EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) – 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.

In the first period, Markkanen appeared to get the shaft of his stick on a shot by Rod Brind’Amour – just enough to send it off the crossbar. The Oilers goalie also turned aside Justin Williams with a brilliant glove save early in the third, the left hand coming out of nowhere to snatch a puck that was headed for the top right corner.

Ward’s 20 saves didn’t look as acrobatic as Markkanen’s – maybe because the 22-year-old is playing so well that he makes everything look easy. His positioning was superb, he rarely gave up a dangerous rebound and Carolina could rest easy with its last line of defense.

So could Edmonton. Markkanen was fine; the Oilers were let down again by their ineffective power play, which failed to convert five chances – including a lengthy two-man advantage for the second game in a row – and dropped to 1-for-25 in the series.

“We’re not getting outplayed,” Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. “We’re getting out-capitalized. They’ve just been more opportunistic on their chances.”

The Oilers pressed hard for the tying goal in the final minutes, even managing a good chance while Jason Smith was in the penalty box for hooking. Dick Tarnstrom broke into the Carolina zone and flipped a pass in front of the goal to fellow defenseman Steve Staios, who got a stick on it but tipped it wide of Ward.

The crowd cheered on the home team with deafening, alternating chants of “Lets go Oilers!” and “Go, Oilers, go!” But Ward, an Edmonton native, wasn’t about to let another puck past him.

The young goalie, a leading contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy if Carolina finishes the job, bounced back from the disappointment of Game 3.

Edmonton won 2-1 on Ryan Smyth’s disputed goal with just over two minutes remaining. The Hurricanes thought Smyth interfered with Ward in the crease after the rugged Edmonton forward got a piece of his body on a rebound while crashing the net.

The Oilers sent their fans into a frenzy when Samsonov and Radek Dvorak teamed up on a slick give-and-go play less than nine minutes into the game.

As Samsonov was splitting the circle, he backhanded a pass to Dvorak along the boards. Dvorak returned the puck with a backhanded flip of his own and Samsonov tipped it past a helpless Ward at the far post.

On the ensuing faceoff, Edmonton’s Raffi Torres got tied up with a Carolina player and was called for a tripping penalty. The Hurricanes wasted no time capitalizing on the power play, tying it on Stillman’s ninth goal of the playoffs just 29 seconds after Samsonov’s goal.

Frantisek Kaberle lifted a pass from one circle to the other, the puck sailing by a couple of Edmonton players and right onto Stillman’s stick. He ripped a shot past Markkanen before the goalie had a chance to cover the open side of his net – extending Stillman’s playoff point streak to 12 straight games.

“I’m just trying to make plays,” he said. “I’m just trying to make the guy I play with better.”

Staal, a 100-point scorer in the regular season, hasn’t had a goal in seven straight games, but he assisted on both goals to answer those who questioned whether the 21-year-old center was wearing down.

Notes: For the second game in a row, the Edmonton fans booed every time Carolina C Doug Weight touched the puck. The former Oilers star was traded to St. Louis in 2001 because Edmonton couldn’t afford his contract demands. The fans are still bitter about the whole situation, even though he was the Oilers’ top scorer in seven of his eight full seasons with the team. … Recchi scored the 47th goal of his playoff career. … The Oilers spurred on the crowd by showing Paul Coffey and Glenn Anderson, who were at the game, on the video board. Both were key members of Edmonton’s 1980s dynasty and attended the game to cheer on the team in its first finals appearance since 1990. Coffey reminded everyone what they’re playing for when he held up his right hand to show one of Stanley Cup rings to the crowd.

AP-ES-06-12-06 2335EDT