Raleigh, N.C. – Years ago, when Floyd Whitney was in his early days as the Edmonton Oilers’ practice goaltender, he pulled some strings to get his son, Ray, the assignment as the team’s stickboy.
A lot of shots have gone under life’s crossbar since for both father and son, but one possibility looming is that Ray Whitney might end up playing against the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Ray Whitney, now a 34-year-old journeyman winger with his sixth NHL team, scored two goals Monday night to help the Carolina Hurricanes even the Eastern Conference finals at a game apiece with a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at the RBC Center.
The Hurricanes for the most part dominated Game 2, and only two late Buffalo goals – Chris Drury’s on a 5-on-3 and then Derek Roy’s with just three seconds remaining – gave it the appearance of something other than the rout it was.
Whitney’s dad came in from Edmonton, where the Oilers will attempt to take a 3-0 series lead on Anaheim in the Western Conference finals tonight, to catch the first two games of the East series on the Hurricanes’ ice.
Had Whitney thought about what it might be like to face Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Finals, and what it would be like for his father, the longtime Oilers employee?
“That’s a little bit beyond where I’d like to go right now,” said Whitney, who signed with the Hurricanes in the frenzy that followed the end of the lockout last summer. “I think he’d be a man without a team. I don’t think he’d be welcome in either one of those locker rooms.”
Whitney’s consecutive second-period goals, the first on a power play when he deflected Eric Staal’s shot and the second on a one-timer of Matt Cullen’s pass, lifted the Hurricanes from a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead. With Cullen sitting next to him, Whitney joked that he was so poised and waiting for Cullen’s pass, “I was thinking, ‘Pick your head up and slide it.”‘
Carolina coach Peter Laviolette called Whitney “one of our more creative players in small spaces. Whitney has brought offense his whole career. He’s a smart thinker of the game.”
Whitney said the Hurricanes, who lost the opener 3-2, “certainly didn’t want to go down two going into Buffalo. … All year long, we have been a very good team at not looking too far ahead. We realize we’re 1-1, we got a split in our building and that doesn’t thrill us.”
Carolina ended up outshooting the Sabres 35-19 in Game 2, and that was indicative of the magnitude of the Carolina control for most of the night. Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward didn’t have to be heroic to come out the winner in this one.
“That certainly wasn’t the game we wanted,” Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere said. “They showed a little more desperation than us tonight. It’s not the end of the world. It’s one game and we’ll get back on track. We’re not happy with the way we played tonight, that’s for sure.”
Buffalo 1 0 2 – 3
Carolina 1 2 1 – 4
First period – 1, Carolina, Kaberle 2 (Cullen, Stillman), 10:05 (pp). 2, Buffalo, Vanek 2 (Kotalik, Fitzpatrick), 19:13 (pp). Penalties – Kotalik, Buf (interference), 9:08; Kaberle, Car (boarding), 14:06; Stillman, Car (charging), 18:00.
Second period – 3, Carolina, Whitney 5 (Staal, Weight), 6:03 (pp). 4, Carolina, Whitney 6 (Cullen, Wesley), 12:58. Penalties – Hecht, Buf (tripping), 5:39; Pominville, Buf (hooking), 7:28; Gaustad, Buf (roughing), 11:09; Recchi, Car (roughing), 11:09; A.Ward, Car (elbowing), 18:51; Dumont, Buf (hooking), 19:06.
Third period – 5, Carolina, Williams 3, 6:58. 6, Buffalo, Drury 7 (Briere, Dumont), 11:39 (pp). 7, Buffalo, Roy 4 (Drury, Afinogenov), 19:57 (pp). Penalties – Wesley, Car (tripping), 7:15; Kaberle, Car (hooking), 10:23; Hedican, Car (hooking), 10:27; Kotalik, Buf (tripping), 13:55; LaRose, Car (holding), 18:07.
Shots on goal – Buffalo 6-4-9 – 19. Carolina 12-16-7 – 35. Power-play opportunities – Buffalo 3 of 7; Carolina 2 of 5.
Goalies – Buffalo, Miller 9-4 (35 shots-31 saves). Carolina, Ward 9-3 (19-16).
Attendance – 18,730 (18,730). T – 2:28.
Referees – Dan O’Halloran, Don Van Massenhoven. Linesmen – Brian Murphy, Tim Nowak.
