DETROIT ? Age is only a number to the Detroit Red Wings. Right now, that number is one.

Hockey’s oldest team is one victory away from winning the Stanley Cup, and the Red Wings talked Tuesday of not wanting to go beyond that one game to get it.

The Red Wings, playing better the longer the series lasts, can finish off the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Five on Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena, following what several players said is an unwanted two-day layoff.

Most want to get this over as soon as possible, and the extra day between games only adds to the tension.

“No doubt we want to close it out,” said goalie Dominik Hasek, who got his record sixth playoffs shutout this year in a 3-0 victory Monday night. “We want to finish it here, and we want to do anything we can to win.”

The Red Wings have an excellent record of closing out teams, doing so each time possible in these playoffs. They also finished their last two finals, in 1997 and 1998, in the first game possible.

Still, the New Jersey Devils of the past two Stanley Cup finals provide a cautionary note for those convinced Carolina is finished. The Devils led Dallas 3-1 going into Game Five on home ice in 2000 and lost, then needed two overtimes to win Game Six.

A year ago, the Devils led Colorado 3-2 going into Game Six on home ice in the Meadowlands, then were outscored 7-1 in losing the final two games.

“We haven’t finished our business. There’s no time for celebrating until you win all 16 games,” Hasek said. “With the talent we have in that locker room, we should win. But we can’t think about it until we win that final game.”

The Red Wings are by far the older team, with eight key players who are 35 or over, including two who are 40-plus. Regardless, Brett Hull is convinced that whatever physical disadvantage the Red Wings are at because of their age, they make up for it in goal-scoring know-how.

Detroit had trouble breaking through a congested neutral zone to get good scoring chances early in the series, but has now scored the last five goals.

Beginning with Hull’s tying goal late in their pivotal, three-overtime Game Three victory, the Red Wings’ goals were scored by Hull, 37; Igor Larionov, 41; Hull, Larionov and Brendan Shanahan, who at 33 would be one of the older players on most teams.

In this era of neutral zone trapping, videotape study and an emphasis on winning with defense first and offense second, Hull said knowing the tricks of scoring goals can be more important than having the youngest legs on the ice.

“Age in today’s game has zero to do with anything,” said Hull, who scored his 100th career playoff goal Monday. “You would almost rather have a team with a solid mixture of veteran players because the way teams play now, you don’t have to be swift of foot or super skilled. All you have to do is be very knowledgeable and I think we’ve proven that.

“That’s the game today. It’s not a great big skilled game.”