At one point Sunday night, I thought we were watching a replay of Saturday's Game Four. New Jersey was constantly on the power play, and the Hurricanes were merely fighting to survive. Sound familiar? It was as if someone rewound the second period from Saturday and played it out projection-style on the RBC Center ice.
But when the two teams were at even strength (which only accounted for about half of that first period) the Canes were clearly the better team. That was their mantra during the first intermission. And it was dead on....
Consider this stat: At one point during Period One, New Jersey was outshooting Carolina 11-2. By game's end, the Canes had outshot the Devils 31-18. That's how dominant the Canes were from the second period on.
Now we move ahead to an intriguing matchup in the Eastern Conference finals. A Canes-Sabres final will certainly showcase two teams that play exciting brands of hockey. But more importantly, these are two teams that have come A LONG WAY in a short period of time.
Not that long ago, Buffalo was bankrupt and Carolina was a target for contraction -- at least by those who advocated reducing the size of the NHL. Now, a team that couldn't pay its bills will face a team some critics wanted to dissolve. Man, do I love the new NHL!
By the way, the Canes won three out of four games against the Sabres this season. Their only loss came in the season finale, a 4-0 Buffalo win.
