Tribune reporter Bob Foltman weighs in on Game 5 of the Stanley Cup
finals.
What an incredible turn of events. Just when it seemed the Carolina Hurricanes were getting ready to hoist the Stanley Cup, the series takes a highly unlikely U-turn.
The Hurricanes had three power-play goals Wednesday night and were poised for a fourth when Steve Staios was sent off for tripping.
It was the power play–Edmonton’s failure on it and Carolina’s success–that was tilting the series toward the Hurricanes.
So if the Oilers, who have only two power-play goals the entire series, can’t score with an extra man, they might as well try to score when they are down a man, like Fernando Pisani did to force a Game 6 Saturday night.
Pisani, who had a pair of goals, finished the play, but it was Michael Peca, as a one-man penalty killer, who set the wheels in motion.
After Edmonton suffered a crippling loss in Game 1, it’s Carolina that has to regroup.
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rfoltman@tribune.com
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