BOSTON, Mass – Move over Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone you have company in Boston sports infamy in Carolina’s Scott Walker. Walker, who was involved in a controversial incident when he kayoed Aaron Ward near the end of Game 5, punched the Carolina Hurricanes ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals with an overtime goal. The game-winning goal started innocently enough when Carolina defenseman Dennis S eidenberg fired the puck up the right wing boards to a streaking Ray Whitney with time running out in the period. Whitney had been limited to a single assist in the series but he made his second one count. The shifty winger fired the puck on goal and it hit Boston goaltender Tim Thomas in the upper chest handcuffing the likely Vezina Trophy winner. The puck hit the ice at the same time Walker arrived in front of the goal and the Hurricanes winger chipped it past a diving Thomas with just over a minute left in overtime for his first career playoff goal. The game was evenly played with each teams sitting on 36 shots on goal until Walker’s heroic action occurred. It was a fitting contest for a series that saw momentum see-saw between unbelievable peaks and valleys. Boston dominated in Game 1 and appeared to be ready to go to the Conference finals with ease, but Carolina won the next three games to seemingly take control of the series. Boston then rallied back with two wins to force Game 7. Per=2 0the norm this game swung back and forth as the lead changed a total of three times, once when Boston opened the scoring, once when Carolina answered with two goals and finally with the overtime tally. Boston’s Byron Bitz opened the scoring in the first period when he scored his first career playoff goal when he jammed home the puck from the slot into an open goal. Carolina tied the game on what was technically an even-strength goal when Rod Brind’Amour tapped in a Seidenberg shot just as a hooking call against P.J. Axelsson expired. With the score tied both teams retired to their respective dressing rooms. The clubs would then trade goals with the Hurricanes registering their score in the second period and Boston netting theirs in the third. Sergei Samsonov scored for Carolina when he converted a play for Joni Pitkanen into the goal. For a long while it appeared Samsonov would be the one who would haunt the Bruins, but Milan Lucic evened the game when he rammed home a shot after accepting a p ass from Marc Savard early in the third period. With the win the Hurricanes moves on to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. Carolina has been the Cinderella of the post-season as they first knocked off the third-seeded New Jersey Devils in the first round and now the top-seeded Bruins in the second round. Both victories have come on enemy ice in Game 7. Notes Carolina goaltender Cam Ward is now 4-0 all-time in Game 7’s while Thomas fell to 0-2…With the loss Boston fell to 2-2 in all-time Game 7 overtimes, Carolina won their first in these conditions after losing two while based in Hartford…With the loss the Bruins are now 0-21 in series after failing behind three games to one. Boston forced a Game 7 for the only the second time in their history…Boston’s Stephane Yelle played in his 12th career NHL Game 7, only Scott Stevens and Patrick Roy, both with 13, have played in more Game 7’s than Yelle has…Carolina coach Paul Maurice inserted Tomas Kaberle in the lineup and removed Anton Babchuk while Boston kept the same roster they won with in Game 6 for this game…The win tonight marked the first time in the postseason the Hurricanes have been victorious without receiving a goal from Eric Staal. Previously the club was 7-0 when he had scored a goal.
Contact tom.schettino@prohockeynews.com
Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net
You must be logged in to post a comment.