I believe that hockey is the only sport that the team with the most “talent” does not always win the Stanley Cup. Usually in baseball, football and basketball for the most part the best overall teams usually win their respective championships. Tonight in the Canes 3-0 win over the Bruins to tie the series at 1, Cam Ward was simply outstanding. He had 36 saves and recorded his 4th lifetime playoff shutout. Boston outshot the Canes 36-25 and an incredible 16-3 in the 3rd period. Ward looked like the Conn Smythe winner from 2006 in tonights game. (See hightlights as well below Ward's Save on Ryder picture)
The first period was an even one. The Canes did seem to come out more determined after losing game 1, 4-1 on Friday night. They were much smarter with the puck, especially in the neutral zone. Zedeno Chara absolutely nailed Eric Staal with a clean hit midway through the period. The first real good chance by Boston came off of a Dennis Wideman shot from the right point. Ward also stopped Lucic on a point blank shot from the right circle. Thomas came up with his own moving across save on Patrick Eaves on a nice feed from Rod Brindamour. Shots in the first were Carolina 13 Boston 9.
As I mentioned to a few people that if Carolina wanted to have a chance in this game, they needed to score the first goal. At 2:30 of the 2nd period, they did just that. Joe Corvo (1 goal 1 assist) blasted one from about 10 feet in from the right point on a nice feed from Eric Staal to make it 1-0. This was such a psychologial advantage for the Canes as they were so badly outplayed by Boston all season long. As the period wore on Joni Pitkanen was in the box for a cross check. Pitkanen is the ultimate heart attack player, meaning he can help score goals with nice offensive ability, but also tends to get out of position leaving his goalie out to dry sometimes. Chad Larose stole a Chara pass and broke down the left wing and ended up hustling to the puck behind the net. He then fed a nice pass to the trailing Matt Cullen, who beat Thomas with a shorthanded goal to make it 2-0. Chad Larose (2 goals and 8 pts in the playoffs) is by far to me the most improved Hurricane player especially in the 2nd half of the season. Larose has in addition to his penalty killing duties, has earned more ice time than he had for most of the regular season. Then at the end of the period, Larose pounced on a clear in and tried to beat Thomas up and appeared to hit the crossbar and then the post and it was ruled by the ref it did not go in. After some replay it looked like the puck might have gone slightly over the line. The two Versus announcers, ironically John Forslund the play by play man for the Hurricanes and Andy Brickley the color man for the Bruins, both though the play was a goal. After a lot of deliberation, it was ruled inconclusive for a no goal. The scored remained 2-0. Boston did outshoot Carolina 12-9 in the period but this might have been Carolina's best road period of the playoffs.
I give the Bruins credit for the 3rd period. They came out flying and as I mentioned earlier, poured it on Cam Ward. Ward was up to the task. Early in the period, Phil Kessel set up nicely by Marc Savard. was stopped by Ward. With the period about 7 minutes old, PJ Alexelson was set up nicely by Shawn Thornton and cut to the middle, Ward was able to stand tall and keep Boston scoreless. Tim Thomas (22 saves) who also had a solid game, stopped Eric Cole with about 10 minutes left to keep Boston in the game. Then Joni “heart attack” Pitkanen was in the box again with less than 7 minutes left in the game and Boston pressured Carolina again. Dennis Wideman took a shot from the point that was deflected out front. There were a mass of bodies in front of Ward and the ever dangerous Michael Ryder got the puck and fired a puck that looked like a sure goal. Ward just kicked out with his left pad and kept the Bruins scoreless. For good measure he also stopped Wideman as well and you just had the feeling it was Carolina's night. Eric Staal did score an empty net goal to seal the win for the Canes.
I will stand by my original prediction in saying this series will go at least 6 games. The Bruins are the more talented team, but if Cam Ward plays like he did tonight for the rest of the series, they definitely have a chance of upsetting Boston. I love hockey so much because of the unpredictability of each and every game. If you went by Fridays utter domination of Boston over the Canes, the regular season dominance and how crisp Boston usually is, most experts would not have though the Canes stood a chance tonight. A hot goalie can cover for any teams deficiencies. I look forward to writing about this series some more in the next few days. I like to thank anyone who reads this humble blog. Even though I am just a regular guy trying to have fun, writing about sports is so gratifying. On to game 6 in Raleigh on Wednesday night.
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