DALLAS — So much for the demise of the Detroit Red Wings.
Not only are they headed back to the Stanley Cup Finals, they’re again looking like the club that dominated the regular season and most of the playoffs.
After consecutive losses, the Red Wings bounced back strong in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, getting first-period goals from Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk and Dallas Drake on their way to knocking out the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Monday night.
“We were relentless,” Draper said. “It was just a solid first period and obviously the difference in the hockey game.”
Detroit led this series 3-0 before running into trouble. Now the focus turns to winning its fourth championship in 11 seasons. The Red Wings will face the Pittsburgh Penguins starting Saturday at Joe Louis Arena, with the schedule following a Saturday-Monday-Wednesday pattern.
Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood played in his 100th career playoff game and got his 55th victory — his 48th for Detroit, passing Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk for the franchise record.
The Stars got a standing ovation from fans at game’s end in recognition of their best postseason since 2000, when they were defending Cup champions and made it back to the conference finals.
“We came a long way this year, but this wasn’t our ultimate goal,” captain Brenden Morrow said. “We did make some progress. We put a lot of work into this and want to do it again. This will make us hungrier.”
