RALEIGH, NC – It may have taken a bit longer than the coaching staff and fans wanted but the real Carolina Hurricanes team finally showed up. As it turned out, they also needed a miracle – and it arrived at just the right time.
In a roller coaster performance that was equally brilliant and horrifying, the Hurricanes played two near-perfect periods, blew a three goal lead and then miraculously won on Jussi Jokinenâs goal with less than one second left in regulation, defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-3 at the RBC Center. The win knotted the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at two games apiece heading back to New Jersey for game five on Thursday.
With less than ten seconds left. Joni Pitkanen kept the puck in the New Jersey zone and made a point-to-point pass to Dennis Seidenberg. With two seconds left on the clock, Seidenberg let fly, the shot hitting Jokinen on the leg. The carom was just enough to beat Martin Brodeur and the buzzer, crossing the goal line with two-tenths of a second left. The crowd erupted and erupted again when video replay confirmed that the goal was in time to save the âCanes.
Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice has been waiting for his team to do two things in the series: get a lead in regulation and jump start the power play. Two minutes into the first period, Carolina had a chance to accomplish both when New Jerseyâs Dainius Zubris was hit with an elbowing penalty when he flattened Tuomo Ruutu. Although they didnât score, the âCanes kept the puck in the Devilsâ end for most of the man advantage and kept goalie Brodeur on his toes.
The energized start paid off a few minutes later when Carolina struck. âCanes net minder Cam Ward made a solid save on Brian Gionta that turned into an up-ice break. Once in the Devils end, Ruutu fired off a shot that Brodeur stopped. Seidenberg crashed the net and in doing so, the puck fell into the crease where Eric Staal poked it home at 7:44 to give Carolina its first lead in any period not called overtime. Sixty-three seconds later, Scott Walker grabbed the rebound of a shot out from under Brodeur and fed Ryan Bayda who launched a hard slap shot from the high slot that found the back of the net to make it 2-0.
With Carolina swirling and whirling around like, well, a category four hurricane, it was all Brodeur could do to keep the Devils in the game. He stoned Ray Whitney and Jussi Jokinen on separate forays. Ward held his own down the other end, making a big save on a shot from Patrick Elias late in the period. He also had some luck on his side when a minute later on a power play, Devilsâ scoring machine Zach Parise fanned on a bouncing puck with a wide open net staring him in the face. By the end of the period, Carolina had out shot New Jersey 15-7 and led by two.
New Jersey came out early in the second period trying to catch Carolina with a quick spurt. Ward held the fort, making one of his better saves of the game on Johnny Odyua during a four-on-four sequence.
Not too long after that save, the Hurricanes began blasting away at Brodeur again and hit pay dirt a third time. Chad LaRose teed one up that Brodeur knocked down. Bayda, driving toward the net for a rebound, pushed his defensive opponent back into the crease and creating enough havoc for LaRose to swoop in and slide the puck in to increase the lead to 3-0.
For the rest of the period, Brodeur was an absolute wall, stopping shot after shot after shot. Many of his saves were highlight-film worthy and they all kept the Devils in the game. Just when it seemed like Carolina would carry all of the momentum into the second intermission, New Jersey defenseman Mike Mottau made a blueline-to-blueline pass to Gionta who broke behind the Hurricanesâ defense and beat Ward with 28 seconds left in the period to cut the margin to 3-1 and give his team some life.
Buoyed by the Gionta goal, New Jersey swarmed the Carolina end at the start of the third period. An early power play gave the Devils a chance to get closer and they took full advantage. They didnât score but seconds after the penalty expired, veteran Brendan Shanahan pounced on the rebound of a Gionta shot at 4:21 to trim the Carolina lead to 3-2.
The tide had turned and the Hurricanes were being completely swamped. At 8:46, David Clarkson got the puck back to Paul Martin at the point. Ward stopped Martinâs blast but left a juicy rebound that Clarkson, left alone in front, buried in the back of the net to tie the game at three and stunning much of the crowd of 17, 465 in attendance.
Neither team was able to break the tie during the next frenetic minutes, setting up the improbable ending.
Game notesâŠSoon-to-be WWE Hall of Fame inductee Ric Flair handled the hurricane siren duties for game four. In his heyday, Flairâs trademark âwoo hooâ yell would have challenged the siren for highest decibel level honorsâŠSeidenberg, who was a healthy scratch from games two and three, dressed in place of Freddie Kaberle who had replaced Seidenberg in the last two contestsâŠCarolina racked up an amazing 22 shots on Brodeur in the second with only one goal to show for itâŠNew Jerseyâs Bryce Salvador left the game late in the second period with what appeared to be a leg injury. To make matters worse, he drew a penalty during the sequence in which he was hurtâŠShanahanâs goal was his 60th career playoff tallyâŠThe NHLâs âsituation roomâ in Toronto agreed with the game officials that Brodeur appeared to have moved just out of the crease toward the mass of players in front on the game-winning goal, debunking any ideas of a goaltender interference call on the play. Brodeur was so upset at the non-call that he shattered his stick on the boardsâŠJokinen’s goal, recorded at 19:59, is now the latest game winning goal scored in a playoff game. The previous latest time was the 19:58 mark, set by Bob Pulford of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1964 playoffs. Toronto won the Stanley Cup that year…Game six will be back in Raleigh on Sunday. Game time will be determined later in the week.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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