Back to 1998: Red Wings go back-to-back for Konstantinov, Mnatsakanov

When the Red Wings finally broke their 42-year championship drought by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Stanley Cup in 1997, it was supposed to be a party that lasted all summer.

But just six days into the celebration, everything came to a halt.

Many of the Wings had gone to a golf outing and had hired limousines to ferry them to and from as they all wanted to celebrate responsibly.

But the limousine carrying defensemen Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov crashed into a tree and Konstantinov and Mnatsakanov both suffered traumatic injuries.

Although both Konstantinov and Mnatsakanov survived, neither was ever the same.

Nor was the team the same.

The Wings were still a great team, even without the physical presence of Konstantinov, and the players and coaches dedicated their efforts in the 1997-98 season to both Konstantinov and Mnatsakanov.

"Probably the biggest motivation and the unfortunate of it all was Vladimir Konstantinov," said Kris Draper, currently the Wings' director of amateur scouting. "Everyone knows about the tragedy that we had six days after we won the Stanley Cup and the accident. Vladdy, he was with us the entire year and especially that playoff run. So the motivation for us going into the Stanley Cup Finals in back-to-back years was definitely Vladdy. He was certainly in our hearts and in our minds and every time we played, he was that extra motivation that we need.

"For us, we wanted to have an opportunity to become back-to-back Stanley Cup champions and not too many teams and not too many organizations can say that. That was something that meant a lot to all of us, especially being able to win in '97, I think we silenced a lot of critics and a lot of people that questioned our team and questioned how we were built. Now all of a sudden here we are coming into 1998 as the favorites this year, playing the Washington Capitals. So I think for us, the motivation was No. 1, Vladdy, and No. 2, an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup back to back, which was something that certainly meant a lot to all of us."

The Wings faced the Washington Capitals in the Finals and unlike the previous year, played the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals at home at Joe Louis Arena.

On Thursday night, FOX Sports Detroit will broadcast Game 2 of that series.

The Wings won Game 1, 2-1, and were looking for more as they approached Game 2 but it didn't look so promising most of the game.

The Capitals had a 4-2 lead in the third period but the Wings were a resilient bunch.

"We just felt like a confident group," Nick Lidstrom said. "We felt we had the guys that could score goals if needed, we knew we had to stick with our game plan. Don't get carried away, don't start doing things that we haven't done earlier in that playoff series. So we knew we just had to get back to kind of grinding it out and knowing that, with the confidence that we had, we can overcome something like this."

The comeback began when Martin Lapointe's goal drew the Wings within one at 8:08 of the third.

Doug Brown tied the game with 4:14 remaining to force overtime, but Draper recalled they needed a little help from the hockey gods just to get to that point.

"I would probably say the biggest turning point of that game was Esa Tikkanen had a breakaway, my good friend Chris Osgood kind of bit on the deke, Esa Tikkanen went one way, unfortunately Chris Osgood went the other way, there was a wide-open net but the puck was rolling and it rolled off the stick and he ended up missing that," Draper said. "In the end, that ended up being a huge break for our team and then we just kind of chipped away, kind of kept chipping away. I remember Doug Brown scored the tying goal to put us into overtime so that was something. That was a wild game. That was an unbelievable Stanley Cup game to be a part of, it had everything."

It was Draper who got the overtime winner at 15:24 of the first overtime period, something that had been brewing since the team's morning skate, courtesy of mastermind and head coach Scotty Bowman.

"Funny story, the morning skate, I'll never forget this, we were on the ice and Scotty came up and was asking about, basically every forward had scored a goal in the playoffs except for me," Draper said. "At that time I had yet to score a goal and I got a little fired up with that. I know how Scotty, what he was thinking when he was doing it, I certainly thought about it all day. Then sure enough, I'll never forget how this goal played out. The puck was going in the offensive zone, Igor Larionov came on a change and then Brendan Shanahan, Marty Lapointe made two unbelievable plays and I just ended up as Igor kind of came to the bench, he was right on our side, I jumped off and I don't think anyone from Washington saw the line change. I was able to kind of sneak in and I got to the kind of backdoor hash marks and Marty Lapointe, kind of right-handed shot, pulled it off the boards and fired it towards the net and I was able to one-touch the puck into the open net for an overtime goal and obviously a huge win for us.

"Kind of gave it a nice little dance, I had a nice, little dance that I had and then just everyone kind of came for the big hug. And I remember skating off the bench and Scotty was waiting right there for me. He kind of looked at me and he goes, 'Who scored the goal? Who scored the goal, Drapes' with a big smile on his face. I said, 'I did, Scotty. Now every forward on our team has scored a goal.' So we had a good laugh with that."

It just went to show that the team's superstars were not always the ones who ended up as the big heroes of the game.

"It was amazing, just to be able to do that, every kid grows up, you play those scenarios and you've played that out over and over again as a kid, scoring a Stanley Cup Final, game-winning overtime goal and I was obviously so excited to be able to do that," Draper said. "It was amazing, just how the game went. It was huge for us. Washington, that was the best defense they played in the series and we were able to find a way to win the hockey game. Like I said, it's so important going up 2-0 instead of going 1-1 to their building."

Defenseman Larry Murphy ended up playing more than 34 minutes in that game but he remembers feeling just fine when Draper scored the game-winner and in the team lounge afterward.

"I remember after Game 2, at the old Joe Louis Arena, we had this little lounge area, I guess you'd call it, which had a bunch of old, beat-up sofas on it," Murphy said. "Usually there was always at one time, there's just usually two or three guys in that area after the post-game. I remember after Game 2, it seemed like everybody was in this little area, kind of feeling pretty good about what happened. I think the realization that this series is now in our hands, we had full control."

FOX Sports Detroit will show Game 4 of the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals on April 30 during championship week.

We would like you to tell us what you remember about the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals. Join us on Twitter at @DetroitRedWings or on Facebook.

If you can't wait until April 30 to see Game 4 of the '98 Finals, you can always watch it On Demand on DetroitRedWings.com or on the NHL app, along with these four other games:

1. June 7, 1997: Red Wings defeat the Flyers in Game 4 to win the Stanley Cup

2. March 26, 1997: Fight Night at The Joe: Red Wings beat Avalanche

3. June 4, 2008: Red Wings top Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 to win Stanley Cup

4. April 9, 2017: The final game at Joe Louis Arena