Scouting Report

* RED WINGS AT A GLANCE: They haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1955--the NHL’s longest drought--and have lost in the finals six times since then, most recently in 1995 to New Jersey. The addition of bigger, grittier players since losing in the conference finals a year ago has paid off. Coach Scotty Bowman split up his Russian Five unit against Colorado but reunites them on power plays.

* LINES: Left wing Brendan Shanahan, center Igor Larionov, right wing Martin Lapointe; Tomas Sandstrom, Steve Yzerman, Darren McCarty; Vyacheslav Kozlov, Sergei Fedorov, Doug Brown; Joe Kocur, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby.

* DEFENSE PAIRS: Nicklas Lidstrom-Larry Murphy; Viacheslav Fetisov-Vladimir Konstantinov; Aaron Ward-Bob Rouse.

* GOALIES: Mike Vernon (1.82 goals-against average, .922 save percentage) has played all but two minutes in the playoffs.

* FLYERS AT A GLANCE: Eric Lindros has lifted his game with each round, showing discipline, maturity and leadership. Their size and depth are impressive but don’t overlook the skill of John LeClair, Paul Coffey and rookie defenseman Janne Niinimaa.

* LINES: Left wing LeClair, center Lindros, right wing Mikael Renberg; Shjon Podein, Joel Otto, Trent Klatt; Rod Brind’Amour, Dale Hawerchuk, Dainius Zubrus; Dan Kordic, Daniel Lacroix, John Druce.

* DEFENSE PAIRS: Chris Therien-Eric Desjardins; Petr Svoboda-Niinimaa; Kjell Samuelsson-Coffey.

* GOALIES: Ron Hextall (2.26 goals-against average, .914 save percentage) will start over Garth Snow (2.72, .895).

THE MATCHUPS

* OFFENSE: The Flyers excel at getting to the net. The Red Wings work more from the perimeter, although they don’t hesitate to wade into traffic. The Red Wings may have an edge in pure skill, but the Flyers aren’t far behind--and they’re bigger.

* DEFENSE: Both have weaknesses. Murphy and Fetisov are slow and Coffey has never been a defensive genius, but they haven’t cost their teams any games. For Detroit, Konstantinov’s physical play will be key. Samuelsson will add muscle.

* GOALTENDING: Vernon was outstanding against the Ducks. Except for Game 5, he was solid against Colorado. Hextall has been good, not great, and is prone to giving up soft goals.

* COACHING: Bowman is a master tactician. Terry Murray, who was nearly fired at midseason, uses his personnel well and created outstanding second and third lines.

* INTANGIBLES: The Red Wings showed tenacity in overcoming minor missteps. Lindros has picked up the torch from Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, but like Gretzky, he will lose in the finals before he wins. Red Wings in seven.

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PLAYOFF STATISTICS: DETROIT RED WINGS

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No. Player GP G A Pts +/- Pim PP Sh GW OT S 91 Sergei Fedorov 16 5 9 14 3 10 2 0 2 0 63 14 Brendan Shanahan 16 6 7 13 5 43 2 0 2 1 69 8 Igor Larionov 16 4 8 12 5 4 3 0 1 0 28 13 Vyacheslav Kozlov 16 8 3 11 2 14 4 0 2 1 54 19 Steve Yzerman 16 4 5 9 0 4 1 0 2 0 53 20 Martin Lapointe 16 2 7 9 5 54 0 0 1 1 30 55 Larry Murphy 16 2 6 8 6 8 1 0 1 0 45 5 Nicklas Lidstrom 16 1 6 7 6 2 0 0 0 0 65 17 Doug Brown 10 3 2 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 20 33 Kris Draper 16 2 3 5 2 10 0 1 0 0 26 18 Kirk Maltby 16 3 1 4 4 22 0 0 0 0 27 25 Darren McCarty 16 2 2 4 3- 30 0 0 1 0 28 16 Vladimir Konstantinov 16 0 4 4 0 27 0 0 0 0 26 28 Tomas Sandstrom 16 0 3 3 5- 20 0 0 0 0 31 26 Joey Kocur 15 0 2 2 2 20 0 0 0 0 10 2 Viacheslav Fetisov 16 0 2 2 2 32 0 0 0 0 22 4 Jamie Pushor 5 0 1 1 1- 5 0 0 0 0 3 15 Tomas Holmstrom 1 0 0 0 1- 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 Tim Taylor 2 0 0 0 1- 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 Chris Osgood 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 27 Aaron Ward 15 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 9 3 Bob Rouse 16 0 0 0 5 55 0 0 0 0 12 29 Mike Vernon 16 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0

No. PCTG 91 7.9 14 8.7 8 14.3 13 14.8 19 7.5 20 6.7 55 4.4 5 1.5 17 15.0 33 7.7 18 11.1 25 7.1 16 .0 28 .0 26 .0 2 .0 4 .0 15 .0 37 .0 30 .0 27 .0 3 .0 29 .0

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PLAYOFF STATISTICS: PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

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No. Player GP G A Pts +/- Pim PP Sh GW OT S 88 Eric Lindros 15 11 12 23 12 32 4 0 1 0 59 10 John LeClair 15 7 11 18 10 6 3 0 3 0 65 17 Rod Brind’Amour 15 10 7 17 9 10 1 2 1 0 55 19 Mikael Renberg 14 5 5 10 3 4 2 0 0 0 31 44 Janne Niinimaa 15 1 9 10 8 16 1 0 1 0 46 9 Dainius Zubrus 15 5 4 9 7 12 1 0 1 0 24 77 Paul Coffey 15 1 8 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 35 37 Eric Desjardins 15 2 6 8 10 10 0 0 0 0 40 20 Trent Klatt 15 4 3 7 4 6 0 0 2 0 24 25 Shjon Podein 15 4 3 7 7 14 0 0 1 0 41 18 Dale Hawerchuk 14 2 5 7 1 0 1 0 1 0 22 6 Chris Therien 15 1 6 7 16 6 0 0 1 0 31 29 Joel Otto 14 1 5 6 6 8 0 0 0 0 19 15 Pat Falloon 11 3 1 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 28 45 Vaclav Prospal 5 1 3 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 10 23 Petr Svoboda 15 1 2 3 4 14 0 0 0 0 9 24 Karl Dykhuis 15 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 12 30 Garth Snow 11 0 2 2 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 26 John Druce 9 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 7 21 Dan Kordic 11 1 0 1 1 22 0 0 0 0 3 32 Daniel Lacroix 10 0 1 1 0 20 0 0 0 0 3 8 Michel Petit 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 28 Kjell Samuelsson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 Ron Hextall 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

No. PCTG 88 18.6 10 10.8 17 18.2 19 16.1 44 2.2 9 20.8 77 2.9 37 5.0 20 16.7 25 9.8 18 9.1 6 3.2 29 5.3 15 10.7 45 10.0 23 11.1 24 .0 30 .0 26 14.3 21 33.3 32 .0 8 .0 28 .0 27 .0

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FLYER STARTERS

No. 37: Eric Desjardins, Defense

No. 6: Chris Therien, Defense

No. 19: Mikael Renberg, Right Wing

No. 10: John LeClair, Left Wing

No. 88: Eric Lindross, Center

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RED WING STARTERS

No. 5: Nicklas Listrom, Defense

No. 55: Larry Murphy, Defense

No. 20: Martin Lapointe, Right Wing

No. 14: Brendan Shanahan, Left Wing

No. 8: Igor Larionov, Center