Raleigh, N.C. ? The Stanley Cup has visited the top of a 14,000-foot peak and the bottom of Mario Lemieux’s swimming pool during its eventful 109-year existence.

The most recognizable sports trophy in North America, it has been touched by tens of thousands, coveted by millions and won by a mere handful.

Until now, though, the bright silver bowl never frequented North Carolina in June for anything other than an airport stopover.

Guess what? If the Carolina Hurricanes keep playing like they did in splitting the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals in Detroit, the cup just might return for a much longer visit this summer.

Game Three is tonight in Raleigh, and the biggest surprise so far is that regular season champion Detroit hasn’t come close to dominating Carolina, which had the 15th best record of the 16 playoff qualifiers.

“Give Carolina credit,” Detroit defenseman Fredrik Olausson said. “They have been very disciplined and they’re playing well defensively and they really capitalized on some of our mistakes.”

The Red Wings were in real danger of going down two games on home ice, no less until Nicklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper scored 13 seconds apart in the third period of Thursday’s series-evening 3-1 victory.

Despite the decisive flurry, it was the Hurricanes who dictated the uneven flow and a muck-and-grind pace that clearly favors them.

The Red Wings, of course, have three 600-goal scorers in Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman and Luc Robitaille, and they could be only one explosive period away from turning the finals into the rout many predicted.

But the longer the Hurricanes force the NHL’s most talented team to play their extremely patient, eliminate-all-risks game, the longer the series could last.

“We’ve played pretty good team defense the first two games and that’s something we’re going to have to happen every game in this series,” Carolina defenseman Sean Hill said Friday. “We don’t want to run-and-gun with a team like Detroit. If we can stick to defense first, that’s when we’re going to be successful.”

And, for the next two games, the Hurricanes own the home-ice advantage, too.

“It’s going to be wild,” goalie Arturs Irbe said. “If people think they saw how crazy crowds can be in Detroit, they might get an eye-opener.”

That’s why the Red Wings want to force a tempo the Hurricanes aren’t comfortable playing one that will draw them out of the neutral zone and into a more up-and-down game.

“If anything, they’re probably going to be skating and more energized because they’ve got their home crowd and their home rink,” said Kirk Maltby, who has two goals in two games. “We’ve just got to come out and match it and play disciplined and smart. If we get the jitters out a little bit and get the legs going, we should be OK.”

Lidstrom agreed, saying, “We talked a lot about keeping our composure and not getting frustrated, and we’ll find an opening.”

The first team that does and Detroit took a step toward it with its two late goals in Game Two may get the Stanley Cup as a prize.