It’s Irbe Time for Carolina

Maybe Paul Maurice really does have two No. 1 goaltenders.

Martin Gelinas, Rod Brind’Amour and Ron Francis scored early in each period for Carolina, and Arturs Irbe returned to play brilliantly in net as the Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-1, Sunday to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Irbe, starting for the first time in five games after being benched by Maurice in the New Jersey series in favor of Kevin Weekes, was nearly flawless, stopping 30 shots. With 12 minutes left and the home team up by three, the record crowd of 18,853 was once again chanting his name.

“We’ve got something special going on here, and because of that, you want to be on the ice,” said Irbe, who stopped 17 shots in the second period with Carolina holding a two-goal lead. “Everybody dreams of being that guy who makes the difference and makes the winning happen.

“Bench-warming is not the most fun thing, but you know you can be called upon at any time and you’ve got to keep positive. It’s not an easy job, but that’s why I’ve survived several different coaches.”

Irbe lost what would have been his first career postseason shutout with 5:28 left when Karl Dykhuis scored.

“I don’t know if you have that anywhere, where two guys support the team,” Brind’Amour said of the two goalies. “They can’t be happy with getting yanked in and out, but we’ve got to go with who is hot. It’s the playoffs and that’s what it’s all about.

“Archie has been professional about it and Weeksie has been great. He’s the biggest cheerleader out there. That says a lot about the individuals.”

Carolina had won only one playoff series in its history prior to this season, but can clinch the series with a win tonight at the Molson Centre in Montreal, where the Hurricanes rallied from a three-goal deficit to win Game 4.

“Their backs are against the wall and they’re going to come out like a caged animal--I’m sure of it,” Bates Battaglia said of the Canadiens. “They’re going to be flying and we have to be ready.”

Gelinas and Brind’Amour scored early in the first and second periods, then Irbe and the stellar Carolina defense spent the rest of the time frustrating a slumping Montreal offense.

Francis tied the franchise record for career playoff points (31) held by Kevin Dineen when he poked in his own rebound on the power play 3:40 into the third to help clinch the victory.