RALEIGH, N.C. — In a season full of franchise firsts, the Carolina Hurricanes added another — they celebrated a series-ending victory in front of their home fans for the first time.

"Obviously, we're looking to win the Stanley Cup, and this is one step closer," center Eric Staal said.

Cory Stillman got the go-ahead goal on Carolina's first power play midway through the second period, rookie goaltender Cam Ward steadied himself following a rocky start and the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 Sunday night to win the best-of-seven series in five games.

"I think we deserved it," Carolina captain Rod Brind'Amour said. "We were the better team, we felt it right from Game 1, and now we're moving on."

Staal, Frantisek Kaberle and Ray Whitney also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won eight of their last nine games in the playoffs. They will face the Buffalo Sabres next, with the survivor advancing to the final.

"If we didn't do it here, and we didn't approach this like it was our Game 7, what kind of bed are we making for ourselves?" Carolina defenseman Aaron Ward said. "The coaching staff preached this was the end-all, be-all game, and we had to take it right now and seize it."

The Devils took a 1-0 lead less than a minute after the opening faceoff, when Brian Gionta took advantage of a fortuitous bounce to beat Ward — the 22-year-old netminder who was pulled after allowing four goals in a little more than one period Saturday. New Jersey won that game 5-1 to avoid a sweep, but Ward bounced back to end the Devils' season a day later.

"When you get the opportunities that we had there, you can take the momentum right out of the game," New Jersey general manager and coach Lou Lamoriello said. "That's what happens in these types of games. We just didn't get it done."

Ward finished with 17 saves, including 10 in the first period when Carolina played short-handed for 8 minutes. The Devils failed to capitalize on any of those power plays, and Kaberle tied the score on the Hurricanes' second shot of the game.

It came when teammate Matt Cullen beat John Madden on a faceoff, and Mark Recchi got the puck to Kaberle along the wall. His shot ricocheted off Devils defenseman Paul Martin and past Brodeur, electrifying another capacity crowd at the RBC Center.

Oilers 6, Sharks 3

The Shark Tank fans booed the Canadian anthem before Game 5. About 2Z\x hours later, they were busy booing the home team while the underdog Edmonton Oilers moved to the brink of the Western Conference finals.

Fernando Pisani broke a tie with his second goal early in the third period, and Ryan Smyth had two goals and two assists in the eighth-seeded Oilers' 6-3 victory over the Sharks on Sunday night, putting Edmonton up 3-2 in the second-round playoff series.

Nothing has shaken the Oilers while they eliminated the Detroit Red Wings and won three straight over the Sharks despite dropping the first two games of this series. But Edmonton's us-against-the-world energy undoubtedly got a boost shortly before the opening faceoff, when many fans loudly booed "O Canada," insulting the Oilers and the 10 Canadians wearing teal uniforms.

"We have a lot of Canadians on our team, so that was a little disrespectful," said Scott Thornton, who scored San Jose's first goal.

"I didn't think too much of that," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "I'm sure our fans won't do that to the U.S. anthem."

Sharks officials thought their crowd was responding to a handful of Canadian fans that apparently could be heard booing the American anthem on the San Jose television feed before Game 4. The Oilers didn't care — and in Game 6 on Wednesday night, they'll try to make sure the Shark Tank is silent until next fall.

Edmonton kept its cool when San Jose rallied to tie it at 3-all early in the third period. And with their third straight victory following fifth-seeded San Jose's back-to-back home wins last week, the Oilers headed home with a chance to make the conference finals for the first time since 1992.

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks are waiting for the winner — and plans for the first all-California conference final are in big jeopardy.

Edmonton lost the first two games of the series, but won a triple-overtime thriller and rallied from a two-goal deficit in Game 4 to tie the series at home.

"Everybody believes in that locker room," defenseman Chris Pronger said. "That's the first step for us. Everybody is buying into the system. Even when we were down 0-2, we just felt we could win two home games and be right here."

The Oilers jumped to a 3-1 lead with three goals on their first eight shots, including Shawn Horcoff's short-handed score just 12 seconds into the third period. San Jose rallied to tie it with quick goals from Christian Ehrhoff and Jonathan Cheechoo, but Pisani scored on a 2-on-1 break with Horcoff with about 15:57 to play.

Jarret Stoll and Smyth added power-play goals in the final minutes. Horcoff had a goal and two assists for Edmonton.

Meanwhile, the Sharks have been just as streaky in the playoffs as in the regular season: They had won six straight postseason games before losing the last three, including this embarrassing effort in their first loss in five home playoff games.

"We definitely hurt ourselves," said Joe Thornton, who had an assist. "We made too many mistakes. We're just not shooting the puck when we have the chance. ... It's very simple. We lose, we're out. We're not ready to go home yet. We have to pull our socks up and get back to it."

Edmonton managed just seven shots in the first two periods of Game 5, but scored on two of them. Dwayne Roloson, the veteran trade-deadline pickup who finished with 21 saves, was outstanding behind a penalty-killing unit that held San Jose scoreless on seven power-play opportunities in the first two periods.

Vesa Toskala made just 12 saves on 18 shots for the Sharks, who earned 2-1 victories in the first two games of this series. San Jose had lost in regulation at home just twice since shortly before the Olympic break in early February.

"We've made it obviously pretty hard on ourselves," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "You can't blame Tosk. We gave up 2-on-1's, a giveaway, a deflection ... very easily correctable mistakes, and we have to hold each other accountable to do things right. We've got to work a heck of a lot harder."