Red Wings Force Game 7

Brendan Shanahan said he didn’t sleep well after missing an open net in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

He made sure that wasn’t a problem after Game 6.

Shanahan broke out of his scoring slump with a goal in the first period, and Dominik Hasek stopped 24 shots as the Red Wings beat the Colorado Avalanche, 2-0, Wednesday night to force a Game 7.

“You tell yourself good things when you’re getting close and hitting posts, but it’s still very frustrating,” Shanahan said. “I personally wanted to have a big night, but I don’t think it was a night of personal gains.”

Detroit ended a four-game losing streak in elimination games dating to a victory over St. Louis in the 1996 conference semifinals.

Colorado will have to play a Game 7 for the fourth straight series--extending its own league record--and for the fifth time in its last six series.

The Avalanche have won four consecutive Game 7s, including victories over the Kings and San Jose this year.

Game 7 is Friday night in Detroit.

“We are not happy going back to Detroit,” Colorado goalie Patrick Roy said. “It is a big challenge, but it’s been like this for us all year. We have a hard time making it easy on ourselves.”

The Red Wings rallied from eight one-goal deficits in the first five games, but didn’t need any comebacks this time.

Shanahan, criticized for his lack of production in the series, opened the scoring with 38 seconds left in the first period on a shot that Roy thought he stopped.

Roy raised his glove, thinking he caught Shanahan’s shot from the slot, but the puck hit the ice and trickled into the net. Roy briefly tried to argue the call, then bent over and covered his mask with both gloves in frustration.

“I didn’t know if I had it in my glove,” said Roy, who stopped 26 shots. “I held my glove up looking for the puck and it rolled back.”

It was Shanahan’s fifth goal of the playoffs.