DENVER -- Patrick Roy thought he had it in his glove.

A point-blank shot from Detroit's Steve Yzerman went Roy's way with just 40 seconds left in the opening period of Wednesday's Game 6, and when Roy raised his glove in his own unique style, the Colorado goalie thought he made the save.

He didn't. Roy instead swept the puck back towards the goal line, and a charging Brendan Shanahan slammed it home.

A dejected Roy held his head in his hands, and an elated Shanahan ended one big slump.

It was Shanahan's first goal since May 11 and his first goal on 23 shots in the series, helping Detroit beat Colorado 2-0 to force a Game 7 in the West finals.

"I charged the net looking for garbage and when I got there, it was waiting for me," Shanahan said. "I was way in the high slot when Stevie (Yzerman) took the shot. I thought I saw something behind Roy, and I just hoped it was the puck."

Shanahan's goal marked the first time in the series Detroit drew first blood in a game, and the Red Wings successfully defended it. Detroit's penalty killers stifled Colorado's power play -- the Avalanche went 0-4 -- and promptly swarmed Avs sniper Peter Forsberg each time he touch the puck, holding him to just one shot on goal in the game.

"Sometimes when you get the lead you sit back, and I'm glad we didn't. That was something," Detroit coach Scotty Bowman said. "The second goal seemed to spur us on. A two-goal lead is definitely better than one."

That second tally came from Darren McCarty, the scrappy right winger who scored on a perfectly placed slap shot just out of the reach of Roy's right leg pad.

"On the flight here, the guys were upbeat and confident. We said that coming into Colorado facing elimination would be a test of character and unity," Shanahan said. "The guys were calm and prepared, and the effort was intense."

Facing elimination, the Red Wings played their most physical game of the series. Defensemen Jiri Fischer and Chris Chelios, and high-flying center Sergei Fedorov all led the way with six hits each, and the Wings outhit the Avs 58-48. They forechecked and took advantage of the Avs' hesitant newcomers (Pascal Trepanier and Radim Vrbata were playing their first game of the series), repeatedly forcing Colorado to cough up the puck before it could move it to the blue line.

Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek looked more solid than he has in the first five games of the series, perhaps because of Avalanche coach Bob Hartley's attack on his integrity in the final minutes of the second period.

While on the power play, Hartley called for the referees to check the measurement of Hasek's stick. It measured up just fine, falling below the maximum width of 3½ inches. Because he was wrong, Hartley gave up his team's man advantage.

"I have sticks from the factory that are maybe one millimeter illegal, but I would never play with it in the playoffs," Hasek said. "I was really happy they checked it, because I knew they were going to get a penalty."

Now, it's the Avs on the hot seat. Detroit has won the depth contest from the get-go, and is still rolling four well-balanced lines. The injury-laden Avs will be playing without Mike Keane (ribs), Alex Tanguay (leg) and Dan Hinote (leg), and possibly without Stephane Yelle, who suffered a neck sprain on a hit by Kirk Maltby in the second period.

Detroit will take advantage of that President's Trophy and head back to Joe Louis Arena for Game 7. Not that home ice has meant much in this series -- the road team has won four of the six games.

"When we lose, we're old. When we win, we're experienced," McCarty said. "This was all experience. We knew we had to come in here and win a game on the road, and we did."

Now, we'll see if experience can get the mighty Red Wings a series-clincher at the Joe.