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Rookie sensation Cam Ward made 22 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Monday to win the first National Hockey League Stanley Cup in franchise history.

The Hurricanes, who nearly became the first team in 64 years to surrender a three-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven NHL championship series, captured the trophy in the decisive Game 7.

The Stanley Cup win was the first for a host of Hurricanes veterans, including defenceman Glen Wesley, who entered Monday with 1,479 career regular-season and playoff games without a title - the eighth-highest total in NHL history.

Also winning their first Stanley Cups were captain Rod Brind'Amour, defenceman Bret Hedican, left wing Ray Whitney and centre Doug Weight, who missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury.

"We have too many guys that have sacrificed for their whole careers (to win the Cup)," Brind'Amour said. "And this was the time."

"It's unbelievable," Wesley added. "It's the best feeling. Guys were outstanding. The whole team played unbelievable tonight."

Defencemen Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle scored for Carolina while Matt Cullen had two assists and Justin Williams scored an empty-netter with 61 seconds left.

The Oilers, seeking their sixth Stanley Cup title, were unable to complete the storybook ending to an incredible season.

But that was in no way due to the play of goaltender Jussi Markkanen, who played well once again in place of the injured Dwayne Roloson.

The first period was a reversal of Game 6, when the Hurricanes were dominated in every aspect.

Buoyed by their vocal fans, they hey were the more aggressive team from the opening face-off and took a 1-0 lead just 1:26 into the game.

Mark Recchi carried behind the net and made a centring pass that caromed off the outside of the cage and back to the right point.

Aaron Ward came charging in and ripped a one-timer that got past Markkanen, who was screened by multiple players on the shot.

It was the second goal of the postseason for Aaron Ward, who won his third Stanley Cup title.

The veteran defenceman, who also was a member of the Detroit Red Wings' back-to-back championship teams in 1997-98, had not scored since the fourth game of the playoffs.

The Hurricanes nearly made it 2-0 on a bizarre play with just 4.1 seconds left in the first period.

Kevyn Adams flipped a backhander on net that hopped over Markkanen. Oilers defenceman Steve Staios dove into the net and covered the puck with his glove, which led to the original ruling of a penalty shot.

However, after several minutes of discussing the matter and reviewing the replays, the referees determined the play was dead when Staios touched the puck on a delayed penalty, thus no goal or penalty shot.

Both goaltenders made great saves early in the second period, especially Markkanen. The Finn made a dazzling right pad stop on Recchi on a 2-on-1 rush and, several minutes later, turned aside Ray Whitney on a one-timer from the slot.

Both of those key stops by Markkanen came on plays that were set up by Cullen, who simply had a phenomenal game.

The eight-year veteran may have been the best player on the ice, using his speed and skill to create a load of scoring chances for his team-mates.

Just over four minutes into the second period, Edmonton's Jaroslav Spacek was whistled for holding and Carolina needed only eight seconds to make the Czech defenceman pay for his sin.

Cory Stillman held the puck in at the right point and sent a feed across to Kaberle, whose blast skimmed off Oilers captain Jason Smith, whose turnover led to the shot in the first place, and past Markkanen.

After Kaberle's fourth goal of the postseason the Oilers were unable to quiet the fans.

Edmonton's best chance in the second period came on a 5-on-3 power play with 3:39 left. The two-man advantage could have lasted for up to 1:56, but Ryan Smyth took a hooking penalty, nullifying the final 56 seconds.

But even on the ensuing power play, the Oilers were unable to muster much pressure as Hurricanes defencemen Glen Wesley and Mike Commodore held their ground firmly in front of Cam Ward, who was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as most valuable player in the postseason.

"People say it's your rookie season and chances are it will come again, but you just never know," he said. "You can't predict the future. You've got to take care of the present."

The Oilers halved their deficit 1:03 into the third period on Fernando Pisani's league-leading 14th goal of the postseason.

The Edmonton native crashed the net after Raffi Torres put a shot on goal and buried the rebound past Cam Ward for his fourth tally in the last three games.

But the phenomenal rookie netminder more than held his own down the stretch, making nine saves in the third period.

"Nobody ever wavered or doubted," Wesley said. "Game 7, in our building, no way we were going to lose."

(China Daily June 21, 2006)