Hasek Blanks Sharks, Red Wings Advance

Goaltender Dominik Hasek was perfect on Monday night, stopping all 28 shots he faced as his Detroit Red Wings picked up a 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks, ending their Western Conference Final series.

With the win, the Red Wings advance to the Western Conference Finals, where they will face the Anaheim Ducks.

Hasek had help in earning his 13th career playoff shutout, including a first period stop on Mike Grier by defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.

Hasek came out of the net to play the puck and lost it to Grier, who took it behind the net for a wraparound attempt. Lidstrom dove across the crease to cover for Hasek, knocking the puck away from the goal line.

Mikael Samuelsson scored both Detroit goals, starting with 4:34 remaining in the first period.

Samuelsson caught up with a long outlet pass from Johan Franzen in the Sharks zone, then cut across the top of the crease and outwaited San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov, sliding the puck behind the netminder after he had sprawled out on the ice.

With 8 seconds remaining in the opening period, Samuelsson added his second, putting a wrist shot over Nabokov’s glove while on a two-on-one with Robert Lang.

Nabokov finished the night with 20 saves on 22 shots.

Neither team scored on the power play with four opportunities.

The Red Wings will open their Western Conference Final series with Anaheim on Friday night in Detroit.

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Detroit was without defenseman Mathieu Schnieder, who suffered a broken wrist in game five of the series. Brett Lebda returned from injury to take Schneider’s spot in the lineup.