Backup and back in
The Carolina Hurricanes and Anaheim Mighty Ducks both made goalie changes for their respective Game 4s. Both teams won.
The comparisons end there.
For Mighty Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, turning to Jean-Sebastien Giguere Thursday was the hockey equivalent of a Hail Mary. It wasn't Ilya Bryzgalov's fault Anaheim trailed the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 in the Western Conference finals. He had allowed only two goals in Games 1 and 2 and was trailing 1-0 early in the final period of Game 3 before someone hit the easy button, resulting in an insane eight-goal barrage over the final 18 minutes.
Carlyle didn't really bench Bryzgalov. He went with Giguere because it was the one move he could make to give a series slipping away a dramatically new look. Had it flopped, well, we would have written "he had to do something."
Peter Laviolette was facing a very different set of circumstances Friday. Starting Martin Gerber over Cam Ward was a huge gamble. Gerber hadn't started a game in exactly a month, and he hadn't held an opponent to fewer than three goals in any of his previous nine starts.
Ward had rescued Carolina from that two-game hole against the Montreal Canadiens, then backstopped the team's series win over the New Jersey Devils in five games. Against the Buffalo Sabres, he hadn't been sharp, but the Hurricanes, down 2-1, were still in the series.
And there was the perception that the Hurricanes already held an advantage in Game 4, what with Buffalo playing without three of its top six defensemen. Why throw a volatile goaltending situation into the mix?
Sure, Gerber won 38 games this season and set a franchise record by winning 15 straight starts. He hadn't really played well in a starting role since winning back-to-back starts in March. You want to hand your season to him in the middle of a heated Eastern Conference final?
Laviolette did. And the gamble paid off. Gerber was spectacular in the first period, steady the rest of the way and then humble in victory as Carolina evened the series 2-2 with a 4-0 road win. Laviolette isn't one to show his hand prior to game day, but you can bet Gerber earned himself a start in Game 5.
THIRD STAR OF THE DAY
Mark Recchi had one of his best games of this postseason. He scored the Hurricanes' first goal on a deflection and had five shots, his highest total since March 4 when he had a hat trick and seven shots against the Hurricanes as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
SECOND STAR OF THE DAY
Another game, another point for Carolina's all-everything forward Eric Staal. The 21-year-old extended his point streak to 14 games – a total that is just four shy of Bryan Trottier's playoff record – with a power-play goal in the first period. It was a typical Staal goal – a laser from the right-wing faceoff circle that beat Ryan Miller, who gave Staal the narrowest of openings inside the far post. Credit Doug Weight, who also had a solid game, with setting up the screen.
FIRST STAR OF THE DAY
Like he did Wednesday, when he came off the bench to stop two breakaways before even breaking a sweat, Gerber did his best work early in Game 4. J.P. Dumont looked to have a sure goal before a sprawled-out Gerber stacked his pads for a sparkling save. Moments later, Chris Drury split two defensemen and skated in alone on Gerber, but the Hurricanes' goalie was too quick with his glove. Buffalo never did mount much of an attack after the first period, but this could have been a very different game if Gerber had mishandled any of the 11 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes.
MINOR PENALTY
Down 2-0, the Sabres were handed a chance to climb back into the game when Carolina took two minor penalties late in the first period. Those two power-plays came and went with only a single shot on goal, and that shot was a shorthanded attempt by the Hurricanes' Kevin Adams.
MAJOR PENALTY
Not the best night for Buffalo defenseman Jeff Jillson. Pressed into more than 14 minutes of ice time by injuries that have thinned the Sabres' defense corps, Jillson was on the ice for three of Carolina's four goals. He was responsible for a giveaway that led to a scoring chance in the first period, and Andrew Ladd's first-career playoff goal was the result of Jillson's missed assignment. The fourth-year pro was much better in Game 3.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR SATURDAY
Game 5: Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Mighty Ducks – When Dustin Penner put the Mighty Ducks up 1-0 roughly seven minutes into Thursday's game, it marked Anaheim's first lead of this series. That's rather surprising when you consider the Mighty Ducks hold a 150-96 shot advantage through four games and the battles along the boards and in the faceoff circle have been pretty even. Giguere taking over in goal wasn't the story in Game 4. It was Anaheim's first-period onslaught that resulted in 25 shots and three goals that, needless to say, set the tone. Now the Mighty Ducks can force a Game 6 by winning at home Saturday, and they know they don't have to do anything different to do it. Factor out empty-net tallies and only one goal separates these two teams through four games.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT
Watch
You want another difference between the Game 4 goalie changes executed by Anaheim and Carolina? Check out the degree of difficulty on the saves. Anaheim has a way of making life easy on its goalies when things are going right, and Giguere had a relatively calm night Thursday. Gerber on the other hand was tested early Friday. You'll want to get a look at his stops on Dumont and Drury in the first period.
