RALIEGH, NC – Shrugging off a fast start by the Carolina Hurricanes the Pittsburgh Penguins scored four unanswered goals to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second consecutive year. By doing so the Penguins became the first team since the 2000 and 2001 New Jersey Devils to represent the Eastern Conference in successive seasons.
Faced with elimination the Hurricanes stormed out of the gate and opening the scoring just 1:36 into the game. Eric Staal, who had not scored in six games since last scoring against Boston in Game 4 of that series, picked up the puck behind Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Staal skated from behind the cage and tucked the puck inside the left post just before Fleury could block the parry with his skate. Little did anyone know at the time it would be the Hurricanes last goal of the season.
Despite Carolina’s hot start in front of a charged-up crowd it would be the Penguins who would take the lead into the dressing room after the first period. Philippe Boucher, the star of Game 1, started Pittsburgh’s night when he slap passed a puck to Ruslan Fedotenko who was alone to the right of Carolina’s Cam Ward. All Fedotenko had to do was to catch the pass and tap the puck into the open side of the goal to knot the game—which he did.
Ward would be victimized by a fluke goal late in the period which would put Pittsburgh up for good. Maxime Talbot came into the Hurricanes zone and appeared to be in position where he could only flick a weak wrist shot on goal. Talbot got the shot off and the puck deflected off Carolina defender Anton Babchuk’s stick. It seemed like an innocent play until the puck fluttered over Ward’s head and off his catching glove before going into the goal.
The second period saw the goaltenders keeping the game close. Fleury stoned Eric Staal on a short-handed attempt with Dennis Seidenberg in the penalty box and then Ward came up big on Chris Kunitz and Sergei Gonchar during the ensuing power play.
Seidenberg was in the box for the second time when the Hurricanes nearly tied the score again. Chad LaRose had a strong backhand attempt on the penalty kill but was turned away by Fleury. However Pittsburgh’s Bill Guerin was called for a penalty behind the play and the teams skated four-on-four. After the penalty Guerin atoned for his power play penalty call by pushing the puck up to Sidney Crosby and then potting the return pass while converting a three-on-two rush. Craig Adams finished the goal-scoring late in the final period when he accepted a pass from Crosby and fired the puck into Carolina’s deserted net.
Earlier in the third Carolina tried to get back in the contest with Sergei Samsonov and Matt Cullen, twice, getting off testing bids on Fleury, but after the early first period goal by Staal, Fleury flummoxed the Hurricanes with his goaltending ability shutting them down time after time.
With the win the Penguins will go on to face the Western Conference winners. Should they meet the Detroit Red Wings again, they Wings lead their series three games to one, it would be the first time since 1984 that teams have faced each other in back-to-back Finals. In 1983 the New York Islanders defeated the Edmonton Oilers for the Stanley Cup while in 1984 Edmonton returned the favor.
If Detroit should win on Wednesday night there is talk the Finals will start this Saturday and Sunday in Michigan instead of June 5 as the league initially indicated.
Notes
A couple of impressive stats owned by the Carolina Hurricanes came to end in defeat. Ward had been a perfect 5-0 in elimination games while the team was 7-0 in the playoffs when Staal scored a goal…Fleury improved to 6-4 overall and 3-0 on the road when Pittsburgh had a chance to eliminate a club…Injuries and coach’s preference changed the Carolina lineup. Tuomo Ruttu’s injury forced the dynamic winger out of the lineup while Carolina coach Paul Maurice decided to insert Babchuk into the lineup instead of Frantisek Kaberle… The Carolina franchise has not been swept in a postseason series since the Montreal Canadiens ousted the Hartford Whalers in four games in the 1989 Adams Division Semifinal…The Penguins became the first team since the 1984 Edmonton Oilers to advance to the Stanley Cup final the year after losing in the Stanley Cup final. That year, the Oilers won the Cup in five games over the Islanders…Dan Blysma became the eighth coach to have taken over a team during the season and reach the Stanley Cup final later that year. The last to do it was Larry Robinson in 2000 with the New Jersey Devils.
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