Carolina is one victory from finals

If the Hurricanes beat Buffalo tonight, they are in the Stanley Cup finals.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Pressure, what pressure?
The Sabres trail the Eastern Conference final series 3-2 to Carolina, but Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff did his best Monday to gain a psychological edge.
"The pressure falls on them," Ruff said of the top-seeded Hurricanes. "Oh, you'd hate to lose Game 6 and have to play Game 7. You'd never want to get in that situation because in one game, anything can happen."
Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette wasn't biting. Carolina can advance to the Stanley Cup finals against the Edmonton Oilers with a Game 6 win tonight at Buffalo.
"He keeps talking about my hockey team and me and what we're doing," Laviolette said, with a shrug. "Sure, you always want to finish it up as soon as you can. Nobody wants to get pushed to a Game 7. ... We get two cracks at it, the first crack is we want to take care of it [tonight]."
Laviolette also wanted to get another thing straight, saying Ruff overstated his case when he said the Sabres outplayed Carolina in the Hurricanes' 4-3 overtime win at home on Sunday.
"I don't think it was as one-sided as Lindy led people to believe," Laviolette said. "I mean, scoring chances were 24-15 for us, so I don't know how you escape when you get that many scoring chances."
Deflects attention
Whether Ruff was right or not, his remarks helped deflect some of the attention focused on his young team that's facing elimination for the first time this postseason.
"We've got nothing to lose," Ruff said.
Despite coming off a game in which they squandered a 3-1 lead, the Sabres are focusing on positives. They are confident they're capable of forcing Game 7, which would be played at Carolina Thursday.
Buffalo chased Hurricanes starting goaltender Martin Gerber Sunday, outshooting Carolina 9-4 over the final 29 minutes. The Sabres had the far better scoring opportunities -- including Jochen Hecht's tip-in chance from the slot in overtime -- but lost on Cory Stillman's power-play goal during a scramble in front.
It was a far better performance for a Sabres team that lost 4-0 in Game 4 and was still playing without three regular defensemen, including Teppo Numminen (groin), who is doubtful for Game 6.
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