Stanley Cup Finals Notebook

Carolina 5 Edmonton 0: The Carolina Hurricanes moved one step closer to securing their first Stanley Cup with a convincing victory over a seemingly overmatched Oilers squad. Rookie goalie Cam Ward had 25 saves, and five different Carolina players scored, with rookie winger Andrew Ladd getting the game winner in the first period.

On the other side of the ledger, Jussi Markkanen, pressed into service after Dwayne Roloson's injury and Ty Conklin's brain fart, played better than the stats would indicate, yielding the five Carolina goals on just 25 shots. But more often than not, the Finn was left hung out to dry by his Edmonton teammates. Covered in Oil liveblogged the pain last night, while Sacamano at Battle of Alberta is just looking to kick some butt:

They tried to be too cute instead of just shooting the damn puck at a goalie who was giving out rebounds like a trampoline. They took idiotic penalties. They gave up odd-man rushes on stupid pinches. They refused to direct anything towards the net on powerplays. At least Hemsky looked good.

I'm actually happy the Oil got spanked tonight. If you are going to lose a game, you might as well do it in a fashion that pisses some people off. This was such a frustrating game to watch. I was absolutely furious for most of it. I'm still furious. I'm livid. I want to go to the airport to meet the players -- and kick their asses.

Mudcrutch is still puzzling over the shot count and outcome of Game One:

Looking at some of the Canes blogs, they seem satisfied that their team picked it up in the third of G1. Casonblog is an example of this; he says "The Oilers were clearly the better team last night...until they weren't", whatever the hell that means. Comments from their players seem to indicate the same. From what I know of the Oilogosphere, I don't think that the reaction to a win like that would be quite so positive.

I'm a bit mystified by this reaction, but maybe that's how the Canes won games this year-they were 8-2-1 this year when getting outshot by 12 or more. Edmonton outshot the opposition by 12 or more shots 15 times this year; they were 10-4-1 in those games. The Oilers were only outshot by 12 or more twice this season; maybe that's why I'm having a hard time seeing the good for the Hurricanes here. Given the choice, I'll have every game play out with the shots and balance of play like last night and take my chances.

He also goes back to the well with the old saw about how the Canes are only winning because every other team is suffering major injuries, and makes sure he takes a couple of shots at the Cainiacs for not knowing their hockey.

People, can't we all just get along?

In other Oilers blogs, Andy Grabia needs some Prozac, Lain Babcock is holding out hope and BDH says the Oilers have no margin for error.

Meanwhile, back in Raleigh, Red and Black Hockey has the offical B-List celebrity sighting list from last night's game:

Kid Rock Carolina Panthers wide recievers Steve Smith and Ricky Proehl ESPN's Chris Berman Mia Hamm.

When your team is up 2-0 in the Finals you can get away with worrying about stuff like this. The Acid Queen says it's no time for Canes fans to get haughty, and CasonBlog wanted some retaliation after Georges Laraque got a little punchy:

Seriously, that crap out of Dredy Locks Laraque was absolute thuggery. He takes a run at Wallin's legs then boards Andrew Ladd when the boy's head is down. And the Canes take it? You're up five goals and nobody takes a shot at Moreau? That's the only bittersweet thing about tonight for me. The Canes played the game right start to finish. They blocked shots, played great team defense, created great shot opportunities, Cam was the man, and they kept their discipline...too much friggin' discipline.

One thing that drove me nuts last night: Once it was clear the game was getting out of hand and the Oilers started to play a little chippy, OLN color man John Davidson (apparently heading for St. Louis soon enough) kept saying that Edmonton was playing "nasty". And he kep repeating it in such a way that it seemed like he couldn't reboot his brain, like he was searching desperately for another word and couldn't find it.

So when that failed, he resorted to pronouncing the word with a flourish, as if we wouldn't notice he was saying the same thing over and over again. I almost put my foot through my television.

Now we've got a pair of off days until Game Three on Saturday night in Edmonton, as the NHL makes its triumphant return to network prime time in the U.S. Bob Eckstrom has a message for NHL fans in the U.S.:

Yours can no longer afford to remain a secret order dedicated to preserving the esoterica of a once sacred game. You must come to terms with the fact that 'Bowling Night' successfully replaced your sport on its former network, and the WNBA now outdraws it on its new home on OLN. Your game's next generation of fans are more apt to be the fallout who dosed off during 'Elk Country Journal' or 'The Lance Chronicles' and awaken to a hockey game and a missing remote. That is not a sufficient source to carry you back into prime time.

Blah, blah, blah. Since when is it the responsibility of NHL fans to bail the league out of its difficulties? If you like the game, please feel free to watch. And if not, just please leave us alone.

Carolina leads series, 2-0.

Eric 12:02 PM

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