Sunday, Apr. 15 3:00pm ET
Hits, not goals, keep coming for Carolina
RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Dominating the Carolina Hurricanes
in the first two games of the playoffs wasn't enough for Scott
Stevens.
The New Jersey captain sent the Hurricanes home even more upset
by sending rookie Shane Willis to the hospital with an open-ice
check with 11 seconds to play in the Devils' 2-0 victory on Sunday.
|  | | Scott Stevens skates over Shane Willis after delivering a hit with 11 seconds left in Game 2. Willis was hit while looking down before skating into the Devils zone. |
"The game is never over. I don't care how much time was left,"
Stevens shot back when asked if the hit was necessary in a game
where the outcome was already decided.
"I don't care when it is. I finish my checks right to the end.
It doesn't matter if it's the regular season or the playoffs,"
Stevens said. "If there were only 11 seconds left, maybe we should
have called the game right there and forgot about playing the rest,
I guess."
Willis was taken by ambulance to Meadowlands Hospital Medical
Center in Secaucus about 30 minutes after the game.
Willis was nearly knocked out when Stevens caught the
23-year-old right wing with a solid chest-and-shoulder check as
Willis skated across center ice with his head down.
The collision snapped Willis' head back and his face slammed
into the ice, opening a cut above his right eye that needed five
stitches to close.
Hurricanes spokesman Jerry Higgins said Willis will be held
overnight for observation. He will return to Raleigh, N.C., on
Monday if doctors give the OK.
Willis was in stable condition Sunday night, a hospital official
said.
None of the Hurricanes said that Stevens' hit was dirty. It was
a solid chest-and-shoulder check that snapped Willis' head back.
His head hit the ice, opening a cut above his right eye that needed
five stitches.
The problem was the timing. The defending Stanley Cup champions
had the game and a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round
series locked up.
Goals by Alexander Mogilny and defenseman Sean O'Donnell had
provided the offense and Martin Brodeur had made 18 saves for his
ninth career playoff shutout.
All that was left was for the final seconds to tick off so the
teams could take charter flights for Raleigh, N.C., for Games 3 and
4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
However, Stevens nailed Willis with the same type of hit
that sent Eric Lindros to the hospital in Game 7 of the conference
final last year.
It turned the game ugly. Another scuffle broke out after a
bleeding Willis was helped off the ice.
Veteran Rob DiMaio was the most annoyed Hurricane.
"Ten seconds to go in the game, I don't think it's called for
to hit a guy that hard in open ice, literally trying to end his
career," DiMaio said. "That can be very frustrating to see that
happen to one of your teammates."
Stevens expects payback as the Devils try for their second
straight first-round sweep. They beat Florida in four games last
year.
"I'm sure they're upset, which is fine," Stevens said. "It
will take them off their game. If I can get them thinking about me,
that's what the game is all about. If they are going to try to get
back at me, they'll make more mistakes."
The Hurricanes showed a little more than they did in losing 5-1
on Thursday night, but they were still pushed around by the Devils
and rarely generated good scoring chances.
Their best chances came late in the third period, but Brodeur
stopped 41-goal scorer Jeff O'Neill on a power-play shot from the
right circle and made a marvelous stop on a slap shot from
defenseman David Tanabe after being knocked down in the crease.
"We've got to find a way to score goals," Hurricanes
defenseman Glen Wesley said. "One goal in two games isn't going to
cut it. We've got to get pucks to the net. We have to crash the
net.'
Willis had Carolina's first breakaway of the series with about
five minutes remaining, but Brodeur forced him to shoot over the
top of the net.
Mogilny gave the Devils the only goal they needed early in the
first period on a play set up by a hustling Scott Gomez. The
second-year center carried the puck into the Carolina zone 1-on-3,
got the puck behind the net and pushed it to Sergei Brylin, who
found Mogilny coming down the middle all alone.
Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe didn't have a chance to stop the
shot at 4:16.
O'Donnell, who didn't score a goal in 17 regular-season games
after being acquired from Minnesota, got his first as a Devil at
2:32 of the second period. Randy McKay controlled the puck in the
left circle and found O'Donnell with a pass at the right point for
a shot that found a wide-open net.
Irbe was outstanding in preventing the Devils from getting more.
He finished with 27 saves, including several close in chances.
Game notes
The lineups were the same as Game 1. ... The teams will
practice in North Carolina on Monday. ... New Jersey was 0-for-5 on
the power play and it is now 0-for 9 in the two games. ... Carolina
was 0-for-4 with the extra man and is 0-for-8 overall. ... The
series drew its second straight sellout of 19,040. ... Mogilny's
goal was his 20th in 62 career playoff games.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Carolina Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
Hurricanes-Devils Series Page
Willis leaves hospital after Game 2 hit by Stevens
RECAPS
New Jersey 2
Carolina 0
Dallas 3
Edmonton 2
Los Angeles 2
Detroit 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Scott Stevens crushes Shane Willis with this shot.
avi: 1506 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Sean O'Donnell's slap shot beats Arturs Irbe for the goal.
avi: 1358 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Arturs Irbe stops New Jersey from scoring with this great save.
avi: 1485 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Alexander Mogilny unleashes the power of New Jersey's offense with this wrist shot.
avi: 1207 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Scott Stevens and the Devils take a 2-0 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes.
wav: 240 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
ESPN's Darren Pang says Scott Stevens' hit on Shane Willis was clean.
wav: 3437 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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