I knew as soon as I walked into the RBC Center that Game 5 would be LOUD. It was three hours before game time, but I'd already seen the flashing message board that read "Thunder Sticks!" It's really amazing how loud 18,000 pairs of balloons can be!
It's also amazing just how well Cam Ward is playing in this series. Let's put it in perspective: He wasn't supposed to play at all... It took a shaky start by Martin Gerber in Games 1 and 2 to get Ward on the ice. And now he's showing no signs of coming off any time soon.
The Canes admitted to not being sharp defensively in Game 5. But, you'd never know it from looking at the scoreboard. Ward simply bailed them out of one jam after another.
So much of playoff hockey centers around having a hot goaltender, and Cam Ward's play qualifies as being hot. We've seen this before -- back in 2002 Paul Maurice swapped Kevin Weekes in for Arturs Irbe, then sent Irbe back in for Weekes. And all the Canes did during that post-season was win the Eastern Conference.
Oh, and how's this for "deja vu in reverse?" In '02 the Canes beat New Jersey to face Montreal, now they're a game away from beating Montreal to face New Jersey.
