Hurricanes win, move within a game of Cup

~ Carolina returns home with a 3-1 series lead.

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The crafty old-timer buried his chance at the offensive end. The steady youngster held down things in the net.

Now the Carolina Hurricanes find themselves one win away from their first Stanley Cup.

Thirty-eight-year-old Mark Recchi scored the winning goal, rookie goalie Cam Ward had another strong performance and Carolina defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Monday night to take a commanding lead in the Stanley Cup finals.

The Hurricanes got the split they needed in Edmonton and now head home with a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Wednesday night in basketball-loving Raleigh, now on the cusp of putting a different kind of championship on ice.

"This is going to be the toughest game of the series," said Cory Stillman, who scored Carolina's first goal and set up Recchi with a nifty bit of forechecking. "This is the one that could close it out. We're looking forward to going back home."

After Edmonton's Sergei Samsonov and Stillman scored 29 seconds apart in the first period, the Hurricanes stunned the Oilers for the winning goal with 4:04 left in the second period.

When Edmonton defenseman Chris Pronger tried to clear the zone along the boards, Stillman got a stick on it. The puck sailed out in front of the goal, where Eric Staal jumped to knock it down and sent a quick pass to Recchi at the side of the net.

Recchi, who was acquired from Pittsburgh during the season, lifted a shot under the crossbar while Oilers goalie Jussi Markkanen crawled along the ice in a futile attempt to get a piece of it.

Markkanen, making his third straight start in place of injured starter Dwayne Roloson, had another strong game after anchoring the Oilers' 2-1 win in Game 3. The replacement made 18 saves, several of them downright spectacular.