Johan Franzen recorded his second hat trick in three games as the Detroit Red Wings advanced in the National Hockey League Stanley Cup playoffs with a lopsided 8-2 victory over Colorado.

Henrik Zetterberg added two goals and two assists as the top-seeded Red Wings completed a 4-0 sweep of the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series.

Mikael Samuelsson also scored twice, Tomas Holmstrom added a goal and Pavel Datsyuk collected three assists for the Red Wings, who advanced to the conference finals for the second season in a row.

Captain Nicklas Lidstrom, Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula each notched a pair of assists for the Red Wings, who await the winner of the series between the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars.

The Sharks fended off elimination in that series with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday, but the Stars still lead 3-1 and can advance with a victory on Friday.

Tyler Arnason and defenseman John-Michael Liles netted goals for the Avalanche, who have been swept in the conference semi-finals in each of their past two postseason appearances.

In 2006, Colorado failed to record a victory in the second round against Anaheim.

AFP