By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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The Canes had their season-high four-game winning streak ended in dramatic fashion Monday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning took the Canes behind the woodshed, winning 5-1 in a game that wasn't even that close. What better way to start another streak than against a team the Canes have largely owned in recent history?
Only one problem: that team, the Montreal Canadiens, enter tonight's game on a five-game losing streak and the last time they played the Canes they beat them 7-2 on their home ice at the Bell Centre. Needless to say, the Habs will be rather inspired to make sure the streak ends tonight, especially given how the first game of the season between these two teams played out.
The Canes welcome Cam Ward back to the net tonight, following a rather strange absence in Tampa on Monday when he was scratched with an infection on his forehead that Paul Maurice insisted wasn't a rash. Well...OK then. Otherwise, the lines and defensive pairings will remain the same as they were on Monday. The Habs counter with Carey Price, who was well on his way to being run out of town in the preseason before he suddenly turned into the Second Coming when the season started. If you need proof, go look up the save he made on Chad LaRose the last time these two teams met.
Only one of these two teams will enter the two-day Christmas break with a win, and the other will extend a losing streak, and we're only a couple of hours away from finding out which is which...
2:05 1st: Early, it's been all Habs, with two straight shifts deep in the Canes zone and a near-goal that was tipped in front of the net by Brian Gionta after the Canes twice failed to clear the puck out of the zone. Sure looks like Montreal has more jump in the early going.
3:02 1st: What would have been the Canes' first good scoring chance of the night is nullified when Erik Cole gets a little too much in the giving mood and drops the puck off to Jeff Skinner, putting himself offside in the process. That's the definition of a frustrating play.
5:58 1st: Hal Gill, who admittedly is about a foot taller than Tuomo Ruutu, catches Ruutu with a forearm shiver to Ruutu's head with no call. What's more disappointing to see from the Canes' perspective, though, is that no one on the ice immediately dropped the gloves and stood up for Ruutu. Yes, there was a scrum, but it was more a Kumbaya meeting than the Canes trying to retaliate.
13:05 1st: The Habs have been buzzing all around the Canes' net most of the night, and Cam Ward's had his plate full in this period being forced to make some really tricky saves. Andrei Kostitsyn nearly took advantage of a Ward rebound, redirecting the puck from his hand to his stick and firing a shot from point-blank that Ward just barely got over to kick out.
16:35 1st: Cole did the right thing that time, skating around behind the net then centering to the top of the far circle where...um, no one was. The puck bounced harmlessly out of the zone, negating a 3-on-2. Been the story of the Canes' lives so far.
End 1st: The Canes have weathered a tough Canadiens storm in the first period, thanks mostly to solid play by Cam Ward. But needless to say, they'll need to play significantly better if they want to keep things that way. Shots in the first period were 11-5 Canadiens, pretty indicative of how the first period went.
1:02 2nd: Canes lead 1-0; LaRose 7 (Carter) (sh) It took Chad LaRose shaving off his seemingly-permanent 5:00 shadow but, hey, whatever works, right? Ryan Carter made the play happen with some great work on Roman Hamrlik in the low slot, setting a pick on Hamrlik while simultaneously spinning around and centering to LaRose, who had no one near him and wristed a shot from the far circle that Price got a piece of, but it wasn't enough as it trickled past his pads and into the net.
4:19 2nd: Great hustle play by Cole, forcing a turnover at the red line then skating in with authority and forcing the Habs to deflect the shot into the netting behind Price. It didn't hurt that the Canes had Jeff Skinner coming down the slot as a decoy.
4:47 2nd: Habs tie it at 1; Gomez 5 (Hamrlik, Spacek) Didn't take long for the Habs to answer. A couple of nice tape-to-tape passes between Jaroslav Spacek and Roman Hamrlik ended up spring Scott Gomez on a partial breakaway as he split the Canes' defense at the blue line, then skated in and fired a quick snap shot that beat Ward through the five hole to tie the game and get the Habs their long-overdue first goal.
7:15 2nd: Should be 2-1 Habs after Mike Cammalleri took advantage of a great screen of Ward provided by two of his own teammates, but while the puck beat Ward it was about three inches too high and deflected off the crossbar and into the netting behind the Carolina goal.
13:12 2nd: The Habs are having no problems driving the net, and their enthusiasm cost them a goal. Max Pacioretty tipped the puck into the net, but he also bowled into the net himself and cost the Habs a goal by interfering with Cam Ward. No penalty was called, but the goal was waved off immediately.
15:17 2nd: Canes take a 2-1 lead; Cole 7 (Staal) It would be nice if it were unassisted, because all Staal did was win the faceoff. Cole did the rest, singlehandedly willing the puck to the net then sweeping home the rebound after Price failed to cover.
15:26 2nd: Not ten seconds later, Cole took a major boarding penalty for hitting Jaroslav Spacek from behind in front of the Montreal bench. It was the best of times...
16:57 2nd: Habs tie it at 2; Kostitsyn 10 (Plekanec, Cammalleri) (pp) ...and the Canes paid for Cole's brain lapse. Andrei Kostitsyn was in perfect position just behind Joe Corvo at the top of the crease and tipped it home upstairs over Ward's blocker to tie it up, and the Habs remain on the power play.
19:00 2nd: Habs lead 3-2; Picard 3 (Gomez, Spacek) (pp) Two goals on the power play, this one assisted by the man who was boarded three minutes earlier and scored by a former Cane. Not much to describe here...great shot from the blue line beat Ward cleanly over the glove.
End 2nd: The Canes have :26 left to kill on the Cole penalty, and it wouldn't be far off the mark to say that Paul Maurice was rather displeased with both the penalty and his team's subsequent killing of said penalty. Shots in the period were 14-9 Canadiens, who led overall 25-14 in the game. The referees were serenaded with a chorus of boos on the way off the ice.
3:30 3rd: There has been a good number of fans and media (self included) wondering out loud why Zach Boychuk wasn't getting a shot with some offensively-gifted linemates. It wasn't by design, but Boychuk and Eric Staal found themselves on the ice at the same time during a line change and nearly created a goal. Not sayin', just sayin'.
4:50 3rd: Here's Joni Pitkanen's career in a nutshell: skate around the offensive zone in a circle, maintaining possession the entire time while circling behind the Habs' net, skate it back to the top of the crease, fire a shot that gets deflected, Habs shoot it out of harm's way. At this point, are you really surprised?
6:38 3rd: Huge save by Ward to keep it a one-goal game, doing a split to get his glove across to snare a Spacek shot from the point and keep it 3-2. He's certainly done his job tonight.
10:30 3rd: Canes are slowly turning the tide, with two great shifts in the Habs' zone ending with Lars Eller clearing the puck over the glass and earning a delay-of-game penalty. Not understating it to say this is a power play of consequence.
13:14 3rd: Nothing doing on the power play, thanks mostly to great play by the Habs in front of their own net. They were deflecting shots like crazy; only 2 shots made it through to Price the entire time even though the Canes spent most of the power play in the offensive zone.
End 3rd: Despite controlling play for long stretches of the third period, the Canes weren't able to get one past Price, the most egregious example being when Staal whiffed on an open net with 2:30 to go. A few seconds later, LaRose took a tripping penalty and the story was all but complete. Shots ended 10-4 Hurricanes in the third period as the Habs hunkered down into a shell, but Price had to come up big a few times and the Canes' own ineptitude burned them and kept them from tying the game late.
Postgame: Erik Cole certainly sounded like he wanted to take full responsibility for the loss, but as Paul Maurice said when discussing the penalty, "it was like arresting a telephone pole after a drunk driver hits it." In other words, it's a fair point to say that the Canes' coaching staff didn't exactly agree with the call.
Be that as it may, both Maurice and Eric Staal cited the Canes' penalty kill (or, tonight, the lack thereof) as the difference in the game, and Maurice made a point to say that the PK has gone downhill the last few games and needs to get back in gear. To say the least - the Sunday after Christmas brings the Washington Capitals to town for the second time this year, not to mention the associated road show with the HBO 24/7 special. Should be interesting, if nothing else.
Click for audio from Eric Staal and Erik Cole. Maurice's press conference is attached.
Back at it after the holiday and two days off (on which the Canes are forbidden from even practicing) when the Caps come to town on Sunday...
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Game 31: Hurricanes 4, Ducks 2
By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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Two weeks ago, the Hurricanes left on their longest non-State Fair road trip of the season, a five game trip through cities where the Canes have historically not played very well. And although the trip went according to form in Nashville in the first game of the trip, the Canes earned points in their next four games and return home tonight on a three-game winning streak that few could have predicted when the team hit the road.
Tonight, the Canes come back to Raleigh and face the Anaheim Ducks, a familiar team to two of the newest members of the Hurricanes. Troy Bodie and Ryan Carter were acquired within a few days of each other by waiver claim and trade, respectively, and each has solidified the Canes' fourth line in their short stint with the team. They'll play tonight with Zach Boychuk, who makes his season debut after being one of the final cuts in training camp and subsequently setting the world on fire in the American Hockey League. Boychuk ranks second in the AHL in points, with 32 in 28 games with the Charlotte Checkers, and it looks like the early-season demotion has worked wonders for a guy who looks like he may be a long-term linemate of Eric Staal in the distant future. Boychuk replaces Jiri Tlusty, who is out for tonight's game with an upper-body injury courtesy of a Ben Eager charging penalty on Thursday night in Atlanta.
At the other end, the Ducks are surprisingly competitive this season, ranking one point behind division-leading Dallas in the Pacific Division. Most of their core that won a Stanley Cup in 2007 has moved on, but they still have the likes of Corey Perry, captain Ryan Getzlaf and the ageless Teemu Selanne playing alongside youngsters like Bobby Ryan and rookie Cam Fowler, who fell to #12 in the draft this past June but has played like he has something to prove after falling that low.
The Canes are riding a season-high winning streak entering tonight game; can they extend it to four after tonight? We're about to find out...
2:20 1st: And just like we planned it, the fourth line gets a great scoring chance on its first shift of the game. Boychuk skated into the slot from the far corner splitting the Ducks' defense and firing a quick snap shot on Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, who was quick with a kick save.
2:39 1st: Ducks lead 1-0; Getzlaf 12 (Perry, Ryan) And just like that, down come the Ducks, forcing a turnover and taking the first lead of the night. A bad turnover in a clearing attempt up the far boards from Jay Harrison was intercepted with ease by Bobby Ryan, who fed Corey Perry in the far circle. Perry fired a shot that was stopped by Cam Ward, but Jamie McBain lost track of Ryan Getzlaf in the low slot and Getzlaf cleaned up the rebound easily, firing it through Ward's five-hole to give the Ducks the lead.
7:00 1st: It looks like the Canes have resolved to not feel sorry for themselves after the goal, and the top line of Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Jeff Skinner spent more than a minute of uninterrupted time in the Ducks' zone, culminating in a cross-checking penalty to Getzlaf to give the Canes the first power play of the night.
7:27 1st: Canes tie it at 1; Staal 14 (Jokinen, Pitkanen) (pp) And it doesn't take long for the Canes to make the Ducks pay for Getzlaf's penalty. Jussi Jokinen found Eric Staal all alone at the blue line, and in a monumental defensive lapse the Ducks completely lost track of him, giving him all sorts of space to come in and create a play. That's exactly what the Canes' captain did, beating Hiller with a shot that Hiller should have stopped; he looked up at the ceiling as soon as the puck went through him. No question that's one he wants back.
13:30 1st: The game has settled down a bit, with neither team getting much in the way of quality chances and the biggest hit for either team coming a few minutes ago when Todd Marchant wiped out and bowled over Cam Ward, drawing a response from the Canes.
16:45 1st: The Canes get away with one, as Cam Ward loses his stick to the near corner and isn't able to retrieve it, yet he still manages to kick out a Saku Koivu shot to keep the game tied A few seconds later, the Canes cleared the zone and Ward got his stick back.
17:30 1st: Less than a minute later, Ward absolutely robbed Perry on a deflection chance that had five-hole goal written all over it. He's had a great period, which is only about the fifteenth time that's been said this month.
19:34 1st: Canes lead 2-1; Staal 15 (McBain, Jokinen) (pp) Look out, here comes the Carolina power play, and Eric Staal has two in the first period to get the Canes to 2-for-2 with the man advantage. A shot from the blue line by Jamie McBain looked like a designed shot to miss the net, and it did its job, bouncing off the boards to the left of Hiller and right to Staal, who was untouched at the far post and tipped home the rebound past Hiller's outstretched left leg to give the Canes their first lead of the night.
End 1st: Shots in the first were tied at 11 apiece, and the Canes certainly looked to have the better play late in the period after a Pitkanen holding-the-stick penalty that they successfully killed. Good to see the Canes haven't fallen into the first-game-after-a-road-trip pit tonight.
1:41 2nd: Canes lead 3-1, Staal with a hat trick; Staal 16 (Cole, Skinner) A natural hat trick is a great way to come home after two weeks on the road, no? Eric Staal notched his twelfth career hat trick with a lucky bounce off the skate of Anaheim's Cam Fowler. A centering pass from Jeff Skinner behind the net bounced off Fowler and right to Erik Cole, who centered to Staal for his third of the evening and second straight from just outside the crease.
9:00 2nd: Since the Staal goal, the Ducks have calmed down and killed off a penalty while slowly tilting the ice toward Cam Ward, who's stood tall in net. Perry will be seeing Ward's glove in his dreams tonight after being robbed twice by the Carolina netminder.
11:35 2nd: Staal just about had a fourth, off a great Skinner centering pass with Staal camped out at his designated spot to the left of Hiller, but Cam Fowler broke up the pass as Staal one-timed some air instead of the puck.
16:10 2nd: Fowler's done a great job of getting his stick in passing lanes tonight. The third one I can remember in the game broke up a shorthanded 2-on-1, with Chad LaRose trying to find Ryan Carter 30 feet from the Anaheim goal but Fowler's deflection tipped the puck out of line and the Ducks came back the other way.
17:35 2nd: Another Ward denial of Perry. Ho hum.
18:30 2nd: Since giving up the first goal, one that he was not at fault in the least on, Ward has played out of his mind, stopping the next 23 Anaheim shots, some of them in highlight-reel fashion. Safe to say that two-goal game in Florida was a fluke now, no?
End 2nd: The Ducks did everything they could to score in that period, but if not for Staal there would be no question that Ward would be the first star. He's played great, keeping the Ducks at bay for the last 37-plus minutes. Shots in the second were 15-11 Ducks, who hold a 26-22 overall league.
3:35 3rd: Ward is absolutely on fire now. The Ducks had a 3-on-1 down low and Ward robbed Ryan Getzlaf with a kick save while Teemu Selanne was interfering with him, then a few seconds later snared a point shot from Paul Mara that looked like it might have changed direction in front of the net.
4:25 3rd: And another 2-on-1 for Carter and LaRose is broken up by Fowler. This time, the pass actually got through, but Carter had to elevate the puck to avoid Fowler's stick and LaRose couldn't bury the bouncing puck.
