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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (April 20) -- It's time for the New Jersey Devils to start worrying about the Carolina Hurricanes and Arturs Irbe. Really worry.

Irbe stopped 37 shots and the Hurricanes refused to call it a season for the second straight game, beating the defending Stanley Cup champions 3-2 Friday night.


Carolina's Arturs Irbe stops 37 shots to help the Hurricanes beat the Devils 3-2.

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The win cut the Devils' lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference first-round series to 3-2 with Game 6 set for Sunday in Raleigh, N.C.

"They have the momentum, there is no doubt about that,'' said Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, who faced 14 shots. "It's important for us to go out there and play well. If we match the effort, we'll be fine. But these guys are playing desperate and it's paying off for them.''

Irbe agreed after the Hurricanes earned their second straight one-goal win after being dominated in the first three games of the series.

"These two games we've been fortunate, we were able to play our best hockey,'' Irbe said. "We just figured out a way to scratch and claw and get hard-fought wins.''

Josef Vasicek, Sami Kapanen and Jeff O'Neill scored for the Hurricanes, who are trying to become only the third team in NHL playoff history to come back from a 3-0 deficit. The Toronto Maple Leafs did it in 1942 against Detroit and the New York Islanders did it in 1975 against Pittsburgh.

"We started to believe in ourselves after we won Game 4,'' Hurricanes defenseman Glen Wesley said. "We've built some confidence in ourselves and the style of game we have to play.''

Scott Gomez and Bobby Holik scored for the Devils, who lost consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 22-23.

New Jersey, the top seed in the conference, finished the season winning 19 of 21 regular-season games, and then it dominated the eighth-seeded Hurricanes in taking a 3-0 lead in the series.

"They still have to win two games,'' said Patrik Elias, a 40-goal scorer who has just one goal in the series. "As good a team as we have, we are not going to let it happen.''

New Jersey gave away Game 4, playing undisciplined in a 3-2 loss.

Irbe stole Game 5, making at least a dozen great saves. Holik's goal with 20 seconds left only made the score close.

"Arturs is outstanding right now,'' Kapanen said. "He made some unreal saves during the run for the playoff spot. That's the way he is playing right now.''

Kapanen, who set up Rod Brind'Amour's game-winner in overtime in Game 4, put the Hurricanes ahead for good with a shot from close range with 4:51 left in the first period.

Bates Battaglia got the puck along the left boards, sent it behind the net to Brind'Amour, who found Kapanen all alone in front for a 2-1 lead.

O'Neill took advantage of a Devils' turnover in center ice to extend the margin to 3-1 at 5:47 of the third period. The 41-goal scorer took a pass from Sandis Ozolinsh and rifled a shot past Brodeur.

Holik scored from the right faceoff circle late but it wasn't enough to prevent a Game 6.

"If you look at it again and see some of the saves he made and the opportunities we had to score, you could probably say he (Irbe) stole it,'' Holik said.

Vasicek gave the Hurricanes the lead with a lucky goal at 10:53 of the first period. The rookie from the Czech Republic took a shot from the left circle that deflected off the skate of Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer and went through Brodeur's legs.

Niedermayer, who missed much of the final period of Game 4 with a sore right knee, made up for the mistake with a great rush. He took a pass from Sergei Nemchinov near the Carolina blue line, skated into the zone and behind the net and set up Gomez for the tying goal 48 seconds later.

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Banger, don't forget the 10 Am tee time.

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:::walks in, hanging head in embarrassment after witnessing one of the most pathetic passing performances ever, and quickly walks back out:::

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i can rake jokes but not when its from Ranger fans who dont stop talkin about ow much they hate the Devils. We know!! ok?! God just shut the fuck up already.

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