SAN JOSE, Calif. — From Chris Chelios to Dominik Hasek, the Detroit Red Wings all felt they won their second-round series five days before the clinching victory Monday night.

That's when the Red Wings rallied from a 2-1 series hole to the San Jose Sharks and a one-goal deficit in the final minute, tying Game 4 with 33 seconds left before winning in overtime.

The rest of the series was a mere formality to the resurgent Red Wings — including the 2-0 victory in Game 6 on Monday night that sent the longtime playoff underachievers on to the Western Conference finals in style.

Mikael Samuelsson scored two first-period goals, Dominik Hasek posted his 13th career playoff shutout and the Red Wings rolled off three straight victories against the deflated Sharks, who never recovered from their last-minute flop at the Shark Tank in Game 4.

"It changed the momentum when we won (Game 4)," said Hasek, who made 28 saves in his first shutout of the spring. "After that, we're a better team. Overall, the difference was us coming from behind in three of the games. We never gave up. We were able to come from behind when we needed to."

The top-seeded Red Wings are headed to the conference finals for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2002, opening the next round Friday at home against the Anaheim Ducks. Detroit hung on with a patchwork defense relying heavily on Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom, who spent nearly all of Game 6 alternating turns on the ice.

"Looking back, Game 4 should have been theirs," said Chelios, who had assists on both of Detroit's goals. "Really. We got so lucky. It was just a turnover and a good break, whatever you want to call it. That was definitely the one that got us here tonight."

Detroit had won just one playoff series in the previous three seasons despite winning at least 48 games in each, earning two Presidents' Trophies as the NHL's best regular-season team. But the Red Wings, who finished second overall this season, finally parlayed their veteran experience into playoff success against a young opponent that took another postseason of lumps.

Coach Mike Babcock recounted the list of disrespectful perceptions that fueled Detroit's rise.

"You don't get picked to be very good, and then you're pretty good through the regular season, and then someone says you're not a playoff team," Babcock said. "We played two big, strong teams and have done well. And now we're going to get another one."

Evgeni Nabokov stopped 20 shots for the Sharks, but the best regular season in franchise history ended in another mystifying collapse after San Jose controlled most of the series' first three games.

Joe Thornton and captain Patrick Marleau failed to spark any life from their club after blowing that fateful lead in Game 4.

"We're going to look back at this series, and we're going to kick ourselves probably until training camp next season," said Thornton, held scoreless in the last two games after scoring 11 points in the Sharks' first nine postseason contests.