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Desperation time 'Canes need offense if they harbor hopes of battling backPosted: Tuesday June 11, 2002 3:37 AMRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Carolina Hurricanes rattled their first three playoff opponents with a stifling trap. Now, with the Stanley Cup on the line, the edge belongs to Detroit. The Hurricanes are slowly coming out of their strict defensive system after scoring just six goals in four games.
"We've got to mentally get back to the point of accepting that and just grind and grind and grind and position ourselves and grind some more. We've gotten away from that." Carolina managed just 17 shots after getting 43 in Saturday night's 3-2 triple-overtime loss. That total matched the series low in Game 2 -- a 3-1 Hurricanes loss in Detroit. Aaron Ward had few answers when asked about Carolina's offensive struggles. "I don't know at this point," Ward said. "I guess we just have to stick with what we're doing. It all starts in the defensive end with this team. The less you give them the more the game goes on and you get that tight game that we keep preaching. You see what happens when they take the lead and we have to open up. That's not to our advantage. It's seven games and hopefully this is the biggest hiccup we have." Carolina's list of players struggling on offense is numerous, but Sami Kapanen, Erik Cole and Bates Battaglia are the chief culprits. "Everybody is always talking about all the firepower they have on offense, but we found out early in the series that they are one of the better defensive teams in the league," Kapanen said. "We're seeing that right now." 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 -- Battaglia, Rod Brind'Amour and Cole -- late in the first, swapping Battaglia for the slumping Kapanen. But nothing clicked. "We're trying to do everything we can to get a goal and get something jump-started," Brind'Amour said. "Desperate times call for desperate measures." Maurice's change almost worked with 41 seconds left in the first when 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. Carolina's only other scoring chance came when Ron Francis hit the post 27 seconds into one of only two Carolina power plays midway through the second. The horn sounded prematurely, but the puck bounced back to Hasek and he covered up. The Hurricanes received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd, many realizing the Stanley Cup finals might not be coming back to Entertainment and Sports Arena. "They certainly deserve to see a Game 6," Francis said. "We're going to do everything we can to make that happen." |
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