Canes Storm Devils To Draw First Blood

It had to end eventually. The Devils' run of 15 straight ended abruptly when they were stormed by the Hurricanes 6-0 in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at a capacity RBC Center Saturday. It was their first loss since a 4-3 defeat to Toronto on March 26.

Returning from a week layoff, the Devils showed rust against their quicker opponents. A step behind from the outset, they couldn't muster anything. The Canes dominated play outshooting the Devils 38-21 and outplaying them by a wide margin.

"We're not looking for any excuses whatsoever," Devils GM and Coach Lou Lamoriello told the AP. "We didn't do some of the little things that we've been doing that gave us the success that we've had."

Not only were they not sharp but luck wasn't on their side on Carolina's first two goals. After defenseman Ken Klee took an unnecessary Delay of Game penalty, Ray Whitney made him pay by banking in a shot off defenseman Brad Lukowich's stick past Martin Brodeur to give Carolina the lead at 11:37. In their series victory over the Rangers, they only trailed for 4:39. Being behind early didn't bode well.

Dictating play, the Canes continued to attack in the second period. After Whitney hit a post, Eric Staal stole a puck in the neutral zone and fed Whitney. This time, he centered the puck for Staal off Brodeur's pokecheck and in for his second of the day to increase the lead to two at 2:58. It was the start of a big period for Staal, who would add a goal and assist for three points on the day.

"We had our legs today, guys were skating well," Staal said. "That's our game. If we're moving our feet, we're going to create opportunities and power plays."

Despite trailing by two, the Devils had their chances to get back into the game. But they couldn't capitalize on three consecutive power plays including a nine second five-on-three.

Frustrated by the Canes aggressive penalty killing, they lost their discipline which led to directly to the game turning into a rout. With Sergei Brylin and Jamie Langenbrunner in the box 1:12 apart, it didn't take long for Carolina to take advantage. Directly off a faceoff win by Rod Brind'Amour, Staal moved in and beat Brodeur with a quick wrist shot thru the legs to give the Canes a three-goal lead at 17:32.

With Langenbrunner still serving his minor, Cory Stillman made it 4-0 only 34 seconds later when he rebounded home a Justin Williams shot. Amazingly, the Devils had given up as many goals in two periods as they did to the Rangers in a first round sweep.

Once the goal was scored, it turned ugly. After Williams was shoved into Brodeur by Lukowich, Brodeur shoved the Carolina forward, earning a roughing minor. Coming to his goalie's aid, John Madden got an extra two for roughing, giving the Canes another power play. But it was shortlived when Cory Larose intensified things by running Brodeur, drawing an interference call. Sticking up for his teammate, Langenbrunner evened it up by roughing Larose.

It would get worse for the Devils in the third. After Cam Janssen instigated an entertaining scrap with ex-Devil Mike Commodore, Carolina scored its fourth power play goal when Doug Weight banked the puck in off Brodeur to make it 5-0 at 12:07.

Brodeur's 34th birthday would come to a merciful end when the Canes notched their fifth PPG of the game just a minute later. With Grant Marshall in the box for boarding, Brind'Amour put home a Bret Hedican rebound to finish Brodeur's day with 6:53 remaining. He turned aside 29 of 35 shots. In another ironic twist, the Devils scored five PPGs in a 6-1 destruction of the Rangers in Game One of the opening round two weeks ago.

"Losing 6-0 in the first game of the series is not something to look back on," Brodeur said. "A lot of things went wrong. I don't think you can point at one thing. Our special teams were not up to par."

"These guys are so much quicker," he added. "They have puck pressure everywhere. Their power play, they are definitely doing something we're going to have to take a look at."

Backup Scott Clemmensen saw his first postseason action of his career stopping all three shots.

All that was left was whether rookie Cam Ward would get his first ever playoff shutout. When the Canes killed off the Devils' fifth man-advantage of the game, he had it. Barely tested, Ward stopped all 21 shots for his fifth consecutive win of the postseason.

"We're not happy about the result," Patrik Elias said. "This is the playoffs and we have to take it as it is. Our special teams didn't do a good job and theirs did. That was the main reason why they won."

Notes: Defenseman Colin White sat out his fourth straight game with a groin injury after practicing with the Devils Friday. ... Dating back to their 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series loss against Carolina, the Devils have now lost their last four playoff games at RBC Center. ... Devils right wing Brian Gionta had his 19-game point-streak snapped. During it, he had 31 points (14-17-31). It was the first time Gionta didn't record a point since March 19th against Ottawa. ... Devils right wing Viktor Kozlov dressed for the first time this postseason, replacing Jason Wiemer. ... Canes were 35-27 on faceoffs including a dominant 22-6 from Brind'Amour. ... Devils look to rebound and gain a split Monday night.