Raleigh, N.C. – The handshake line formed as it always does at the end of an NHL playoff series, and Carolina goalie Cam Ward finally got his first face-to-face meeting with idol and counterpart, Martin Brodeur.
“He just wished me well and said, ‘Go all the way,’ and I just expressed to him that, in my eyes, he’s the best,” Ward said.
This time, it simply wasn’t true.
Ward steadied himself following a rocky start, Cory Stillman got the go-ahead goal on Carolina’s first power play midway through the second period and the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Sunday night to win the best-of-seven series in five games.
“I think we deserved it,” Carolina captain Rod Brind’Amour said. “We were the better team, we felt it right from Game 1, and now we’re moving on.”
Frantisek Kaberle, Ray Whitney and Eric Staal also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won eight of their past nine games in the playoffs. They finished off a winning series at home for the first time in franchise history – and will face the Buffalo Sabres next, with the survivor advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.
“The feeling is the same, it’s that sense of relief,” Carolina defenseman Aaron Ward said. “If we didn’t do it here, and we didn’t approach this like it was our Game 7, what kind of bed are we making for ourselves?”
The Devils took a 1-0 lead less than a minute after the opening faceoff, when Brian Gionta took advantage of a fortuitous bounce to beat Cam Ward – the 22-year-old rookie netminder who was pulled after allowing four goals in a little more than one period Saturday. New Jersey won that game 5-1 to avoid a sweep, but Ward bounced back to end the Devils’ season a day later.
“Those type of games happen, that’s the beauty of a seven-game series,” Ward said. “We were able to have a chance to redeem ourselves in the next 24 hours. I think it’s just important to how you respond to those situations, and obviously, we responded very well.”
He finished with 17 saves, including 10 in the first period when Carolina played short- handed for eight minutes. The Devils failed to capitalize on any of those power plays, and Kaberle tied the game on the Hurricanes’ second shot of the game.
It came when teammate Matt Cullen beat John Madden on a faceoff, and Mark Recchi got the puck to Kaberle along the wall. His shot ricocheted off Devils defenseman Paul Martin and past Brodeur, electrifying another capacity crowd at the RBC Center.
“You sit back a little bit on your heels and wait and see what’s going on,” Brodeur said. “The crowd’s able to turn around their team and tweak them up by one little hit, one little save on net. It’s just an opportunity missed. That’s the bottom line.”
