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 Wild scramble Sheppard's rebound goal rallies 'Canes past Bruins 3-2
Posted: Sunday April 25, 1999 12:28 AM
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Ray Sheppard has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. The right winger scored off a wild scramble with 2:55 left in overtime Saturday night to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins and tie their Eastern Conference series 1-1. "I've seen him do it 100 times. He's money in the bank," said Carolina captain Keith Primeau, who also played on a line with Sheppard when the two were in Detroit in the mid '90s. "He has just got that ability to get himself in a spot to score big goals." Defenseman Steve Chiasson held the puck in at the blue line along the boards to set up the game-winning goal, moving to the center of the ice for a slap shot that Byron Dafoe stopped. But Dafoe gave up the rebound in a crowd. Martin Gelinas banged the first chance off the left post before it came right to Sheppard, who got his second goal of the game for the Carolina win. "When I get in there, I just look for the puck. I don't look for anything else," said Sheppard, who scored his 26th and 27th career playoff goals. "Most guys get a little radar going to see where the puck is going and hopefully get a piece of it." Dafoe said he got caught in traffic on Carolina's winning goal. "I was just trying to get back because I was so far out making the original save," Dafoe said. The Hurricanes overcame the loss of Ron Francis, who missed the game with a sprained ankle suffered in the series opener. "With a guy like Ronnie out, you hope they respond," said Carolina coach Paul Maurice. "We played 82 games with Ron and then when you play one without him, you get a little nervous." Carolina also had to play with only four defensemen from the second period on after losing Marek Malik to a thigh bruise and Nolan Pratt to a groin strain. "Full marks to our guys on the back end," Primeau said of the team's four weary defensemen. "During the regular season that's even such an uphill battle for four guys, and for them to do that in a playoff game and in an extra full period of overtime, they were awesome for us." Chiasson and Glen Wesley each skated more than 36 minutes on defense. "I said before, you don't get too high off a win and you don't get too low off a loss in the playoffs," said Boston coach Pat Burns. "They came out and played us just as hard. We had them 2-1, but we made a couple of turnovers and they were able to respond. "They battled us hard and we couldn't find a way. No excuses." The score was tied 1-1 heading into the third period, and similar to Game 1, Boston appeared to have control of the defensive struggle when Steve Heinze scored with 11:28 left. Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe, who stopped the original spot by Anson Carter in the slot, was unable to control the trickling puck behind him in the crease. A second or two after Carter's shot, Heinze tapped it in for a 2-1 lead. But Carolina rallied down the stretch, a centering pass from the corner by Bates Battaglia ricocheting off the skate of Robert Kron and through the legs of Dafoe with 5:32 left to send the game into overtime tied at 2. Kron, subbing for the injured Francis, had his back turned toward Battaglia when the puck hit off his skate. After a scoreless first period, a great individual effort by Landon Wilson set up Sergei Samsonov's rebound goal early in the second period. Dafoe, who led the NHL with 10 regular-season shutouts, blanked the Hurricanes 2-0 in Game 1. But he saw his postseason shutout streak snapped at 88 1/2 minutes when Sheppard tied the score 1-1, beating the Boston goalie high on the glove side from the slot. Paul Coffey, who didn't play in the first game because of a hamstring injury, helped on the goal for his 137th playoff assist -- tops all-time in the postseason among defensemen.
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