11:15 3rd: Staal's had a couple of chances for his fourth of the night, and it took a stop by Hiller in Ward-ian fashion to deny Staal off a great centering pass from Jeff Skinner, who's quietly had a very effective game despite only tallying one assist tonight.
13:22 3rd: And just like that, Skinner nearly scores on a weird knuckling puck that bounced off both Staal's stick and Skinner's glove en route to Hiller making a really challenging save. The way things have gone tonight, it wouldn't have been surprising at all to see it go in.
17:29 3rd: Three penalties for the Canes in thirty seconds: Corvo for roughing, Sutter for closing his hand on the puck, and Staal for high sticking. The Canes' bench is apoplectic.
18:12 3rd: Ducks cash in: Getzlaf 13 (Visnovsky, Perry) (pp) The 5-on-3 remains so, as Ryan Getzlaf scores on a shot from the blue line that Ward was screened on with a few seconds left in the Corvo penalty.
18:55 3rd: Ward with an incredible save on Saku Koivu from point-blank. Words can't describe what a save that was. Simply incredible.
End 3rd: Joe Corvo iced it with an empty-net goal with 4.7 seconds left, and immediately was sucker-punched by Corey Perry, sparking what almost turned into a line brawl while the Canes bench was celebrating the goal, with Brandon Sutter of all people getting in a few haymakers on Perry before they were separated. Needless to say, if these two teams saw each other more than once per year there would be some fireworks. Shots in the third were 19-10 Ducks, meaning Ward earned his second straight win with more than 40 saves, the first time a Canes goalie has done that since Sean Burke in December of 1997, months after the team moved to North Carolina.
Postgame: Paul Maurice was on a roll tonight, answering questions about Corvo's penalty, the 6-on-3 kill late in the game and Ward's performance with a wry smile indicating that he was quite pleased with most of the team's game tonight. And with good reason: the team is on a roll now, with their first four-game winning streak of the season and a goaltender playing as well as any goalie in the NHL at the moment. Often, these first games back after a long road trip can be devoid of much excitement, but that was far from the case tonight.
Click for locker room audio from Eric Staal and Cam Ward. Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes now head to Tampa for a Monday date with the Lightning, then they're back here for a faceoff with Montreal next Thursday. We'll be back here then, and hope you'll join us as well.
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
Email Puck Drops
Two weeks ago, the Hurricanes left on their longest non-State Fair road trip of the season, a five game trip through cities where the Canes have historically not played very well. And although the trip went according to form in Nashville in the first game of the trip, the Canes earned points in their next four games and return home tonight on a three-game winning streak that few could have predicted when the team hit the road.
Tonight, the Canes come back to Raleigh and face the Anaheim Ducks, a familiar team to two of the newest members of the Hurricanes. Troy Bodie and Ryan Carter were acquired within a few days of each other by waiver claim and trade, respectively, and each has solidified the Canes' fourth line in their short stint with the team. They'll play tonight with Zach Boychuk, who makes his season debut after being one of the final cuts in training camp and subsequently setting the world on fire in the American Hockey League. Boychuk ranks second in the AHL in points, with 32 in 28 games with the Charlotte Checkers, and it looks like the early-season demotion has worked wonders for a guy who looks like he may be a long-term linemate of Eric Staal in the distant future. Boychuk replaces Jiri Tlusty, who is out for tonight's game with an upper-body injury courtesy of a Ben Eager charging penalty on Thursday night in Atlanta.
At the other end, the Ducks are surprisingly competitive this season, ranking one point behind division-leading Dallas in the Pacific Division. Most of their core that won a Stanley Cup in 2007 has moved on, but they still have the likes of Corey Perry, captain Ryan Getzlaf and the ageless Teemu Selanne playing alongside youngsters like Bobby Ryan and rookie Cam Fowler, who fell to #12 in the draft this past June but has played like he has something to prove after falling that low.
The Canes are riding a season-high winning streak entering tonight game; can they extend it to four after tonight? We're about to find out...
2:20 1st: And just like we planned it, the fourth line gets a great scoring chance on its first shift of the game. Boychuk skated into the slot from the far corner splitting the Ducks' defense and firing a quick snap shot on Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, who was quick with a kick save.
2:39 1st: Ducks lead 1-0; Getzlaf 12 (Perry, Ryan) And just like that, down come the Ducks, forcing a turnover and taking the first lead of the night. A bad turnover in a clearing attempt up the far boards from Jay Harrison was intercepted with ease by Bobby Ryan, who fed Corey Perry in the far circle. Perry fired a shot that was stopped by Cam Ward, but Jamie McBain lost track of Ryan Getzlaf in the low slot and Getzlaf cleaned up the rebound easily, firing it through Ward's five-hole to give the Ducks the lead.
7:00 1st: It looks like the Canes have resolved to not feel sorry for themselves after the goal, and the top line of Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Jeff Skinner spent more than a minute of uninterrupted time in the Ducks' zone, culminating in a cross-checking penalty to Getzlaf to give the Canes the first power play of the night.
7:27 1st: Canes tie it at 1; Staal 14 (Jokinen, Pitkanen) (pp) And it doesn't take long for the Canes to make the Ducks pay for Getzlaf's penalty. Jussi Jokinen found Eric Staal all alone at the blue line, and in a monumental defensive lapse the Ducks completely lost track of him, giving him all sorts of space to come in and create a play. That's exactly what the Canes' captain did, beating Hiller with a shot that Hiller should have stopped; he looked up at the ceiling as soon as the puck went through him. No question that's one he wants back.
13:30 1st: The game has settled down a bit, with neither team getting much in the way of quality chances and the biggest hit for either team coming a few minutes ago when Todd Marchant wiped out and bowled over Cam Ward, drawing a response from the Canes.
16:45 1st: The Canes get away with one, as Cam Ward loses his stick to the near corner and isn't able to retrieve it, yet he still manages to kick out a Saku Koivu shot to keep the game tied A few seconds later, the Canes cleared the zone and Ward got his stick back.
17:30 1st: Less than a minute later, Ward absolutely robbed Perry on a deflection chance that had five-hole goal written all over it. He's had a great period, which is only about the fifteenth time that's been said this month.
19:34 1st: Canes lead 2-1; Staal 15 (McBain, Jokinen) (pp) Look out, here comes the Carolina power play, and Eric Staal has two in the first period to get the Canes to 2-for-2 with the man advantage. A shot from the blue line by Jamie McBain looked like a designed shot to miss the net, and it did its job, bouncing off the boards to the left of Hiller and right to Staal, who was untouched at the far post and tipped home the rebound past Hiller's outstretched left leg to give the Canes their first lead of the night.
End 1st: Shots in the first were tied at 11 apiece, and the Canes certainly looked to have the better play late in the period after a Pitkanen holding-the-stick penalty that they successfully killed. Good to see the Canes haven't fallen into the first-game-after-a-road-trip pit tonight.
1:41 2nd: Canes lead 3-1, Staal with a hat trick; Staal 16 (Cole, Skinner) A natural hat trick is a great way to come home after two weeks on the road, no? Eric Staal notched his twelfth career hat trick with a lucky bounce off the skate of Anaheim's Cam Fowler. A centering pass from Jeff Skinner behind the net bounced off Fowler and right to Erik Cole, who centered to Staal for his third of the evening and second straight from just outside the crease.
9:00 2nd: Since the Staal goal, the Ducks have calmed down and killed off a penalty while slowly tilting the ice toward Cam Ward, who's stood tall in net. Perry will be seeing Ward's glove in his dreams tonight after being robbed twice by the Carolina netminder.
11:35 2nd: Staal just about had a fourth, off a great Skinner centering pass with Staal camped out at his designated spot to the left of Hiller, but Cam Fowler broke up the pass as Staal one-timed some air instead of the puck.
16:10 2nd: Fowler's done a great job of getting his stick in passing lanes tonight. The third one I can remember in the game broke up a shorthanded 2-on-1, with Chad LaRose trying to find Ryan Carter 30 feet from the Anaheim goal but Fowler's deflection tipped the puck out of line and the Ducks came back the other way.
17:35 2nd: Another Ward denial of Perry. Ho hum.
18:30 2nd: Since giving up the first goal, one that he was not at fault in the least on, Ward has played out of his mind, stopping the next 23 Anaheim shots, some of them in highlight-reel fashion. Safe to say that two-goal game in Florida was a fluke now, no?
End 2nd: The Ducks did everything they could to score in that period, but if not for Staal there would be no question that Ward would be the first star. He's played great, keeping the Ducks at bay for the last 37-plus minutes. Shots in the second were 15-11 Ducks, who hold a 26-22 overall league.
3:35 3rd: Ward is absolutely on fire now. The Ducks had a 3-on-1 down low and Ward robbed Ryan Getzlaf with a kick save while Teemu Selanne was interfering with him, then a few seconds later snared a point shot from Paul Mara that looked like it might have changed direction in front of the net.
4:25 3rd: And another 2-on-1 for Carter and LaRose is broken up by Fowler. This time, the pass actually got through, but Carter had to elevate the puck to avoid Fowler's stick and LaRose couldn't bury the bouncing puck.
11:15 3rd: Staal's had a couple of chances for his fourth of the night, and it took a stop by Hiller in Ward-ian fashion to deny Staal off a great centering pass from Jeff Skinner, who's quietly had a very effective game despite only tallying one assist tonight.
13:22 3rd: And just like that, Skinner nearly scores on a weird knuckling puck that bounced off both Staal's stick and Skinner's glove en route to Hiller making a really challenging save. The way things have gone tonight, it wouldn't have been surprising at all to see it go in.
17:29 3rd: Three penalties for the Canes in thirty seconds: Corvo for roughing, Sutter for closing his hand on the puck, and Staal for high sticking. The Canes' bench is apoplectic.
18:12 3rd: Ducks cash in: Getzlaf 13 (Visnovsky, Perry) (pp) The 5-on-3 remains so, as Ryan Getzlaf scores on a shot from the blue line that Ward was screened on with a few seconds left in the Corvo penalty.
18:55 3rd: Ward with an incredible save on Saku Koivu from point-blank. Words can't describe what a save that was. Simply incredible.
End 3rd: Joe Corvo iced it with an empty-net goal with 4.7 seconds left, and immediately was sucker-punched by Corey Perry, sparking what almost turned into a line brawl while the Canes bench was celebrating the goal, with Brandon Sutter of all people getting in a few haymakers on Perry before they were separated. Needless to say, if these two teams saw each other more than once per year there would be some fireworks. Shots in the third were 19-10 Ducks, meaning Ward earned his second straight win with more than 40 saves, the first time a Canes goalie has done that since Sean Burke in December of 1997, months after the team moved to North Carolina.
Postgame: Paul Maurice was on a roll tonight, answering questions about Corvo's penalty, the 6-on-3 kill late in the game and Ward's performance with a wry smile indicating that he was quite pleased with most of the team's game tonight. And with good reason: the team is on a roll now, with their first four-game winning streak of the season and a goaltender playing as well as any goalie in the NHL at the moment. Often, these first games back after a long road trip can be devoid of much excitement, but that was far from the case tonight.
Click for locker room audio from Eric Staal and Cam Ward. Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes now head to Tampa for a Monday date with the Lightning, then they're back here for a faceoff with Montreal next Thursday. We'll be back here then, and hope you'll join us as well.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Puck Drops Road Trip: Charlotte Checkers 5, Hershey Bears 3
By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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When the Canes are in the midst of a two-week road trip and you're in the mood to check up on the Canes of the future, what do you do? Well, if you're the Puck Drops Mobile, you gas up and hit the road to Charlotte, which is where we come to you today as the Charlotte Checkers, the Canes' American Hockey League affiliate, face off against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of Southeast Division rival Washington.
And it's largely a good time to visit. The Checkers were the hottest team in the AHL in November, and when they played Hershey on Friday night the Checkers lost in a shootout despite 48 saves from Justin Pogge. Since the AHL generally schedules two-game series for visiting teams, the Bears are looking for a sweep this afternoon.
The names you'll see in this afternoon's live blog will be somewhat familiar: Boychuk, Samson, Bowman, Borer, Pogge, and so forth. The Bears even have a former Hurricane of their own; one of their associate captains is Keith Aucoin, who spent three seasons in the Carolina system. The Checkers, of course, are also coached by a former Hurricane, retired forward and former assistant coach Jeff Daniels.
Never done an AHL live blog before, so apologies if it isn't what you expect. Honestly, I'm not sure what to expect either...
2:45 1st: It took a few minutes to get off the ground, as the Checkers spent most of the first minute on their heels in their own zone, but the fourth line of Brett Sutter, Riley Nash and Brad Herauf nearly scored with some great down-low pressure and a couple of huge hits behind the net.
3:31 1st: Checkers lead 1-0; Dalpe 11 (Boychuk, Micflikier) Well, if you were interested in seeing what Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe could do against lesser competition, a trip to Charlotte is in your best interests. The Bears' defense couldn't get back in time to keep Dalpe and Boychuk from creating a 2-on-1, and Dalpe converted with a perfectly placed one-timer off a Boychuk pass from the near circle.
6:32 1st: Should have been 2-0 if not for an amazing save by a Bears defenseman. Oskar Osala forced Bears goalie Braden Holtby to cough up the puck behind the net and centered to Riley Nash before Holtby could get back in the net, but Nash's bid at a wide-open net was denied by a last-gasp save from the Bears' Sean Collins to keep it a one-goal game.
8:47 1st: Checkers lead 3-0 after two goals in 13 seconds: Micflikier 12 (Boychuk, Dalpe) at 8:34, then Pistilli 1 (Matsumoto, Osala) at 8:47 The Bears are a good team, and the Checkers are just skating circles around them right now. First in line was a shot from Zach Boychuk that even fooled the guy with his hand on the goal horn trigger when the shot hit the post even though everyone in the building thought it was going in, but the puck bounced to Jacob Micflikier who roofed home the rebound to give the Checkers a 2-0 lead.
Then, thirteen seconds later, Matthew Pistilli scored his first AHL goal by cleaning up a broken play off a bad rebound from Holtby, who kicked the puck right to him. So far, so good if you're wearing red. Not so good for the guys in white, who called timeout after the Pistilli goal to calm the troops down.
12:47 1st: The Checkers really are bringing a mean forecheck today. They've already drawn two penalties from hard work deep in the Hershey zone, and they're really forcing Holtby to be back on his heels with good redirection bids and really crisp passing down low. Of course, a lot of that is on the Hershey defense, which is doing nothing to prevent those passes from connecting.
13:49 1st: Charlotte's lead cut to 3-1; Beagle 7 (Kane) (sh) And it looked similar to something we'd see the Hurricanes do: soft coverage in the defensive zone left goaltender Mike Murphy with no help. He made the first stop on Jay Beagle as Beagle and Boyd Kane gained the zone with speed, but he couldn't cover the rebound and Beagle roofed it over Murphy's glove.
