First off, I must tip my hat to the Edmonton fans I interacted with last night. They were all, without fail, the nicest and most accommodating visitors I've encountered at a hockey game, both before and after the game. One guy in section 114 was singing Oh Canada at the top of his lungs. The crowd was singing with Holly, but everyone in our section could definitely hear him over her. The lower part of our section tried very hard not to break out in laughter and there were definitely smiles everywhere.
My wife told me of another incident where two Edmonton fans had "appropriated" the stop signs at the top of our section. Normally an usher stands there to prevent fans from trying to get to their seats while the puck is in play.
After the game a fully decked out fan with face paint and a hard hat was giving high fives to the Canes fans and telling them, with a big smile, "Now you're coming to our house." Very light hearted and fun crowd last night.
I saw for the first time a fan turned away at the door for a counterfeit/illegally scalped ticket. Someone forwarded the ticket to him and, obviously, someone on staff didn't care for the manner he got it. Too bad for him.
Lots of celebrities in the audience too - Kid Rock, Chris Berman (sporting a Whalers hat), Carolina Panther wideout and fantasy stud Steve Smith (he won me so many fantasy games single-handedly I have to give him the shoutout), Ricky Proehl, and Mia Hamm. Anyway, on to the actual game.
I was having a conversation with David Lee before the game and we were discussing our chances in the series. He tells me, first off, that it would be very unlikely for us to sweep. Even without Roloson, they're a good team. I agreed with him, but told him "The only way I see it happening is if we absolutely jump out on them and crush their confidence - I mean blow them out big time. Even then, it's not a sure thing, but that would go a long way to crushing the hopes of the team and the fan base."
Maybe I have the gift of prophecy. The Canes jumped out quick and Edmonton looked a little hesitant. My impression was that they seemed to be (consciously or subconsciously) worried about their goaltending so much that they were pressing. They put so much pressure on themselves to try and outscore us that they kept pinching in and getting caught on odd-man breaks. It eventually bit them when the Ladd-Staal two on one turned into a goal. Carolina's team defense was simply outstanding - sticks in passing lanes, blocked shots, a phenomenal penalty kill - everything the Oilers were supposed to be in the series and the Canes were not.
Still, after one, the Oilers had to think they were still in it. At the end of the second, that illusion was gone. The Kaberle goal on the power play was soft enough that I still don't think Frankie has reacted to it yet. He was the most surprised person on the ice after that goal. The replay showed it went under Markkanen's leg, not five-hole as I originally thought. It was the Stillman goal, with less than 3 seconds left in the period, that absolutely broke the will of Edmonton.
Carolina scored two more power play goals early in the third period and the rout was on. Edmonton wasn't even trying to win at that point, content with trying to injure Carolina players. Georges Laraque is a joke. There is a difference between playing physical and playing dirty. Seventeen minutes of penalties in the final 9 minutes of the game for trying to "send a message".
Georges, here's a hint - with a five goal lead, no one is going to fight you. No one is going to fight you anyway because any player on the ice is more valuable than you are. It's always going to be a loss for us if one of our players goes to the box in exchange for you. When he started his clown act in the middle of the third, I commented to my wife that he was trying to injure someone. I'm glad the refs finally tossed him and no one was injured.
The last 15 minutes of the game was primarily about preserving the shutout for Cam (despite Kermit, a guy sitting two seats from me, mentioning the S-word with 10 minutes left in the third *sigh*) and the Canes did a great job of it. Almost every series, fans of the team we beat would say the same thing - "We never tested Cam. [New Jersey/Buffalo/Edmonton] would expose him for the paper goalie he is." The truth is when Cam is on his game, he makes everything look easy. He has excellent positioning and technique, he has a near supernatural calmness to him, and he's athletic.
Some interesting stats:
- Every Hurricanes skater got some time on the power play. Glen Wesley had the least with 42 seconds. Oleg Tverdovsky, the 7th defenseman, played for 2:20 and spent half of the time (1:04) on the power play. The Carolina power play was 3/10.
- Series special teams: Carolina 4/15 (26.6%), Edmonton 1/13 (7.7%). Carolina has scored 1 SHG.
- Edmonton got no shots on their first three power plays of the game. Carolina's last two power plays were primarily handled by the fourth liners and extra skaters (Tverdovsky).
- Brind'Amour was 50% on faceoffs (10-10)
- Stars: 3. Cullen (3A), Kaberle (1G, 2A), Ward (25 sv, SO)
Some questions to ponder:
- Will Edmonton bounce back? They lost their goalie and the following game were absolutely hammered by a team that was superior in every facet of the game. Is their confidence shot?
- Who is in net? Does McTavish stick with Jussi or try his luck with Ty?
- Will the Hurricanes realize that Buzz Babe and Storm Squad member Melissa absolutely needs to be permanently stationed down at the stairs next to section 116?
Post-Game Quotes
Goals of the Game
Flavor of the Game
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