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Hedican and the 'Canes know that winning Game 7 will require pulling themselves off the mat.
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'Canes insist Games 5-6
are in the past
By Shawn P. Roarke
NHL.com Senior Writer
June 19, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Earlier in the Stanley Cup Final, Carolina defenseman Bret Hedican compared this series
between his Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers to a heavyweight title fight destined to go the distance.
To continue that analogy, it is fair to say that Hedican's Hurricanes are pulling themselves off the
canvas to answer the bell for the final round after Saturday's demoralizing 4-0 loss in Game 6 at Rexall
Place.
By dropping Saturday's game, the 'Canes have squandered two of their three opportunities to knock out the
Oilers and claim the Stanley Cup. Now, heading into Game 7, the judges' cards are even at three
rounds, er games, apiece.
But it is the Oilers who are coming on strong at the end of this brawl, finishing in spectacular fashion.
Edmonton stole Game 5 with a stunning shorthanded goal in overtime that buckled Carolina's knees. Then, in
Game 6, Edmonton pummeled the Canes into the canvas with a barrage of body shots that added up to a
convincing 4-0 victory Saturday night.
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Now, the Hurricanes must pull themselves off the ice and find the legs to win one last game, or they will
face the embarrassment of losing the Stanley Cup fight they thoroughly controlled just a week ago.
"I would say, 'Don't count us out, you know.' "Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's one game. It's a
one-game shot. We have won an awful lot of hockey games this year, more than anybody else in the NHL.
"This team knows how to win. They know how to win on home ice. You know, people might have counted us out
after two losses to Montreal at home, and that was a mistake. So, you know, I guess we can't control what
people think or what people say, but we know there's a lot of confidence in the locker room to win hockey
games."
In other words, the Hurricanes, as battered and beaten as they appeared in stumbling off the ice after
Gamed 6, still have a puncher's chance in this series.
And, Carolina has shown the ability to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat in the past. In the first
round of the playoffs, Carolina overcame an 0-2 deficit in games to knock off Montreal in six games. In the
Eastern Conference Finals, the Hurricanes lost Game 6 to Buffalo before pulling away in Game 7 to punch
their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.
Now, the Hurricanes, who have engineered 10 playoff comebacks of two goals or more, will have to channel
that magic one more time to deliver the franchise its first Stanley Cup.
"(Edmonton) played very loose and very hard the last two games, and maybe we weren't where we needed to
be," center Kevyn Adams said. "But you know, I mean now we just have to fight. You just have to go out there
and enjoy it, and just say, we got one game to lay it on the line and you can't play any other way other than
that."
The Hurricanes insist that Edmonton's body blows -- the stunning overtime goal in Game 5 and the thorough
pasting of Game 6 -- have been put in the past.
"Well, (Game) 5 was tough to swallow," Laviolette admitted. "In overtime, we were set up to win it on our
power play and it didn't happen, so it was really a tough one to get over. Maybe the toughest that we have
been through. It has been the toughest we have been through as a group.
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The 'Canes would love to see Rod Brind'Amour step up Monday night.
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"And, then, Game 6 was just terrible. I guess, obviously, it is a one-and-done for both sides. That's why
I guess you look back at the season. You try and find a game somewhere in mid-November that was on the road
and was five games and seven nights that you were able to come back and win and get the points that you need
for home ice advantage somewhere, you know, it's in our building. This is where we want to be."
The Hurricanes certainly have the arsenal to land the knockout blow that has eluded them for the past two
games. Cory Stillman and Eric Staal are capable of breaking out at any time. Rod Brind'Amour is a big-game
player comfortable usually comfortable in the street-fight atmosphere that has developed in this series. The
returning Erik Cole, when healthy, is among the best power forwards in the game today. Young goalie Cam Ward
has been unflappable throughout the playoffs.
Plus, Carolina once had this series in a stranglehold not too long ago. Therefore, the Hurricanes know all about the vagaries of fate and momentum. They believe that it is time for those intangibles to swing back in their favor.
"To sum it up, if you are not skating and you are not competing as well as the other team, then you are going to have a hard time winning that game," Laviolette said. "But games change, as you guys know, they change from game to game. Nobody sets out in the season and wins every game they play. They change from game to game, and they change from series to series. I would expect a marked improvement in our game (Monday)."
As a result of that belief, the Hurricanes know that they can pull a result out in the final game, especially with a a rabid RBC
Center crowd at their backs willing them on to finish the fight.
"We didn't play well enough (to win the Stanley Cup)," Adams said. "There's no secret. You can't tiptoe
around. We didn't play well enough to win the Stanley Cup last two games; we didn't deserve to win.
"But the great opportunity that we have is we get another chance, and that's where our excitement has to
lie -- that we can go out there and really play our best and see what happens."
Obviously, the Hurricanes wish that they did not leave the Stanley Cup decision to the last round.
Rather, they would have preferred to land their own knockout blow in either of the last two games. Now,
however, that regret -- like everything else -- must be put in the past. Carolina can only look forward, to
the target before it, and fight its hardest to put away what has proved to be the most valiant of foes.
"Worried is not the word, I think we're more excited," Adams said. "It's the best-of-seven. You know, all of
the playoffs, we always knew they were going to be long and tough series. Obviously, you get up 3-1 and you
want to finish teams, but it didn't happen.
"Then you got to start to get excited. You play all year to play at home, and here we are with a Game 7 in
our building and a wonderful opportunity to go out and have our best game. That's what we need to focus
on."
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