RALEIGH, N.C. -- Everyone heard the horn. But for the Carolina Hurricanes, there was no game-tying goal.

Instead, there was confusion. Blank stares. And ultimately, disappointment.

When the game was over, the 'Canes said it was no big deal. That Ron Francis hitting the far post after beating Dominik Hasek -- and subsequently blowing a chance to tie the game -- wasn't the turning point of the game or, more importantly, the series.

The Red Wings disagreed.

"It was very important," Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek said. "I think it was the key situation in the game because the game was 1-0 and it could have been 1-1 and it could have been a completely different game. I was lucky."

As lucky as Hasek was, Francis wasn't. Forget about football; hockey is the game of inches. Brett Hull hits the post with his second-period wrister, but the puck still caroms past Carolina goalie Arturs Irbe.

Francis hits the post minutes later and the puck does a virtual tightrope dance along the goal line before finding its way into Hasek's glove.

The Red Wings win.

"Hull's hits the post and goes in and mine hits the post and stays out," Francis said during his brief comments before heading home. "Those are the breaks this time of year."

When you're trailing, that is. The Detroit Red Wings, who lead this series 3-1, overcome such breaks. In Game 3's epic triple-overtime marathon, the Wings hit five posts, yet still fought back to win.

On Monday, the 'Canes weren't able to do that.

"When we couldn't tie the game, well, sometimes that makes the difference," Irbe candidly admitted. "We didn't respond well to that."

The play happened at the nine-minute mark of the second period with Detroit leading 1-0. Thanks to a high sticking call against Luc Robitaille, Carolina was on the power play when defenseman Bret Hedican laced a slapshot at Hasek's midsection. The puck bounced off Hasek's pads and directly toward Carolina winger Jeff O'Neill.

Instead of taking a shot, O'Neill slid a heady pass to a wide-open Francis. But the 21-year NHL veteran pushed the puck to the left, where it clanged off the far post. The puck ricocheted back along the red line, mere centimeters from becoming a goal, before Hasek grabbed it.

Francis could only stare at the rafters. His teammates searched for a replay.

"It was exactly when the game was on the edge," Hasek said. "He had a wide open net and I just jumped in front of him. I thought the puck was in the net. Then all of the sudden I heard it hit the post and fortunately the puck came right back to me."

In the meantime, an arena operator flipped the switch for the blaring goal horn, only to realize he was mightily wrong. There was no goal. There was no tie. Instead, it was another missed opportunity.

It was one of those plays that, years from now, Hurricanes fans will probably gather around at a bar and discuss, wondering just what might have been.

After all, when Hasek wasn't at his best, when he failed to recover on O'Neill's pass, the Hurricanes failed to beat him. And for a team that is struggling for scoring opportunities, squandering a golden one proved costly.

"That was a big play in the game," Carolina forward Sami Kapanen said. "In the last game they hit a few posts. I guess tonight it was our turn. But you can't go back and wonder what would have happened if you scored. You can't do it."

Why not?

"Does that do any good?" Kapanen asked. "Obviously, if we score on that, the game is tied and we're right back in it. And obviously it was a great scoring chance. But it didn't happen."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com.