Detroit Can See Reign in the Forecast

Proving that size and strength matter less than the size of a team’s collective heart and the strength of its resolve, the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday moved within one victory of the Stanley Cup championship that has eluded them since 1955.

Sergei Fedorov and Martin Lapointe each scored two goals as the Red Wings routed the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-1, before a boisterous crowd of 19,983 at Joe Louis Arena and took a forbidding 3-0 series lead. The Flyers’ return to Game 1 goaltender Ron Hextall made no difference to the Red Wings, who picked apart Philadelphia’s battered and bungling defense with stunning efficiency to end a seven-game home losing streak in the finals that dated to April 16, 1964.

“I would never have predicted we’d be in this position, without a doubt,” Detroit defenseman Larry Murphy said. “We got some good breaks in the first two games but tonight was the only game I thought we carried a lot of the play.”

They carried it past, around and through the Flyers, storming back in an unstoppable wave after a first-period power-play goal gave Philadelphia its first lead of the series. The Flyers’ supremacy lasted exactly two minutes from the time John LeClair’s rebound shot beat Mike Vernon at 7:03, until Steve Yzerman took a perfect pass from Vyacheslav Kozlov off the right-wing boards and ripped a shot past Hextall.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m disappointed,” Flyer captain Eric Lindros said. “We are bringing a lot of it on ourselves with what we are doing out there and not helping the cause.”

It soon became a lost cause. After Fedorov stole the puck from flailing and falling defenseman Karl Dykhuis and flicked a wrist shot past a helpless Hextall at 11:05 to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead, the Flyers had a chance to get back into the game during an 80-second five-on-three advantage. It was no advantage at all, thanks to the Red Wings’ dogged defensive work and the Flyers’ failure to use their size to set up around the net.

“That was very important,” said Fedorov, who did fine penalty-killing work and later contributed two assists. “I think that was almost the key to the game. If they score, it would be very tough to come back.”

After that, it was merely a matter of accounting. And being accountable, which the Flyers’ offense has not been. Philadelphia has scored only one even-strength goal in three games and has gotten little of the leadership it needs from Lindros.

“Eric is a key part of this hockey club and I definitely need more from him than I got tonight,” Flyer Coach Terry Murray said. “But I definitely need more from John LeClair, Mikael Renberg and I need more from our defense. We need more from everybody.”

Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs have rallied from a 0-3 deficit to win the Cup, and even Murray conceded his team showed few signs it will be able to begin that comeback Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

“I’d be BSing everybody if I said, ‘Yeah, we can,’ ” Murray said.

The Mighty Ducks, in being swept out of the second round by the Red Wings, mounted a better challenge than have the Eastern Conference champion Flyers. The Ducks got better goaltending than the Flyers have had and used their speed to test the Red Wings in ways the Flyers have yet to manage, but goaltending wasn’t at the crux of the Red Wings’ rout.

The Red Wings’ relentlessness, developed along this grueling, two-month playoff road, was decisive Thursday. Trailing for the first time in the series, they bounced back quickly and didn’t settle for merely pulling even. And when they were put at a two-man disadvantage on penalties they considered marginal, they went to work instead of sulking.

“As a team we weren’t too happy with the calls,” winger Brendan Shanahan said. “At first we were a little upset, and then we thought, ‘Let’s not direct our anger at the referee. Let’s channel it the right way.’ ”

They held the Flyers without a shot on the two-man advantage, allowed one shot during Philadelphia’s five-on-four edge and killed another penalty before extending their lead to 3-1. Lapointe, breaking out of the penalty box, was stopped on his first shot at Hextall but converted his second chance after getting a centering pass from Doug Brown with one minute left in the period.

“In the first period, especially, I thought we were kind of fortunate,” said Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman, who can become the first coach to win the Cup with three teams. “We killed seven minutes of power-play time. They scored a power-play goal and they’re a big team. . . . We had a good talk after the period and said, ‘Let’s feel fortunate we’re ahead by a couple of goals.’ ”

If they were lucky, they were also very good. Fedorov scored on a rebound at 3:12 of the second period to pad the Red Wings’ lead to 4-1, and Shanahan effectively sealed the victory by banking the puck off Hextall with 43 seconds left in the period for his ninth playoff goal. Lapointe merely made it an even half-dozen with a big slap shot from the top of the right circle 68 seconds into the third period.

“They created some good chances. Their offense was really rolling tonight,” said Hextall, who started the series opener but was replaced by Garth Snow in Game 2, both 4-2 Detroit victories. “They used their speed and they used their [penalty] kill and they did a hell of a job. . . .

“We got dominated by a hockey club that played a terrific hockey game. And, on the other end of things, we were very bad.”

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Detroit leads series 3-0

* Game 1Detroit 4, Philadelphia 2

* Game 2Detroit 4, Philadelphia 2

* Game 3Detroit 6, Philadelphia 1

* SaturdayPhiladelphia at Detroit, 5 p.m.

* TuesdayDetroit at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.-x

* ThursdayPhiladelphia at Detroit, 5 p.m.-x

* June 14Detroit at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.-x

x-if necessary