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Carolina 2, Montreal 0

Posted: Saturday May 04, 2002 12:31 AM

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RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- With a roster full of players unfamiliar with long playoff battles, the Carolina Hurricanes turned to a seasoned veteran.

Ron Francis scored 3:49 into a scoreless third period and Kevin Weekes recorded his second consecutive shutout as the Hurricanes blanked the Montreal Canadiens, 2-0, in the opening game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

With neither team being able to find the back of the net, the game seemed destined for overtime. But Francis had different plans.

After goaltender Jose Theodore robbed Sami Kapanen with a glove save along the ice, rookie Jaroslav Svoboda grabbed the rebound and had an open net to shoot at. But Svoboda's wrist shot rang off the left post and caromed into the corner.

Svoboda retrieved the loose puck and found defenseman Niclas Wallin at the right point. With traffic in front, Wallin unleashed a shot that Francis, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with Pittsburgh, redirected between Theodore's legs for a 1-0 Hurricanes lead.

"I thought we had one before when Jaroslav had the puck and he was very patient," Francis said. "He made all the right moves but just fired one off the post. It was a credit to him, though, because he went and got it and threw it back to Nick and I just tried to get to the front and get a stick on it."

The goal was Francis' 27th postseason point with the franchise, putting him four points behind Kevin Dineen for first on their all-time playoff scoring list. The 39-year old captain has two goals and three assists in 13 postseason games with the Hurricanes after registering eight goals and 22 points as a Hartford Whaler.

"I thought we might be here a while tonight before somebody got one," Francis said. "It was certainly nice to get the first one to break the ice."

"They had a lot of chances in the second and in the third, it was just a tip in front of me and they never looked back," Theodore said.

It was all Weekes needed as he stopped all 25 shots he faced to extend his shutout streak to 136 minutes, 30 seconds. The 27-year-old netminder has not allowed a goal since the 11:46 mark of Game Five of Carolina's conference quarterfinal series against New Jersey. Weekes blanked the Devils in Game Six to clinch the series.

"(Montreal) came out and put up some shots in the first period, but because we play as strong a team game as we do, we were able to neutralize them a little bit," Weekes said. "We turned that momentum in our favor and went down and had some great chances against Jose, who made some great saves."

Rookie Erik Cole scored with 2:18 remaining to seal the victory for the Hurricanes, who have not won three straight playoff games since 1986, when they captured four in a row as the Whalers.

After he was denied by Theodore while being pulled down in the slot, Cole fought back to regain position just below the left faceoff circle. Left wing Bates Battaglia gathered the puck behind the net and fed Cole, who wristed a shot that snuck between Theodore and the left post for his third goal of the playoffs.

"(Doug) Gilmour was all over me in the corner and when I turned to look where the puck was, I saw that Bates had it behind the net," Cole said. "I just took off for the net. Bates put it right on my tape and I just tried to get it on net and luckily it fell right in the hole."

Theodore turned away 36 shots for the Canadiens, who played without defenseman Patrice Brisebois and lost defenseman Sheldon Souray early in the contest.

Brisebois sat out with back spasms while Souray suffered a left hand injury at 4:34 of the first period after being checked from behind by Carolina right wing Jeff O'Neill -- who received a five-minute major and game misconduct.

"It's always a concern because Sheldon and Patrice were playing very well for us," Montreal defenseman Craig Rivet said. "It's going to hurt our lineup when those guys are out but we have capable guys that we can put in there and be very comfortable with. (Stephane) Robidas stepped in for Patrice and did very well."

Montreal's best chance on the ensuing power play came from right wing Oleg Petrov, whose slap shot from the right circle deflected off the right post and out of danger.

"It was a little deflating losing Jeff like that, but fortunately we made some key blocks and Kevin made some big saves, taking away most of their second and third chances," Carolina defenseman Glen Wesley said. "We tried to stay as aggressive as possible, just try to take away their time and space."

"It kind of forced everyone's legs into the game early," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "We used seven or eight different guys to kill that and then basically ran three lines. The penalty killers had a good jump and I think it really kind of inspired the crowd a little bit. It came out as a pretty big positive for our team. As far as the hit, Jeff is a pretty clean player and we'll just leave it at that."

Weekes got more help from his post early in the second period when Yanic Perreault's slapper 63 seconds in from the top of the left circle caromed off the iron and into the crowd.

"The puck seemed to be bouncing all night," Weekes said. "It seemed like a volleyball at times. I couldn't really corral it, but it's times like that when you just have to hang in there."

The Hurricanes, who outshot Montreal 19-6 in the second, generated most of the scoring chances from that point on.

After Martin Gelinas was stopped by Theodore on a shot from low in the left circle at 4:07, Carolina saw a golden opportunity get swept away two minutes later.

Theodore blocked a shot from the left point, but the rebound trickled toward the net. As Cole attempted to shove the puck in, the Hart and Vezina Trophy finalist swung his glove hand and knocked it away to keep the game scoreless.

"I thought the second half of the second period and most of the third that we played our best hockey of the game," Wesley said.

"We've been a good third-period team," Maurice said. "We have been really all year long, so I think we moved the puck fairly efficiently and that really helped us."

Carolina kept the pressure on the Canadiens after Francis' tally. Center Josef Vasicek was stopped on the doorstep at 9:30 of the third period and defenseman Bret Hedican's slap shot from the left point rang off the right post with 6:25 remaining.

"I think (Carolina) played a good game," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "They are aggressive, they don't give you much offensively. They did well defensively and they deserved to win. They played a better game than we did and that is why they deserved to win."

Carolina, which advanced past the first round for just the second time in franchise history, improved to 4-0 at home in the postseason. The Hurricanes owned a 15-15-11 regular season record at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.

"Obviously the fans have made a big difference for us," Wesley said. "You can say what you want, but having home-ice advantage has meant a lot for us, especially in the overtimes because the fans are really behind us. We are a very confident hockey club when we are in the tight situations that we've been in."

The series marks the sixth time the franchises have met in the postseason. Montreal has won the previous five encounters, including the 1992 Adams Division semifinals that went to double overtime in Game Seven.