Saturday, December 26, 2009

Game 38: Flyers 4, Hurricanes 3 (SO)

By Brian LeBlanc
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When the schedule was announced, this game didn't seem like it would be all that special.  Then the unthinkable happened: the two teams, both expected to be in the upper echelon of the NHL's Eastern Conference standings, instead sank to the bottom like a rock.

And then, in the span of two weeks, one of the teams hired the other's former coach, and picked up a goalie from the other team on waivers, and suddenly this became one of the more hyped games of the year.

Peter Laviolette makes his return to the RBC Center for the first time since he was fired last December, and Michael Leighton will get the start for the Flyers in their second and final visit to Raleigh this year, eleven days after being claimed on waivers by the Flyers who were in dire straits following an injury to starter Ray Emery.  It's a weird circumstance for both Leighton and his former mates, but at least the Canes are familiar with the thinking of the opposing coaching staff and they might have some inside information on the opposing goaltender.

Of course, the opposing goaltender knows a thing or two about the home team too, so who knows?  The mind games will be entertaining, at least.

Here goes part one of the Laviolette/Leighton Reunion Tour...

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Game 37: Canadiens 5, Hurricanes 1

By Brian LeBlanc
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Two days after a frustrating loss to the New York Rangers, the Canes return to the ice to face the Montreal Canadiens.  The last time these two teams met, just over a month ago in Montreal, the Canes blew a late lead and lost to the Habs in a shootout.  The confidence in the home locker room is a little higher than it was at that point, though, and the Canes will look to avoid a second loss to their playoff rivals.

When these two teams last met, the Canes were without the services of both Cam Ward and Eric Staal; both are back tonight, as is Niclas Wallin, who returns after missing eight games with "concussion-like" symptoms.  With the exception of Joe Corvo, who is out for an extended period, the Canes' blue line is the healthiest it's been in quite a while, and they'll look to take advantage of a banged-up Habs team that's going through a stretch similar to the one the Canes went through in late October and early November.  Marc-Andre Bergeron, who scored the last two goals when the Habs played in Atlanta on Monday, injured himself on the winning goal and, if he does play, will be playing through what looked like a painful injury.  Combine that with injuries to Roman Hamrlik and Brian Gionta, neither of whom are locks to play tonight, and the Habs are scrambling to field a full roster.

Will the Canes give the home fans an early Christmas present?  We're about to find out...

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Game 36: Rangers 3, Hurricanes 1

By Brian LeBlanc
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Heading into tonight's game, the Canes sport a season-high three game winning streak after splitting a home-and-home series with the Florida Panthers, taking the back half at the RBC Center Saturday night by a 3-2 score.  Tonight, the New York Rangers come to town for the first time this year, featuring all-world goalie Henrik Lundqvist, league-leading goal scorer Marian Gaborik, and...well, not much else.

The Rangers find themselves out of the playoffs despite an insane run for Lundqvist over the past few weeks, and coach John Tortorella (an incendiary type on a good day) has started to bench players who you normally wouldn't expect to be in the press box.  Ales Kotalik is back in the lineup, but now in the crosshairs of Tortorella's ire is defenseman Wade Redden, who is down to his last chance to stay in the NHL and avoid being sent to the minors.

Can the Canes take advantage of a team in disarray?  We'll find out soon enough...

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Game 35: Hurricanes 3, Panthers 2

By Brian LeBlanc
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After a game in Sunrise, Florida last night, the Canes and Panthers made the short flight up I-95 to Raleigh as they prepared to exchange pleasantries again on back-to-back nights.  The Canes did their best to give the Panthers a nice sending-off gift, allowing six unanswered goals en route to a 6-3 defeat, the Canes' twentieth regulation loss of the season.  Cam Ward was pulled but he will start tonight's game, as newly-minted official backup Manny Legace (who inherited the job after Michael Leighton was claimed on waivers by Philadelphia) will be riding the pine tonight.  Niclas Wallin and Tim Gleason will miss another game, meaning the Canes will again lean heavily on the trio of Brett Carson, Bryan Rodney and Jay Harrison to pick up the ice-time slack.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Game 28: Hurricanes 5, Canucks 3

By Brian LeBlanc
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Jim Rutherford promised changes during the Canes' four-day down time, but the biggest change was one he had little to do with. Longtime Canes assistant coach Kevin McCarthy has left the organization to take a similar position with the Philadelphia Flyers, who hired former Carolina coach Peter Laviolette yesterday.  McCarthy was the Canes' eye in the sky, with a tie-in to an earpiece Ron Francis wore on the bench, and now the Canes will have only goaltending coach Tom Barrasso in the press box. (We'll have a tribute to McCarthy later in the week here on PD.)

Today, the Canes welcome in the Vancouver Canucks, who have been slightly busier than the home team. Today is the Canucks' third game in four days, after wins over New Jersey and Philadelphia earlier this week. You probably know about the Canucks' pair of Swedish twins, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, and while Henrik leads the team in scoring his brother has been hampered by injuries and will play only his eleventh game of the season today. The Canucks are a scrappy, pesky bunch that try to wear teams out with skating and puck possession, and the Canes will have their hands full today trying to contain the Canucks' attack.

Today was originally targeted to be Cam Ward's return, but he will be out for a couple more days as he tries to return from the leg laceration he suffered about a month ago. Jussi Jokinen will not play for the Hurricanes today after suffering an undisclosed injury earlier in the week in practice, and Bryan Rodney returns to Raleigh (this time, he can probably get an apartment) to fill in for the injured Joe Corvo, whose own leg laceration will keep him out at least two months.  The Canucks will play Andrew Raycroft in goal today after captain Roberto Luongo played the back-to-back games earlier this week.

We'll see if the Canes can snap their five-game losing streak today in the only game of the year against the Cancuks...

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Gut reaction: Canes trade Paradis to Toronto for Jiri Tlusty

By Brian LeBlanc
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I'll be honest: my first reaction on seeing this deal was probably like many of yours.  I scratched my head and tried to wrap my mind around the fact that the Canes traded away the rights to a player they just drafted five months ago for an AHL player who's had a cup of coffee in the NHL.