Hurricanes take 3-2 series lead

RALEIGH, N.C. – Cory Stillman corralled a loose puck and slid it between Ryan Miller’s pads for a power-play goal 8:46 into overtime, giving the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday night.

Stillman also had an assist for the Hurricanes, who took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. Carolina can advance to its second Stanley Cup finals in four years by winning Tuesday at Buffalo.

“We didn’t want to go down there being down 3-2,” Stillman said. “We want to finish it there in Buffalo.”

The Hurricanes became the first team to win consecutive games in the series that will provide the opponent for the Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. And they did it despite playing what captain Rod Brind’Amour said “felt like one of our worst games of the series.”

The Hurricanes fell behind by two goals and had to pull starting goaltender Martin Gerber in favor of rookie Cam Ward. Still, the Hurricanes found a way to win thanks to contributions throughout the lineup.

Ward turned in more than 46 shutout minutes to earn the win in relief, stopping all 15 shots he faced after Gerber made only eight saves on 11 shots. Carolina’s special teams also had the edge, scoring a pair of power-play goals while holding the Sabres to 0 for 4 with the man advantage.

Carolina capped it with Stillman’s seventh goal of the playoffs, set up by a ricocheted shot off the boards behind the net.

“It’s the way hockey goes,” said Brind’Amour, who scored in the second period to tie it at 3. “When you’re not at your best, you need every little thing on the outside to kind of be good.”

Justin Williams and Mark Recchi also scored for Carolina, and Eric Staal had an assist to push his playoff point streak to 15 games.