Laviolette: Hypedies at game time
By Phil Coffey

Come 7:30 p.m. tonight, the puck will drop and hockey will take over.
That's how Carolina Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette is dealing with all the hype and suspense of what will happen in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals between his Hurricanes and the Buffalo Sabres.

"The anticipation is always, like I was saying yesterday, gets so magnified and the puck drops and it's hockey," Laviolette said. "We need to show up and put in a real good effort (Thursday) night.

The loser goes home, the winner goes on. So, the hockey is still the same. The game will be decided when the puck drops."

So, is dismissing all the talk about experience being pivotal in games like these?
"Any time you get experience on your side like that, I think it's an advantage," he said. "But I believe, you know, like I have said before, I believe once the puck drops, it's all about hockey and who plays the best. So I think it's good leading up to the game, but ultimately the game will be decided on the ice."

Pressed for a prediction, Laviolette figures the closeness of the series -- five of the six games thus far have been one-goal games -- will be present right down to the wire.

"I think that's what probably people are expecting, you get two teams, both have 52 wins and resembling the same style, they are probably expecting a close series.

"I would say our back is against the wall," Laviolette said. "I mean, it is Game 7. I think I said their backs are against the wall. We had Game 6. We didn't want to get to Game 7. Regardless of how many games you got, you want to end it and move on. Again, I would expect our team ready to play our style of hockey."

Which will be a relief to goalie Cam Ward, who did a great job fending off the hard-charging Sabres in Game 6 before eventually falling, 2-1, in overtime.
"He certainly kept us in there in the first period," Laviolette said of his rookie goalie. "We were real lousy, he was rock solid. Even the first goal that went in, he made the original save and we didn't tie up the stick in front. It was a rebound. He gave us a chance until we got our legs under us in the second and then started to take control a little bit in the third. You know, he gave us that opportunity to get back in the game.

"I think fundamentally he's pretty sound," Laviolette said if Ward. "He seems to be always in control of his net and in his crease. He's not one of those guys that uses a lot of energy or can find himself out of positions a lot of times. He's there to make a first save, second save if he has to."

So, Laviolette has no concerns about Ward being ready. Nor is he concerned the Canes will have a slow start.

"Our team always responds," he said. "They always respond. We didn't play very well (Tuesday) night. I think the players know it and I can't think of a time where we haven't responded."

"We have gotten to this point, there's only three teams left, so things have worked for us," Laviolette said. "After (Thursday) night there will only be two, so we're comfortable with the line combination that we have had and the power play units that we have had and we scored some power-play goals, scored some goals on even strength and we're pretty comfortable with that moving forward. I really think we just need to play more of our style of hockey, which at times, was really missing Tuesday night."