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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Undisciplined isn't usually a word
associated with the New Jersey Devils at playoff time.
But it applied Wednesday night as the defending Stanley Cup
champions came out flat and took too many penalties in a 3-2
overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
|  | | Carolina goalie Arturs Irbe makes one of his 32 saves on New Jersey's John Madden during the first period Wednesday. |
Most expected a sweep of a team the Devils outscored 11-1 and
physically dominated in building a 3-0 series lead.
However, New Jersey was outhustled by a short-handed Carolina
team and stoned by goalie Arturs Irbe for most of the game to send
the best-of-seven series back to New Jersey for Game 5 on Friday
night.
"This team is our own worst enemy sometimes," New Jersey
center Bobby Holik said. "We were a bunch of loose cannons out
there. It was a little too wild for our liking. We had no
discipline and that's unacceptable."
The Devils took five more minor penalties than the Hurricanes,
who appeared to play looser after getting into a deep hole in the
series. Carolina fired 33 shots on Martin Brodeur after getting
just a combined 52 in the first three lopsided losses.
"I don't know if it was overconfidence," New Jersey coach
Larry Robinson said. "I think the guys just thought, `Here's a
team down 3-0, we're just going to go through the motions and we're
not going to hit anybody, we're going to play our own little game.'
"Once they get that in their minds that that's the way it's
going to be – they're very stubborn. I'm hoping this is a good
wake-up call for us."
Rod Brind'Amour scored 46 seconds into overtime as the
Hurricanes, missing injured captain Ron Francis and top rookie
Shane Willis, stayed alive in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Sami Kapanen and David Tanabe also scored power-play goals, and
Kapanen set up Brind'Amour on the first shot of the extra period.
Kapanen broke in over the blue line, faked a shot, and then
threw a pass to a streaking Brind'Amour, who poked it past Brodeur
for the winner.
Brind'Amour played a game-high 26 minutes and 41 seconds and won
21 of 29 faceoffs in arguably his best game of the season.
The Devils tied it 2-2 with 10:29 left on a short-handed goal by
Petr Sykora, who beat Irbe on his stick side from 30 feet. The
Hurricanes allowed an NHL-worst 16 short-handed goals during the
regular season.
But the Hurricanes remained calm after the Devils scored to take
the game into overtime.
"The next few shifts weren't fantastic (after the Sykora goal)
but the bench was as good as it has ever been in a tie game,"
Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "I think we knew we were
generating offense. We weren't sitting back and holding on. There
was no sense of tightness."
Devils defenseman Scott Stevens knocked out Willis and Francis
with concussions in consecutive games, but wasn't involved in many
jarring hits this time. His only crunching open-ice check was on
Kapanen midway through the second with the score tied 1-1.
But Jason Arnott took an interference penalty seconds later that
led to Tanabe's go-ahead goal.
Kapanen and Brind'Amour, moving up to the top line to replace
Francis, each had three-point nights as the Hurricanes outskated
the Devils, who had won 22 of 24 overall and 11 straight road
games.
The teams combined to go 0-for-32 on the power play in the
previous three games, but each team got a goal with the
man-advantage in the first period.
Carolina grabbed its first lead in the series – a span of 182
minutes – and Brodeur lost his bid for a third straight playoff
shutout when Kapanen flipped in a rebound of a shot by Brind'Amour.
Arnott was left alone in front of Irbe on a two-man advantage
later in the period and became the 10th player to score in the
series for the Devils.
Game notes
Carolina blocked 12 shots and won 40 of 61 faceoffs. ...
Brodeur started his 77th straight playoff game for the Devils. ...
The Hurricanes were 18-12 during the regular season in one-goal
games, the Devils were 12-13. ... The Devils were 11-2 in their
last 13 road playoffs games before Wednesday night's loss.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Carolina Clubhouse
Hurricanes-Devils Series Page
Carolina's Francis, Willis still out with concussions
RECAPS
Washington 4
Pittsburgh 3
Toronto 3
Ottawa 1
Carolina 3
New Jersey 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rod Brind'Amour and Sami Kapanen work the give-and-go and score 46 seconds into OT.
avi: 1654 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Peter Sykora scores the short-handed goal to tie the game for the Devils.
avi: 850 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
David Tanabe tees it up and blasts it by Martin Brodeur on the power play.
avi: 1168 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Jason Arnott makes a nice move in front for the goal during a Devils' 5-on-3.
avi: 1128 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Sami Kapanen stuffs home the rebound to give Carolina its first lead of the series.
avi: 889 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
 Rod Brind'Amour talks about keeping Carolina's playoff hopes alive.
wav: 720 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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