How did Hurricanes do it?
With eight seconds to play in Tuesday's playoff game at the RBC Center, the Canes' Jussi Jokinen was attempting to stuff in wraparound shot against Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. That seemed to be Carolina's best last-gasp chance to win Game 4, and Brodeur made the stop.
Devils defenseman Paul Martin attempted a clearing pass, but Canes defenseman Joni Pitkanen kept it in the zone just inside the blue line. Pitkanen skated to his right, settling the puck, and when he released his pass toward Dennis Seidenberg at the right point, 1.9 seconds were left.
When Seidenberg put stick on puck with a big slapshot, there was one second remaining. When it hit the skate of Jussi Jokinen in front of goaltender Martin Brodeur, there was roughly three-tenths of a second left and the winning goal scored with two-tenths of a second remaining.
"It was two-tenths of a second showing on the clock, still left when the puck went in the net," Devils coach Brent Sutter said.
Sutter, like everyone else in the building, had to wait until a ruling was made — the goal was good and the Canes had won 4-3 to tie the playoff series 2-2. He had no complaint about the ruling but came away believing Jokinen had interferred with Brodeur as the Canes forward positioned himself.
"He definitely got bumped," Sutter said. "There was no question about that. As he was coming across the crease, Jokinen did bump him.
"(Brodeur) was outside the crease when he was sliding across. It's a call, you know, that you would think you might get, but we never did.
"Obviously, it comes to the discretion of the ref on that play. Probably because they thought Marty was outside the crease like that, they didn't think they needed to call it."
Jokinen, obtained in a Feb. 7 trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning, had scored two playoff goals in his career — both with the Dallas Stars in 2006. But he's never had one like this — all the drama, the suspense, the review, the waiting.
"I was pretty nervous and then pretty relieved when they said it was a goal," Jokinen said.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
Comments
you can't handle the truth
Wed, 04/22/2009 - 18:05 — jejohn8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmMqotFGoI0
But...
Wed, 04/22/2009 - 10:46 — wxray1I'm tired of Marty always getting calls for interference when he is way out of the crease. He gets the benefit of the doubt quite a bit. This was not a no-call, it was a Marty-best-goalie-ever-always-getting-the-break-even-when-3-ft-out-of-the-crease-no-call.
It is about time they actually follow the rule book on this issue. I can't believe some of the other Versus games (NOT Carolina) I've seen this year where there was contact in the paint with some no-name goalie, so no interference. Just the opposite of this.
We'll see how the refs react, and how the NHL has promoted their refs. Will we get 2 interference make up calls next game (ala the infamous 2 diving calls in Florida two years back after the media stories after Potvin and company blow their lid)? Or will we get another closely called game?
Time and professionalism will tell the story.
i agree
Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:20 — esteban1949and someone ought to send the NHL the film clip on some of those " goalie interference calls" and let the head ref see if they were jusified or not...and if not, them keep those for a "training aide" so all the Zebras will know the difference...Period !! That will stop all the "whiners"...
Go Canes
calls
Wed, 04/22/2009 - 09:41 — wolfpackcaniacThere were probably 6 no calls (some against each team) in the last 2 minutes of the game that were technically penalties by the book but what ref is going to call nick nack fouls to give one team one less skater IN THE PLAYOFFS? Where one game means so much more, why not let the PLAYERS decide the outcome. Its why you rarely see 5-on-3s in overtime in the playoffs. Refs don't want to decide the games, they want the players to... and Jussi beat Marty, so Canes beat Devils.
And Broduer needs to quit his whining... maybe this is retribution for his dirty hit on the back of cole's head in game 3.
Yeah, no kidding.
Wed, 04/22/2009 - 07:32 — hurricanesfan66Yeah, no kidding. Squandered is right. And they need the S rating posted before every game--not for the Squeamish of heart or stomach!
If we could get the power play going, we would not have been in that situation. Could have been 5-1 or 6-1 at that point. I say, put the Walker line out on the pp. NJD have no answer for that line and they have looked AWESOME the past two games.
All i do know is
Wed, 04/22/2009 - 07:40 — esteban1949that 1: somehow the Canes squandered a 3-1 lead.
2: That the trade for Jussie Jokinen was the right thing for the Canes organization. Talk about a nail bitter...whoa !! Good thing I at home and many fans who were there didn't have weak hearts huh ??
Go Canes !!