Hurricanes remain calm before the storm

Despite squandering a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Bruins, there was no time to be disappointed about the missed opportunities to close out Boston in Games 5 and 6. Instead, it's all about throwing everything into Game 7 - albeit in controlled fashion - tonight at TD Banknorth Garden. Coach Paul Maurice said his team had to take an alternate approach after falling behind by a pair of goals in Game 6. He is hoping to avoid that type of scenario in what will be the final game of the season or the next step toward another possible Stanley Cup.

"The one thing that we would say we didn't like about our game is that we might have been playing that at 0-0 and at 1-0, trying to hold the line when there's no reason to do it or the backpressure is not there," said Maurice. "Some of our defensive-zone coverage [slips] because it seems like we're in too big a hurry to try to get that puck to get that next rush going. One of the things that we've been good at offensively is we get on cycles or rolls and generate a lot off of that. The danger of that is you feel you have to do that the entire game to be successful. I guess some patience in our game [is needed]."

Maurice said there's no doubt, with what is at stake, that both the Bruins and Hurricanes will be champing at the bit to get going.

"There's going to be a lot of energy, a lot of emotion for both teams, it's even now, and both teams have the same kind of pressure on them," he said. "We would like to go in and play a good, solid road game and play a real smart game, and at the same time there's going to be a tremendous amount of intensity in that game."

He acknowledged his team had some puck-control issues in Game 6, but part of the reason for that was the tenacity with which the Bruins played.

"They skated better in their last two games than they did in the two games prior," he said. "We've helped them do it, at times. I don't know that the swing in the games is as big as it feels. We've won three and they've won three. In our three, [we've heard,] 'The Hurricanes are dominating,' and their three, 'Boston is just dominating,' and I'm not sure it's like that. The only really tight game was the game we probably played our best in and won in overtime [in Game 3] and had the vast majority of the chances in the game that we've had in all of them. The closest game here was probably the least close in terms of quality of play. The rest of them were a lot closer than the score would lead you to believe."

Former Bruins winger Sergei Samsonov said as disappointed as the Hurricanes were with the results of the last two games, there is plenty of resolve in the locker room.

"We're going to have to win on the road," said Samsonov. "Going into the series, if you'd have told us we'd be going into a Game 7 in Boston, we'd have taken it. It's 3-3 and we have to win one game to clinch the series and that's the way we're going to have to look at it. Obviously, we were disappointed in the locker room after [Game 6], but today is a new day and tomorrow is a new game."

The Hurricanes faced a Game 7 against New Jersey in the first round and prevailed, but Samsonov said focusing on what is on the line isn't productive. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

"The more you think about it, you have to treat it like one game," he said. "Not as a Game 7, just one game."

Because tonight, that is all there is.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.