detroit opened the scoring for the first time in the series with perhaps the strangest goal of these playoffs.
Cruising towards the crease, Steve Yzerman gloved Niklas Lidstrom's weak point shot, dropped the puck to the ice and deked.
But lying on his belly, Roy strained across the crease to stop Yzerman's shot with his outstretched glove.
Roy believed he had caught the puck and stood up to show the referee, unaware that it lay at his feet.
Shanahan poked the loose puck in the net for his fifth goal of the playoffs at 19:21 of the first period.
"I didn't know if I had it in my glove," Roy said. "I held my glove up looking for the puck and it rolled back."
"We were lucky that the referees knew that the puck wasn't in his glove and didn't blow the whistle," Yzerman added. "It just hit his glove and went down as opposed to just staying in there."
"I couldn't blame him for thinking it was in his glove because it's usually in his glove," Bowman quipped.
For the struggling Shanahan, it was his first goal since Game 4 of the conference semis.
"You tell yourself good things when you're getting close and hitting posts, but it's still very frustrating," Shanahan said. "I personally wanted to have a big night, but I don't think it was a night of personal gains."
Sergei Fedorov had a splendid opportunity to make it 2-0 on a breakaway in the opening minute of the second.
Roy snared the shot and, just as he did earlier, raised his glove for the referee to see -- this time with the puck securely inside.
At the other end, Hasek looked equally sharp as he smothered Joe Sakic's attempted tip.
Roy continued to shine as he ranged onto the white ice to stone Igor Larionov.
He then toed Shanahan's one-timer to foil on a 2-on-1 break with Kris Draper.
But at 13:27, McCarty swept in 2-on-1 and ripped a slap shot inside the right post for his fourth and a 2-0 lead.
McCarty had not scored since potting a third-period hat trick in the series opener.
"Sometimes when you get the lead, you sit back and I was glad we didn't," Bowman said.
Before the period was out, Colorado tried to swing momentum its way by calling for a measurement of Hasek's goalstick.
The ploy failed, however, and the Avalanche were asssessed a delay of game penalty at 17:37.
"We had information that Hasek was playing with an illegal stick and, down 2-0 with 1:20 on the power play, we thought the timing was right," Hartley said. "Sometimes in games, you try some things that work.
"Unfortunately for us, that one didn't."
"We measure all the equipment," Bowman explained. "That's the duty of the trainer and the players.
"We're pretty diligent about that."
Hasek completely stole the show in the third, starting with successive stops on Sakic and Steven Reinprecht during a dangerous Avalanche power play.
He later stymied Sakic while shorthanded and denied Chris Drury during a frenzied goalmouth scramble.
The save of the game saw Hasek roll post to post to rob Milan Hejduk.
"There's no tomorrow and that's the way you want the players to play," Bowman said.
