Hurricanes shock Red Wings in Cup opener

Posted 7:28AM on Wednesday 5th June 2002 ( 22 years ago )

DETROIT - Suddenly, it's a series. The Detroit Red Wings heard all the talk of four-game sweeps, of their vast superiority over the Carolina Hurricanes in statistics, stars, salaries and Stanley Cup rings. There's one edge they don't have, though - the lead. Ron Francis, one of the few Hurricanes players who matches the Red Wings' stable of superstars in Hall of Fame credentials, scored 58 seconds into overtime as Carolina surprised the Red Wings 3-2 in the Stanley Cup finals opener Tuesday night. Sweet Caroline, indeed. And no more yapping about Sweep Carolina, either. ``We are excited, very excited,'' said Jeff O'Neill, who set up Francis' score after scoring the tying goal in the final minute of the second period. ``We've got a lot of young guys playing in the finals for the first time, so to get the first one is good.'' Make that a lot of young guys and Ron Francis, the most revered player in the history of the franchise that began life long ago in the WHA as the New England Whalers. Tuesday was Francis' first finals game in 10 years, or since he scored the game-winner for Pittsburgh in its Game 4 clincher against Chicago in 1992. The goalie that night was Dominik Hasek, now the Red Wings' goalie. Game 2 is Thursday night in Joe Louis Arena, where, until Tuesday, the Hurricanes were 0-11-0-1 since Nov. 14, 1989. The game-winning goal was scored that night by - yes, Francis. Do you believe in omens? ``It's a good lesson for us,'' Red Wings forward Igor Larionov said. ``They're playing in the finals, so there's no way you can underestimate anybody.'' Even if the only people who gave the Hurricanes much chance reside mostly along Tobacco Road, where this idea of playing championship games on ice during June is still a bit of novelty. ``We knew that over the course of the series we would have to win one game in here,'' Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. ``I thought we were nervous in the first period ... but that we felt more comfortable as the game went along.'' Especially when the game went into overtime. The Hurricanes have won seven of eight overtime playoff games, the most since 1993 Stanley Cup champion Montreal won 10. ``I think we just play our system and keep it simple,'' O'Neill said of the Hurricanes' overtime success. ``Obviously, we don't try to open up too much. We just try to grind it out for wins, and it's worked so far.'' That system is a trapping, neutral zone-clogging 1-2-2 defense that prevented odd-man Detroit breaks. What it didn't stop was power plays, but Detroit was only 1-of-7 with the man advantage. ``You can analyze it any way you want, but we had a chance to win it on the power play,'' Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman said. ``We didn't play as well as we wanted, that's for sure.'' Still, they played well enough to lead 1-0 and 2-1 on goals by Sergei Fedorov and checking line forward Kirk Maltby, but O'Neill tied it at 2 by scoring on a short breakaway with only 50 seconds left in the second period. Now, the Hurricanes will find out if they've merely knocked Detroit off its game for one night, or an entire series. New Jersey also was a big underdog to Detroit in the 1995 finals, but rode the momentum of an opening game upset to a totally unexpected sweep of the Red Wings. ``They didn't surprise us. We knew they could play,'' Hasek said. ``But it is a tough loss.'' And a tough day all around for Hasek, who was cited for driving 65 mph in a 45 mph construction zone en route to the morning skate. So much for home-ice advantage. First, Hasek got stopped - then he couldn't stop the biggest shot of the night, even as Carolina goalie Arturs Irbe was turning aside 23 of 25 shots in his first Cup finals game. All in all, it was a huge letdown for a team that was easily the NHL's best team during the season, one that possesses the biggest collection of sure-to-be Hall of Famers since the Canadiens of the 1950s and early 1960s. ``We're disappointed to lose but we're not shocked to lose,'' captain Steve Yzerman said. ``We knew full well we're playing a good team that's peaking right now. They've got a good thing going, they're on a roll. We're in for a real battle.'' And one the Red Wings now know won't last four games - unless they're the team being swept, rather than the one doing the sweeping. ``I don't think it was a lack of respect for them, it's just that we played poorly,'' Brendan Shanahan said. ``We didn't do the things we were doing in the other rounds. They played the way a team is supposed to play in the Stanley Cup finals, and we didn't.'' NOTES: The Hurricanes are 7-0 when tied after two periods. ... Fedorov has five goals in his last six games against Carolina. ... Carolina's first goal, by Sean Hill, came during a 5-on-3 early in the second period. Until then, Hasek hadn't allowed a goal in 144 minutes, 33 seconds, or slightly more than seven periods. ... Irbe is 0-10 in regular season games in Detroit. ... Road teams are 10-2 in Stanley Cup finals overtime games since 1990.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/6/193911