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Rod Brind'Amour converted a turnover by backup goalie Ty Conklin into the game-winning goal as the Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4, in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Conklin had replaced the injured Dwayne Roloson. Carolina rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win.

Terrific game. Hope Roloson is OK. Just hoping for 7 games in this one no matter who comes out top so there is as much hockey as possible.

That was a terrific, but very sad, hockey game. I feel really bad for Ty and the Oilers. That was no way to lose a hockey game - ever. Especially in the Cup playoffs...

Roloson knocked out of finals by knee injury

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson, who played every minute of Edmonton's surprising playoff run to the Stanley Cup finals, was lost for the rest of the series when he injured his right knee late in Monday night's opening loss to Carolina.


Dwayne Roloson
"Goalie's not good. Won't be back in the series," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish moments after Edmonton was beaten 5-4.

The team did not disclose further details on the nature of Roloson's injury.

With the pace frantic and the score tied at 4, Hurricanes rookie forward Andrew Ladd carried the puck into the Edmonton zone and cut across in the front of the net. He was met there by trailing defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron, who unloaded a big hit from behind that drove Ladd into Roloson with 5:54 remaining.

Roloson struggled to get back up after he crouched down.

He was replaced by backup Ty Conklin, who had been stuck on the Edmonton bench for the entire postseason as Roloson played all of the Oilers' first 17 playoff games and the first 54:06 of the finals opener.

Conklin hadn't played since the regular-season finale on April 17 when he allowed two goals on 18 shots in Edmonton's 4-2 victory over Colorado. That snapped a 19-game stretch of inactivity for Conklin, whose previous appearance was on March 7 against Dallas.

After Conklin, Michael Morrison and Jussi Markkanen struggled in net, Edmonton acquired Roloson on March 8 from Minnesota for a first-round draft choice and a conditional pick. Roloson allowed 13 goals in losing his first three games with the Oilers but dramatically improved when it counted.

"Our goaltenders are capable of coming in here and playing well, both Jussi and Ty," MacTavish said. "Just passed on to Rollie that, 'Job well done and it's up to us to take it from here."'

Roloson, who stopped 19 shots Monday, was staked to a 3-0 lead but couldn't protect it. He entered with a 12-5 mark in the playoffs with a 2.22 goals-against average.

Conklin allowed the winning goal with 31.1 seconds remaining after a puck flub behind the goal with teammate Jason Smith led to Rod Brind'Amour's winner into an empty net.

God, I was afraid of this. It looked to me from the repalys of Roloson getting pinched into the post that he could have very easily snapped his femur, which is not good news at all. I pray that he is going to be alright in the longrun. He is an outstanding netminder.

I also wish the Oilers nothing but the best. I don't know why, but I'm always pulling for the Canadian teams, especially in the playoffs. I'm pulling for them even more now (sorry, TG) hoping that they can overcome a potentially devastating injury.

Bleeding Orange wrote:That was a terrific, but very sad, hockey game. I feel really bad for Ty and the Oilers. That was no way to lose a hockey game - ever. Especially in the Cup playoffs...

Bah. I'll take it. Not that Carolina deserved any of that, they played like crap early on, and from what limited game and highlights I could see, Cam Ward deserves steak dinners from now until October for keeping them from getting embarrassed on home ice.

I had no clue what it could have been with Roloson, and knee was the last thing I imagined. For a moment, I even had a few Mark Howe-esque flashbacks with the way his backside hit the post. Hopefully he's okay long term, though I can't say as I'd miss him in the Finals.

I'm down with a Canadian team winning a Cup, but not this year. GO CANES!!!