After two show-stopping Game 7 wins on the road against division champions, former Vernon Viper Ryan Bayda and the Carolina Hurricanes went quietly into the night in the Eastern Conference finals.The Canes, seeking their third trip to the Stanley Cup finals since 2002, were swept by the defending conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins, falling 4-1 Tuesday night in a season-ending contest.
Carolina was outscored 20-9 in the series and led for just 21 of 240 minutes, losing six of its last seven postseason games after starting 7-4 against New Jersey and Boston.
The Canes trailed 3-1 for the second straight home game heading into the third period. But Carolina couldn’t convert on yet another power play opportunity early in the final period as the Pens clamped down on defense and eventually scored their third empty-net goal of the series, outscoring the Canes 10-3 at the RBC Center after splitting the four-game regular-season series.
The Canes jumped out to an early lead for the second straight home game as Staal snapped his scoring slump with a wraparound goal 1:36 in, but following a familiar pattern Carolina ended the opening 20 minutes down 2-1.
And once again the Canes allowed a late goal, this one coming on a flutter shot from Maxime Talbot in the slot that deflected off a Carolina defenseman and eluded the glove of Ward with 1:29 left in the period.
“The puck hit his skate and I lost sight of it for a split second and it was a bad break, a fluke goal,” Ward said.
“We tried to stay positive (after the goal) but it’s tough when a bounce goes like that,” added Chad LaRose.
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