Carolina snatch last-gasp victory

2006 STANLEY CUP FINALS 5 June: Edmonton 4-5 Carolina 7 June: Edmonton v Carolina 10 June: Carolina at Edmonton 12 June: Carolina v Edmonton 14 June: Edmonton v Carolina* 17 June: Carolina v Edmonton* 19 June: Edmonton v Carolina* * if necessary; best-of-seven series

Carolina staged an impressive fightback to beat Edmonton 5-4 in game one of the best-of-seven Stanley Cup series.

The Hurricanes' in-form captain Rod Brind'Amour was again the hero, his two goals including the winner with just 30 seconds left in the third period.

Carolina scored four times in that frantic third period while their netminder Cam Ward was in superb form.

Further bad news for Edmonton came when their goaltender and play-offs MVP candidate Dwayne Roloson limped off.

Roloson injured his knee in a collision and Edmonton later confirmed he would miss the rest of the series.

Ray Whitney also netted twice and Justin Williams once for the Eastern Conference champions as the Hurricanes dented Edmonton's hopes of becoming the first Canadian team since 1993 to win the Stanley Cup.

The comeback marked just the sixth time in Stanley finals history that a team have rallied from a 3-0 deficit to steal a win.

"We do seem to get behind and find ways to scratch and claw," said Brind'Amour. "It's fun to watch maybe but not the way you want to do it."

Roloson was injured in a collision in front of the net

Edmonton had had an eight-day lay-off prior to the opening game but showed no signs of rust as they stormed into a 3-0 lead with goals from Fernando Pisani, Ethan Moreau and Chris Pronger.

All-Star defenceman Pronger's goal was the first successful penalty shot in a Stanley Cup final after nine failed attempts since the NHL assumed control of the Stanley Cup in 1927.

Brind'Amour sparked the Carolina comeback when he scored late in the second period to cut the deficit to 3-1.

After the intermission, the Hurricanes struck three times to edge ahead 4-3 before Ales Hemsky brought the Oilers level at 4-4.

With 31.1 seconds to play, Edmonton back-up goaltender Ty Conklin, who had never appeared in a play-off game, misplayed the puck behind the net and Brind'Amour immediately swooped in to force it into the goal.

Despite losing the opening game and his star player, Oilers coach Craig MacTavish was upbeat about Edmonton's chances.

"It's unfortunate circumstances with Rolly playing as well as he has been," he said. "But I feel very confident we can bounce back from it.

"Our goaltenders are capable of coming in here and playing well. I felt we played a solid game and can recover from this."

The next game, also in Carolina, takes place on Wednesday.