In a word - wow.  That would describe the third period for the Carolina Hurricanes who scored four goals in the final period to eek out a 5-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers.  And with the Oilers anchor this playoff series, G Dwayne Roloson going down and probably out the rest of the way, there may be more wins in the Hurricanes future.

The Oilers came out hard and took a 3-0 lead on goals by RW Fernando Pisani (8:18, 1st period), D Chris Pronger (10:36, 2nd period, penalty shot), and LW Ethan Moreau (16:23, 2nd period).  Carolina C Rob Brind’Amour kept it respectable and scored his tenth goal of the playoffs (17:17, 2nd period).  Down 3-1, it was going to be tough for the Hurricanes considering Roloson’s 2.22 GAA.

However, in the third period, LW Ray Whitney came out like a man possessed scoring a goal with 1:40 elapsed in the period, and another goal three minutes and 29 seconds later, which tied the game at 3-3.  Less than five minutes later (10:02), RW Justin Williams scored a shorthanded goal that put the Hurricanes up 4-3.  Oilers RW Ales Hemsky put a stop to Carolina’s four goal barrage by scoring on a power play goal (13:31) that tied it up once again, this time at four goals apiece.

But then disaster struck for the Oilers.  Carolina’s LW Andrew Ladd brought the puck into the Oilers zone, cut in front of the net and was met by a huge hit from Oilers D Marc-Andre Bergeron that sent Ladd into Roloson.  The collision caused Roloson to injure his right knee and sent him packing, possibly for good in this series.

That’s when Ty Conklin came in to replace the playoff star goalie.  Conklin only played in 18 regular season games for the Oilers, so the following befuddlement can be excused.  Actually, no… no it can’t.  With the period ending and seeming about to go into overtime, Conklin went behind the net to play the puck and passed it off to D Jason Smith.  However, Smith didn’t play it right, seeming to have been crossed up by Conklin, and the puck deflected off his stick in front of an empty goal. 

So, with 31.1 seconds left in the game, a free and wide-open Brind’amour scored the 11th goal of this playoff run for the Hurricanes, but most importantly, the winning goal for Carolina.  It’s unfortunate that the game ended on a fluke-type goal, but sometimes that just the way things break.  Losing Game One of the Stanley Cup and possibly your goalie that carried you in the playoffs, the Oilers’ spirit must be starting to break.

Game Two takes place in Carolina once again when they drop the puck on Wednesday at 8:00pm EST.