End 1st: The Bears' timeout after the third Checkers goal came at a perfect time, as they played much more confidently toward the end of the period and they forced Murphy to make some big saves. The Checkers' defense, though, seems much more adaptable than the Bears, and they're doing a good job of getting their sticks in the passing lanes and denying the Bears open looks. Shots in the first period were 12-7 Checkers.
:45 2nd: Nice sequence by the Checkers defense, which kept the Bears off the board with a nice pressure deep in the zone. After Murphy made an initial save, the defense pushed Steve Pinizzotto off the puck just enough to prevent him from elevating the rebound over Murphy and into the net.
6:25 2nd: Jon Matsumoto nearly created a goal out of very literally nothing. He danced the puck around the Bears' Lawrence Nycholat, fired a shot high that Holtby batted down with his blocker, then nearly shoveled home the rebound. Great individual effort.
9:10 2nd: Great play by Zack FitzGerald to block a shot from the point and pool-cue the puck out of the Charlotte zone, but it should have never gotten to that point. The Bears are really flying right now and they've forced the Checkers to play catch-up for most of this period.
13:20 2nd: Pistilli nearly had his second, and he deserved it, undressing Nycholat (who, despite what you've read here today, is actually a pretty good player) for the second time in seven minutes and surprising Holtby with a quick snap shot from just outside the crease.
16:10 2nd: FitzGerald gets into fisticuffs for the second time, this time with a two-punch takedown of Bears captain Steve Pinizzotto behind the Checkers' net. He earned a double-minor for roughing.
17:19 2nd: Bears pull to 3-2; Souray 1 (Nycholat) (pp) And after Casey Borer took a slashing penalty that he vehemently disagreed with, the Bears made them pay on the 5-on-3 with a wicked one-timer from Sheldon Souray at the top of the far circle that beat Murphy cleanly to the blocker side.
End 2nd: You can tell that these teams are getting rather annoyed with each other after five period of hockey over the last three days. There's a lot of chippiness out there, and just about every whistle late in the period resulted in a scrum behind the net. Shots in the period were 14-9 Hershey, who had by far the better scoring chances from start to finish.
3:10 3rd: One thing I've really been impressed with seeing is how physical Zach Boychuk has attempted to play tonight. I say "attempted" because, well, he's not exactly the biggest guy in the world (188 pounds soaking wet) and both guys he's attempted to level with a big hit have stayed completely upright and Boychuk has bounced off both of them like he was rubber. Points for effort, though.
7:00 3rd: The intermission looks like it did some good for the Checkers, who have kept the Bears safely away from Murphy for the most part. Of course, as I type that, the Bears spend a full minute in the Charlotte zone with the Checkers unable to clear. Shows what I know.
9:12 3rd: No surprise given his past, but Jeff Daniels looks like he's been to the Paul Maurice School of Power Play Design for a few classes. All night, he's used Zac Dalpe at the left point on the power play, and it almost paid off as Dalpe skated in unmolested and nearly caught Holtby cheating off the near post.
10:09 3rd: I'm not sure how the officials missed this, but the Bears blatantly had too many men on the ice and it took every member of the Checkers screaming at the officials for the linesman to make the call. Rather inexcusable.
10:46 3rd: Two goals in less than a minute again - this time 20 seconds apart! Rodney 5 (Boychuk, Matsumoto) (pp) at 10:26, then Micflikier 13 (Dalpe, Boychuk) (pp) at 10:46 Now this isn't something you see every day. First, Bryan Rodney converted a beautiful pass from Boychuk (notice a trend developing here?) as the Checkers picked apart the Bears' 5-on-3 defense, then Micflikier took advantage of a horrible puck-handling miscue by Holtby and he had all day to get through the Bears defense and find the back of the empty net. Holtby was some kind of upset with himself, slamming his stick to the ice in frustration.
18:11 3rd: Sheldon Souray gets a hooking penalty behind the Bears' net, then the fun begins with two separate altercations, one of which ended up with three 10-minute misconducts being handed out, two to the Checkers (Michal Jordan and Brad Herouf) and one to the Bears.
18:28 3rd: Bears cut it to 5-3; Nycholat (unassisted) Probably doesn't matter at this point, but Nycholat got it back to within two goals.
End 3rd: Indeed, it didn't matter. The Checkers won 5-3, improving their record against the two-time defending champs to 3-1-1 on the season. Shots in the third were 9-8 Charlotte, who really tilted the ice beginning with the 5-on-3 halfway through the period.
Postgame: Not to say that the Canes' locker room isn't tight -- it's obvious that it is -- but the Checkers locker room seems especially tightly-knit and the guys down here really enjoy playing. It could easily be a room full of guys who are bitter over the fact that they're here and not in the NHL, but it doesn't seem that way at all. Much more laid-back and the guys are really happy to be here playing.
That said, I got a couple of double-takes from guys who have seen me in the Canes' locker room and wondered if I got lost on my way to the RBC Center, but it's all in good fun. Right now the Checkers are rolling, and everyone's happy to be a part of it, even guys like Boychuk and Dalpe who have NHL experience under their belt.
Click for audio from Boychuk, Dalpe and coach Jeff Daniels. We'll definitely be back in the future - this was really a lot of fun.
If not before, we're back to more normal NHL surroundings on Saturday when the Canes return from their five-game road trip to welcome the Anaheim Ducks to Raleigh.
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When the Canes are in the midst of a two-week road trip and you're in the mood to check up on the Canes of the future, what do you do? Well, if you're the Puck Drops Mobile, you gas up and hit the road to Charlotte, which is where we come to you today as the Charlotte Checkers, the Canes' American Hockey League affiliate, face off against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of Southeast Division rival Washington.
And it's largely a good time to visit. The Checkers were the hottest team in the AHL in November, and when they played Hershey on Friday night the Checkers lost in a shootout despite 48 saves from Justin Pogge. Since the AHL generally schedules two-game series for visiting teams, the Bears are looking for a sweep this afternoon.
The names you'll see in this afternoon's live blog will be somewhat familiar: Boychuk, Samson, Bowman, Borer, Pogge, and so forth. The Bears even have a former Hurricane of their own; one of their associate captains is Keith Aucoin, who spent three seasons in the Carolina system. The Checkers, of course, are also coached by a former Hurricane, retired forward and former assistant coach Jeff Daniels.
Never done an AHL live blog before, so apologies if it isn't what you expect. Honestly, I'm not sure what to expect either...
2:45 1st: It took a few minutes to get off the ground, as the Checkers spent most of the first minute on their heels in their own zone, but the fourth line of Brett Sutter, Riley Nash and Brad Herauf nearly scored with some great down-low pressure and a couple of huge hits behind the net.
3:31 1st: Checkers lead 1-0; Dalpe 11 (Boychuk, Micflikier) Well, if you were interested in seeing what Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe could do against lesser competition, a trip to Charlotte is in your best interests. The Bears' defense couldn't get back in time to keep Dalpe and Boychuk from creating a 2-on-1, and Dalpe converted with a perfectly placed one-timer off a Boychuk pass from the near circle.
6:32 1st: Should have been 2-0 if not for an amazing save by a Bears defenseman. Oskar Osala forced Bears goalie Braden Holtby to cough up the puck behind the net and centered to Riley Nash before Holtby could get back in the net, but Nash's bid at a wide-open net was denied by a last-gasp save from the Bears' Sean Collins to keep it a one-goal game.
8:47 1st: Checkers lead 3-0 after two goals in 13 seconds: Micflikier 12 (Boychuk, Dalpe) at 8:34, then Pistilli 1 (Matsumoto, Osala) at 8:47 The Bears are a good team, and the Checkers are just skating circles around them right now. First in line was a shot from Zach Boychuk that even fooled the guy with his hand on the goal horn trigger when the shot hit the post even though everyone in the building thought it was going in, but the puck bounced to Jacob Micflikier who roofed home the rebound to give the Checkers a 2-0 lead.
Then, thirteen seconds later, Matthew Pistilli scored his first AHL goal by cleaning up a broken play off a bad rebound from Holtby, who kicked the puck right to him. So far, so good if you're wearing red. Not so good for the guys in white, who called timeout after the Pistilli goal to calm the troops down.
12:47 1st: The Checkers really are bringing a mean forecheck today. They've already drawn two penalties from hard work deep in the Hershey zone, and they're really forcing Holtby to be back on his heels with good redirection bids and really crisp passing down low. Of course, a lot of that is on the Hershey defense, which is doing nothing to prevent those passes from connecting.
13:49 1st: Charlotte's lead cut to 3-1; Beagle 7 (Kane) (sh) And it looked similar to something we'd see the Hurricanes do: soft coverage in the defensive zone left goaltender Mike Murphy with no help. He made the first stop on Jay Beagle as Beagle and Boyd Kane gained the zone with speed, but he couldn't cover the rebound and Beagle roofed it over Murphy's glove.
End 1st: The Bears' timeout after the third Checkers goal came at a perfect time, as they played much more confidently toward the end of the period and they forced Murphy to make some big saves. The Checkers' defense, though, seems much more adaptable than the Bears, and they're doing a good job of getting their sticks in the passing lanes and denying the Bears open looks. Shots in the first period were 12-7 Checkers.
:45 2nd: Nice sequence by the Checkers defense, which kept the Bears off the board with a nice pressure deep in the zone. After Murphy made an initial save, the defense pushed Steve Pinizzotto off the puck just enough to prevent him from elevating the rebound over Murphy and into the net.
6:25 2nd: Jon Matsumoto nearly created a goal out of very literally nothing. He danced the puck around the Bears' Lawrence Nycholat, fired a shot high that Holtby batted down with his blocker, then nearly shoveled home the rebound. Great individual effort.
9:10 2nd: Great play by Zack FitzGerald to block a shot from the point and pool-cue the puck out of the Charlotte zone, but it should have never gotten to that point. The Bears are really flying right now and they've forced the Checkers to play catch-up for most of this period.
13:20 2nd: Pistilli nearly had his second, and he deserved it, undressing Nycholat (who, despite what you've read here today, is actually a pretty good player) for the second time in seven minutes and surprising Holtby with a quick snap shot from just outside the crease.
16:10 2nd: FitzGerald gets into fisticuffs for the second time, this time with a two-punch takedown of Bears captain Steve Pinizzotto behind the Checkers' net. He earned a double-minor for roughing.
17:19 2nd: Bears pull to 3-2; Souray 1 (Nycholat) (pp) And after Casey Borer took a slashing penalty that he vehemently disagreed with, the Bears made them pay on the 5-on-3 with a wicked one-timer from Sheldon Souray at the top of the far circle that beat Murphy cleanly to the blocker side.
End 2nd: You can tell that these teams are getting rather annoyed with each other after five period of hockey over the last three days. There's a lot of chippiness out there, and just about every whistle late in the period resulted in a scrum behind the net. Shots in the period were 14-9 Hershey, who had by far the better scoring chances from start to finish.
3:10 3rd: One thing I've really been impressed with seeing is how physical Zach Boychuk has attempted to play tonight. I say "attempted" because, well, he's not exactly the biggest guy in the world (188 pounds soaking wet) and both guys he's attempted to level with a big hit have stayed completely upright and Boychuk has bounced off both of them like he was rubber. Points for effort, though.
7:00 3rd: The intermission looks like it did some good for the Checkers, who have kept the Bears safely away from Murphy for the most part. Of course, as I type that, the Bears spend a full minute in the Charlotte zone with the Checkers unable to clear. Shows what I know.
9:12 3rd: No surprise given his past, but Jeff Daniels looks like he's been to the Paul Maurice School of Power Play Design for a few classes. All night, he's used Zac Dalpe at the left point on the power play, and it almost paid off as Dalpe skated in unmolested and nearly caught Holtby cheating off the near post.
10:09 3rd: I'm not sure how the officials missed this, but the Bears blatantly had too many men on the ice and it took every member of the Checkers screaming at the officials for the linesman to make the call. Rather inexcusable.
10:46 3rd: Two goals in less than a minute again - this time 20 seconds apart! Rodney 5 (Boychuk, Matsumoto) (pp) at 10:26, then Micflikier 13 (Dalpe, Boychuk) (pp) at 10:46 Now this isn't something you see every day. First, Bryan Rodney converted a beautiful pass from Boychuk (notice a trend developing here?) as the Checkers picked apart the Bears' 5-on-3 defense, then Micflikier took advantage of a horrible puck-handling miscue by Holtby and he had all day to get through the Bears defense and find the back of the empty net. Holtby was some kind of upset with himself, slamming his stick to the ice in frustration.
18:11 3rd: Sheldon Souray gets a hooking penalty behind the Bears' net, then the fun begins with two separate altercations, one of which ended up with three 10-minute misconducts being handed out, two to the Checkers (Michal Jordan and Brad Herouf) and one to the Bears.
18:28 3rd: Bears cut it to 5-3; Nycholat (unassisted) Probably doesn't matter at this point, but Nycholat got it back to within two goals.
End 3rd: Indeed, it didn't matter. The Checkers won 5-3, improving their record against the two-time defending champs to 3-1-1 on the season. Shots in the third were 9-8 Charlotte, who really tilted the ice beginning with the 5-on-3 halfway through the period.
Postgame: Not to say that the Canes' locker room isn't tight -- it's obvious that it is -- but the Checkers locker room seems especially tightly-knit and the guys down here really enjoy playing. It could easily be a room full of guys who are bitter over the fact that they're here and not in the NHL, but it doesn't seem that way at all. Much more laid-back and the guys are really happy to be here playing.
That said, I got a couple of double-takes from guys who have seen me in the Canes' locker room and wondered if I got lost on my way to the RBC Center, but it's all in good fun. Right now the Checkers are rolling, and everyone's happy to be a part of it, even guys like Boychuk and Dalpe who have NHL experience under their belt.
Click for audio from Boychuk, Dalpe and coach Jeff Daniels. We'll definitely be back in the future - this was really a lot of fun.
If not before, we're back to more normal NHL surroundings on Saturday when the Canes return from their five-game road trip to welcome the Anaheim Ducks to Raleigh.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Game 25: Hurricanes 2, Avalanche 1 (OT)
By Brian LeBlanc
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It's rare that the NHL schedule affords teams long layoffs in the middle of the season, but the Canes have just finished their first of three lengthy breaks in the month of December. After dropping back-to-back games against Washington and Dallas, the Canes had three days off before facing Colorado tonight. Then, after a quick flight to Nashville for a game tomorrow night, the team will return home and have a five-day layoff before visiting the Stars in Dallas next Friday. (Strangely, tonight's game is the second of five straight games against Western Conference opponents, out of a total of 18 cross-conference games.)
So, in other words, the schedule can't be an excuse anymore, and it's time for the Canes to show up.
Colorado comes to town having owned the Canes in this series since its inception, but at the RBC Center the Canes have won the last two games against the Avs. On Tuesday, the Avs made a minor deal, shipping defenseman Scott Hannan to Southeast Division rival Washington for enigmatic forward Tomas Fleischmann, who will make his Avalanche debut tonight in a building he knows well; he immediately becomes the player on the roster who has played the most games (27) against the Canes.
Will the Canes get their bearings back after a few tough days of practice and hit the road on a good note? We're about to find out...
