RALEIGH -- It took until Wednesday's Game 5, but the punishing bodywork of the Edmonton Oilers
finally claimed its first victims in this Stanley Cup Final.
And, not surprisingly, that hard work paid off with Edmonton claiming a taut 4-3 victory that was decided by Fernando Pisani's shorthanded goal just 3:31 into overtime. With the win, Edmonton extended this best-of-seven series to a Game 6 Saturday night in Edmonton. Carolina still leads the series with a three-games-to-two advantage.
To start the hit parade, Edmonton power forward Raffi Torres waylaid Carolina defenseman Aaron Ward into the side boards on Ward's first shift of the game -- just 36 seconds into the contest. Ward suffered an unspecified upper-body injury -- believed to be a shoulder injury -- when he was blasted into the glass. He finished the first period, playing just 3:46, but could not return for the second period. He gamely returned
with 12:07 remaining in the third to dry to help a desperately worn down defensive unit.
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Schedule / Links:
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| Gm. 1: CAR 5, EDM 4 | Photos |
| Gm. 2: CAR 5, EDM 0 | Photos |
| Gm. 3: EDM 2, CAR 1 | Photos |
| Gm. 4: CAR 2, EDM 1 | Photos |
| Gm. 5: EDM 4, CAR 3 OT | Photos |
Gm. 6: June 17, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Edmonton (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
*Gm. 7: June 19, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Carolina (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
| *if necessary |
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Then, at the start of the third period -- with the game deadlocked at 3-all -- offensive dynamo Doug Weight
was rendered useless after a punishing sandwich hit between big Chris Pronger and the aforementioned Torres,
who was on a seek-and-destroy mission all night long.
"(Torres) was a handful all night," MacTavish said. "He got some big hits and he played terrific."
Weight -- who assisted on the first Carolina goal by Eric Staal -- immediately dropped his stick and
skated directly to the bench and down the corridor leading to the Carolina dressing room. Weight returned
unexpectedly with 1:51 left in the third period, but never played another shift.
The Oilers, who dished out 92 hits in the first four games -- including an astounding 32 in Game 4 two
nights earlier -- delivered 19 hits in Game 5. Pronger led the way Wednesday with five checks.
Down a defenseman for almost two periods, and a forward for 17 of the final 19 minutes of the third,
Carolina was forced to do some serious roster juggling.
Each of the 'Canes remaining five defensemen were forced to assume significant ice time during the second
period and started to wilt in the third period. In fact, Carolina took three-straight penalties to bridge the
end of the second period and the start of the third as they tried to defuse the relenting attacks engineered by a suddenly rejuvenated Oiler team smelling blood on the ice.
Up front, Laviolette had the luxury of leaning on forward Josef Vasicek, playing in just his second game of the Final, to absorb some of the ice time opened up with the absence of Weight.
Vasicek, a natural center, has the versatility to play all three forward positions. Plus, he is a big body capable of withstanding the often thunderous physical play being practiced by the Oilers.
Still, even with that versatility, Carolina did not register its first shot of the third period until 12:40 had elapsed in the period. Defenseman Mike Commodore had that chance, pinching in from
the point, and then Ray Whitney clanged the rebound off the near-side post with goalie Jussi Markkanen
flailing blindly at that opportunity.
Ward played six shifts upon returning to the game. With a little less than two minutes remaining in
regulation, Ward blocked a Pronger shot with his ankle and was gain momentarily hobbled, but, again, he
played on.
"He"s a battler," teammate Kevyn Adams said. "He came back in and did a great job. He had a big block
there toward the end and he did what he always does, which is play hard."
It remains to be seen if either Ward or Weight will be able to play in Saturday's Game 6.
A savior for Edmonton -- Winger Todd Harvey found his way into the lineup for Edmonton in Game 5,
leading some reporters to suggest that Oiler coach Craig MacTavish was looking for a good-luck charm as his
team tried to stave off elimination and return this series to Edmonton for Game 6.
Harvey, a veteran fourth-line player, had played in seven games this postseason before Wednesday night. He
replaced tough guy Georges Laraque, who had played in the first four games of the final and 15 playoff games
overall.
Amazingly, the Oilers are 6-1 in playoff games. Hence the good-luck charm status.
"Sounds like a loss in there, I don't know," MacTavish said, chuckling.
But, that loss came in the first round series against Detroit. Since, Edmonton has won each of those six
games in which Harvey has dressed.
