Detroit Puts in a Full Shift

The Detroit Red Wings may be one victory from sweeping the Washington Capitals for their second consecutive Stanley Cup title but it hasn’t been easy. Just ask goaltender Chris Osgood, who will be glad to finish off the pesky Capitals.

“Out of all the teams that I have played, they are the most difficult for a goalie,” said Osgood, who is 15-6 in the playoffs with a .916 save percentage. “I don’t think it is the shots they get. It is the amount of quality chances they get. They pull up at the blue line. They look for a guy in the slot or look for the perfect play. It’s difficult because they are just not coming down the wing and firing away and trying to go for rebounds and go to the net. They have a lot of talent on offense to get the perfect play.”

In sweeping Philadelphia in last season’s finals, the Red Wings’ toughest game was Game 4. They expect the same for Game 4 against the Capitals, especially because the game is being played in Washington D.C. and not in Detroit like a year ago.

“It is the finals and the third one for most of us,” said Osgood, a backup for the Red Wings in 1995 when they lost to New Jersey in four games. “We know what to expect. We are going to be real excited. . . . we just have to play a real solid game like we did in [Game 3].”

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Washington’s defensemen have struggled against Detroit’s aggressive front line. Before the finals, the Capitals’ back line had combined for 13 goals and 28 points in 17 playoff games. Against the Red Wings, they have combined for no goals and only three assists.

“They are the best backchecking team in the league,” defenseman Mark Tinordi said. “Every one of their forwards from [Sergei] Fedorov to their grinders all backcheck hard. That is one of their strengths.”

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After last year’s title, the general consensus was that Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman was going to call it quits. Bowman, however, decided to return because of the limousine accident that ended the playing career of defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov and cut short the Red Wings’ celebration.

“I felt very strongly this year about coming back because of that fact and I didn’t think that was the time to leave the team after what we went through,” said Bowman, who is one win away from tying Toe Blake’s record of eight Stanley Cups won by a coach.