Carolina Hurricanes, 2006 Stanley Cup Champions
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The Carolina Hurricanes have won the 2006 Stanley Cup with a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Carolina started scoring early, only 1:26 into the game, with Mark Recchi and Matt Cullen picking up assists on Aaron Ward's 2nd goal of this years playoffs.
Near the end of the first period, it looked as if Carolina was about to take a 2-0 lead on a very contraversial play. A delayed penelty on Edmonton had Carolina skating 6-5, and a weak shot by Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour looked to sneak over the line for the goal. However, Edmonton's Ales Hemsky covered the puck in the crease, saving it from crossing the line. While a penelty shot is normailly the consequence for a player, not a goalie, covering the puck in the crease, Edmonton lucked out, as the delayed penelty created a whistle instantly after Edmonton touched the puck, canceling out the penelty shot.
Carolina rebounded from their mishap fast in the 2nd period, with Frantisek Kaberle picking up his 4th goal of the playoffs on assists from Cory Stillman and Matt Cullen.
With the score 2-0 to begin the 3rd, Edmonton's hometown hero Fernando Pisani brought the Oil within one with a goal early in the period with his 14th of the playoffs.
Cam Ward made an amazing save on Fernando Pisani to keep the score at 2-1 near the end of the 3rd, and then Carolina's Justin Williams scored an empty net goal with under a minute to go to cap off the 3-1 victory.
It is the Hurricanes first Stanley Cup Championship in their 2nd visit to the finals.
The Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the playoff MVP, was awarded to Cam Ward, Carolina's goaltender, and the first Rookie goaltender to win a Stanley Cup since Patrick Roy led the Montreal Canadiens to their championship in 1986.
This was the 14th time the Stanley Cup Finals have gone to the 7th game, and the 12th time the home team won.
Date
Mon 06/19/06, 7:04 pm EST
