Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils

Hurricanes Win Best-of-Seven Series 4-2

CLICK HERE FOR RECAPS ON ALL 1st, 2nd, & 3rd ROUND PLAYOFF SERIES

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY 2001-02 DEVILS SEASON REVIEW

GAME 6: 1   0

Sweet Carolina

The Carolina Hurricanes eliminated the Devils from the 2002 playoffs in Game 6 on Saturday afternoon

April 27, 2002

This was the scene last April when the Devils eliminated the Hurricanes in the first round, Saturday afternoon it was the same scene but a different story

               Back in September when the 2001-2002 season was just weeks from beginning, many expected the 2002 New Jersey Devils to go far and at least repeat as Eastern Conference Champs for a third consecutive. The Devils won the Stanley Cup in 2000 and lost in a deciding Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals last season to the Colorado Avalanche. 2000 and 2001 will be remembered for years to come in New Jersey but we will always forget 2002. Similar to 1994, 1995, and 1996. In 1994 the Devils lost a heartbreaking overtime Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals to their rivals the New York Rangers. In 1995 the Devils went on and did what nobody thought they'd do sweeping the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals and winning their first ever Stanley Cup, then came 1996. In 1996 the defending champions were expected to be great but in they end they missed the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. Game 6 of the Devils Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Hurricanes was dominated by physical play and Carolina goaltender Kevin Weeks. In Games 1 and 2 the Hurricanes controlled the series with the star Arturs Irbe in goal. When the series returned to New Jersey for Games 3 and 4 the Devils dominated and Irbe was pulled out and replaced by Weeks in both games. In Game 5 in Raleigh Kevin Weeks got his first career playoff start and the Hurricanes tied the game late and defeated New Jersey in overtime. In Game 6 this afternoon the 'Canes scored one goal and Weeks did the rest making incredible saves on the Devils shooters and leading the Carolina Hurricanes to only their second playoff series win in franchise history and the first since eliminating the Quebec Nordiques in 1986 as the Hartford Whalers. The Devils who finished with a better regular season record then the Hurricanes and who were the favorites to win but were seeded lower then Carolina will now have their longest summer since 1999. For the first time since then they won't be playing hockey in May and June. In 1999 the Devils were upset by the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games in the first round. The same happened in 1998 against the Ottawa Senators. In both years, New Jersey was the top seed. Saturdays Game 6 was just physical and mental play in the first period. A stop in play was rare in this period and the only penalty came late when Scott Stevens was called off for roughing. In the second period, Carolina's Ron Francis scored the first and only goal of the game on the power play at 10:29. Francis' series clinching goal was assisted by Jaroslav Svoboda and Sami Kapanen. The physical play picked up in the second period and Carolina completely dominated. In the third the Devils picked up their game to an excellent level but Kevin Weeks picked his play up to an unbelievable level and stopped the Devils. The Devils will begin the 2002-2003 season in October and will have six long months to think about what went wrong this season and how to get their game back together. Click Here to read my 2001-02 Devils season review.

Power Play: NJ-0 of 2 CAR-1 of 2            Attendance: 17,104 at the Continental Airlines Arena in E. Rutherford, NJ 

Goaltenders: NJ-Martin Brodeur; CAR-Kevin Weeks         Shots On Goal: NJ-32 : CAR-22

Goal Scores

Devils: none

Hurricanes: Ron Francis

CLICK HERE FOR RECAPS ON ALL 15 2002 PLAYOFF SERIES INCLUDING THE STANLEY CUP FINALS

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY 2001-02 DEVILS SEASON REVIEW

-Ron Francis' goal in Game 6 ended the Devils season

    The Hurricanes opponent in the second round is yet to be decided and will be either Montreal or Ottawa. The Flyers were eliminated by Ottawa and now with the Devils out of the playoffs the only true threat to the Western Conference teams once the Stanley Cup Finals come around is the Toronto Maple Leafs who lead their series with the Islanders 3-2. Believe it or not, if the top seeded Boston Bruins are upset by Montreal (Montreal leads that series 3-2) the Hurricanes will be the highest seeded team in the Eastern Conference despite the fact that they had the second worst regular season record. That just proves how important it is for teams to win their divisions. The remaining teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs are Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Carolina, Toronto and the Islanders. Of those six teams, Ottawa and Carolina will definitley be in the second round but only two of the other four will meet them there. If Toronto can defeat the Islanders, I strongly believe they will be the 2002 Eastern Conference Champions and will go onto the Finals with no problem as Ottawa, Carolina and Montreal, who lead their series, are no match for the Maple Leafs. Now with the Devils and Flyers eliminated, it takes two teams off the list of the most likely to win the Cup. That list now includes 1. Detroit 2. Colorado 3. Toronto and 4. St. Louis. Continue to visit this page for 2002 Stanley Cup Playoff coverage. 

-Bobby Holik was the Devils leader in this series

CLICK HERE FOR RECAPS ON ALL 1st, 2nd, & 3rd ROUND PLAYOFF SERIES

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY 2001-02 DEVILS SEASON REVIEW

#3 Hurricanes vs. #6 Devils-series scores, best-of-seven

Game 1-4/17 Hurricanes 2, Devils 1

Game 2-4/19 Hurricanes 2, Devils 1 (OT)

Game 3-4/21 Devils 4, Hurricanes 0

-Brodeur shut the door on the Hurricanes in Games 3 & 4 but not Games 1, 2, 5, or 6

Game 4-4/24 Devils 3, Hurricanes 1

Game 5-4/25 Hurricanes 3, Devils 2 (OT)

Game 6-4/27 Hurricanes 1, Devils 0

-Kevin Weeks had the last word in this series, getting a 1-0 shutout over the Devs in Game 6