Hurricanes earn trip to Eastern finals

Denied a power play for more than 30 minutes, the Carolina Hurricanes made the most of their first to earn a trip to the Eastern Conference finals.

Cory Stillman got the go-ahead goal on that man-advantage midway through the second period, rookie goalie Cam Ward steadied himself following a rocky start and Carolina beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 Sunday night to win the best-of-seven series in five games.

Frantisek Kaberle, Ray Whitney and Eric Staal also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won eight of their past nine games in the playoffs. They clinched a series at home for the first time and will face the Buffalo Sabres next, with the winner advancing to the Stanley Cup final.

The Devils took a 1-0 lead less than a minute after the opening faceoff, when Brian Gionta took advantage of a fortuitous bounce to beat Ward, a 22-year-old netminder who was pulled after allowing four goals in a little more than one period Saturday.

He finished with 17 saves, including 10 in the first period when Carolina played short-handed for 8 minutes. The Devils failed to capitalize on any of those power plays, and Kaberle tied the score on the Hurricanes’ second shot of the game.

It came when teammate Matt Cullen beat John Madden on a faceoff, and Mark Recchi got the puck to Kaberle along the wall. His shot ricocheted off Paul Martin and past goalie Martin Brodeur, electrifying another capacity crowd at the RBC Center.

Oilers 6, Sharks 3: The underdog Edmonton Oilers are one win away from the Western Conference finals.

Fernando Pisani broke a tie with his second goal early in the third period, and Ryan Smyth had two goals and two assists in the eighth-seeded Oilers’ victory over San Jose putting Edmonton up 3-2 in the second-round playoff series.

Edmonton’s us-against-the-world energy undoubtedly got a boost shortly before the opening faceoff, when fans at the Shark Tank inexplicably booed the Canadian national anthem. The Oilers were quicker and smarter throughout, keeping their cool when San Jose rallied to tie it at 3-all early in the third period.

And with their third straight victory following fifth-seeded San Jose’s back-to-back home wins last week, the Oilers headed into Game 6 on Wednesday night with a chance to make the conference finals for the first time since 1992.

Vesa Toskala made just 12 saves on 18 shots for the Sharks, who earned 2-1 victories in the first two games of this series.