I wish I could be blogging under happier circumstances, but Edmonton wanted game 5 more than the Canes did last night I think.

Maybe the team had a lack of focus because of the intense pressure on them to close out the series at home, who knows.  But the crowd was even tense from the beginning - especially after Edmonton scored 16 seconds into the game.  Later in the first period we took the lead 2-1 but then gave up 2 more goals to go down 3-2 by the end of the first.  It was a crazy period, and almost seemed like we were gonna see a lot of goals.

things settled down after that but the crowd was pretty quiet during the second period until Carolina tied up the game, and even after that you could tell there was a nervous tension hanging over the crowd.

Personally, I figured going into the third period tied 3-3 was good for the Canes, who had DRAMATICALLY outscored their opponents in the playoffs during the third period, something like 28-5.  Unfortunately, they only managed 2 shots on goal in the third period, and also took the only two penalties in the period.  I do wish they tracked "zone time" like they used to, because I bet we didn't spend more than 5 minutes of the period in the Edmonton zone.

The defense must've played well though because Edmonton only had 5 shots in that third period, but they definately controlled the pace.

I was pretty excited when we got the power play in overtime, but that excitement was quickly crushed along with the spirits of 19,000 others who fully expected CAROLINA to score on the power play that had been so successful all evening (3 power play goals).

But Cory Stillman made a soft pass to Eric Staal while he was being converged upon, and Staal wasn't able to get the puck.  Instead, we had a rather sudden breakaway opportunity from the blue line for Edmonton, and the puck whisked into the net, and shocked the crowd.

I don't really know who to blame.  Cory Stillman and Eric Staal both took the blame in the post-game interviews, but I'm just as tempted to blame section 334, who started yelling "WE WANT THE CUP" in the first period.  The Cup is going to come to Raleigh, I'm very confident of that, but I'm not cheering for it in the first period of the FIRST elimination game.

I could also blame Joe Ovies for the lack of mojo (pardon the pun, Morning Mojo listeners) - Mr. Ovies did predict an overtime game.

But then again it could've been my fault.  I didn't listen to "BEEP BEEP" before the game - although I did hear it earlier in the day.  I'm not sure if that was good enough.

Ultimately, I think the Canes simply didn't have the focus required to put Edmonton away.  They faced a huge amount of pressure to close out the series at home in front of their own fans - a celebration that certainly would've been something to remember.

the pressure on Saturday though is going to sway heavily towards Edmonton, because Carolina isn't going to have nearly as many distractions that the potential home ice celebration may have had.  And I know the Canes do NOT want to play game 7 back in Raleigh!  As much as I wanted them to win it on home ice, I even more so do NOT want to see them play another game in the RBC Center until the 2006-2007 season begins.

See you Saturday at the RBC Center!

GO CANES!