Hurricanes take commanding lead

It didn't matter who was in goal for Edmonton. Cam Ward turned aside everything the Oilers sent his way, and the Carolina Hurricanes were simply unstoppable.

Ward saved 25 shots for his second shutout of the playoffs and the Hurricanes overwhelmed his counterpart, seizing control of the Stanley Cup finals with a 5-0 rout Wednesday night to go up 2-0 in the series.

The Oilers didn't reveal their choice in the nets until Jussi Markkanen led his team onto the ice for the opening faceoff-the first goalie in 45 years to make his first playoff start in the finals.

Edmonton finds itself in a huge hole heading back to Alberta. Carolina became the 30th team to sweep the first two games of the best-of-seven series at home; the Chicago Blackhawks in 1971 are the only team to blow such a lead, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games.

Game Three is Saturday night. (AP)

Blumenherst receives top honors

Freshman golfer Amanda Blumenherst was named the Golfweek Freshman and Player of the Year this week. The Scottsdale, Ariz., native also earned a spot as a first team All-American.

In her first year at Duke, Blumenherst captured three individual titles and 11 top-10 finishes while helping her team to its second-consecutive NCAA Championship.

Pucurs claims 10th in javelin

Daina Pucurs took 10th place in the javelin preliminaries at the track and field NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. The sophomore's 154-foot toss missed the finals qualifying cut by seven feet. It was the Duke javelin record-holder's first appearance at an NCAA meet.

Pucurs is one of four Blue Devils participating in the NCAAs. Seniors Clara Horowitz and Sally Meyerhoff will compete in the 10,000-meter race today.

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