2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog - NJD vs. CAR

Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice praised his team's efforts as Carolina tied its best of seven series with the Devils at one game apiece.

“At the end of the day, we just played a playoff game,” Maurice said. “We didn’t the other night, and that was still a very close, very tight game, which is what we expected coming into the series – that they’d all be close, tight games.”

Maurice said the Hurricanes turned the series around by playing physical in Game 2.

“If we were going to make a mistake, we didn’t want to make the same one we made last game. And I would agree there were times where emotion probably played a bigger part than intelligence in some of the scrums and some of the penalties that we took. That being said, we could not afford to err on the side of caution in the emotional part of the game tonight.

“It wasn’t any message to them: we needed that for ourselves, to push back, to be physical in this game and to be in the fight. We’re the least-penalized team in the National Hockey League through the regular season. We don’t want to take seven and eight penalties a night. That’s not our game. But the aggression that’s important in the game has to be. So we have to find a way now to bring that fight without spending more time in the penalty box.”

An unlikely OT hero

Devils goalie Martin Brodeur wasn't sure how Tim Gleason's game-winning goal 2:40 into overtime wound up in the net.

“I saw the one-timer and then there were a bunch of people,” Brodeur said. “They got the matchups they wanted out there and took advantage of it with [Eric] Staal and Tuomo Ruutu.”

The two players in front of Brodeur were his own defenceman, Niclas Havelid, and Staal.

"I don't know if it hit me," Havelid said. "There was a big scrum there. It was kind of bang bang and it was in the net. It's one of those unlucky ones."

Tim Gleason described his OT goal.

“It was a good pass by Joe Corvo,” Gleason said. “He laid it right out there for me and Eric Staal had a great screen in front of the net and I closed my eyes and shot that thing as hard as I could.”

Devils lose their captain

Even worse than losing Game 2 to the Hurricanes, the Devils lost captain Jamie Langenbrunner when he left the game with five minutes remaining in the second period.

Langenbrunner limped to the bench and sat there for a few moments before retiring to the dressing room. He did not return and the Devils called it a lower body injury.

“I guess we’ll see as we go along,” Devils coach Brent Sutter said of Langenbrunner's status. “Hopefully Jamie will be right back. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

Langenbrunner left the Prudential Center without addressing reporters. The Devils leave for Raleigh, N.C., Saturday afternoon and will not skate on the off day.

“I thought he was getting his skate fixed,” teammate Patrik Elias said. “When he doesn’t come back, you are concerned.”

Elias filled in for Langenbrunner the rest of the game.

For a while it appeared as if left-winger Jay Pandolfo might also be lost when he was hit by Erik Cole late in regulation time and was in obvious pain as he remained on the ice in front of the Devils’ net. After getting back on his feet, Pandolfo went directly to the dressing room with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, and Brian Gionta moved into his spot on the checking line with Brendan Shanahan and John Madden.

However, Pandolfo returned for overtime.

“I got it everywhere a little bit,” Pandolfo reported. “I was just shaken up … I felt fine in overtime.”

Devils could see it coming

They lost their home ice advantage, but the Devils knew the Hurricanes would be tough in Game 2. So the OT loss came as no shock.

“Nobody expected this to be a cakewalk,” goalie Martin Brodeur said.

So where does this leave the Devils, who have now lost all five playoff overtime games against the Hurricanes?

“It doesn’t matter if you lose 8-0 or 2-1 in overtime,” centre John Madden said. “If we can’t let this go and move on to Sunday’s game with clear heads, we don’t deserve to be here.”

Coach Brent Sutter looked ahead.

"You know what? You have to win on the road in the playoffs," he said. "We have nothing to feel bad about. Yeah, you lose home ice. You've got to go down there and get it back."