Game 2 Is a Breeze for the Hurricanes

As it turned out, it hardly mattered that the Edmonton Oilers chose Jussi Markkanen over Ty Conklin to replace the injured Dwayne Roloson for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals.

The Oilers’ lack of discipline, bad reads on defense and faulty penalty killing would have made life difficult for the best of goaltenders, which Markkanen was not.

The Carolina Hurricanes, remorseful after a sloppy effort in winning the first game, responded with a determined performance in a 5-0 victory Wednesday at the RBC Center. They scored three times on the power play and blocked 24 shots, one fewer than rookie Cam Ward stopped in becoming the first rookie goalie to earn a shutout in the finals since Montreal’s Patrick Roy stymied the Calgary Flames 20 years ago.

“Man, he’s been good,” said Carolina center Matt Cullen, who recorded three assists. “Knowing he’s so steady certainly helps every part of your game.”

Twenty-eight of 29 teams that won the first two games of the finals at home have won the Cup, with the 1971 Montreal Canadiens the lone exception. The Oilers erased a 2-0 series deficit against San Jose in the second round this spring, but their effort on Wednesday suggested another rally is unlikely.

In addition, they don’t have Roloson to rescue them, having lost him to a severely sprained right knee on Monday.

“This was definitely not our goaltender’s fault. We have to play better in front of him,” Oilers forward Shawn Horcoff said. “It could have been Rollie and it would have been the same thing.”

Markkanen, who hadn’t played since March 1, was the victim of an unlucky deflection off the foot of teammate Marc-Andre Bergeron on Carolina’s first goal, a shot by Andrew Ladd that completed a two-on-one at 6:21. However, Markkanen didn’t distinguish himself in giving up five goals on 26 shots.

“I felt good,” he said, “but obviously it didn’t work out very well. It’s a funny thing. You think you see the puck good, but in the end, you still lose by five goals.”

Frantisek Kaberle gave Carolina a 2-0 lead when he beat Markkanen on a shot between the pads from the left circle during a power play at 10:28 of the second period. Nor could Markkanen stop Cory Stillman’s high, slicing shot with 2.4 seconds left in the period. The goal, made possible when Stillman lifted the puck over the net but pursued it to the other side, buoyed the Hurricanes and discouraged the Oilers.

Carolina added two goals in the third period, both on deflections and both during power plays they’d gained when the Oilers took penalties born of frustration.

“That goal late in the second period was huge,” Carolina defenseman Glen Wesley said. “Otherwise it’s 2-0 and a power play or deflection for them makes it 2-1, and anything could happen.”

Said Edmonton center Michael Peca: “Going into the third down 2-0 is a lot different than 3-0. It was a little deflating, without question. But you know, I think we’ve learned a little bit about what we need to do and what we can’t do, in the first two games. We’ve got to recapture the little things in our game that are missing.”

They can be more physical and improve their play in their own end, but they’ll have a tougher time recapturing the top-notch goaltending Roloson had provided. Oilers Coach Craig MacTavish said Markkanen had been “fine” and said he kept Markkanen in after the score mounted so the Finnish goalie could get some work before the series shifts to Edmonton for Game 3 on Saturday.

“He will be a better goaltender ... a more comfortable goaltender,” MacTavish said. “But he should be confident coming through this game. He did a lot of good things.”

Not nearly as many as the Hurricanes did in moving within two victories of the franchise’s first Cup title.

“It’s exciting, but we know we’re going to have to play better” in Edmonton, Stillman said. “You look at past series, they were down, 2-0, and came back and won, and we know that. So it’s important for us to go out there and try to get a jump in Game 3.”