1:03 1st: The Canes sure look like a team that had three days off. They've come out early and controlled the play, and nearly got a goal for their efforts when Jussi Jokinen caught Avs goaltender Craig Anderson cheating a bit off the post. Fortunately for Anderson, the puck trickled about three inches to his right and behind the goal.
5:55 1st: Yeah...never mind. The Avs are outshooting the Canes 10-0 right now. That is not a typo.
8:45 1st: Chad LaRose takes the Canes' first shot of the night, an easy glove save by Anderson, and a very loud Bronx cheer erupts from the paying customers. Well deserved, I might add.
14:05 1st: The Canes got the first power play of the night, off a holding-the-stick call to Paul Stastny, and proceeded to do nothing with it. Then on his way out of the box, Stastny was nearly sprung on a breakaway but Jamie McBain did a great job getting back to deny Stastny a clean shot on Cam Ward, who has been a bit busy in the opening frame so far.
18:05 1st: Late in the period and the Canes have started to come on a bit. Jeff Skinner just missed a wide-open one-timer on an open net, the first really good scoring chance the Canes have had all night.
19:39 1st: Samsonov with a nice redirection from five feet off a Staal shot that Anderson had to be on the ball to save. He's been holding the fort down in this recent Canes rush.
End 1st: A nice end to the period after a rather tepid start. The Canes had a couple of great chances in the final seconds but Anderson stood tall, even making a save after the buzzer on Ian White. Shots ended up 16-11 Avs, but all of those Canes shots came in the last ten minutes of the period.
:17 2nd: The Avs left their defense in the locker room to start the period, and Eric Staal should have put the Canes on the board. Clearly, he didn't, but not for a lack of effort - the puck rolled off his stick, just as he was going to backhand it past Anderson with no one anywhere near him.
6:05 2nd: The Canes are in penalty trouble, taking three straight penalties and it's a wonder that the game is still scoreless. On the second power play, Ward absolutely robbed Brandon Yip from point-blank range. No one up here is entirely sure how he got across to make the save. It may be the save of the night, regardless of the outcome of the game.
9:00 2nd: Erik Cole nearly broke the ice with Anderson down on the ice, but the shot went just a bit high and the Avs escaped danger. This about thirty seconds after the Canes somehow avoided having too many men on the ice when Tuomo Ruutu played the puck about half a second after the man he was replacing hit the bench.
11:05 2nd: It's notable that the Canes haven't scored yet, because the defensemen are pinching low just about every chance they get and it's to their credit that they haven't allowed a breakaway going back toward Ward. Joe Corvo in particular has been playing way off the blue line, and it's nearly paid off but the Canes need it to do so soon lest the Avs get an odd-man break out of an ill-advised pinch.
14:20 2nd: Another unreal sequence of stops from Anderson, this time stoning Patrick Dwyer and Jussi Jokinen back-to-back from five feet apiece. Any doubt the first goal wins this game?
15:45 2nd: Right on cue, Anderson stones Cole with a split to hug the left post when Cole got behind the defense in the low slot and wasn't able to elevate the puck. Still, an insane save by Anderson, who will be no worse than the second star tonight depending on the outcome.
End 2nd: We got to the end of the period and I honestly had no idea that it was imminent until we heard the buzzer sound. That was by far the best period I've seen all year, with some unbelievable chances at both ends and a goaltending clinic being put on by the two netminders. Shots in the period were 11-8 Canes, who cut their overall deficit to 24-22.
3:15 3rd: Not quite the pace that we saw in that breakneck 2nd period, but that might be for the best. A 3-on-2 coming back toward the Colorado end was inadvertently snuffed out by Patrick Dwyer, who did what he has always been taught to do -- go to the net -- and he took a Brandon Sutter pass on his backhand, which he couldn't do much with two feet outside the goal. If that puck gets through to Jussi Jokinen on the far side, though, it's a sure goal. Them's the breaks.
4:50 3rd: Canes, finally, lead 1-0! Skinner 8 (Ruutu) And what a goal it was. The way these goaltenders are playing, you knew it was going to take a highlight-reel goal to put a crooked number on the scoreboard, and Jeff Skinner delivered. Skinner maintained possession through two Avs defenders, took a give-and-go pass from Tuomo Ruutu behind the net, and roofed a backhand over Anderson's glove. Anderson did absolutely everything he could have done on that play, which is a testament to what a great play it was.
7:35 3rd: Great play by Ian White to break up an Avs 2-on-1 down low after a Canes turnover deep in their own zone. White deflected a Paul Stastny centering attempt to the far corner with the Canes scrambling to get back into position. Beautifully played.
12:21 3rd: Just as a Canes' power play expires, Greg Mauldin surprises Ward with a snap shot that Ward somehow stopped even though he had no idea the shot was coming.
12:51 3rd: Avs tie it at 1; Hejduk 9 (Shattenkirk) Hejduk made up for that head-scratching miss earlier by beating Ward cleanly with a 15-foot wrister. And like we thought might happen, an ill-advised Joe Corvo pinch sprung Hejduk with Kevin Shattenkirk up the ice and only Patrick Dwyer was back to defend the play. Everyone in the building saw that coming, and the only way it wasn't going in was if Hejduk missed the net again. (He didn't.)
18:15 3rd: Looks like both teams are playing for the point now. Not much intensity on either side, and understandably so.
End 3rd: We're headed to the extra frame. Shots in the third period were 11-6 Avs, who lead overall 35-28.
:30 OT: Staal nearly ends it off an accidental skate deflection off Kevin Shattenkirk that went about a foot wide of the Avalanche net. If that was on target, it was in; Anderson was nowhere near it.
1:16 OT: Canes win 2-1; Sutter 5 (Pitkanen, McBain) And Brandon Sutter did end it, with -- what else? -- a perfectly placed shot, high to the blocker side of Anderson along the far post, in the only spot he could have scored in. I know I'm given to hyperbole rather easily, but that was a spectacular game on both sides. The Canes had the only two shots of overtime, including the only one that mattered.
Postgame: Brandon Sutter and Jeff Skinner both described the game as a playoff atmosphere, some high praise given the fact it was a game against a Western Conference team full of players most fans don't recognize. And it sure sounded like one -- it was loud, it was raucous, and it was a heck of a well-played game. Just the type of game the Canes want to have when they hit the road for five straight games.
Full marks to the Avalanche, who made this game very difficult for the Canes to pull out and earned every bit of their point tonight. Anderson was outstanding all night, and in his first game back from injury it's easy to see why the Avs snuck into a playoff spot last year. It's a shame the teams don't meet again this year, because if they played another game like this the good people of Denver would get more than their money's worth.
Click for audio from Cam Ward, Brandon Sutter and Jeff Skinner. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes, as stated above, now head out for a five-game roadtrip beginning tomorrow in Nashville. However, with the way the schedule is set up, they'll be able to return home to practice before and after their back-to-back set in Dallas and St. Louis next Friday and Saturday. They finally return home two weeks from tomorrow, when the Anaheim Ducks are in town for the only time this year. Back at it then, or before if news breaks...
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It's rare that the NHL schedule affords teams long layoffs in the middle of the season, but the Canes have just finished their first of three lengthy breaks in the month of December. After dropping back-to-back games against Washington and Dallas, the Canes had three days off before facing Colorado tonight. Then, after a quick flight to Nashville for a game tomorrow night, the team will return home and have a five-day layoff before visiting the Stars in Dallas next Friday. (Strangely, tonight's game is the second of five straight games against Western Conference opponents, out of a total of 18 cross-conference games.)
So, in other words, the schedule can't be an excuse anymore, and it's time for the Canes to show up.
Colorado comes to town having owned the Canes in this series since its inception, but at the RBC Center the Canes have won the last two games against the Avs. On Tuesday, the Avs made a minor deal, shipping defenseman Scott Hannan to Southeast Division rival Washington for enigmatic forward Tomas Fleischmann, who will make his Avalanche debut tonight in a building he knows well; he immediately becomes the player on the roster who has played the most games (27) against the Canes.
Will the Canes get their bearings back after a few tough days of practice and hit the road on a good note? We're about to find out...
1:03 1st: The Canes sure look like a team that had three days off. They've come out early and controlled the play, and nearly got a goal for their efforts when Jussi Jokinen caught Avs goaltender Craig Anderson cheating a bit off the post. Fortunately for Anderson, the puck trickled about three inches to his right and behind the goal.
5:55 1st: Yeah...never mind. The Avs are outshooting the Canes 10-0 right now. That is not a typo.
8:45 1st: Chad LaRose takes the Canes' first shot of the night, an easy glove save by Anderson, and a very loud Bronx cheer erupts from the paying customers. Well deserved, I might add.
14:05 1st: The Canes got the first power play of the night, off a holding-the-stick call to Paul Stastny, and proceeded to do nothing with it. Then on his way out of the box, Stastny was nearly sprung on a breakaway but Jamie McBain did a great job getting back to deny Stastny a clean shot on Cam Ward, who has been a bit busy in the opening frame so far.
18:05 1st: Late in the period and the Canes have started to come on a bit. Jeff Skinner just missed a wide-open one-timer on an open net, the first really good scoring chance the Canes have had all night.
19:39 1st: Samsonov with a nice redirection from five feet off a Staal shot that Anderson had to be on the ball to save. He's been holding the fort down in this recent Canes rush.
End 1st: A nice end to the period after a rather tepid start. The Canes had a couple of great chances in the final seconds but Anderson stood tall, even making a save after the buzzer on Ian White. Shots ended up 16-11 Avs, but all of those Canes shots came in the last ten minutes of the period.
:17 2nd: The Avs left their defense in the locker room to start the period, and Eric Staal should have put the Canes on the board. Clearly, he didn't, but not for a lack of effort - the puck rolled off his stick, just as he was going to backhand it past Anderson with no one anywhere near him.
6:05 2nd: The Canes are in penalty trouble, taking three straight penalties and it's a wonder that the game is still scoreless. On the second power play, Ward absolutely robbed Brandon Yip from point-blank range. No one up here is entirely sure how he got across to make the save. It may be the save of the night, regardless of the outcome of the game.
9:00 2nd: Erik Cole nearly broke the ice with Anderson down on the ice, but the shot went just a bit high and the Avs escaped danger. This about thirty seconds after the Canes somehow avoided having too many men on the ice when Tuomo Ruutu played the puck about half a second after the man he was replacing hit the bench.
11:05 2nd: It's notable that the Canes haven't scored yet, because the defensemen are pinching low just about every chance they get and it's to their credit that they haven't allowed a breakaway going back toward Ward. Joe Corvo in particular has been playing way off the blue line, and it's nearly paid off but the Canes need it to do so soon lest the Avs get an odd-man break out of an ill-advised pinch.
14:20 2nd: Another unreal sequence of stops from Anderson, this time stoning Patrick Dwyer and Jussi Jokinen back-to-back from five feet apiece. Any doubt the first goal wins this game?
15:45 2nd: Right on cue, Anderson stones Cole with a split to hug the left post when Cole got behind the defense in the low slot and wasn't able to elevate the puck. Still, an insane save by Anderson, who will be no worse than the second star tonight depending on the outcome.
End 2nd: We got to the end of the period and I honestly had no idea that it was imminent until we heard the buzzer sound. That was by far the best period I've seen all year, with some unbelievable chances at both ends and a goaltending clinic being put on by the two netminders. Shots in the period were 11-8 Canes, who cut their overall deficit to 24-22.
3:15 3rd: Not quite the pace that we saw in that breakneck 2nd period, but that might be for the best. A 3-on-2 coming back toward the Colorado end was inadvertently snuffed out by Patrick Dwyer, who did what he has always been taught to do -- go to the net -- and he took a Brandon Sutter pass on his backhand, which he couldn't do much with two feet outside the goal. If that puck gets through to Jussi Jokinen on the far side, though, it's a sure goal. Them's the breaks.
4:50 3rd: Canes, finally, lead 1-0! Skinner 8 (Ruutu) And what a goal it was. The way these goaltenders are playing, you knew it was going to take a highlight-reel goal to put a crooked number on the scoreboard, and Jeff Skinner delivered. Skinner maintained possession through two Avs defenders, took a give-and-go pass from Tuomo Ruutu behind the net, and roofed a backhand over Anderson's glove. Anderson did absolutely everything he could have done on that play, which is a testament to what a great play it was.
7:35 3rd: Great play by Ian White to break up an Avs 2-on-1 down low after a Canes turnover deep in their own zone. White deflected a Paul Stastny centering attempt to the far corner with the Canes scrambling to get back into position. Beautifully played.
12:21 3rd: Just as a Canes' power play expires, Greg Mauldin surprises Ward with a snap shot that Ward somehow stopped even though he had no idea the shot was coming.
12:51 3rd: Avs tie it at 1; Hejduk 9 (Shattenkirk) Hejduk made up for that head-scratching miss earlier by beating Ward cleanly with a 15-foot wrister. And like we thought might happen, an ill-advised Joe Corvo pinch sprung Hejduk with Kevin Shattenkirk up the ice and only Patrick Dwyer was back to defend the play. Everyone in the building saw that coming, and the only way it wasn't going in was if Hejduk missed the net again. (He didn't.)
18:15 3rd: Looks like both teams are playing for the point now. Not much intensity on either side, and understandably so.
End 3rd: We're headed to the extra frame. Shots in the third period were 11-6 Avs, who lead overall 35-28.
:30 OT: Staal nearly ends it off an accidental skate deflection off Kevin Shattenkirk that went about a foot wide of the Avalanche net. If that was on target, it was in; Anderson was nowhere near it.
1:16 OT: Canes win 2-1; Sutter 5 (Pitkanen, McBain) And Brandon Sutter did end it, with -- what else? -- a perfectly placed shot, high to the blocker side of Anderson along the far post, in the only spot he could have scored in. I know I'm given to hyperbole rather easily, but that was a spectacular game on both sides. The Canes had the only two shots of overtime, including the only one that mattered.
Postgame: Brandon Sutter and Jeff Skinner both described the game as a playoff atmosphere, some high praise given the fact it was a game against a Western Conference team full of players most fans don't recognize. And it sure sounded like one -- it was loud, it was raucous, and it was a heck of a well-played game. Just the type of game the Canes want to have when they hit the road for five straight games.
Full marks to the Avalanche, who made this game very difficult for the Canes to pull out and earned every bit of their point tonight. Anderson was outstanding all night, and in his first game back from injury it's easy to see why the Avs snuck into a playoff spot last year. It's a shame the teams don't meet again this year, because if they played another game like this the good people of Denver would get more than their money's worth.
Click for audio from Cam Ward, Brandon Sutter and Jeff Skinner. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes, as stated above, now head out for a five-game roadtrip beginning tomorrow in Nashville. However, with the way the schedule is set up, they'll be able to return home to practice before and after their back-to-back set in Dallas and St. Louis next Friday and Saturday. They finally return home two weeks from tomorrow, when the Anaheim Ducks are in town for the only time this year. Back at it then, or before if news breaks...
