FanHouse MattCullen

After giving up six goals in Game 2, Cam Ward did everything he possibly could to keep the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 and give them an opportunity to win. Then, with about 10 minutes to play in the third period, the flood gates opened and Pittsburgh took a commanding 3-0 lead in the series with a convincing 6-2 win.

As hard as it might be to believe after giving up five goals (Pittsburgh also scored an empty net goal), Ward actually played a really strong game, turning aside 34 shots, some in spectacular fashion. The Penguins were simply relentless in their offensive attack, while Evgeni Malkin led the way with his sixth consecutive multi-point game, setting a franchise record.

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It must be tough to be a Carolina Hurricanes fan. Consider this for a moment: twice in the last seven years the franchise formerly known as the Hartford Whalers has fought its way to the Stanley Cup Finals -- winning it all in the first year after the lockout in 2006 -- only to miss the playoffs the following two seasons.

In any other market, such a performance would be devastating. But in a non-traditional market like Raleigh, North Carolina, it very well could have been fatal. A Stanley Cup is supposed to cement a team's place in the heart of a community that it calls home, but runs like the team had in 2002 and 2006 were supposed to be performances to build on to fill the build, not memories to fall back on with failure just around the corner.

That a team with such a recent championship on its resume finished 21st overall in attendance this season has to be considered something of an embarrassment.

But here the Hurricanes are again, like the NHL's version of Hailey's comet, just four games from a third trip the Finals in the last six NHL seasons, with only the defending Eastern Conference champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the way. Granted, that's one heck of an obstacle, but it still begs the question: how the heck did it happen?

That picture pretty much sums up the entire third period of Sunday's 4-0 Boston win. As the Carolina Hurricanes were getting dominated in every aspect, Scott Walker decided to take out some of his frustrations on Aaron Ward by punching him in the face.

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Hurricanes 5, Avalanche 2: Led by Matt Cullen's hat trick, Carolina picked up a dominating 5-2 win over the Avalanche on Sunday to move within one point of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes held a commanding 39-19 edge in the shots department, as the Avalanche spent nearly a third of the game down a man.

Cam Ward stopped 17-of-19 shots in net, while Joni Pitkanen, Ray Whitney and Chad LaRose each finished with two points in the win.

Devils 4, Bruins 3: The premier matchup on Thursday's schedule had to be the New Jersey-Boston tilt, and it didn't disappoint as the Devils took a 4-3 decision in overtime. Jamie Langenbrunner scored a pair of goals for the Devils, including the game-winner 1:11 into overtime.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead through the first two periods, New Jersey watched the Bruins roar back with three goals in the third period before Patrick Elias tied the game with just under two minutes to play in regulation. Zach Parise picked up his 29th goal of the season in the win, while Scott Clemmensen made 24 saves. New Jersey has now won seven consecutive games while allowing only 12 goals during the streak. Who needs Martin Brodeur, eh?

Paul Maurice made his debut in his second stint with the Hurricanes on Thursday night, and, well, it wasn't exactly an impressive showing by Carolina, as the Penguins walked out of the building with a 5-2 win. Sidney Crosby registered four assists on the night, while Petr Sykora picked up a pair of power play goals to lead the Penguins.

Carolina goalie Michael Leighton struggled most of the night, giving up the five goals on only 22 shots. He struggled with puck control and wasn't exactly helped by his defense, as they were guilty of a few costly turnovers in the defensive zone. With the Hurricanes trailing 1-0 in the first, Josef Melichar (former Penguin) turned the puck over to Pascal Dupuis who ripped a shot behind Leighton giving the Penguins an early 2-0 lead.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Miroslav Satan also scored for the Penguins, while Tuomo Ruutu and Matt Cullen scored the only two goals of the night for Carolina. Both goals brought the Hurricanes to within two goals on the scoreboard, only to have the Penguins quickly strike back, squashing any momentum Carolina may have built.

The Hurricanes have now lost four of their past five games.

New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus entered play on Sunday with just two goals in his first 19 games this season. He had no trouble blowing that total out of the water during the Devils' 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, as he scored four goals on eight shots, while New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

During the current winning streak, the Devils have scored 21 goals after scoring just 22 in their previous nine games. As for the four-goal effort, it was the first such performance by a Devil since October 29, 2000, when John Madden and Randy McKay each scored four goals in a 9-0 win over the Penguins.

Zubrus scored a pair of goals in the second and third periods, while New Jersey also received tallies from Zach Parise, Brian Gionta and Mike Rupp. Scott Clemmensen earned the start in goal, turning aside 26 shots to pick up the win.

Olaf Kolzig started for Tampa Bay, in place of the injured Mike Smith, and surrendered five goals on 28 shots before being yanked in the second period in favor of Karri Ramo. I'm guessing it wasn't the result Rick Tocchet was looking for following his first NHL win behind the bench, as Tampa Bay has now won just three times its past eight games.

Martin St. Louis and Radim Vrbata picked up goals for the Lightning, while Ryan Malone scored on a penalty shot, his fourth goal of the season.

Perhaps the greatest measure of the utter lack of confidence hockey fans have in the NHL disciplinary system occurred after Colton Orr's open-ice hit on Matt Cullen of Carolina, as reviewed by EMac on an earlier FanHouse entry. The majority of fan reactions I came across just assumed the injurious play, which left Cullen with a broken nose, would result in a procedural short suspension from the League. Orr was a repeat offender, after all; and as clean as the hit was, it resulted in an injury -- always a clincher for suspensions.

But NHL goon czar Colin Campbell remains as unpredictable as ever, deeming the Orr check to be free and clear of any additional jail time from the League offices. (I'd give him a pat on the back, but I've seen how he reacts to hits from behind.) Orr, or any player who unleashes a similar hit, didn't deserve a suspension or even that game misconduct he received for the check. It was a hockey play, as Orr told the media in review: "I just cut through the middle of the ice and was just playing the man. We were both just cutting to the middle and I was just defending myself."

And yet we have Mark Pargas of the New York Times asking if, in the future, Orr could take a moment before delivering a high-speed hit to ask himself, "W.W.M.P.O.T.N.Y.T.D.?" ("What Would Mark Pargas of the New York Times Do?") Pargas argues for "a more responsible way to play a physical brand of hockey," that targets the lower body with body checks. He uses the infamous Scott Stevens/Eric Lindros collision as evidence, which would have been a fine example had his blog focused less on the checkers delivering hard hits and more on the checkees skating with their heads down in the middle of the ice.

For Carolina, watching Mike Commodore skate over to "enforce" Orr led Hockey in the South to issue a post-Christmas wish for a heavyweight goon. Bubba over on Canes Country doesn't see the need for an enforcer because he doesn't believe that players policing themselves is a better deterrent than the League suspending reckless offenders. And this is coming from someone who watched Brooks Orpik get just three games for a brutal act of chiropractory on Erik Cole.