CBC-Sports

Hometown fans give 'Canes edge

April 18, 2009 05:20 PM | Posted by   CBC Sports Staff  

It was 1 a.m. on Saturday morning before the Carolina Hurricanes landed at RDU Airport, following their Game 2 overtime victory in New Jersey.

Their fans were waiting.

"There were a couple hundred fans waiting for us at the airport last night," Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu said later Saturday morning. "I didn't expect it."

Coach Paul Maurice remembers the tradition beginning when the team won the Stanley Cup.

"There was a crowd. A little different than last time, but it was real nice," Maurice said.

Those fans could give the Hurricanes an edge at home.

"Home ice can be overrated but we want to take advantage of our building and our fans,” Eric Staal said. “We have to take advantage of home ice. It starts Sunday. It's going to be rocking pretty good in this building."

Carolina players showed up at the arena Saturday for treatment and to speak to the media. They did not skate.

The Devils also did not plan to skate and were to make players available later.

Gleason's first goal in 70 games

Hurricanes defenseman did not score a single goal in 70 regular season games, but it was his overtime goal in Game 2 that evened the best-of-seven series.

"It was exciting. It was exciting just to get a goal in general," Gleason said Saturday. "It was a long year without one. I'm not too much of a talented guy. I pretty much wanted to hit the net and shoot it hard."

Gleason suggested the last time he scored an overtime goal was probably when he was 10 years old and playing forward.

“It’s great because you get to talk about that for days,” Paul Maurice said of Gleason’s goal.

At one point Ruutu, whose line was shut down by New Jersey's John Madden and Jay Pandolfo in the opener, was in Madden’s face.

I just asked him how he’s doing,” Ruutu said. “Nothing serious. That’s the way it is in the playoffs.”

So what was the difference?

"We recognized in the first game we didn't play our best game and they were all over us," Ruutu said. "They deserved to win. Yesterday we played playoff type of hockey. We had all the emotion."

Ward raises his game

Goalie Cam Ward also raised his game.

"I did think he was better," Maurice said. "But I thought we gave him a chance to be better."

Staal added: "He's been solid. He's been there when we needed him to be. We gave him way too much work in the first game."

Maurice said he does not anticipate making “a lot of lineup changes” after his club’s effort in Game 2.

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