For the third straight NHL playoffs, Lord Stanley?s Cup will be decided in only one game.

The 2003 the New Jersey Devils capture their third Cup in seven games vs. the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the following year in 2004, the Tampa Bay Lighting defeated the Calgary Flames in a decisive game seven situation as well.

On Monday, the Edmonton Oilers will be looking to join the likes of the Devils and the Lighting to be known as Stanley Cup champions. An Edmonton win would not only mean the Stanley Cup would return back to Canadian soil for the first time since 1993, or a cool symbolic sixth Cup in the year 2006 ( 6 in ?06), but it would also cement the 05-06 Oilers? place in the NHL history books as well.

At one point in this series vs. the Carolina Hurricanes, the Oilers trailed three games to one. Their power-play was a dismal four-percent, they were averaging just over one-goal a game, which in itself is an inflated stat considering the Oilers scored four goals in game one only to blow a 3-0 lead to lose 5-4.

Entering game five this past Wednesday, many hockey reporters were preparing their obituaries for the Oilers. The team were not giving any indications that they could beat the ?Canes who had all the momentum of a 3-1 lead in the series and a chance to win their franchise?s first Cup on home ice. It seemed like the clock had struck midnight for this year?s Cinderella team.

The game itself had three different lead changes, not to mention tense moments late in the third period with the teams tied 3-3. The teams held on to push for overtime, giving the Hurricanes an opportunity to win in dramatic fashion. The game was ended in dramatic fashion?just not the way Carolina would have planned it to.

Early into the extra frame, Oilers defenseman Steve Staios was assessed a minor penalty. The Hurricanes? power-play was firing on all cylinders in the game, as all three ?Canes goals were scored with the man advantage. They had the game served up on a silver platter?so it seemed.

An interesting aspect of the Hurricanes power-play is they often employ five forwards as oppose to having a defenseman or two manning the backend. This is to increase their goal-scoring prowess; however it puts them in a vulnerable position if the opposing team make a break shorthanded.

Edmonton-born Fernando Pisani would make them regret it as he picked off a cross-ice pass, breaking in alone and snapping the puck high on Carolina goalie Cam Ward to win the game, putting the Hurricanes? champagne on ice and guaranteeing one more game back in Edmonton?s Rexall Place.

With that goal, Pisani scored 4 game-winning-goals this post-season. That tied him with ex-Oiler Ken Linesman and Hall of Famer Paul Coffey for second place on the Oilers? all-time list.

Game six gave the Hurricanes the opportunity to do what they couldn?t do in Raleigh, NC Wednesday night; however Pisani and his team mates would not have any part of that. Pisani opened the scoring in a 4-0 stomping of the Hurricanes. Pisani?s goal stood up as the game-winner tying him with Jari Kurri for the lead on the Oilers? list with five playoff game-winning-goals.

And that’s where we stand right now.

With game seven slated for Monday night back in Carolina, the Oilers will be looking to be the only team to rally from 3-1 down in a Stanley Cup final to win, a feat completed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942!

Losing games five and six marked the first time the ?Canes have dropped two games in a row since losing games one and two vs. the Montreal Canadiens in round one.

The Oilers play their best hockey when their backs are against the wall and the Hurricanes are showing what a season of success and domination in their southeast division can do to a team in the gruelling post-season: erases their killer instinct needed to dispose of teams and fight back?both are qualities the Oilers have possessed all year and throughout the playoffs.

The ?Canes? flight back to Raleigh must have been a long ride since they were empty-handed and if they fail to take a page out of the Oilers? playbook for Monday?s game seven, it?ll be a long, long off-season for the boys in North Carolina as well.






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