Hurricanes blow into Finals
By Shawn P. Roarke | NHL.com

For Carolina, the most difficult path always seems to be the best path.

The Hurricanes proved that again Tuesday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, overcoming a back-breaking goal by Toronto's Mats Sundin to pull out a 2-1 overtime win that assured the Hurricanes their first Stanley Cup Finals berth in franchise history. Carolina won the best-of-seven series, 4-2. It's the third-straight series the Hurricanes have won in six games.

Unheralded Martin Gelinas scored the game-winning goal with 8:05 gone in overtime, redirecting a Josef Vasicek pass past the brilliant Curtis Joseph. Carolina is 6-1 in overtime games in these playoffs.

"It's been our season," said goalie Arturs Irbe. "We always seem to do it the hard way."

It couldn't have come any harder than Tuesday night.

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Maple Leafs lament elimination
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com

The Toronto Maple Leafs weren't interested in the number of style points they earned during a memorable run in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Players like goalie Curtis Joseph and center Mats Sundin didn't want to hear about the team's ability to overcome a stunning barrage of injuries, the illness that sidelined GM/coach Pat Quinn for a time in the Eastern Conference Finals, and their own tendency to play close to the emotional edge which often resulted in untimely penalties.

For the Maple Leafs, the equation was simple � and bitter. The Carolina Hurricanes won Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, 2-1, in overtime, to take the series, 4-2. Those are the cruel numbers that ended a Toronto run that produced seven-game victories over the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators. In both of those series the Leafs were counted as being down and out. In both, they sprang up from the canvas.

Perhaps they will savor those efforts later this summer. In the cold light of today, there is only a sense of what might have been.

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