After being a spectator for the first two games, Edmonton’s Ryan Smyth picked a good time to show up for the Oilers.
Smyth is the Oilers best offensive player, and many would say the heart and soul of the team. So it was no surprise Smyth’s troubles in the first two games, in which he was nearly invisible, resulted in two bad Edmonton losses.
When scorers don’t score, usually it takes a play in which a crazy bounce off some part of the body turns things around. Smyth’s game-winning goal Saturday won’t be included in too many highlight films, but it just might be the kind of play that gets him going the rest of the series.
Despite some ominous warnings for the Oilers, each team has held serve, winning at home. What once looked like a quick Cup run for the Carolina Hurricanes is looking like a six- or seven-game affair.
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ON THE NET
– Read more from Bob Foltman at www.chicagosports.com/nhl