Monday, November 29, 2010
Game 24: Stars 4, Hurricanes 1
By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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The Canes return to the RBC Center after taking three of a possible four points from two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. After shutting out the Boston Bruins on Friday, the Canes stole a point from Washington when Eric Staal scored with 2.2 seconds left on Sunday afternoon, falling in a shootout but at least earning the point.
Tonight, their third game in four nights sees the Dallas Stars come to town for the only time this season, and as Paul Maurice said earlier today, if you watched the Nashville game last Saturday then you know what to expect tonight. The Stars bring a suffocating brand of defense to town, led by a couple of old friends: former Lightning Brad Richards and former Thrasher Kari Lehtonen, who has played well against the Canes when healthy -- which hasn't been all that often. Although the Stars were scarcely mentioned behind the Sharks, Kings and Coyotes prior to the season, it's their 27 points that lead the Pacific Division, a testament to how well the team has played without franchise linchpin Mike Modano, who left for Detroit in the offseason.
The Canes, amazingly, have lost only four man-games to injury this year, and they field a full lineup again tonight. The Stars, meanwhile, will be without the services of resident pest Krys Barch, but are otherwise healthy.
Here goes...
1:45 1st: The Canes nearly got caught on a bad turnover deep in their own end just under two minutes into the game. A weird bounce off the boards bounced off Ian White's skate and right to Jamie Benn, who fired a shot that was blockered down by Cam Ward in a good reactionary save.
5:50 1st: I'm not sure what happened while I was on vacation, but the Canes sure look like they practiced their passing while on the power play. An early Karlis Skrastins tripping penalty was killed off, but not for a lack of effort - the Canes' passing was spot on, with crisp passes all over the place that they just failed to convert a couple of times.
9:55 1st: The shot board says that the teams are even at 6 shots apiece, but the Stars' chances have all been solid scoring opportunities with most of them coming from right in front of Cam Ward that have forced Ward to be on his toes with some great saves so far.
10:40 1st: Stars lead 1-0; Neal 9 (Eriksson, Woywitka) And the Canes finally get burned in their own zone. Loui Eriksson skated behind Ward with little problem and convinced Cam Ward that he was going to wrap the puck around, but he instead fed James Neal at the bottom of the near circle who one-timed the puck over Ward's glove on a shot that looked like it handcuffed Ward a bit. Still, the Canes' defense had no excuse for playing the Stars so passively.
13:40 1st: Could have easily been 2-0 as Eriksson snuck behind the pairing of Jamie McBain and Jay Harrison to get off a surprisingly quick shot that Ward just barely swatted away with his stick.. Not the greatest period for the Canes' defense thus far.
16:15 1st: Looks like the Canes got a stern talking-to at the TV timeout, and it's paid dividends on their first two shifts since. They've been all over the Stars' net with some great scoring chances, including a Brandon Sutter tip chance that just slid by his stick on the near side of Lehtonen.
End 1st: The Canes started with some good pressure late in the period, but when the Stars got the puck back in the Canes' zone the home team still looked rather lost and way too overreliant on Cam Ward. Shots were 12-10 Carolina in the period, but that's misleading when you consider that most of those 10 Stars shots were above-average to great scoring chances.
1:50 2nd: The Canes' power play hasn't struck yet, but it's come close a few times with a great chance a second ago when Lehtonen failed to cover the puck and Jeff Skinner fed Joni Pitkanen for a wide open shot with Lehtonen way out of position...and, of course, Pitkanen shot the puck into the side of the net.
2:46 2nd: Stars lead 2-0; Ott 5 (Benn, Daley) Eleven seconds after the Jeff Woywitka high-sticking penalty was killed off, a broken play resulted in a two-goal lead for the Stars. Jamie Benn stole the puck behind the net and faked Ward out by looking like he was going to skate it around to the far side of the net, but instead he pulled up on a dime and fed Steve Ott at the top of the crease who took advantage of Ward being out of position and doubled the Stars' lead.
4:16 2nd: 3-0 Dallas; Neal 10 (Grossman) A clear from the blue line by James Neal bounced off the boards to Ward's right, and the puck went through three players and right back to Neal who one-timed it home on a shot Ward had no clue was coming. Yet again, the Canes are letting down after a power play, and it looks like they're trying too hard and giving the Stars all sorts of chances to come back the other way.
7:57 2nd: Canes pull to 3-1; Staal 12 (unassisted) If the Canes were going to get back into this game, they were going to have to strike quickly and they did just that. Eric Staal harassed Nicklas Grossman at the Carolina blue line and went off on a breakaway, blasting a wrister past Lehtonen's glove from fifteen feet to put the Canes on the board.
9:45 2nd: James Neal was interfering with Tuomo Ruutu two-thirds of the way down the ice, finally dragging him to the ice and earning himself a hooking penalty, while Ruutu took a diving penalty. Um...if you say so, Brad Meier.
15:41 2nd: Neal nearly had himself a hat trick with a perfect deflection in front of Ward on a Dallas power play, and Ward stopped it but he thought it was past him, looking behind him as the referee's whistle blew.
18:49 2nd: Tuomo Ruutu somehow manages to get a shot off, Bobby Orr-style, while flying through the air after drawing a Skrastins hooking penalty. If he'd have scored there, you'd have seen it on SportsCenter.
End 2nd: The Stars outshot the Canes 13-5 in the period. Yeah, that sounds about right. The Canes will have :49 left on the Skrastins hooking penalty when the third period starts.
3:21 3rd: Stars lead 4-1; Benn 6 (Ribeiro, Morrow) No surprise the Stars made it 4-1 after they killed off the Skrastins penalty. All four of the Stars' goals have been directly after they killed off a penalty, and they are getting some serious pressure early in the five-on-five sequence immediately following a penalty. No question the Canes have been back on their heels a bit, but they've not done a great job of collapsing around Ward when they've needed to.
6:24 3rd: Tim Gleason levels Adam Burish with a hip check in front of the Canes' bench, and the predictable line brawl ensues with Gleason right in the middle of the fracas. In the end, Gleason got four minutes for roughing but Dallas sent three men to the box, handing the Canes their fourth power play of the night.
13:30 3rd: Not much to speak of after the Gleason nonsense was sorted out. TO the Canes' credit, they haven't allowed Dallas many easy looks at Ward following the power play, but it's a bit late for compliments like that when you're already down by three.
16:05 3rd: Story of the night: a great shot from Jamie McBain at the right point ricocheted right to Jeff Skinner in the near circle, and Skinner fanned on a wide open net.
End 3rd: Nothing doing for the Canes late and they fall to the Stars in Raleigh for the first time since 2003. Shots were 11-10 for the Canes in the 3rd period, but the Stars led overall 33-28 in the game.
Postgame: A lot of frustrated faces in the Canes' locker room after the game, including a few players who understandably wanted nothing to do with talking to the media after a night like that. Even the normally mild-mannered Paul Maurice let a four-letter slip during his press conference. It's obvious the Canes didn't have their legs tonight, and it showed from the opening faceoff. Blame it on the schedule if you want, but Dallas was also playing their fourth game in six nights and they showed up. Full marks to them on what was a very frustrating night for the home team.
Click for audio from Tuomo Ruutu and Eric Staal. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes get tomorrow off, and they don't take the ice again (for a game, anyway) until Friday when the Colorado Avalanche come to town. We'll be back then, and hopefully you will as well.
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The Canes return to the RBC Center after taking three of a possible four points from two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. After shutting out the Boston Bruins on Friday, the Canes stole a point from Washington when Eric Staal scored with 2.2 seconds left on Sunday afternoon, falling in a shootout but at least earning the point.
Tonight, their third game in four nights sees the Dallas Stars come to town for the only time this season, and as Paul Maurice said earlier today, if you watched the Nashville game last Saturday then you know what to expect tonight. The Stars bring a suffocating brand of defense to town, led by a couple of old friends: former Lightning Brad Richards and former Thrasher Kari Lehtonen, who has played well against the Canes when healthy -- which hasn't been all that often. Although the Stars were scarcely mentioned behind the Sharks, Kings and Coyotes prior to the season, it's their 27 points that lead the Pacific Division, a testament to how well the team has played without franchise linchpin Mike Modano, who left for Detroit in the offseason.
The Canes, amazingly, have lost only four man-games to injury this year, and they field a full lineup again tonight. The Stars, meanwhile, will be without the services of resident pest Krys Barch, but are otherwise healthy.
Here goes...
1:45 1st: The Canes nearly got caught on a bad turnover deep in their own end just under two minutes into the game. A weird bounce off the boards bounced off Ian White's skate and right to Jamie Benn, who fired a shot that was blockered down by Cam Ward in a good reactionary save.
5:50 1st: I'm not sure what happened while I was on vacation, but the Canes sure look like they practiced their passing while on the power play. An early Karlis Skrastins tripping penalty was killed off, but not for a lack of effort - the Canes' passing was spot on, with crisp passes all over the place that they just failed to convert a couple of times.
9:55 1st: The shot board says that the teams are even at 6 shots apiece, but the Stars' chances have all been solid scoring opportunities with most of them coming from right in front of Cam Ward that have forced Ward to be on his toes with some great saves so far.
10:40 1st: Stars lead 1-0; Neal 9 (Eriksson, Woywitka) And the Canes finally get burned in their own zone. Loui Eriksson skated behind Ward with little problem and convinced Cam Ward that he was going to wrap the puck around, but he instead fed James Neal at the bottom of the near circle who one-timed the puck over Ward's glove on a shot that looked like it handcuffed Ward a bit. Still, the Canes' defense had no excuse for playing the Stars so passively.
13:40 1st: Could have easily been 2-0 as Eriksson snuck behind the pairing of Jamie McBain and Jay Harrison to get off a surprisingly quick shot that Ward just barely swatted away with his stick.. Not the greatest period for the Canes' defense thus far.
16:15 1st: Looks like the Canes got a stern talking-to at the TV timeout, and it's paid dividends on their first two shifts since. They've been all over the Stars' net with some great scoring chances, including a Brandon Sutter tip chance that just slid by his stick on the near side of Lehtonen.
End 1st: The Canes started with some good pressure late in the period, but when the Stars got the puck back in the Canes' zone the home team still looked rather lost and way too overreliant on Cam Ward. Shots were 12-10 Carolina in the period, but that's misleading when you consider that most of those 10 Stars shots were above-average to great scoring chances.
1:50 2nd: The Canes' power play hasn't struck yet, but it's come close a few times with a great chance a second ago when Lehtonen failed to cover the puck and Jeff Skinner fed Joni Pitkanen for a wide open shot with Lehtonen way out of position...and, of course, Pitkanen shot the puck into the side of the net.
2:46 2nd: Stars lead 2-0; Ott 5 (Benn, Daley) Eleven seconds after the Jeff Woywitka high-sticking penalty was killed off, a broken play resulted in a two-goal lead for the Stars. Jamie Benn stole the puck behind the net and faked Ward out by looking like he was going to skate it around to the far side of the net, but instead he pulled up on a dime and fed Steve Ott at the top of the crease who took advantage of Ward being out of position and doubled the Stars' lead.
4:16 2nd: 3-0 Dallas; Neal 10 (Grossman) A clear from the blue line by James Neal bounced off the boards to Ward's right, and the puck went through three players and right back to Neal who one-timed it home on a shot Ward had no clue was coming. Yet again, the Canes are letting down after a power play, and it looks like they're trying too hard and giving the Stars all sorts of chances to come back the other way.
7:57 2nd: Canes pull to 3-1; Staal 12 (unassisted) If the Canes were going to get back into this game, they were going to have to strike quickly and they did just that. Eric Staal harassed Nicklas Grossman at the Carolina blue line and went off on a breakaway, blasting a wrister past Lehtonen's glove from fifteen feet to put the Canes on the board.
9:45 2nd: James Neal was interfering with Tuomo Ruutu two-thirds of the way down the ice, finally dragging him to the ice and earning himself a hooking penalty, while Ruutu took a diving penalty. Um...if you say so, Brad Meier.
15:41 2nd: Neal nearly had himself a hat trick with a perfect deflection in front of Ward on a Dallas power play, and Ward stopped it but he thought it was past him, looking behind him as the referee's whistle blew.
18:49 2nd: Tuomo Ruutu somehow manages to get a shot off, Bobby Orr-style, while flying through the air after drawing a Skrastins hooking penalty. If he'd have scored there, you'd have seen it on SportsCenter.
End 2nd: The Stars outshot the Canes 13-5 in the period. Yeah, that sounds about right. The Canes will have :49 left on the Skrastins hooking penalty when the third period starts.
3:21 3rd: Stars lead 4-1; Benn 6 (Ribeiro, Morrow) No surprise the Stars made it 4-1 after they killed off the Skrastins penalty. All four of the Stars' goals have been directly after they killed off a penalty, and they are getting some serious pressure early in the five-on-five sequence immediately following a penalty. No question the Canes have been back on their heels a bit, but they've not done a great job of collapsing around Ward when they've needed to.
6:24 3rd: Tim Gleason levels Adam Burish with a hip check in front of the Canes' bench, and the predictable line brawl ensues with Gleason right in the middle of the fracas. In the end, Gleason got four minutes for roughing but Dallas sent three men to the box, handing the Canes their fourth power play of the night.
13:30 3rd: Not much to speak of after the Gleason nonsense was sorted out. TO the Canes' credit, they haven't allowed Dallas many easy looks at Ward following the power play, but it's a bit late for compliments like that when you're already down by three.
16:05 3rd: Story of the night: a great shot from Jamie McBain at the right point ricocheted right to Jeff Skinner in the near circle, and Skinner fanned on a wide open net.
End 3rd: Nothing doing for the Canes late and they fall to the Stars in Raleigh for the first time since 2003. Shots were 11-10 for the Canes in the 3rd period, but the Stars led overall 33-28 in the game.
Postgame: A lot of frustrated faces in the Canes' locker room after the game, including a few players who understandably wanted nothing to do with talking to the media after a night like that. Even the normally mild-mannered Paul Maurice let a four-letter slip during his press conference. It's obvious the Canes didn't have their legs tonight, and it showed from the opening faceoff. Blame it on the schedule if you want, but Dallas was also playing their fourth game in six nights and they showed up. Full marks to them on what was a very frustrating night for the home team.
Click for audio from Tuomo Ruutu and Eric Staal. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes get tomorrow off, and they don't take the ice again (for a game, anyway) until Friday when the Colorado Avalanche come to town. We'll be back then, and hopefully you will as well.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Game 18: Hurricanes 7, Senators 1
By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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There are some nights we have issues coming up with what to write in this space before some games. Tonight isn't one of those nights.
We've already recapped this afternoon's trade that sent Anton Babchuk and Tom Kostopoulos to Calgary for Ian White and Brett Sutter. Neither new Cane will be in tonight's lineup, as Sutter is being sent to Charlotte and White will need to clear immigration before joining the team. He will likely meet his new team on Friday in Pittsburgh.
