Hurricanes’ season

RALEIGH, N.C. – Rod Brind’Amour was the faceoff-winning, penalty-killing rock in the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup all season.

Then he put them into the Stanley Cup finals.

The captain’s goal snapped a third-period tie and sent the Hurricanes into the championship round Thursday night with a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. It gave Carolina its second trip to the finals in four seasons.

Brind’Amour also assisted on Justin Williams’ goal in the final minute to seal it, propelling the former Hartford Whalers into the finals against the five-time champion Edmonton Oilers. The small-market, best-of-7 matchup, helped by the NHL’s new salary cap in this first post-lockout season, opens Monday in Raleigh.

The Hurricanes got plenty of steady performances to earn the franchise’s first victory in a Game 7, from rookie Cam Ward’s 22 saves to Williams’ pair of assists on a three-point night. But ultimately, the focus afterward was on Brind’Amour, the 17-year veteran who is still looking for his first championship ring.

“He’s been the heart and soul of this team,” Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. “I don’t like to talk about one individual player because it goes against what we believe in in the locker room. There were a lot of big performances tonight. But that typifies Rod Brind’Amour.”

Carolina led 1-0 but fell behind late in the second period when Doug Janik and Jochen Hecht scored goals for the injury-ravaged Sabres. After Doug Weight tied it at 2 early in the third, Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes broke through.

Ryan Miller stopped a shot from Cory Stillman, but couldn’t control the rebound. It slid outside the crease and glided underneath Buffalo defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick, who apparently didn’t see it while jostling with Williams.

It sat still and untouched for several tense seconds, giving Brind’Amour time to charge in from the right side and beat Miller at 11:22. That put the Hurricanes back on top.