Cam Ward saved 25 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes seized control of the Stanley Cup finals by routing the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 on Wednesday to go up 2-0 in the series.
The Oilers didn't reveal their replacement goalie for the injured Dwayne Roloson until Finland's Jussi Markkanen led them onto the ice for the opening face-off -- the first goalie in 45 years to make his first playoff start in the finals.
After vowing to rally around their new goalie, the Oilers didn't play with any sort of passion, especially after Cory Stillman scored a back-breaking goal with 2.4 seconds left in the second period to make it 3-0.
Edmonton finds itself in a huge hole heading back to Alberta.
Carolina became the 30th team to sweep the first two games of the best-of-seven series at home. The Chicago Blackhawks in 1971 are the only team to have blown such a lead, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games.
Game 3 is tomorrow.
The Hurricanes poured it on in the final period, getting every break while the frustrated Oilers turned chippy.
Doug Weight appeared to kick in a deflected shot early in the third and the referee waved it off immediately. But, after viewing an overhead replay, it was clear that Weight managed to graze the puck with a swipe of his stick as it was on the way to the net -- making it a legal goal.
The call was overturned, Carolina celebrated and the Oilers fumed. Shortly afterward, Ethan Moreau threw a punch at the face of Hurricanes defenseman Glen Wesley as the two came together at center ice.
Georges Laraque delivered an even more flagrant hit, pummeling Carolina's Andrew Ladd with a shot from behind in the closing minutes to get tossed out of the game.
Maybe he was just mad at Ladd, who scored off a deflection in the first period. Frantisek Kaberle made it 2-0 just past the midway point of the second with a shot through Markkanen's legs.
With Moreau in the penalty box, Carolina swarmed in front of Markkanen until Mark Recchi got free in front to deflect the puck past the shellshocked goalie.
The Carolina fans spent the rest of the game heckling Markkanen with chants of "You-seee! You-seee!"
Markkanen was picked to fill in after Roloson, Edmonton's playoff star, sustained a series-ending knee injury in Game 1. The 31-year-old Finn had last played on March 1, but Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish decided he was a better option than Ty Conklin.
The Hurricanes overcame a 3-0 deficit to win Game 1 -- matching the largest comeback in finals history -- and have now outscored Edmonton 8-1 over the last 83 minutes of the series.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set