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Wings sniper feeling pressure

Brendan Shanahan knows he must shoot more to score more in conference finals.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 16, 2002

He was not scoring, and he definitely was not talking.

It was an odd combination for Brendan Shanahan, whose 37 goals led the Red Wings in the regular season, and who has a reputation as an honest and insightful interview.

But there was Shanahan, with just two playoff goals heading into Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Blues, waving off interview requests.

"I wasn't frustrated," he said. "I felt like I was doing the little things and playing well."

The trouble is, so much more is expected from Shanahan. In only two of his six seasons with Detroit has he scored more goals, and he is one of 30 NHL players to score at least 500.

Remember that first goal, for the Devils in 1987, when Shanahan smooched linemate Claude Loiselle in celebration? Just grabbed him by the face and planted one.

Shanahan, 33, got back to what he does best (scoring goals, not kissing teammates) by getting two with two assists in a 4-0 Game 5 victory over the Blues. The win ended the series and advanced the Red Wings to the conference final, which begins Saturday against either the Avalanche or Sharks. "I was passing too much and not shooting enough," Shanahan said after the game. "I wanted to get back to (shooting more)."

It is a credit to Shanahan, who has nine playoff assists, seven in the conference quarterfinals against the Canucks, that he realized what had stuck his game in neutral and was able to re-engage the clutch.

Shanahan used similar analysis when talking about Detroit's chance to win its first Stanley Cup since 1998.

He acknowledged the benefit of having Dominik Hasek in goal, and three players -- Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille -- who have scored more than 600 goals each.

He praised Detroit's resilience and willingness to do the little, grind-it-out things that righted the team after it lost the first two games to Vancouver.

But Shanahan is just as concerned with the intangibles, especially injuries, that took a toll last season when he and Yzerman were lost in the first round of the playoffs with foot injuries. The result: a stunning loss to the Kings.

"I do remember when we won the Cup in '97 and '98," Shanahan said on a conference call. "I thought we deserved to win, but we also realized that we lost very few men to injuries. ... So you just never know with those things. It's a very small margin between victory and defeat. It comes down to hard work, determination, but also a bit of luck."

Shanahan's luck is the by-product of enormous talent (503 goals, 1,030 points), durability (he has not played fewer than 74 games in a regular season since 1994-95 with the Blues) and toughness (2,053 penalty minutes).

He was traded from the old Hartford Whalers (now the streaking Hurricanes) to the Red Wings in October 1996 for Paul Coffey, Keith Primeau and a draft pick.

He led Detroit with a career-high 46 goals that season, was second with a career-high 41 assists and his nine playoff goals led the Red Wings, who won their first Cup since 1955.

Shanahan said that title run and the one in '98 were different from this season's because of Hasek.

"No disrespect to Mike Vernon or Chris Osgood," Shanahan said of the former Red Wings goalies, "but Dominik is a guy, and I know from playing against him, he's in your head because he's got such an unorthodox style. He has not won a Stanley Cup, and he's very determined to get there.

"In both of those years that we won, I don't ever remember thinking our goaltender made the difference. I've seen in the past while he was in Buffalo, he can win a game for you, and that's a huge advantage."

An advantage Shanahan provided in Game 5 against the Blues.

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