Despite Harvey's recurring role of good-luck charm, MacTavish said it was more a case of the high-energy
Harvey once again being ready to make an impact. Harvey missed the final three games against Detroit and the
first four games against the San Jose Sharks in the second round with an undisclosed injury. He last played
May 23 against Anaheim, ending a streak of three-consecutive appearances. In his seven outings, Harvey has
managed one goal and one assist in just more than eight minutes average playing time per game.
"I think Todd, he's not a guy that you can play every night, but you know, I can generally see when he's
ready to go back to the lineup and I was seeing that -- oh, a couple of games ago -- he was ready," MacTavish
said. "So he gets his legs back and he gets fresher and then he plays three or four games and then he starts to drop off again and it's time to come out. But given where this series has been played the last little while, I think it hasn't really been outside of maybe the first game, hasn't really been a north-south
series. And, he's a smart guy. He's highly skilled, smart, I think given the opportunities that we have had,
certainly in Game 4, that his style of play may suit this game tonight."
Triumphant return -- Carolina coach Peter Laviolette made a similar move in Game 4 to MacTavish's
insertion of Harvey in Game 5. In Game 4, Laviolette returned big center Josef Vasicek to the lineup. Vasicek
played a strong game and his versatility allowed Carolina to dramatically juggle its lines in the 2-1 victory
in Game 4.
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Josef Vasicek played so well in Game 4, that Peter Laviolette put him in the lineup for Game 5.
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The move worked so well that Vasicek was again in the lineup for Game 5, replacing fourth-line winger Chad
LaRose for the second-straight game.
Vasicek, who made the long road back from a potentially season-ending knee injury suffered early in the
regular season, was back in the lineup for Wednesday's Game 5.
It seems he gave Laviolette all the coach wanted to see in his 10-minute audition in Game 4 back in
Edmonton.
"I thought that Joe came back and played hard," Laviolette said. "He was physical. He only played nine or
ten minutes, but he was physical when we needed him to be. He's a big, strong guy. There's a chance when Joe
is on the ice he can score a goal.
He was our leading scorer two years ago. He's a fairly young, although he's been in the League a few years
now. A gifted player that's got size and strength and the ability to score. When goals are at a premium,
five-on-five, Joe's got a good chance of getting one. I thought he played well."
Two years ago, Vasicek had 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points in 82 games. But, this year, he suffered
a major injury to his left knee in early November. He didn't return until the beginning of April and has
played in just six postseason games as he still battles the after-effects of the injury.
"I feel good," Vasicek said after Game 4. "It's the Stanley Cup Final, so I feel really great about it.
I'm trying to do the things I do every day and prepare myself for whatever is needed."
Closing the window -- The injured Erik Cole has been a fixture on the ice for Carolina during
practices and game-day skates throughout the Stanley Cup Final. He looks ready to play as he goes through the
various drills, and, deep in his heart, Cole believed throughout the past few weeks that he could return from
the horrific broken neck injury he suffered in a regular-season game against Pittsburgh.
In fact, doctors said Cole could conceivably be cleared to play in a Game 7, if it became necessary. But,
coach Peter Laviolette admitted Wednesday morning that such a dramatic scenario is not an option. The coach
will not let it happen and the player is aware of it, he says.
"Well, again, I have ruled it out from the start because, in talking to the doctors, this is not a broken
finger or a broken ankle, where, you know what, if it breaks again, we'll just have surgery and reset it,"
Laviolette said. "This is a broken neck. It was an unfortunate incident and nobody feels worse than me or the
players or his teammates, who see him out there and he looks so good and he looks like he could contribute.
He looks like he could come into the lineup tonight and contribute.
The bottom line is his vertebrae in his neck is not 100-percent healed. If it's only a .01 percent of a
fraction that he can re-injure it, that's enough for me. His life with his family and his future and his
career is far too valuable for that. It's not worth the risk. Again, based on everything and all the
information that I have today, Erik Cole will not play in the playoffs this year."
Honored alum -- A hearty congratulations must be extended to Chris Snow, a former NHL.com
contributing writer who was named Wednesday as the director of hockey operations for the Minnesota Wild .
Snow, just 24, covered the Minnesota Wild as a beat writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2003-04.
Since he has been a beat writer for the Boston Globe, covering the Boston Red Sox.
"Chris brings tremendous work ethic and a high level of enthusiasm to this position, and we're very
confident his fresh outlook and insight will be an asset for the organization," Wild President and General
Manager Doug Risebrough said.
We at NHL.com couldn't agree more wholeheartedly.
