Devils Defeat Detroit With Defense : Hockey: Red Wings are held to 17 shots in Game 1 of Stanley Cup finals and get clipped, 2-1.

Until Saturday, Red Wing fans didn’t respect the New Jersey Devils enough to even boo them. As each member of the Devils was introduced before the opening game of the Stanley Cup finals, the 19,875 fans at Joe Louis Arena chanted, “Who Cares?”

They care now. So do the Red Wings.

The Red Wings’ playoff theme has been “A Call to Arms,” but the Devils disarmed them Saturday. Playing their usual disciplined defense, the Devils held the Red Wings to 17 shots in an impressive 2-1 victory, their record ninth road playoff triumph this spring.

The Red Wings, who had averaged 3.9 goals and 36.3 shots in winning the Western Conference championship, recorded a season-low shot total and tested goaltender Martin Brodeur only once in the last nine minutes. Their lone goal resulted from a power play, scored by Dino Ciccarelli to tie the score at 13:08 of the second period.

“I think we can do a better job,” Devil defenseman Scott Stevens said, “but obviously, when you hold a team like them to 17 shots, that means you’re doing a pretty good job in your end of the ice and keeping the middle of the ice clean. For the most part, we kept our mistakes to a minimum, but we can play better.”

That was a daunting thought for the Red Wings, who had the NHL’s best record during the season and cruised through the first three rounds of the playoffs. Their speed was useless in breaking the Devils’ neutral-zone trap, their muscle didn’t get them anywhere--and was mostly missing after back spasms forced forward Keith Primeau out of the game in the second period--and the octopuses fans threw onto the ice as part of an annual playoff ritual didn’t bring them any luck.

Claude Lemieux’s playoff-leading 12th goal, snapped past Mike Vernon from the high slot at 3:17 of the third period, was all the margin the Devils needed to clamp down defensively and silence a crowd that had been giddy over the Red Wings’ first appearance in the finals since 1966.

“We tried to shoot it in more,” Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman said, “but there wasn’t much room to move.”

The Devils gave them no room, playing the neutral-zone trap that has sent the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers home in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

“We just go out there and try to play our little defensive-style game,” center Neal Broten said.

The Red Wings controlled play in the first 10 minutes and kept the crowd buzzing when Steve Yzerman hit the crossbar at 7:44, but the first period was scoreless. Detroit center Sergei Fedorov hit the post eight minutes into the second period, but the Devils shook off that scare and broke through at 9:41, on a power-play goal by Stephane Richer. Broten set up the play by winning a faceoff in the Red Wings’ zone and getting it to Tommy Albelin, who found Richer for a hard and unscreened shot at Vernon.

The Devils’ apparent second goal was waved off when replays showed Bob Carpenter’s shot hit the post, and the Red Wings seemed to gain new life when a shot by Paul Coffey bounced off the boards and directly to Ciccarelli, who jabbed it under Brodeur’s arm.

Ciccarelli deflected a shot off the post before the period ended, but Lemieux put the Devils ahead for good when John MacLean eluded defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom in the left corner and slid the puck back to Lemieux.

Lemieux said he wasn’t bothered by the loud crowd but he wouldn’t mind if they never toss another good-luck octopus onto the ice.

“The smell of the octopus is not the greatest thing,” he said. “Those things are disgusting.”

Stanley Cup Notes

Claude Lemieux’s goal was his 14th game-winner in the playoffs, seventh on the career list. . . . No word was available on the status of Primeau, whose back went into spasms after he was hit by Scott Stevens. Coach Scotty Bowman said only Primeau “couldn’t really move much” after taking a couple of shifts late in the second period. . . . Referees chosen to officiate in the finals are Kerry Fraser, Terry Gregson and Bill McCreary. Andy Van Hellemond, who was fined by the league for incorrectly disallowing a Quebec Nordique goal against the New York Rangers in the first round, isn’t working the finals for the first time in 18 years.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Series at a Glance

NEW JERSEY DEVILS vs. DETROIT RED WINGS

Game 1: New Jersey 2, Detroit 1

Game 2: Tuesday at Detroit, 5 p.m.

Game 3: Thursday at New Jersey, 5 p.m.

Game 4: June 24 at New Jersey, 5 p.m.

*Game 5: June 26 at Detroit, 5 p.m.

*Game 6: June 28 at New Jersey, 4:30.

*Game 7: June 30 at Detroit, 5 p.m.

* TV: Fox will televise Games 4, 7 and ESPN will show Games 2, 3, 5, 6.

x--If necessary

All times Pacific