Red Wings Take Control

2002 Playoffs

"This game was by far our best defensive game," Hasek said. "The whole team deserved the shutout because it was a great defensive effort."

Brett Hull and Igor Larionov, for the second straight game, scored the big goals for the Red Wings, who can finish the series in Game 5 on Thursday in Detroit.

"We've been slow starting in some of the series. It usually takes us a couple of games to get going," said Brendan Shanahan, who got only his second goal in 11 games to finish the scoring. "But it seems as the series goes on, individually and collectively, we seem to get stronger and stronger."

Hull became the fourth player in the NHL history with 100 career playoff goals. Hull now trails Wayne Gretzky (122), Mark Messier (109) and Jari Kurri (106) in career playoff goals.

"The break we got was scoring the first goal," Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman said. "The first goal in a game like this is big. ... But we've been in this position before (one game away from winning the cup), and we've got to stay away from all the hoopla."