Hurricanes Move Within One Victory of Stanley Cup Hockey Title
The Carolina Hurricanes moved within a victory of their first Stanley Cup title after beating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 last night behind goals from Mark Recchi and Cory Stillman.
Eric Staal assisted on both goals and Cam Ward had 20 saves for Carolina, which leads the National Hockey League’s best-of- seven championship series three games to one.
The Hurricanes can take the Stanley Cup by winning Game 5 on June 14 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Carolina scored five goals at home in each of the first two games of the series.
“This is going to be the toughest game for us, the one that closes the series,'’ Stillman said at a televised news conference. “And you know what? We’re looking forward to doing that on home ice.'’
Recchi snapped a 1-1 tie with his seventh goal of the postseason with 3:04 left in the second period at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. His goal came after a turnover by Oilers defenseman Chris Pronger.
The Oilers opened the scoring 8:40 into the first period as Sergei Samsonov beat Ward for his fourth goal of the postseason.
Stillman tied it 29 seconds later, scoring on a power play after Raffi Torres received a two-minute tripping penalty. With the goal, Stillman extended his point-scoring streak in consecutive playoff games to 12.
The Oilers were 0-for-5 on the power play and have scored just once on 25 power-play opportunities in the series.
“We lost the momentum and it was just a product of, not getting outplayed, but just getting out-capitalized,'’ Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. “They capitalized on their chances.'’
Carolina lost to Detroit in five games in the 2001-02 Stanley Cup Finals. Edmonton won its previous five trips to the championship series, the last in 1990.
