Hurricanes Stun Devils With 2 Late Goals

The Hurricanes must not have been content with letting the Washington Capitals take the spotlight for the night. After the Capitals defeated the Rangers in a thrilling contest on a stellar shot from Sergei Fedorov, the 'Canes one-upped that ending with their own miracle finish, scoring two goals in the final 80 seconds to overcome a 3-2 deficit and eliminate the Devils. The 'Canes advance to play the Bruins in the second round.

But that's a discussion to have later, because Carolina deserves to revel for a night in its tenacity, busting through a Devils defense that stifled for 55 minutes, particularly in the second half of the game. The sequence that unfolded over the game's final minutes left the jaws of everyone watching agape, with the Devils and their fans staring at the floor wondering how their season went from dashing to deceased.

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It appeared the 'Canes had wasted their best chance to get back into a game in which the Devils were outplaying them when New Jersey took three penalties in a little over three minutes to give Carolina a serious manpower advantage (including a lengthy 5-on-3). Instead, the Devils' penalty kill was spot-on, hording the game's momentum like rationed water in a drought. That trend continued into the third as the Devils continued to put the choke on the Hurricanes' speedy offense.

But a familiar pattern began again for the Devils: the inability to play a full 60 minutes or close out games when necessary. And as the Hurricanes began to string chances together, you could see their pulse beating with more and more conviction. Jussi Jokinen finished a breathless sequence by burying the tying goal past Martin Brodeur, who was stretching across the crease to try to get to the shot and who now officially can be considered supremely fallible as underwhelming playoff appearances are becoming more the rule and less the exception.

When Jokinen knotted the game there was under 1:30 left in regulation, but you might as well have written the final score in pen right after leaving just the "how" to be filled in, as the Devils have a history that extends past this season of heartbreaking losses to the Hurricanes, particularly late in games. Of course, that "how" wouldn't be blank for long, as Eric Staal's goal with 32 seconds left ensured that lightning strikes more than twice.

It'll take a night of sleep for each team to begin to grasp what happened on Tuesday night, as coaches Brent Sutter and Paul Maurice admitted to having never been a part of a game like that. One team is likely to sleep a lot better than the other, though, convinced that hard work really does spawn good karma while the other rolls listlessly, trying to eradicate mental rewinds of missed opportunities. Regrets? They probably have a few.