Carolina Hurricanes Win Game Two Of The Stanley Cup Finals
Posted: 08 June 2006 01:01 AM     [ Ignore ]  
You > Me
Total Posts:  91
Joined  2006-04-06

Not so surprisingly to me, anyway, the Hurricanes took Game Two of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers and whomever the backup goaltender was going to be after Dwayne Roloson went down in Game One.  So, who was that goalie?  It was Jussi Markkanen, who was making his first playoff start in only the most important playoff series in the NHL.  How badly did he do?  Well, the Oilers lost 5-0.  Nuff said.

But, honestly, Roloson could have felt the “spirit” within him, thrown his crutches to the floor and start running AND THEN take the net for the Oilers tonight and it wouldn’t have mattered. Why?  Because rookie and playoff revelation, Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward was getting busy turning away Oilers’ shots on goal (25) the way Paris Hilton turns away guys without video cameras.

During the regular season, Ward had a very pedestrian 3.68 GAA (goals against average) and a .882 SV% (saves percentage).  However, during the playoffs, he’s kicked it up a notch and is averaging a 2.19 GAA and a .917 SV%.  Now, I’m not saying he’s Patrick Roy, but Ward sure is doing a pretty good impersonation of him right now.

Scoring goals for the Hurricanes were LW Andrew Ladd, D Frantisek Kaberle, LW Cory Stillman, C Doug Weight, and RW Mark Recchi.  The Oilers find themselves down 2-0 in the series as they head back home for Game Three of the Stanley Cup finals and with inexperienced goalies tending net, it’s going to be a long… make that short… series for the Oilers.  All of Alberta, Canada just cursed me right now.

The puck drops for Game Three on Saturday at 8PM and will actually be nationally televised on network television here in the United States on NBC.  Props to them for bringing one of the most historic championships to the U.S. general public.

Profile