WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

Hurricanes Limp Home With One Chance Left At Stanley Cup

Nov 10, 2006

EDMONTON, Alberta — Erik Cole's return wasn't even supposed to be an option for Carolina.

The Hurricanes weren't supposed to look this desperate -- or be forced into a Game 7 -- either.

Cole, who had 30 goals and 29 assists during the season, made a surprise return Saturday but did nothing to help Carolina tighten its grip on what had been a huge advantage in the Stanley Cup finals.

Now there's only one game left, and the once-dominant Eastern Conference champs are scrambling to salvage the series after a 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

The Hurricanes will limp home with their first losing streak since the first two games of the playoffs.

"We're lucky we have another game to play. We have a chance to redeem ourselves," captain Rod Brind'Amour said. "They came out and took it to us."

Carolina was 6-0 in games following losses after falling into a 2-0 hole against Montreal in the first round. Now the Hurricanes have a shutout loss and a whole lot of doubt on their suddenly shaky postseason resume.

Cole suited up for the first time since March 4, when he broke a vertebra in his neck. With star center Doug Weight out because of an injured right shoulder, coach Peter Laviolette pulled out the trump card he repeatedly said he didn't have.

"I don't think we would've gone through the effort of the CT scan had Doug not been injured," Cole said.

Cole was driven headfirst into the boards by Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik more than three months ago, and the Hurricanes announced in May that the U.S. Olympian was out for the season.

That was repeated by coach Laviolette earlier in the Stanley Cup finals as Cole continued to skate and practice in non-contact drills.

When push came to shove, Laviolette changed his mind.

Cole brought up the idea of playing on the flight to Edmonton. Laviolette and the coaches kicked around the idea, and set out to get Cole a scan in Canada. Rebuffed in their efforts, Cole went to Denver for the all-important test.

"We have maximized the healing process," Cole said. "Any healing to go on is very minimal. I'll have risk the rest of my life. "I felt strong the last several weeks on ice. The coaching staff felt confident that as long as I get it done ... we could do this."

Weight's right arm was held against his chest as he watched practice Saturday morning. The Hurricanes will be even more desperate in Game 7, so Weight might have to switch his seat from the press box to the bench for that one.

"We're playing with anybody," forward Eric Staal said. "Whoever is in is in and we're just going to try to get it done."

Carolina was outshot 10-3 in the first but was kept in it by 22-year-old goalie Cam Ward, who held the surging Oilers at bay.

He couldn't fight them off in the second when Fernando Pisani scored a power-play goal, and hard-hitting Raffi Torres followed with another tally a little more than 8 minutes later.

What made it worse is the Hurricanes not only couldn't get any shots past goalie Jussi Markkanen, they couldn't even get a shot into him. It wasn't until 14:11 of the second period that Justin Williams finally put one on net.

Ward, an Alberta native, grew up watching the Oilers from section 102. He couldn't have felt any more out of place when he gave up two more goals in the third period as the game became a rout.

"I'm going to point any fingers. We win as a team, we lose as a team," Ward said. "Bottom line is we didn't deserve to win.

They were the more desperate hockey club and more deserving of the outcome.

"There is no excuse for it. You don't expect this in the Stanley Cup playoffs with the opportunity to win it. It's disappointing to put in an effort like that. But that being said, it's over and done with."

The Hurricanes were outshot 21-7 after 40 minutes and already looking for the fastest route home to Tobacco Road. The final tally was 34-16, every bit as dominant as the scoreboard.

Cole hoped to be back for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals but late last month a CT scan showed that the injury hadn't healed enough to allow him to play again this season.

Or so the team said.

But the winger never lost hope. He was especially frustrated in recent days as he felt well enough to get back on the ice for real.

Once he did, he became a target for the physical Hurricanes. It took only 2:18 for Ethan Moreau to land a heavy check on Cole against the left-wing boards -- making them rattle on impact.

"I felt good the first shift," Cole said. "It was a power play and I knew he was coming. It's not surprising that they tried to headhunt me a little bit."

Cole had set Game 7 of this series as his latest goal because he said a specialist told him he might be cleared to return to contact 30 days after his last scan.

That one is Monday, and yes -- the Hurricanes have one more game to play.