Jun 12, 2002 5 min read

DETROIT (AP) – Age is only a number to the Detroit Red Wings. Right now, that number is one. Hockey’s oldest team is one victory away from winning the Stanley Cup, and the Red Wings talked Tuesday of not wanting to go beyond that one game to get it.

The Red Wings, playing better the longer the series lasts, can finish off the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena, following what several players said is an unwanted two-day layoff.

Most want to get this over as soon as possible, and the extra day between games only adds to the tension.

“No doubt we want to close it out,” said goalie Dominik Hasek, who got his record sixth playoffs shutout this year in a 3-0 victory Monday night. “We want to finish it here, and we want to do anything we can to win.”

The Red Wings have an excellent record of closing out teams, doing so each time possible in these playoffs. They also finished their last two finals, in 1997 and 1998, in the first game possible.

Still, the New Jersey Devils of the past two Stanley Cup finals provide a cautionary note for those convinced Carolina is finished. The Devils led Dallas 3-1 going into Game 5 on home ice in 2000 and lost, then needed two overtimes to win Game 6.

A year ago, the Devils led Colorado 3-2 going into Game 6 on home ice in the Meadowlands, only to be outscored 7-1 in losing the final two games and the cup.

“We haven’t finished our business. There’s no time for celebrating until you win all 16 games,” Hasek said. “With the talent we have in that locker room, we should win. But we can’t think about it until we win that final game.”

The Red Wings are by far the older team, with eight key players who are 35 or over, including two who are 40-plus. Regardless, Brett Hull is convinced that whatever physical disadvantage the Red Wings are at because of their age, they make up for it in goal-scoring know-how.

Detroit had trouble breaking through a congested neutral zone to get good scoring chances early in the series, but has now scored the last five goals.

Beginning with Hull’s tying goal late in their pivotal, three-overtime Game 3 victory, the Red Wings’ goals were scored by Hull, 37; Igor Larionov, 41; Hull, Larionov and Brendan Shanahan, who at 33 would be one of the older players on most teams.

In this era of neutral zone trapping, videotape study and an emphasis on winning with defense first and offense second, Hull said knowing the tricks of scoring goals can be more important than having the youngest and freshest legs on the ice.

“Age in today’s game has zero to do with anything,” said Hull, who scored his 100th career playoff goal Monday. “You would almost rather have a team with a solid mixture of veteran players because the way teams play now, you don’t have to be swift of foot or super skilled. All you have to do is be very knowledgeable and I think we’ve proven that.

“That’s the game today. It’s not a great big skilled game.”

What may be surprising Carolina the most is Detroit’s defensive skill, one that extends far beyond Hasek and star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios.

Carolina set the tempo early in the series, but Detroit began clamping down defensively about the same time it began scoring more goals.

With Carolina scoreless for more than 127 minutes, or the equivalent of two-plus games since the third period of Game 3, coach Paul Maurice broke up the line of Rod Brind’Amour, Bates Battaglia and Erik Cole that was productive through two rounds, but has all but disappeared since.

“There has been a little bit of a frustration to score goals and it set in with us,” Cole said. “Maybe we weren’t as sharp defensively as we needed to be. But it’s time for us to refocus, and play a much tighter game.”

As he met with his players Tuesday, Maurice didn’t sense any frustration or a feeling that losing is inevitable, even though only one team has rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the finals: Toronto in 1942 against Detroit.

“I have always had a tremendous amount of faith in these guys and in that locker room,” Maurice said. “Maybe I see what I want to see, but it’s a good room. We’re down 3-1, but we’re in as good of shape as we can be down 3-1.”

Still, as Game 4 wound down, the fans in Raleigh’s Entertainment and Sports Arena were asked to give a final cheer for the Hurricanes, something that normally wouldn’t be done at end of any playoff loss.

“It’s why I wanted to come to Detroit, to win the Stanley Cup,” Hasek said. “Now we’ve got to finish the job.”