Posted on 06/01/2006 8:46:10 PM PDT by Phantom Lord
Hurricanes win Game 7, take series
RALEIGH — Wherever the Carolina Hurricanes are headed, Rod Brind’Amour will lead them there. Thursday, he brought them to the brink of the Stanley Cup for the second time in five years.
With a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Canes will host the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, four wins away from the Stanley Cup.
Brind’Amour’s power-play goal with 8:38 to play put the Canes into the lead for good, completing yet another third-period comeback for a team that made a habit of them to get this far.
After promising to atone for his boarding penalty that led to Buffalo’s overtime goal in Game 6, Doug Weight set up Carolina’s first goal and scored the second early in the third period after a collapse late in the second period not only cost the Canes their early lead but put them behind going into the third.
It was the first Game 7 win in franchise history and the sixth for Carolina defenseman Glen Wesley in seven tries.
The Canes needed to put pressure on the Sabres’ patchwork defense early. They did, allowing a power-play shot before taking the next six, not including a Justin Williams shot on a short-handed breakaway that hit the crossbar — one of five early shots the amped-up Canes fired over the net.
But the Sabres applied some pressure of their own, with Cam Ward making four saves on one possession that ended when Chris Drury’s tight-angle shot went through the crease.
Having survived, the Canes cashed in on their next shot to take the early lead. Some hard work by Williams in the corner got the puck out to Doug Weight, who fed Mike Commodore at the blue line. Commodore’s shot hit two Buffalo players on its way into the net 12 minutes into the game, a double deflection that Ryan Miller had no chance to stop.
The Canes outshot the Sabres 5-0 to open the second — Andrew Ladd caught Daniel Briere with his head down behind the Buffalo net early in the second period to punctuate the surge — and would have scored again had Sabres defenseman Brian Campbell not thrown his body into the net to stop a Cory Stillman shot.
Buffalo had two power plays in the first two periods, but both ended quickly when the Hurricanes drew penalties with some aggressive short-handed play. The Sabres’ two goals would come at even strength.
In a four-on-four situation, Eric Staal lost a faceoff to Jochen Hecht, who then screened Ward on Doug Janik’s shot from the right point. Then, in the final seconds of the second, Jochen Hecht banked a shot off Ward’s left leg and inside the left post from behind the net — a rookie mistake by a rookie goalie who has looked anything but during the playoffs.
That goal came with 4.9 seconds left in the second. Ninety-four seconds into the third, Weight answered to tie the score and set the stage for a wild finish.
Midway through the third, Campbell shot the puck over the boards, giving the Hurricanes a power play with 9:42 to play. Staal took a shot that got caught in traffic in front of the net and sat loose in front.
Brind’Amour jumped in from the right circle to fire it past Miller. The Sabres had a late power play after Jason Pominville drew a tripping call on Williams, but the Canes didn’t allow Buffalo a shot on goal and Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff decided not to pull Miller for an extra skater when the Sabres were pressuring the Canes in their own zone with less than 90 seconds to play.
It didn’t matter — even with Miller in the net, Williams got the puck back after trying to pass it to Brind’Amour in the slot and backhanded it over Miller with 51.7 seconds to play to seal the win and a ticket to the finals.
The first day of hurricane season was the biggest of Hurricanes season — so far. Like the weather, they’re not done yet.
This'll be my 1st Stanley Cup, I can't wait...
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