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Carolina 5, Montreal 1

Posted: Sunday May 12, 2002 07:52 PM

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RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- The Montreal Canadiens were still reeling from their collapse in Game Four.

Martin Gelinas and Rod Brind'Amour each had a goal and an assist and Arturs Irbe made 30 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes dominated the Canadiens, 5-1, to take a three games to two lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Carolina scored the first four goals of the game after netting the last four in Game Four to erase a 3-0 third-period deficit and even the best-of-seven series.

"We didn't play a good third period up there and it carried over to here," Montreal right wing Oleg Petrov said. "We just have to go back home and bear down."

Gelinas started the attack at 3:17 of the first period with his second goal of the postseason and first of the series.

As Jeff O'Neill and Josef Vasicek battled Montreal's Donald Audette along the boards, the puck came right to Gelinas just below the left faceoff circle and the veteran left wing roofed a wrist shot over goaltender Jose Theodore's glove for a 1-0 lead.

"It's nice," Gelinas said. "A win is the biggest thing of all, but it feels good. My mom asked me for a goal and I got her one. Then my wife asked me for a goal and I only got one. I'll tell my mom it was for her and my wife that it was for her, so don't tell her, OK?" "It was good in a couple of aspects," Carolina captain Ron Francis added. "For one, it was good for him because he has been playing so hard. I thought that line played really well today. Another thing is that this time of year, you want to get the lead and play in front."

Brind'Amour notched the only tally of the second period, although Montreal owned a 17-7 advantage in shots on goal. It was the first time that the Canadiens reached double digits in shots since the third period of Game One, when they registered 10.

Rookie Erik Cole carried down the right wing before leaving a drop pass in the faceoff circle for Brind'Amour, who was trailing the play. After cutting to the slot, Brind'Amour fired a wrister along the ice that beat Theodore to the stick side at 2:13.

"We haven't had a game like this since the playoffs started," Brind'Amour said. "It's nice to get a win where you don't have to sweat it out all the way through the third period. However, it's just one win. It's like match play; whether you lose by one or 10, it's just one (win)."

Francis essentially ended the game at 3:40 of the third when he put his own rebound behind Theodore while on the power play to make it 3-0.

With Joe Juneau serving a high-sticking penalty, Francis got a pass from Brind'Amour low in the right circle. After unleashing a shot that Theodore kicked away with his left pad, Francis backhanded the rebound into the net for his 31st playoff point with the Hurricanes-Hartford Whalers, tying former linemate Kevin Dineen for first place on the all-time franchise scoring list.

"He'll probably call me and tell me that it was about time," Francis said. "But seriously, Kevin played a lot of great games for this organization over a lot of years. It's great for me to be able to do that. He called me last week and wished us well, so he's taking this ride with us, and it's been a lot of fun."

Irbe, who relieved Kevin Weekes after one period in Game Four, started for the first time since Game Four of the conference quarterfinals against New Jersey. The diminutive Latvian was strong when needed, allowing just a slap shot by defenseman Karl Dykhuis with 5:28 left in the third to elude him.

"You have to know that you can be called upon at any time and you've got to keep positive," Irbe said. "It's not an easy job, but that's why I've survived several different head coaches, including Mike Keenan. I've been pulled and put in before, so I think I have as much experience with that as anyone else in these playoffs."

"He started today as he finished the last game, I thought," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "He didn't have to do too much in the first. There was no difference in his attitude all week and when he was out. He prepared himself and got himself ready for this chance."

Petrov, who had several scoring chances, tried to tie it with a backhander from the right side on a 2-on-1 break but was denied by Irbe 93 seconds into the second period. Sergei Berezin was stopped from the slot on a power-play chance with 14 minutes to go in the session before Petrov's slapper from the left point snuck through Irbe's pads but trickled wide.

Saku Koivu skated around the net and tried a backhander that Irbe stopped with 11:10 remaining. The rebound came right to defenseman Craig Rivet on the right side of the net, but Rivet was late in reacting and never got off a shot.

With time winding down in the period, Rivet blasted a slap shot from the top of the left circle, but Irbe squeezed the puck between his pads to keep Montreal scoreless.

Tommy Westlund and Bates Battaglia also scored for the Hurricanes, who can advance to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history with a victory in Montreal on Monday.

"They are all hard," Francis said. "We realize that we've got a lot of work ahead of us, so our focus has to be on tomorrow night and playing as well as we possibly can."

"It's always hard on the road," Brind'Amour added. "They're going to throw everything at us and play their best game. We've got to bring our best game as well."

Westlund, who had just two assists in 40 regular-season contests, completed an impressive series of passes with 8:42 remaining. Gelinas one-handed the puck from behind the net to O'Neill. As defenseman Sheldon Souray stood in front, O'Neill backhanded a pass to Westlund in the bottom of the right circle and the 27-year old Swede buried a one-timer for his first goal since April 8, 2001.

Less than two minutes after Dykhuis spoiled Irbe's shutout bid, Battaglia netted his fourth postseason tally to cap the scoring.

Three Canadiens were drawn to Cole as he skated down the right side, leaving Battaglia alone down the slot. Cole backhanded a pass that Battaglia fired past a sprawling Theodore, who got a piece of the shot with his glove.

"They got a good bounce on the first goal," Theodore said. "We were in the game in the first period and had a good second period but couldn't get the tying goal. They just kept coming and had some good chances in the third period."

Theodore, who stopped 26 shots, made several big saves in the third to keep the game from becoming a blowout.

"When you're down, you are putting a lot more pressure in the offensive zone, so they had a lot of 2-on-1s and breakaways in the third," Theodore said. "Those are hard plays for a goalie, but that's what you have to expect when you are down two or three goals."

Montreal is not fazed to be playing Game Six, just one day after being thoroughly outplayed.

"It's a good thing that we don't have much time to think about this one," Petrov said.

"We're going to go back tomorrow and give it our best," Canadiens defenseman Patrice Brisebois added. "We've got to fight for our lives. We want a seventh game."

The Canadiens were without regular-season scoring leader Yanic Perreault, who did not make the trip due to food poisoning. He has three goals and four assists in 10 playoff games.

The Hurricanes improved to 5-1 at home in the playoffs.

"They're tough to play at home," Brisebois said. "They hit everything and go to the net. They're a pretty good team, but we need to play our game and be patient."