RALEIGH, N.C., April 19 (UPI) -- Bates Battaglia scored on a beautiful deflection at 15:26 of overtime Friday night to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 2-1 win and two games to none lead over the New Jersey Devils in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Carolina dumped the puck the length of the ice to get an icing call. But rookie left wing Erik Cole had a different idea.
Cole pursued the puck ahead of New Jersey's defensemen, causing goaltender Martin Brodeur to leave his net. Brodeur pushed the puck to defenseman Scott Niedermayer, who banked it off the boards to rookie right wing Brian Gionta.
Feeling pressure, Gionta blindly attempted to clear the zone, but defenseman Marek Malik stopped it at the left point and fired a shot toward the net. Stationed alone in front of the crease, Battaglia got his stick on the puck, causing it to bounce off the ice in front of Brodeur and over his left shoulder just under the crossbar.
It was Battaglia's first career postseason goal.
With Joe Nieuwendyk and Petr Sykora returning to the lineup after missing Game 1, the Devils took the lead 37 seconds into the second period.
Rod Brind'Amour failed to control the puck along the left wing boards in the Carolina zone as Sergei Brylin was zooming in. The puck went directly to Bobby Holik, who was alone on the left side of the net. Before defenseman Bret Hedican could reach him, Holik spun around and slipped the puck between goalie Arturs Irbe's pads for a 1-0 New Jersey lead.
Cole evened the score with 4:55 left in the session.
In the waning moments of their fourth power play chance, Ron Francis carried the puck down the left wing and into the Devils zone. Francis spotted Battaglia in the left faceoff circle and tossed the puck toward him. Battaglia proceeded to make a behind-the-back pass to Cole, who was alone in the slot.
Cole got just enough on his shot to beat Brodeur to his stick side for his second playoff goal in as many games.
New Jersey thought it had taken the lead at 7:01 of the third period, but had the goal waved off.
Defenseman Brian Rafalski blasted a slap shot from the right point through a crowd and past Irbe. But Patrik Elias had run into Irbe seconds earlier, causing the Latvian goalie to fall to the ice. No penalty was called, but the referee immediately indicated the goal would not stand.
The Devils look to get back into the series Sunday when they host Game 3.