The Sens enter tonight's game with heavy hearts. Earlier today, the team took part in a memorial service at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa honoring Daron Richardson, the 14-year-old daughter of assistant coach Luke Richardson who died tragically on Sunday. They are in the midst of an four-game road trip, and hadn't planned to return to Ottawa before the end of the trip, but the events of the past week required them to return to the city. They just flew into Raleigh this afternoon, and had no time for a morning skate. Given the circumstances, it's hard to know what to expect from the Sens tonight.
Brett Carson has been recalled from Charlotte (and his recall was our first clue that something might be brewing tonight) to take Babchuk's spot in the lineup and keep the seat warm for White. Patrick O'Sullivan will also see his first game action in three weeks, taking Kostopoulos' place on the fourth line. The Canes' healthy extra will be Troy Bodie, newly acquired from Anaheim, who will play on Friday in Pittsburgh.
It's been a wild day, and we haven't even gotten to the game yet. That will come soon enough...
3:55 1st: The Canes have had the better play early, and it's nearly paid dividends a couple of times. Jussi Jokinen had a five-hole chance on Sens goalie Brian Elliott slide off his stick just before shoveling it in, but as a reward for his effort Jokinen lost an edge and went careening into the end boards to the left of Elliott. Ouch.
4:25 1st: Canes lead 1-0; Gleason 2 (LaRose, Samsonov) And playing the role of the offensive defenseman tonight in lieu of the traded Anton Babchuk? If you had Tim Gleason in the pool, congratulations. Sergei Samsonov sprung Chad LaRose with a perfect pass at the Canes' blue line, and LaRose and Gleason had a perfect 2-on-1 set up as a result. Gleason took a pass with a second to set up, and he didn't miss with a top-shelf wrister over Elliott's glove.
10:15 1st: The Canes have had time lately to practice their power play, and it's showed on the first man advantage of the night. They're doing everything they can to create odd-man advantages down low...
10:41 1st: Canes lead 2-0; Staal 7 (Jokinen, Pitkanen) (pp) ...and another of those odd-man situations caught Elliott cheating and Eric Staal shoveled it home off a Jussi Jokinen pass through the five-hole. It was Staal's second good chance of the power play; a few seconds earlier Jokinen tried to hit him on a long cross-crease pass that was in the neighborhood but got caught in Staal's skates.
12:00 1st: Staal nearly had his second in 70 seconds on a clean breakaway off a shorthanded faceoff. He shot it wide, but credit to Erik Karlsson who played it perfectly and messed Staal up just enough to throw him off without taking a penalty.
12:40 1st: A great shift by Brandon Sutter and Patrick Dwyer nearly gives the Canes a shorthanded goal. They earned a standing ovation for their work, and it was well-deserved; the Sens were completely turned around in their own zone despite having the man advantage.
15:06 1st: Not to find fault in a team that's up by 2 and playing very well tonight, but the Sens' Ryan Shannon absolutely bulldozed Cam Ward with no response from anyone, save some polite shoving by Brett Carson. Not exactly a perfect way to stick up for your goaltender, though Shannon did take a goalie-interference penalty.
16:05 1st: Canes lead 3-0; Staal 8 (Jokinen, Corvo) (pp) Eric Staal potted his second of the night and #201 of his career on another rebound cleanup at the top of the crease. Just like last time, it was set up by Jussi Jokinen, this time on a slap shot from the blue line. Jokinen's had a quietly effective game tonight, so he may be turning the corner after all.
16:25 1st: OK, things got weird all of a sudden. Chris Neil did what he does best, antagonizing the opposition and trying to take some liberties with Jeff Skinner, which prompted Jay Harrison to jump in and earn matching roughing penalties with the Sens' Matt Carkner. So what I said about not sticking up for your guys earlier? Retract it a little bit.
16:46 1st: 4-0 lead for Carolina; LaRose 5 (Gleason, Staal) With the sides even at 4, Chad LaRose scored on a similar play to Staal's second goal, shoveling the puck in past Elliott's outstretched stick to bring a quick end to Elliott's night.
End 1st: It's painfully obvious that the Sens are, understandably, not at all engaged in this game. It's almost tough to enjoy the fact that the Canes are up 4-0 and outshooting the Sens 16-5 given the circumstances. Milan Michalek took his frustrations out on LaRose as the period ended, earning a four-minute roughing penalty to offset LaRose's two and give the Canes a power play on fresh ice to start the second period.
1:35 2nd: A dumb penalty by Eric Staal, for boarding Daniel Alfredsson deep in the Canes' zone while the Canes attempted a breakout, was matched by a dumber penalty to the Sens' Jesse Winchester, who stood up to Staal and dropped the gloves to get a piece of the Canes' captain, earning a roughing penalty in the process.
6:30 2nd: And that's the Joni Pitkanen that scares everyone at the RBC. A no-look backhand pass from just outside the crease ends up right in the breadbasket of Chris Campoli, who was the most unfortunate man in the building when a sure goal jumped over his stick.
14:50 2nd: Not nearly the shell-shocked Sens that we saw in the first period, and they're starting to skate better than they have all night. No surprise that it took them this long to get their legs under them.
15:55 2nd: Staal has had two separate shorthanded breakaways tonight and hasn't converted either one. He could easily have a hat trick...or one more.
End 2nd: The Canes had a 2-on-1 with a few seconds left in the period, but Pascal Leclaire kicked out Jussi Jokinen's bid for a five-goal lead with two seconds to go. Shots were 8-6 Sens in the period, indicative of how they played late in the period as the Canes retreated to a defensive shell.
1:26 3rd: Canes lead 5-0, free queso for all! LaRose 6 (McBain, Staal) A few seconds after a section to my left started a "We Want Queso" chant, Chad LaRose delivered the goods on his second of the night. Every goal the Canes have scored tonight, except the Gleason game-opener, has been a rebound that wasn't covered, and it's good to see the Canes getting in position to take advantage of the Sens' goalies' inability to cover the puck.
9:00 3rd: Their fourth good shorthanded chance of the night, Brandon Sutter hit the post on the short side of Leclaire. The chances the Canes have had while down a man have been incredible.
9:31 3rd: Sens on the board, down 5-1; Alfredsson 8 (Gonchar, Kuba) (pp) A few seconds later, a Jason Spezza screen in front of Cam Ward gave Daniel Alfredsson plenty of cover to roof a top-shelf shot over Ward's glove hand. Beautifully placed shot, and the Sens deserved one; they've controlled play for the last 15-20 minutes of game time.
13:44 3rd: Canes up 6-1 on a Staal hat trick; Staal 9 (Samsonov, LaRose) Any doubt this was coming? LaRose made a great pass to Samsonov to spring Samsonov and Staal on a 2-on-1, and Samsonov fired a perfect pass that Staal one-timed past a helpless Leclaire to put the Canes back up by five.
15:54 3rd: To no one's surprise, it's 7-1: Ruutu 4 (Cole) Another laser one-timer puts the Canes up by six, and this time it's Tuomo Ruutu doing the honors. Ruutu was left unchecked at the top of the slot and after a turnover behind the net that Erik Cole collected, he found Ruutu all alone for a rocket of a shot high to Leclaire's glove side.
End 3rd: No more scoring, and no doubt the closing horn couldn't come soon enough for the Sens, not even considering the final score. Shots in the third were 11-6 Sens, who trailed 28-24 overall.
Postgame: Honestly, the story tonight wasn't the Canes' beatdown of the Sens. It was the fact that the Sens even showed up mentally for any of the game, never mind carrying play from the end of the second through about 12:00 of the third.
In talking to longtime Ottawa Sun writer Bruce Garrioch in the press room after the game, the pain of the day was evident in him describing the day as "terrible. Just terrible." The memorial service at Scotiabank Place went for two hours, with friends of Daron Richardson taking the podium one after the other, and after that they have to board a plane and fly three hours south to play a hockey game? That's unconscionable.
It's to the eternal credit of Cory Clouston and the Sens' staff that they were able to get it together to play at all, never mind play well. The final score notwithstanding, the Sens deserve all sorts of credit for playing under absolutely impossible circumstances. Their road trip ends, mercifully, in St. Louis on Friday night.
Click for locker room audio from Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Chad LaRose. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes head to Pittsburgh, where they'll meet some new faces, on Friday night, then they're back at the RBC for a cross-conference showdown with Nashville on Saturday. However, we're going on vacation here at Puck Drops HQ for a week or so, meaning we won't be back at the RBC for another game until November 29 when the Dallas Stars come to town. Here's wishing you a happy Thanksgiving (a few days early, of course) and we'll be back in a little over a week.
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There are some nights we have issues coming up with what to write in this space before some games. Tonight isn't one of those nights.
We've already recapped this afternoon's trade that sent Anton Babchuk and Tom Kostopoulos to Calgary for Ian White and Brett Sutter. Neither new Cane will be in tonight's lineup, as Sutter is being sent to Charlotte and White will need to clear immigration before joining the team. He will likely meet his new team on Friday in Pittsburgh.
The Sens enter tonight's game with heavy hearts. Earlier today, the team took part in a memorial service at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa honoring Daron Richardson, the 14-year-old daughter of assistant coach Luke Richardson who died tragically on Sunday. They are in the midst of an four-game road trip, and hadn't planned to return to Ottawa before the end of the trip, but the events of the past week required them to return to the city. They just flew into Raleigh this afternoon, and had no time for a morning skate. Given the circumstances, it's hard to know what to expect from the Sens tonight.
Brett Carson has been recalled from Charlotte (and his recall was our first clue that something might be brewing tonight) to take Babchuk's spot in the lineup and keep the seat warm for White. Patrick O'Sullivan will also see his first game action in three weeks, taking Kostopoulos' place on the fourth line. The Canes' healthy extra will be Troy Bodie, newly acquired from Anaheim, who will play on Friday in Pittsburgh.
It's been a wild day, and we haven't even gotten to the game yet. That will come soon enough...
3:55 1st: The Canes have had the better play early, and it's nearly paid dividends a couple of times. Jussi Jokinen had a five-hole chance on Sens goalie Brian Elliott slide off his stick just before shoveling it in, but as a reward for his effort Jokinen lost an edge and went careening into the end boards to the left of Elliott. Ouch.
4:25 1st: Canes lead 1-0; Gleason 2 (LaRose, Samsonov) And playing the role of the offensive defenseman tonight in lieu of the traded Anton Babchuk? If you had Tim Gleason in the pool, congratulations. Sergei Samsonov sprung Chad LaRose with a perfect pass at the Canes' blue line, and LaRose and Gleason had a perfect 2-on-1 set up as a result. Gleason took a pass with a second to set up, and he didn't miss with a top-shelf wrister over Elliott's glove.
10:15 1st: The Canes have had time lately to practice their power play, and it's showed on the first man advantage of the night. They're doing everything they can to create odd-man advantages down low...
10:41 1st: Canes lead 2-0; Staal 7 (Jokinen, Pitkanen) (pp) ...and another of those odd-man situations caught Elliott cheating and Eric Staal shoveled it home off a Jussi Jokinen pass through the five-hole. It was Staal's second good chance of the power play; a few seconds earlier Jokinen tried to hit him on a long cross-crease pass that was in the neighborhood but got caught in Staal's skates.
12:00 1st: Staal nearly had his second in 70 seconds on a clean breakaway off a shorthanded faceoff. He shot it wide, but credit to Erik Karlsson who played it perfectly and messed Staal up just enough to throw him off without taking a penalty.
12:40 1st: A great shift by Brandon Sutter and Patrick Dwyer nearly gives the Canes a shorthanded goal. They earned a standing ovation for their work, and it was well-deserved; the Sens were completely turned around in their own zone despite having the man advantage.
15:06 1st: Not to find fault in a team that's up by 2 and playing very well tonight, but the Sens' Ryan Shannon absolutely bulldozed Cam Ward with no response from anyone, save some polite shoving by Brett Carson. Not exactly a perfect way to stick up for your goaltender, though Shannon did take a goalie-interference penalty.
16:05 1st: Canes lead 3-0; Staal 8 (Jokinen, Corvo) (pp) Eric Staal potted his second of the night and #201 of his career on another rebound cleanup at the top of the crease. Just like last time, it was set up by Jussi Jokinen, this time on a slap shot from the blue line. Jokinen's had a quietly effective game tonight, so he may be turning the corner after all.
16:25 1st: OK, things got weird all of a sudden. Chris Neil did what he does best, antagonizing the opposition and trying to take some liberties with Jeff Skinner, which prompted Jay Harrison to jump in and earn matching roughing penalties with the Sens' Matt Carkner. So what I said about not sticking up for your guys earlier? Retract it a little bit.
16:46 1st: 4-0 lead for Carolina; LaRose 5 (Gleason, Staal) With the sides even at 4, Chad LaRose scored on a similar play to Staal's second goal, shoveling the puck in past Elliott's outstretched stick to bring a quick end to Elliott's night.
End 1st: It's painfully obvious that the Sens are, understandably, not at all engaged in this game. It's almost tough to enjoy the fact that the Canes are up 4-0 and outshooting the Sens 16-5 given the circumstances. Milan Michalek took his frustrations out on LaRose as the period ended, earning a four-minute roughing penalty to offset LaRose's two and give the Canes a power play on fresh ice to start the second period.
1:35 2nd: A dumb penalty by Eric Staal, for boarding Daniel Alfredsson deep in the Canes' zone while the Canes attempted a breakout, was matched by a dumber penalty to the Sens' Jesse Winchester, who stood up to Staal and dropped the gloves to get a piece of the Canes' captain, earning a roughing penalty in the process.
6:30 2nd: And that's the Joni Pitkanen that scares everyone at the RBC. A no-look backhand pass from just outside the crease ends up right in the breadbasket of Chris Campoli, who was the most unfortunate man in the building when a sure goal jumped over his stick.
14:50 2nd: Not nearly the shell-shocked Sens that we saw in the first period, and they're starting to skate better than they have all night. No surprise that it took them this long to get their legs under them.
15:55 2nd: Staal has had two separate shorthanded breakaways tonight and hasn't converted either one. He could easily have a hat trick...or one more.
End 2nd: The Canes had a 2-on-1 with a few seconds left in the period, but Pascal Leclaire kicked out Jussi Jokinen's bid for a five-goal lead with two seconds to go. Shots were 8-6 Sens in the period, indicative of how they played late in the period as the Canes retreated to a defensive shell.
1:26 3rd: Canes lead 5-0, free queso for all! LaRose 6 (McBain, Staal) A few seconds after a section to my left started a "We Want Queso" chant, Chad LaRose delivered the goods on his second of the night. Every goal the Canes have scored tonight, except the Gleason game-opener, has been a rebound that wasn't covered, and it's good to see the Canes getting in position to take advantage of the Sens' goalies' inability to cover the puck.
9:00 3rd: Their fourth good shorthanded chance of the night, Brandon Sutter hit the post on the short side of Leclaire. The chances the Canes have had while down a man have been incredible.
9:31 3rd: Sens on the board, down 5-1; Alfredsson 8 (Gonchar, Kuba) (pp) A few seconds later, a Jason Spezza screen in front of Cam Ward gave Daniel Alfredsson plenty of cover to roof a top-shelf shot over Ward's glove hand. Beautifully placed shot, and the Sens deserved one; they've controlled play for the last 15-20 minutes of game time.
