Hurricanes breeze
RALEIGH, N.C. – It didn’t matter who was in goal for Edmonton. Carolina’s Cam Ward turned aside everything the Oilers sent his way, and the Hurricanes were simply unstoppable.
Ward, the former Red Deer Rebels standout, saved 25 shots for his second shutout of the playoffs and the Hurricanes overwhelmed the replacement at the other end of the ice, seizing control of the Stanley Cup finals with a 5-0 rout Wednesday night to go up 2-0 in the series.
“I thought the team was ready from the drop of the puck, which might not have been the case in Game 1,” said Ward, the first rookie to record a shutout in the finals since Montreal’s Patrick Roy against Calgary in 1986. “I thought we played 60 minutes tonight.”
The Oilers didn’t reveal their choice in the nets until Jussi Markkanen led his team onto the ice for the opening faceoff – the first goalie in 45 years to make his first playoff start in the finals.
After vowing to rally around their new goalie, the Oilers didn’t play with any sort of passion, especially after Cory Stillman scored a backbreaking goal with 2.4 seconds left in the second period to make it 3-0.
Edmonton finds itself in a huge hole heading back to Alberta. Carolina became the 30th team to sweep the first two games of the best-of-7 series at home. The Chicago Blackhawks in 1971 are the only team to blow such a lead, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games.
Game 3 is Saturday night.
“We know we’re going to have to play better when we get out there,” Stillman said. “We’re going to try to get a jump in Game 3. We’ve still got to win four games, and we’re going to try to do it as quickly as possible.”
The Hurricanes poured it on in the final period, getting every break while the frustrated Oilers turned chippy.
Doug Weight appeared to kick in a deflected shot early in the third and the referee waved it off immediately. But, after viewing an overhead replay, it was clear that Weight managed to graze the puck with a swipe of his stick as it was on the way to the net – making it a legal goal.
The call was overturned, Carolina celebrated and the Oilers fumed. Shortly afterward, Ethan Moreau threw a left-handed punch to the face of Hurricanes defenseman Glen Wesley as the two came together at center ice.
Georges Laraque delivered a more flagrant hit, pummeling Carolina’s Andrew Ladd with a shot from behind in the closing minutes to get tossed out of the game.
Maybe he was just mad at Ladd, who scored off a deflection in the first period. Frantisek Kaberle made it 2-0 just past the midway point of the second with a shot through Markkanen’s legs.
The clock was winding down when Stillman pulled off a spectacular play. After Markkanen blocked a deflected shot, Stillman flipped the rebound over the net, went all the way around to get it and lifted his second try under the crossbar.
“They always say the worst lead in hockey is 2-0 going to the third period,” Stillman said. “Was it a backbreaker? Maybe it was. I’m sure it was hard for them to swallow with two seconds left.”
The Hurricanes dominated the special teams, scoring three goals on the power play. Edmonton was 0 for 6 with a man advantage.
“The 5-on-5 play is pretty even,” coach Craig MacTavish said. “They’re more opportunistic at this point in the series than what we’ve been.”
With Moreau in the penalty box, Carolina swarmed in front of Markkanen until Mark Recchi got free in front to deflect the puck past the shellshocked goalie. The Carolina fans spent the rest of the game heckling Markkanen with chants of “You-seee! You-seee!”
Markkanen started after Edmonton’s playoff star, Dwayne Roloson, sustained a series-ending knee injury in Game 1.
Ward improved to 13-5 in the playoffs, one win shy of his regular-season mark (14-8).