NHL: Hurricanes Go Ahead In Finals

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Carolina Hurricanes came from behind to earn a 5-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers to draw first blood in the Stanley Cup finals and go ahead 1-0 in the series.

Rod Brind'Amour was the two-goal hero for Carolina and he grabbed the winner to cap a sparkling Hurricanes comeback, after they found themselves 3-0 down late in the second period.

Fernando Pisani opened the scoring for The Oilers before defenceman Chris Pronger bagged the first successful penalty shot in Stanley Cup finals history.

Ethan Moreau put Edmonton well in charge of the contest but Brind'Amour's late second-period strike gave Carolina some hope.

Ray Whitney bagged the next two goals to draw Carolina level, before Justin Williams actually put the visitors ahead for the first time in the tie.

Ales Hemsky brought a stunned Edmonton back level again but Brind'Amour capitalised from a mix-up between stand-in goaltender Ty Conklin and Jason Smith to grab the all-important winner for Carolina.

“We seem to play our best when we are down," Brind'Amour said.

“The guys rallied. We have been down so many times this year that we weren't panicking.

"They probably feel like they should have won.�

Rookie goaltender Cam Ward also starred for Carolina with 34 saves, including a couple of superb stops to deny Shawn Horcoff.

"I can't say enough about him (Ward)," Brind'Amour said. "He hung in there and got us the win."

There was worse news for Edmonton as their star netminder Dwayne Roloson had to leave the action late in the third period due to a knee injury.

Roloson had starred for The Oilers in their march into the Stanley Cup finals, but he could now miss the rest of the series and will be a big loss to the Canadians.

[Credit: SkySports]