13:44 3rd: Canes up 6-1 on a Staal hat trick; Staal 9 (Samsonov, LaRose) Any doubt this was coming? LaRose made a great pass to Samsonov to spring Samsonov and Staal on a 2-on-1, and Samsonov fired a perfect pass that Staal one-timed past a helpless Leclaire to put the Canes back up by five.
15:54 3rd: To no one's surprise, it's 7-1: Ruutu 4 (Cole) Another laser one-timer puts the Canes up by six, and this time it's Tuomo Ruutu doing the honors. Ruutu was left unchecked at the top of the slot and after a turnover behind the net that Erik Cole collected, he found Ruutu all alone for a rocket of a shot high to Leclaire's glove side.
End 3rd: No more scoring, and no doubt the closing horn couldn't come soon enough for the Sens, not even considering the final score. Shots in the third were 11-6 Sens, who trailed 28-24 overall.
Postgame: Honestly, the story tonight wasn't the Canes' beatdown of the Sens. It was the fact that the Sens even showed up mentally for any of the game, never mind carrying play from the end of the second through about 12:00 of the third.
In talking to longtime Ottawa Sun writer Bruce Garrioch in the press room after the game, the pain of the day was evident in him describing the day as "terrible. Just terrible." The memorial service at Scotiabank Place went for two hours, with friends of Daron Richardson taking the podium one after the other, and after that they have to board a plane and fly three hours south to play a hockey game? That's unconscionable.
It's to the eternal credit of Cory Clouston and the Sens' staff that they were able to get it together to play at all, never mind play well. The final score notwithstanding, the Sens deserve all sorts of credit for playing under absolutely impossible circumstances. Their road trip ends, mercifully, in St. Louis on Friday night.
Click for locker room audio from Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Chad LaRose. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes head to Pittsburgh, where they'll meet some new faces, on Friday night, then they're back at the RBC for a cross-conference showdown with Nashville on Saturday. However, we're going on vacation here at Puck Drops HQ for a week or so, meaning we won't be back at the RBC for another game until November 29 when the Dallas Stars come to town. Here's wishing you a happy Thanksgiving (a few days early, of course) and we'll be back in a little over a week.
Canes acquire Ian White and Brett Sutter for Tom Kostopoulos and Anton Babchuk
By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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Suffice it to say that the Hurricanes' recent performance did not go unnoticed on the fourth floor of the RBC Center.
In a deal designed to spark two struggling teams, the Canes and Calgary Flames completed a deal late Wednesday that sent Tom Kostopoulos and Anton Babchuk to the Flames. In return, the Canes receive defenseman Ian White and forward Brett Sutter, a cousin of the Hurricanes' Brandon and the son of Flames GM Darryl Sutter.
At a hastily-arranged press conference just before the Canes' game against the Ottawa Senators, general manager Jim Rutherford said that this deal had been in the works for a few weeks, and the recent legal troubles surrounding Brett Sutter as a result of an incident outside an Arizona bar a week ago did not factor into the trade one way or the other. White, who played under Canes coach Paul Maurice in Toronto for two seasons, was a player the Canes have had their eyes on for a while, and Rutherford said that the move to acquire him probably would have occurred regardless of the team's recent problems.
But when asked if the last two games have factored into the decision to pull the trigger now, Rutherford was curt: "Darned right." White, a clear upgrade over Babchuk, will immediately see top-four minutes, likely playing over 22 minutes per night including some power play time. He is signed through the end of this season at $3 million, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Sutter has a two-way deal, and will be assigned to Charlotte to finish a conditioning stint begun on Sunday. He will likely remain in Charlotte for the rest of the season, but will need to clear waivers to be permanently assigned to the Checkers.
Much more on this later...we're half an hour from puck drop at the RBC Center now.
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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Suffice it to say that the Hurricanes' recent performance did not go unnoticed on the fourth floor of the RBC Center.
In a deal designed to spark two struggling teams, the Canes and Calgary Flames completed a deal late Wednesday that sent Tom Kostopoulos and Anton Babchuk to the Flames. In return, the Canes receive defenseman Ian White and forward Brett Sutter, a cousin of the Hurricanes' Brandon and the son of Flames GM Darryl Sutter.
At a hastily-arranged press conference just before the Canes' game against the Ottawa Senators, general manager Jim Rutherford said that this deal had been in the works for a few weeks, and the recent legal troubles surrounding Brett Sutter as a result of an incident outside an Arizona bar a week ago did not factor into the trade one way or the other. White, who played under Canes coach Paul Maurice in Toronto for two seasons, was a player the Canes have had their eyes on for a while, and Rutherford said that the move to acquire him probably would have occurred regardless of the team's recent problems.
But when asked if the last two games have factored into the decision to pull the trigger now, Rutherford was curt: "Darned right." White, a clear upgrade over Babchuk, will immediately see top-four minutes, likely playing over 22 minutes per night including some power play time. He is signed through the end of this season at $3 million, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Sutter has a two-way deal, and will be assigned to Charlotte to finish a conditioning stint begun on Sunday. He will likely remain in Charlotte for the rest of the season, but will need to clear waivers to be permanently assigned to the Checkers.
Much more on this later...we're half an hour from puck drop at the RBC Center now.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Game 16: Flyers 8, Hurricanes 1
By Brian LeBlanc
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In the past couple of seasons, the calling card when the Philadelphia Flyers have come to Raleigh has been the return of the only coach to lead the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup, Peter Laviolette. That subplot still exists tonight, but there's some more intrigue in tonight's game than just a rematch between the benches.
The Flyers, after surprising just about everyone with an Eastern Conference title last season, enter tonight's game atop the Atlantic Division and second in the conference with 20 points, largely on the back of their heretofore unknown goaltender, 20-year-old Russian phenomenon Sergei Bobrovsky. As they have for most seasons since the retirement of Ron Hextall, the Flyers entered this season with questions in goal, but Bobrovsky has largely answered those questions and the Flyers look primed to contend again for the Stanley Cup.
There's no change to the Canes lineup that dropped seven on Edmonton two nights ago, but the Canes face a much stiffer test tonight as they try to sweep their homestand. A win tonight could result in the Canes holding second place in the division when the night ends, depending on the outcome of the Tampa/Washington game. Here we go...
5:40 1st: Scott Hartnell sure thought he gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Joe Corvo disagreed, complaining to referee Rob Martell that the puck was kicked in. Martell didn't agree at first, but video review vindicated Corvo and the game remained scoreless. A bad break for the Flyers, who had a beautiful 3-on-2 rush capped off by a Ville Leino spinning centering pass to Hartnell, who tried to hit it with his stick but kicked it instead, resulting in no goal and a scoreless game.
6:20 1st: Not a minute later, a 2-on-1 shot from Claude Giroux beat Ward but went cleanly off the far post. Two huge breaks for the Canes, who could easily be down by two but still keep it scoreless.
7:54 1st: Flyers lead 1-0; Briere 7 (Leino, Hartnell) And the Canes' clock finally strikes midnight. Leino took full advantage of a sub-par play by both Carolina defensemen, as he circled around behind the net to skate away from Jay Harrison then found Briere uncovered at the top of the crease when Anton Babchuk completely lost his man. Nice play by Leino, but the Canes could have emerged from that play unscathed with a bit more honest defensive play.
14:47 1st: On a 2-on-1 created because Jeff Skinner set an inadvertent pick trying to get off the ice, Danny Briere nearly had his second of the night but his shot over Ward's pads bounced off the crossbar. The posts now have two on the night, and it could be way worse than a one-goal deficit for the Canes.
18:42 1st: Flyers take a 2-0 lead; Carter 6 (Pronger, Timonen) (pp) And an assist to Erik Cole, who took a dumb unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty ten seconds before the goal when he went overboard in reacting to a perceived slight from Nikolay Zherdev along the far boards. The Flyers power play moved the puck in a way that called to mind the '06 Canes (hmmm...) and Jeff Carter was the beneficiary of a point shot from Chris Pronger that Ward couldn't cover. Carter shoveled home the rebound to double the Flyers' lead.
End 1st: The Flyers' 9-8 shot advantage is a bit misleading, because every time the Flyers had the puck in the Carolina zone they seemingly created a scoring chance. The Canes have to tighten up in a hurry, something Paul Maurice knows well. He looked rather displeased heading to the locker room.
1:54 2nd: Flyers go up 3-0; Meszaros 1 (Carter, Giroux) All of the Flyers goals tonight could have been prevented by even passable defensive play. Instead, this time an inability to clear led to the Flyers taking a three-goal lead. Jeff Carter skated around behind the net (again) and caught Ward cheating off the near post, but Carter drew Ward down with a fake and after pinballing around the slot for a second or two, it came to Andrej Meszaros who blasted it home from 40 feet.
2:14 2nd: To no one's surprise, Tom Kostopoulos felt the need to drop the gloves with the Flyers' resident pest, Daniel Carcillo. Score it a win for Carcillo, who took Kostopoulos down to the ice with a couple of overhand rights.
5:58 2nd: 4-0 lead for the Flyers; Carter 7 (Briere) (pp) Justin Peters, come on down. Cam Ward's night is over through no fault of his own. This time, it's the inexcusable sin of giving up a 2-on-1 while killing a penalty, and Jeff Carter pots it for his second of the night. That's four goals on 13 shots for Ward, and only one of them was anything near his fault.
7:29 2nd: Chad LaRose is robbed by Bobrovsky with a spectacular flopping save on a five-foot shot that LaRose got all of. Canes can't buy a break.
12:30 2nd: Some loud "Let's go Flyers" cheers coming from the cheap seats. Only surprise is that they took this long to get going.
14:50 2nd: Tom Kostopoulos has been about the only Cane doing anything noteworthy tonight. This time, it wasn't with his fists, but with his hands...a pair of great shots from about six feet, but neither made it through to Bobrovsky thanks to some great blocks by Kimmo Timonen.
End 2nd: The Canes will begin the 3rd with :22 remaining on a Darroll Powe charging penalty, but honestly it might not matter at this point. Shots in the second period, inexplicably, were 14-6 Carolina, who took a 22-15 lead overall, but I have to wonder exactly where those 22 shots came from. I honestly have no idea.
5:20 3rd: There's your night in a nutshell. Eric Staal had the puck on a 1-on-2 rush, danced around Sean O'Donnell to get a clear shot on Bobrovsky, and...passed it to a wing where no one was within twenty feet of the puck.
End 3rd: The blog software ate my last few posts, but it wouldn't have mattered. Final score is 8-1, with Chad LaRose breaking the shutout at 8:44 and more defensive miscues plaguing the Canes. The night was punctuated by a Nikolay Zherdev breakaway goal with 1:50 remaining.
Postgame: The less said about this one, the better. Credit to the guys who stayed out to talk to the media, because no one wants that duty on a night like this. The Canes now hit the road to Montreal, which has been a good place to them over the years, so we'll see if they can bounce back on Saturday night.
Click for locker room audio from Tom Kostopoulos, Justin Peters and Eric Staal. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
We're back when the Canes return from their one-game road trip Wednesday night, as they welcome the Ottawa Senators to town.
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In the past couple of seasons, the calling card when the Philadelphia Flyers have come to Raleigh has been the return of the only coach to lead the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup, Peter Laviolette. That subplot still exists tonight, but there's some more intrigue in tonight's game than just a rematch between the benches.
The Flyers, after surprising just about everyone with an Eastern Conference title last season, enter tonight's game atop the Atlantic Division and second in the conference with 20 points, largely on the back of their heretofore unknown goaltender, 20-year-old Russian phenomenon Sergei Bobrovsky. As they have for most seasons since the retirement of Ron Hextall, the Flyers entered this season with questions in goal, but Bobrovsky has largely answered those questions and the Flyers look primed to contend again for the Stanley Cup.
There's no change to the Canes lineup that dropped seven on Edmonton two nights ago, but the Canes face a much stiffer test tonight as they try to sweep their homestand. A win tonight could result in the Canes holding second place in the division when the night ends, depending on the outcome of the Tampa/Washington game. Here we go...
5:40 1st: Scott Hartnell sure thought he gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Joe Corvo disagreed, complaining to referee Rob Martell that the puck was kicked in. Martell didn't agree at first, but video review vindicated Corvo and the game remained scoreless. A bad break for the Flyers, who had a beautiful 3-on-2 rush capped off by a Ville Leino spinning centering pass to Hartnell, who tried to hit it with his stick but kicked it instead, resulting in no goal and a scoreless game.
6:20 1st: Not a minute later, a 2-on-1 shot from Claude Giroux beat Ward but went cleanly off the far post. Two huge breaks for the Canes, who could easily be down by two but still keep it scoreless.
7:54 1st: Flyers lead 1-0; Briere 7 (Leino, Hartnell) And the Canes' clock finally strikes midnight. Leino took full advantage of a sub-par play by both Carolina defensemen, as he circled around behind the net to skate away from Jay Harrison then found Briere uncovered at the top of the crease when Anton Babchuk completely lost his man. Nice play by Leino, but the Canes could have emerged from that play unscathed with a bit more honest defensive play.
14:47 1st: On a 2-on-1 created because Jeff Skinner set an inadvertent pick trying to get off the ice, Danny Briere nearly had his second of the night but his shot over Ward's pads bounced off the crossbar. The posts now have two on the night, and it could be way worse than a one-goal deficit for the Canes.
18:42 1st: Flyers take a 2-0 lead; Carter 6 (Pronger, Timonen) (pp) And an assist to Erik Cole, who took a dumb unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty ten seconds before the goal when he went overboard in reacting to a perceived slight from Nikolay Zherdev along the far boards. The Flyers power play moved the puck in a way that called to mind the '06 Canes (hmmm...) and Jeff Carter was the beneficiary of a point shot from Chris Pronger that Ward couldn't cover. Carter shoveled home the rebound to double the Flyers' lead.
End 1st: The Flyers' 9-8 shot advantage is a bit misleading, because every time the Flyers had the puck in the Carolina zone they seemingly created a scoring chance. The Canes have to tighten up in a hurry, something Paul Maurice knows well. He looked rather displeased heading to the locker room.
1:54 2nd: Flyers go up 3-0; Meszaros 1 (Carter, Giroux) All of the Flyers goals tonight could have been prevented by even passable defensive play. Instead, this time an inability to clear led to the Flyers taking a three-goal lead. Jeff Carter skated around behind the net (again) and caught Ward cheating off the near post, but Carter drew Ward down with a fake and after pinballing around the slot for a second or two, it came to Andrej Meszaros who blasted it home from 40 feet.
2:14 2nd: To no one's surprise, Tom Kostopoulos felt the need to drop the gloves with the Flyers' resident pest, Daniel Carcillo. Score it a win for Carcillo, who took Kostopoulos down to the ice with a couple of overhand rights.
