Arturs Irbe couldn’t blame his performance on rust. How could he after the Carolina goaltender played a league-high 77 games this season?
Instead, Irbe simply considered last night’s showing to be sub-par. Not that his teammates did him any favors along the way.
With the Devils pounding him for 36 shots (double the amount faced by opposing goalie Martin Brodeur), the 10-year NHL veteran surrendered all five goals in Hurricanes’ 5-1 loss in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at the Meadowlands Arena.
“We played a good team and we can play better,” Irbe said afterwards. “That’s what we have to bring the next game [Sunday] and we can.”
Irbe, actually, was flawless through the first period, that is until Sergei Brylin took advantage of a turnover en route to bristling a shot by Irbe from the slot. The goal, with just 1:08 left, not only gave the Devils a 1-0 lead, Irbe said, but provided them crucial momentum, as well.
“The first goal gave them so much life,” he said.
But it was the next goal that irked him most. That was when Bobby Holik surprised him with a no-look wrister from the left circle, putting the Devils up 2-0 1:25 into the second period.
“That’s the one,” lamented Irbe, who finished the season with 37 wins, tied for third in the league. “Bobby put his head down because he was trying to settle the puck and I saw there was a player charging right down the middle. I was kind of anticipating the pass, but you got to give credit to Bobby getting such a quick shot to a bouncing puck. I was a little out of position.”
Holik beat him again at 15:20 of the second, this time from the right point. And then Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias would each add a goal during the third period, opening up a 5-0 lead.
Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice did not pin all the blame on his goalie, instead he pointed to his team’s lack of offensive production. During one stretch, in particular, the Hurricanes were out-shot 18-1.
“What are you going to say, they out-shot us by 2 to 1?” Maurice said.
Still, the 34-year-old coach added, “I don’t think it was necessarily Arturs’ best game.”
Which, for this series to be competitive at all, is what the Hurricanes need in Game 2.
“We are down one game to nothing, but that’s to be expected,” Irbe said. “We are not expected to win in four games.”