What playoff hockey is all about

After the controversial ending to Game 4, the sellout crowd was already angry and feisty.  What transpired at the beginning of Game 5 just exacerbated it when 2:24 into the game David Clarkson got sent to the box for – what else? – goaltender interference.  Were the Devils sending a message early?  Perhaps, I’m still not sure even after seeing a replay how blatant it was, but if nothing else it showed Ward that we were going to make things uncomfortable for him.  It also showed that while other goaltenders (especially Ward, who flopped to draw a call on Travis Zajac in Game 2) can get those calls, Marty basically has to be carried off on a stretcher to draw a call.

 

It nearly came to that in a wild, perhaps unprecedented sequence with just a few minutes remaining in the period.  During a Devils attack, Frantisek Kaberle pushed John Madden into Ward, but this time there was no call despite a warning by one of the officials towards Madden.  Play didn’t even stop, so the Devils tried desperately to take advantage of a shaken goaltender but Carolina was up to the task.  Even before the play could be whistled dead, the Canes’ Chad LaRose sped towards a loose puck one-on-one with Johnny Oduya.  Oduya shoulder-checked him and Brodeur came way out of his net to poke-check the puck away.  In the process a sliding LaRose wiped out Brodeur, causing a cut on his ankle.  Play didn’t stop then either, and the Canes nearly scored into an empty net before Brodeur had to make a quick recovery and leap across without a stick to direct the puck away.

 

Amazingly enough, Brodeur somehow wound up with a penalty on the play for interference.  At this point, I wish I’d brought Ray Charles glasses to taunt the refs.  I mean really, how was he interfering with anyone when he was playing the puck and got wiped out on the play?!  I was convinced the refs were out to teach Marty a lesson after smashing his stick at the end of Game 4.  However, the Devils’ PK was up to the task killing off the second of an eventual five Carolina power play chances in the game.

 

Lost in all the craziness, the Devils largely dominated the first period and the early part of the second, but Ward was holding the fort early and often.  He made a ton of great glove saves on the night, among others.  Maybe some in the crowd had an understandable feeling of dread that we’d better get one soon or we’ll pay.  My attitude was more like a determined ‘I don’t care if you have to put 100 shots on him, just get enough past him to win this darn game!’ intensity.

 

While the Devils kept coming with that kind of intensity eventually Carolina found their game legs and started to take over the latter half of the game.  Nearly eight minutes into the second period came the most dramatic chance of the night when Jussi Jokinen nearly played hero for the second game in a row off a tip of a Rod Brind’Amour shot that trickled through Brodeur and was on its way into the net, but somehow with his back turned, Brodeur put his glove back and barely kept the skidding puck out.  You hear the expression ‘in the zone’ get overstated but on this night Brodeur was truly in one, especially with spectacular hand-eye coordination on bouncing pucks and through traffic in front.  Moments later he made a stop of a fluttering shot by LaRose and you had the feeling this could be a special night, and that the only goal(s) were going to come off of pure breaks or luck.

 

Finally midway through the second period came a break that proved decisive when a Patrick Eaves penalty led to a Devils power play.  If Carolina’s ‘unsung heroes’ have been a pain in our rear end throughout this series, we wound up scoring the only goal of the game with an unlikely combo – Clarkson getting his second of the series tipping home an Andy Greene point shot at 11:22 for his second of the playoffs.  Greene was an even more unlikely hero given both the fact that he was an injury replacement for the ailing Salvador, and the fact that Greene’s assist on the goal was his first power play point of the entire season.  Overall he actually played well in his 14:26 with five shots on net.  Though he certainly has been shaky throughout the regular season, it’s as if he steps up his game in the playoffs since he played very good hockey two years ago against Tampa Bay and Ottawa as a rookie in the postseason.

 

My wish from here on in was that the Devils didn’t sit back.  And truth be told they didn’t, but Carolina was just a step faster late in the second period and for much of the third period, getting two consecutive power plays overlapping the second and third, but the Devils killed off four nearly consecutive minutes of shorthanded time and went to work trying to put the capper on the night.  Both teams had glorious chances in the third, far too many to recount, with tension riding on every shot.  For the Devils, a goal would basically mean a win and a 3-2 series lead while for the Canes a goal would be another late-game dagger against the Devils.

 

Finally it came down to the last 23.8 seconds and the tension was unbearable as Brodeur held the puck for a faceoff, Carolina took timeout then the Canes won the faceoff and Brodeur had to stop a wide-open Ray Whitney one-timer and held the puck for another faceoff with 18.9 to go.  Then the Devils took timeout and I laughed and said to my friend, figures the tension would be this drawn out in the final half-minute.  After taking the blame in Game 4 for not blocking Dennis Seidenberg’s point shot on the Jokinen goal with .2 seconds left, Jay Pandolfo didn’t make that error of omission again blocking an Eric Staal shot off the ensuing faceoff with Brendan Shanahan making the final, deciding clear and pandemonium broke loose.

 

Other than two Stanley Cup Final games in 2003 (including Game 7) I can’t remember ever being as drained after a game as I was last night.  From the emotion of the game and the series itself, to the tension of 85 saves between two great goaltenders to the atmosphere at the Rock.  Two of my best friends could see how out of it I was last night on the train ride home after the game, if they didn’t know better they would have thought I was on something haha.

 

Oh well, after six hours of sleep I’m pretty good now.  I’m still kinda glad that there is a three-day gap between games though, not just because of Game 5 but really the entire series has been an absolute war.  After the first game where Carolina probably needed a wakeup call to realize how hard it was going to be, every game’s been tight and even.  From the OT games in Games 2 and 3 to the sudden-death finish of Game 4 and finally the dramatics of last night’s 1-0 finish, this could well be a series for the ages despite it only being a first-round matchup.

 

To think there’s still one, maybe two games left.

 

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Derek Felix on April 24th, 2009 6:05 pm

   Great article. I can sure relate bc the other night was exactly the same feeling. The playoffs are so much fun!

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