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Posted by Kerrzy on Thursday, June 08, 2006 |
After being thrown into Edmonton’s Dwayne Roloson late in game one and effectively ending his Stanley Cup finals, Carolina Hurricanes rookie Andrew Ladd again drove a stake through the heart of the Oilers goaltending, netting the game winner just six minutes into Wednesday night’s game two in Carolina.
Three powerplay goals, a goal with 2.4 seconds left in the second period, and a Georges Laraque boarding major later, the Edmonton Oilers left the RBC Centre on the wrong end of what was a devastating 5-0 loss at the hands of the Hurricanes, who now lead the best-of-seven series 2-0. Read more...
After a frantic first few minutes of end-to-end hockey, Carolina’s Frantisek Kaberle took advantage of Edmonton’s aggressive offense by easily breaking up a rush led by Oiler defenseman Steve Staios and turning the puck up to playoff points leader Eric Staal and rookie Andrew Ladd, who converted on a 2-on-1 against Edmonton’s Marc-Andre Bergeron.
Staal picked up his league-leading 15th assist of the postseason on the play after dishing the puck to Ladd who put home his second of the playoffs when he drove in down the right side and snapped a shot past the Oilers’ Jussi Markkanen, who was tricked by a deflection off of Bergeron in his first start in 99 days.
Kaberle got his name on the score sheet once again on a second period powerplay when he took a pass in the slot from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta’s Ray Whitney and slotted it past Markkanen with 9:30 left in the period.
Going into the dressing room down 2-0 would not have been so bad for the Oilers, but with 2.4 seconds remaining, the Hurricanes got a lucky bounce when Cory Stillman popped the puck down the length of the crossbar after a Niclas Wallin point shot was stopped by Markkanen, and then knocked it into the net on the wrap around.
Penalty trouble continued for the Oilers and the bad bounces continued for the Oilers’ Jussi Markkanen in the third when ex-Oiler Doug Weight scored a powerplay goal just 2:21 into the frame after a shot fired towards the net deflected off of his skate, and then his stick, and then into the yawning Edmonton cage to make it 4-0.
Frustration was evident in the next penalty taken by Edmonton’s Ethan Moreau who lunged at Carolina’s Glen Wesley with a punch to the head as Wesley skated with his back to him, which landed Moreau two minutes in the sin bin.
On that powerplay, just under two minutes after Doug Weight’s powerplay goal, veteran forward Mark Recchi got his stick onto the end of a Frantisek Kaberle point shot, tipping it in for the Hurricanes final goal of the night, and the third powerplay marker in ten tries for the league’s best playoff PP.
Things would get ugly before the clock ran out on rookie goalie Cam Ward’s second career postseason shutout, thanks to a dirty hit on Hurricanes forward Andrew Ladd by the Oilers’ Georges Laraque, who delivered the nasty hit from behind with 3:16 left in the 5-0 game.
For his trouble, Laraque received his second boarding major and his second game misconduct of this year’s playoffs, the first set coming after an equally moronic and pointless hit on Jonathan Cheechoo of the San Jose Sharks during game three of the second round.
The Oilers went 0-for-6 on the powerplay and were outshot 26-25 through three periods in front of 18,928 fans at the RBC Center in Raleigh.
The teams now have two days off before suiting up for Saturday’s game three at Edmonton’s Rexall Place. The puck drops at 6 pm mountain time.
Moral of the Story: That was a completely classless move by Laraque, especially given the scoreline and the time left in the game, and I’m sure his teammates feel the same way. Give the guy a suspension, make him pay the price. Best $1.083-million per season the Oilers ever spent, eh? |
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