Southern sendoff

'Canes don't give fans much to cheer about in Game 4

Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek covers the puck after Carolina's Ron Francis put a shot off the far post. AP

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Carolina Hurricanes got their sendoff from Hockeytown South. They might not be back this season.

The sellout crowd of 18,986 gave the Hurricanes a one-minute standing ovation Monday night, many realizing their first taste of Stanley Cup finals action at the rowdy Entertainment and Sports Arena could be over following a 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"They were awesome as usual, I wish we were the same," Bates Battaglia said of the crowd.

The Hurricanes would have to beat the Red Wings in Detroit with the Cup on the line Thursday night to return home for Game 6 -- and win three in a row to land hockey's most prized possession.

That's unlikely. The Hurricanes won as many as three in a row just four times in 104 games this season and have won once at Joe Louis Arena -- Game 1 of this series -- since 1989.

"It's the same old story you've heard 100 times," Rod Brind'Amour said. "You can't look at it like we've got to win three. You look at it like we've got to win one and then we'll see if we can play another day. You can't look at it like, 'Man we've got to win three,' because that's pretty steep."

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Carolina has also scored just six goals in four games to fall into its deep hole.

Some left after Brendan Shanahan scored with 5:17 remaining, but many stuck around to thank their team since Carolina clinched its three playoff series on the road in six games en route to its miraculous run to the Cup finals. A similar scene took place last season when the Hurricanes took the defending champion New Jersey Devils deep into a first-round series.

Carolina again held down the powerhouse Red Wings, but was beaten at its own game as Detroit had an effective forecheck going and made a tough defensive stand all night.

"And we gave up too many odd-man breaks, too many 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s," Ron Francis said. "We've got to play better in that part of our game and limit their opportunities.

"We were pressing a little bit and trying to create something instead of just being patient. When we give that team that many chances, they are going to find ways to score."

Coach Paul Maurice did his first major tinkering in the series, playing his fourth line less than 30 seconds in and giving them a few shifts. He also broke up the BBC line late in the first, swapping Battaglia for the slumping Sami Kapanen.

The move almost worked with 41 seconds left in the first when Erik Cole broke free along the left wing. But after Cole put the puck between the legs of defenseman Chris Chelios with a nifty move, he looked up to see Dominik Hasek 25 feet out of his net to poke the potential scoring chance away.

"We've gone 7 1/2 periods without a goal, so anything was possible," Maurice said of the line shakeup.

It was another missed opportunity for the rookie, who had seven points in the Montreal series but is scoreless in 10 straight postseason games.

Battaglia's line was on the ice for Brett Hull's goal with 13:28 left in the second as the crowd grew quiet.

Jeff O'Neill said Carolina's top players would have to perform at a top level to tie the series 2-2. But that didn't happen, either.

Veteran defenseman Glen Wesley was badly out of position on Hull's 100th career postseason goal and on the ice for Igor Larionov's clincher with 16:17 left. And the 39-year-old Francis hit the post midway through the second with a wide-open net on the power play in what turned out to be Carolina's best scoring chance.

"Hull's hits the post and goes in and mine hits the post and stays out," Francis said. "Those are the breaks this time of the year."

Hasek thought he was beat on the play.

"It was exactly when the game was on the edge," Hasek said. "I just jumped -- I thought the puck was in the net. All of a sudden I heard the post and the puck fortunately came right back to me. It was key to the game because it was almost 1-1. It would have been a completely different situation."

If Carolina does lose the series, it will look back on its poor play with the man advantage.

After an 0-for-2 effort in Game 4, the Hurricanes fell to 1-for-21. And the one power-play goal came in Game 1 with a 5-on-3 advantage.

"I can tell you one thing about this team, there is a confidence that we believe in ourselves and we're going to go in there and give everything we have," Kevyn Adams said of Game 5. "At the end of the day, you hope the bounces go your way. We've been confident going on the road all season."

 

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