At 8:47 of the second period, Brian Rolston broke through with a power-play goal (his first of the postseason) to give the Devils a 3-2 lead. This moment was huge considering how much of a disappointment Rolston had been this year. Jersey signed him to a 4-year, $20 million deal at the start of free agency as he was coming off his third consecutive thirty-goal season with Minnesota. But his season was derailed early with an ankle injury and Rolston found himself on the fourth line when he returned. Rolston ended up scoring just 15 goals in 64 games, not the kind of production the Devils thought they were getting when he signed up for his second stint in Jersey. But here he was in the deciding Game 7 of the series, scoring the go-ahead marker on a scorcher from the left point on the power play.
The Devils then nursed this lead into the third period. The penalty kill was sharp, killing off three consecutive Carolina power plays, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:08. But suddenly, around the 16:30 mark of the third period, the wheels started to come off the bus. Carolina was a middling team for the first half of the season but around the time they picked up Erik Cole from Edmonton (for his second stint with the 'Canes), Carolina got hot. They surged from being eight points out of a playoff spot all the way up to the sixth seed in the East. During this stretch, in which Paul Maurice was brought back for his second run as the 'Canes' head coach, Carolina came together and forged an identity as a hard-nosed, fast-skating team that could win any battle in the corner and capitalize on the slightest mistakes by their opponents. Around 16:30 of the third period many of us in Section 231 of the Prudential Center looked at each other and acknowledged that Carolina was about to kick their game into another gear.
Suddenly all of the action was in the Jersey zone. The Devils couldn't clear the puck. Carolina was applying tremendous pressure, making crisp passes, winning all the corner battles, and shooting at will. It was only a matter of time before the tying goal was scored and we all knew it. Sure enough, at 18:40 of the third period, Jussi Jokinen (who was waived by the Lightning earlier this season) scored his third goal of the series with a wrister from the right circle off a picture-perfect feed by Joni Pitkanen. Jokinen was the same individual who scored with 00.2 seconds left in the third period of Game 4 to give Carolina a last-second 4-3 triumph, evening the series at two.
So now we're all bracing for overtime until the unthinkable happens. Somehow, the Devils allow Eric Staal, arguably Carolina's best player, to skate across the blue line with a full head of steam towards Martin Brodeur. Staal then unleashed a twisting wrister from the right circle that ended up surprising Brodeur, and beating him stick side. With just 31.7 seconds left in regulation, Staal, the player I hate more than other in the entire National Hockey League (Yes, I hate him even more than Henrik Lundqvist), ripped my heart, and the hearts of the other 17,625 fans at The Rock, right out. It was Staal's fifth tally of the series.
There were just eighty seconds of regulation hockey left. That's it. Eighty more seconds and we all would've been talking about seeing each other at The Rock for Game 3 of Devils/Capitals in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Instead, we were all left with nothing but the absolute sickest feeling imaginable in the pits of our stomachs.
Many of the writers who cover Jersey's Team have been likening this heartbreaker to past Game 7 defeats in franchise history (Don't worry. The club has had some memorable Game 7 wins as well: Washington in 1988, Buffalo in 1994, Philadelphia in 2000, Ottawa & Anaheim in 2003.). The two notable losses that always pop up are Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, in which Stephane Matteau scored the game-winner on a wraparound 4:24 into the second overtime to give the hated Rangers a 2-1 victory & Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals in which Alex Tanguay picked up the winner in a 3-1 Colorado Avalanche victory, giving Ray Bourque the long-awaited first Stanley Cup Championship of his storied career.
I believe the references to those two series are appropriate but not for the Game 7s. You see, just like in this year's ECQF series, the Devils had a chance to close out those series in Game 6 and failed to do so in shocking fashion. In the '94 Eastern Conference Finals the Devils had a chance to close out the series in Game 6 on home ice at the Meadowlands. But the Devils lost, 4-2, as Mark Messier netted a hat trick and cashed on his pre-game guarantee of forcing a Game 7. In the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals the Devils also had home ice advantage for Game 6 and a chance to win Lord Stanley's Cup for the third time in franchise history. But the Devils laid an absolute clunker and were shutout by Patrick Roy and the Avalanche, 4-0. This year...Cam Ward and the 'Canes shut out the Devils in Game 6, in Raliegh, 4-0, forcing the return to Newark for Game 7.
The Devils have had many outstanding playoff moments, both good and bad. I have been lucky enough to witness many of them first-hand, be it at the Meadowlands or at The Rock. As I tell everyone, football will always be my sport but the Devils will always be my team. They are Jersey's Team and I am a Jersey guy. I have cried tears of joy and sadness, publicly and privately, over this team. I've gone hoarse many times, thrown plenty of things, and had many days brightened and ruined by what Jersey's Team does on the ice. I still have nightmares of "Matteau! Matteau," and I still have glorious dreams of, "The championship...to New Jersey!" But I really believe that this Game 7 loss may haunt me even longer than '94. The Devils just gave up with three and a half minutes left in the game. They just put it in cruise control while Carolina found a gear the Devils simply didn't have. The entire final portion of the game was played in the Jersey end of the ice. With the 'Canes skating like demons the Devils never even had a chance.
The Devils have played Carolina four times in the postseason now and have only emerged victorious once, in the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. In addition to this year, Carolina owns victories in the 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The series-ending Game 5 in 2006 was down in Carolina as was the series-clinching Game 6 in 2001 but in 2002, just like this year, the season ended in heartbreaking fashion in Jersey. I was at the Continental Airlines Arena on that Saturday afternoon in April, sitting in Section 213, as Kevin Weekes stopped all 32 Jersey shots to lead Carolina to a 1-0 victory. Ron Francis would score the only goal that night and Carolina would ride the momentum of that series-clinching win all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before bowing to the Detroit Red Wings. After finishing off the Devils in five in 2006, Carolina would end up winning their only Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. So if history is any indicator here, the 'Canes could be in for something big this year.
I remember being stunned on that Saturday afternoon as I watched the series-ending handshake line proceed. I had that same feeling last Tuesday at The Rock, only worse considering how the Devils just gave up. It took a good twenty minutes of just staring at the ice, conversations with three different ushers, and a total of about an hour before I finally left my seat in Section 231. It would be another hour (and a few drinks at the Bud Light Goal Bar) before I actually left the arena.
And so another season of Devils hockey comes to an end all too soon. Jersey has won just two playoff series (2006 (vs. Rangers) & 2007 (vs. Lightning) Eastern Conference Quarterfinals) since winning its third Stanley Cup Championship in 2003. Some key players (Oduya, Gionta, Zajac) will be free agents this summer, be it restricted or unrestricted. And the need for a top-four defencemen is pressing now more than ever. Everyone laughed at me when I went on and on about how much both I and the Devils would miss Brian Rafalski when he left to sign with Detroit after the 2007 playoffs. But here we are after a second consecutive first-round playoff exit wondering why we don't have a defenceman who can run the point on the power play and pinch to provide some pressure in the offensive zone. Those two areas would be Rafalski's specialties, by the way. It should be a very interesting off-season down in Newark. But one thing is for sure, I'll be back and ready to rock come October...and ready to keep yelling about how much I hate Eric Staal.
I'll leave you with this photo. It is a picture I took from my seat nearly 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 7. You'll notice that there are just ushers remaining in the crowd and the only player on the ice is Eric Staal, sitting on the Carolina bench conducting a post-game interview. I think it's a good image to sum up the emptiness in my heart over the awful Game 7 defeat and just how bad I felt after that game.
-Meech
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