5:58 2nd: 4-0 lead for the Flyers; Carter 7 (Briere) (pp) Justin Peters, come on down. Cam Ward's night is over through no fault of his own. This time, it's the inexcusable sin of giving up a 2-on-1 while killing a penalty, and Jeff Carter pots it for his second of the night. That's four goals on 13 shots for Ward, and only one of them was anything near his fault.
7:29 2nd: Chad LaRose is robbed by Bobrovsky with a spectacular flopping save on a five-foot shot that LaRose got all of. Canes can't buy a break.
12:30 2nd: Some loud "Let's go Flyers" cheers coming from the cheap seats. Only surprise is that they took this long to get going.
14:50 2nd: Tom Kostopoulos has been about the only Cane doing anything noteworthy tonight. This time, it wasn't with his fists, but with his hands...a pair of great shots from about six feet, but neither made it through to Bobrovsky thanks to some great blocks by Kimmo Timonen.
End 2nd: The Canes will begin the 3rd with :22 remaining on a Darroll Powe charging penalty, but honestly it might not matter at this point. Shots in the second period, inexplicably, were 14-6 Carolina, who took a 22-15 lead overall, but I have to wonder exactly where those 22 shots came from. I honestly have no idea.
5:20 3rd: There's your night in a nutshell. Eric Staal had the puck on a 1-on-2 rush, danced around Sean O'Donnell to get a clear shot on Bobrovsky, and...passed it to a wing where no one was within twenty feet of the puck.
End 3rd: The blog software ate my last few posts, but it wouldn't have mattered. Final score is 8-1, with Chad LaRose breaking the shutout at 8:44 and more defensive miscues plaguing the Canes. The night was punctuated by a Nikolay Zherdev breakaway goal with 1:50 remaining.
Postgame: The less said about this one, the better. Credit to the guys who stayed out to talk to the media, because no one wants that duty on a night like this. The Canes now hit the road to Montreal, which has been a good place to them over the years, so we'll see if they can bounce back on Saturday night.
Click for locker room audio from Tom Kostopoulos, Justin Peters and Eric Staal. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
We're back when the Canes return from their one-game road trip Wednesday night, as they welcome the Ottawa Senators to town.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Game 15: Hurricanes 7, Oilers 1
By Brian LeBlanc
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In an indictment of how ridiculous the start to this season has been, it's November 9th and tonight is the first time all year the Hurricanes have played two straight games on their home ice. And following Saturday's victory over Florida, the Canes have a chance to get a three-game home winning streak going tonight for the first time this season.
The Edmonton Oilers, who faced the Canes in the 2006 Stanley Cup final, are in town tonight for their only visit to Raleigh, but the team we'll see tonight bears little resemblance to the one that took the Canes to seven games in 2006. Gone are the likes of Chris Pronger, Ryan Smyth and Fernando Pisani; in their place come Magnus Paajarvi, Jordan Eberle and the first overall pick in this past June's draft, 18-year-old Taylor Hall. More to the point, the Canes have four former Oilers on their roster, including one (Sergei Samsonov) who played for Edmonton against Carolina in 2006.
The only change of note tonight for the Canes is the re-introduction of Joni Pitkanen (a former Oiler, naturally) back to the lineup tonight. Brett Carson has been sent to Charlotte to make room for Pitkanen. Former Oiler Patrick O'Sullivan will be a healthy scratch tonight, as he has been for the past five games. The Oilers will counter with some guys you've probably never heard of, although you'll recognize Ales Hemsky and...um...well, you'll recognize Ales Hemsky from '06. It's up to you to find a program to identify the other guys.
We're ready to roll...
:26 1st: Canes on the board early for a 1-0 lead; Dwyer 4 (Sutter, Tlusty) It took a little longer than the Canes would have liked. Not the goal, but the review of said goal. Brandon Sutter came flying up the ice and through the near faceoff circle, where he unloaded a backhander that Nikolai Khabibulin kicked out without much of a problem. Unfortunately for Edmonton, the puck bounced right to Patrick Dwyer, who ricocheted the puck off his skate and into the net. The goal was reviewed and upheld, since Dwyer didn't make a kicking motion toward the net.
1:15 1st: Canes make it 2-0; Cole 4 (Skinner, Staal) (pp) Might be one of the nights where I can't type fast enough to keep up. After Dustin Penner took a tripping penalty at :57, the Canes took only 18 seconds to double their lead. Good movement between the points by Tuomo Ruutu and Eric Staal set Jeff Skinner up with an open lane at the top of the far circle, and Cole redirected Skinner's shot just enough to beat Khabibulin on the short side.
4:10 1st: Good lord. 3-0 Canes; Corvo 3 (Skinner, Staal) (pp) A few seconds before this goal, the Canes tried a set play where Corvo snuck down from the point and one-timed a cross-crease pass from Skinner that was snuffed out on a great save by Khabibulin. So why not try the same thing ten seconds later? The Oilers called timeout after the goal, and rightfully so...it's quickly turning into one of those nights, as the Canes had 3 goals on 5 shots.
7:19 1st: 4-0 for the home team. LaRose 3 (Staal, Pitkanen) Looks like I might just be writing about goals tonight. A 4-on-2 break for the Canes off a faceoff to Cam Ward's left thanks to shoddy defending by the Oilers (what else is new tonight) ended in a tic-tac-toe passing play from Staal to Joni Pitkanen and finally to LaRose, who slammed it home from ten feet to make it a four-toal lead.
10:19 1st: An entry about something other than a goal. A little unusual, but hey...gotta shake things up sometimes. Anyway, considering Nikolai Khabibulin's night ended 7-plus minutes into the game, you're probably wondering what his stats were. We aim to please: how about a save percentage of .500 and a 32.80 goals-against average. Yeah, you read that correctly.
14:30 1st: The first good cycling shift of the night for the Oilers actually saw them catch up to the Canes' eight shots with an equal number of their own. Give Ward credit...he hasn't seen much action, but when he's been called upon he's been sharp.
End 1st: Things calmed down significantly once the Oilers changed goaltenders, and you'd have to think Paul Maurice will tell the Canes not to get complacent even though they have this game well in hand twenty minutes in. Shots ended 12-9 for the Canes in the period.
2:27 2nd: A little strange to see the rough stuff start so late after the Canes took a four-goal lead, but Steve MacIntyre was just sent off for roughing after a play deep in the Carolina zone. Better late than never for some toughness to show up, I guess.
4:30 2nd: The Canes fail to convert on a 5-on-3 after Tom Gilbert was sent off for delay of game, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Dubnyk robbed Skinner with a beauty of a glove save just as MacIntyre was leaving the box...
4:49 2nd: Canes up 5-0; Corvo 4 (Jokinen, Sutter) (pp) ...and the Canes capitalize on the back end penalty with a rifle shot by Joe Corvo. Seems like they've been practicing these cross-ice plays to hit the trailer sneaking down the weak side, and Corvo's cashed in twice on them.
6:48 2nd: If you had Tom Kostopoulos in your penalty-shot pool tonight, congratulations. The Canes tough guy earns the penalty shot after being hauled down on a contested play at the top of the Oilers' slot. An iffy call, but the way this game has gone, why wouldn't a fourth-liner earn a penalty shot?
13:40 2nd: Tim Gleason took a puck to the face, checked with his glove that he still had all his teeth...then he picked up his stick and kept playing. Yeah, he's a bit of a tough customer.
16:35 2nd: Oilers' night in a nutshell: Ales Hemsky gets the puck five feet from the net, no one near him, plenty of net to shot at...and he passes. And to make matters worse, the puck jumps off the stick of its intended recipient and the Canes clear.
End 2nd: The Oilers finally got some serious pressure on Ward late in the period, including an open-net whiff courtesy of Andrew Cogliano, but they're still staring at a goose egg on the scoreboard. Honestly, I haven't even noticed Taylor Hall tonight, while Jeff Skinner keeps plodding along with two more points. Shots in the 2nd were even more lopsided than the first: 14-7 Canes for a 26-16 lead overall.
1:06 3rd: Home team goes up 6-0; Samsonov 4 (Staal, Pitkanen) Not much to say here: Staal takes a shot that Dubnyk kicks out, Samsonov gets the puck on his backhand, fires home a backhand shot that surprises Dubnyk. The Canes have scored in the first five minutes of every period tonight.
5:21 3rd: Oilers get on the board! Penner 5 (Foster, Whitney) At some point, Cam Ward was allowed to make a mistake, and he finally made one after shutting out the Oilers for over 45 minutes. A point shot from Kurtis Foster was mostly handled by Ward, but the puck trickled to a stop right on the goal line and Dustin Penner pool-cued it into the net to put the Oilers on the board.
7:48 3rd: The extra point is good. Skinner 6 (Ruutu) And just like that, we're back to a six-goal game. Jeff Skinner adds to his great night (in which he's severely outplayed the player who went six slots higher in the draft, Taylor Hall) by redirecting a shot from Tuomo Ruutu in a similar play to the Cole goal from the first period.
10:30 3rd: In case you're wondering, Taylor Hall hasn't taken a shift since there were four minutes left in the second period. That's nearly 15 minutes on the bench. Safe to say Tom Renney isn't real pleased with his play tonight?
14:00 3rd: Eighteen minutes later, Hall finally sees the ice again.
16:04 3rd: Theo Peckham does what some in the press box thought should have been done long before: throw his weight around and pester the Canes physically. Eric Staal was on the receiving end of Peckham's chirping, and Peckham received a roughing penalty plus a misconduct for his trouble.
End 3rd: Nothing doing on the Canes' power play, but it didn't matter by then; the fourth line was getting extensive time with the man advantage, for goodness' sake. Shots in the third period were 16-6 Canes, who led 42-22 (!) overall.
Postgame: Can't say much more than this: that was a complete game all around for the Canes, and the Oilers looked nothing like the team that went into Chicago two nights before and beat the defending Stanley Cup champs. Jeff Skinner has really found a home with Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole, and it's obvious in talking to him that he has plenty of chemistry and confidence with the two longtime Canes. Paul Maurice certainly thinks so; Skinner played only 12:46 but it seemed like he was out there for twice that. As for Taylor Hall? 8:47 of ice time, and just :54 in the third period.
Click for audio from Skinner and Eric Staal. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
Back at it Thursday night when Peter Laviolette and the Flyers come to town...
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In an indictment of how ridiculous the start to this season has been, it's November 9th and tonight is the first time all year the Hurricanes have played two straight games on their home ice. And following Saturday's victory over Florida, the Canes have a chance to get a three-game home winning streak going tonight for the first time this season.
The Edmonton Oilers, who faced the Canes in the 2006 Stanley Cup final, are in town tonight for their only visit to Raleigh, but the team we'll see tonight bears little resemblance to the one that took the Canes to seven games in 2006. Gone are the likes of Chris Pronger, Ryan Smyth and Fernando Pisani; in their place come Magnus Paajarvi, Jordan Eberle and the first overall pick in this past June's draft, 18-year-old Taylor Hall. More to the point, the Canes have four former Oilers on their roster, including one (Sergei Samsonov) who played for Edmonton against Carolina in 2006.
The only change of note tonight for the Canes is the re-introduction of Joni Pitkanen (a former Oiler, naturally) back to the lineup tonight. Brett Carson has been sent to Charlotte to make room for Pitkanen. Former Oiler Patrick O'Sullivan will be a healthy scratch tonight, as he has been for the past five games. The Oilers will counter with some guys you've probably never heard of, although you'll recognize Ales Hemsky and...um...well, you'll recognize Ales Hemsky from '06. It's up to you to find a program to identify the other guys.
We're ready to roll...
:26 1st: Canes on the board early for a 1-0 lead; Dwyer 4 (Sutter, Tlusty) It took a little longer than the Canes would have liked. Not the goal, but the review of said goal. Brandon Sutter came flying up the ice and through the near faceoff circle, where he unloaded a backhander that Nikolai Khabibulin kicked out without much of a problem. Unfortunately for Edmonton, the puck bounced right to Patrick Dwyer, who ricocheted the puck off his skate and into the net. The goal was reviewed and upheld, since Dwyer didn't make a kicking motion toward the net.
1:15 1st: Canes make it 2-0; Cole 4 (Skinner, Staal) (pp) Might be one of the nights where I can't type fast enough to keep up. After Dustin Penner took a tripping penalty at :57, the Canes took only 18 seconds to double their lead. Good movement between the points by Tuomo Ruutu and Eric Staal set Jeff Skinner up with an open lane at the top of the far circle, and Cole redirected Skinner's shot just enough to beat Khabibulin on the short side.
4:10 1st: Good lord. 3-0 Canes; Corvo 3 (Skinner, Staal) (pp) A few seconds before this goal, the Canes tried a set play where Corvo snuck down from the point and one-timed a cross-crease pass from Skinner that was snuffed out on a great save by Khabibulin. So why not try the same thing ten seconds later? The Oilers called timeout after the goal, and rightfully so...it's quickly turning into one of those nights, as the Canes had 3 goals on 5 shots.
7:19 1st: 4-0 for the home team. LaRose 3 (Staal, Pitkanen) Looks like I might just be writing about goals tonight. A 4-on-2 break for the Canes off a faceoff to Cam Ward's left thanks to shoddy defending by the Oilers (what else is new tonight) ended in a tic-tac-toe passing play from Staal to Joni Pitkanen and finally to LaRose, who slammed it home from ten feet to make it a four-toal lead.
10:19 1st: An entry about something other than a goal. A little unusual, but hey...gotta shake things up sometimes. Anyway, considering Nikolai Khabibulin's night ended 7-plus minutes into the game, you're probably wondering what his stats were. We aim to please: how about a save percentage of .500 and a 32.80 goals-against average. Yeah, you read that correctly.
14:30 1st: The first good cycling shift of the night for the Oilers actually saw them catch up to the Canes' eight shots with an equal number of their own. Give Ward credit...he hasn't seen much action, but when he's been called upon he's been sharp.
End 1st: Things calmed down significantly once the Oilers changed goaltenders, and you'd have to think Paul Maurice will tell the Canes not to get complacent even though they have this game well in hand twenty minutes in. Shots ended 12-9 for the Canes in the period.
2:27 2nd: A little strange to see the rough stuff start so late after the Canes took a four-goal lead, but Steve MacIntyre was just sent off for roughing after a play deep in the Carolina zone. Better late than never for some toughness to show up, I guess.
4:30 2nd: The Canes fail to convert on a 5-on-3 after Tom Gilbert was sent off for delay of game, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Dubnyk robbed Skinner with a beauty of a glove save just as MacIntyre was leaving the box...
4:49 2nd: Canes up 5-0; Corvo 4 (Jokinen, Sutter) (pp) ...and the Canes capitalize on the back end penalty with a rifle shot by Joe Corvo. Seems like they've been practicing these cross-ice plays to hit the trailer sneaking down the weak side, and Corvo's cashed in twice on them.
6:48 2nd: If you had Tom Kostopoulos in your penalty-shot pool tonight, congratulations. The Canes tough guy earns the penalty shot after being hauled down on a contested play at the top of the Oilers' slot. An iffy call, but the way this game has gone, why wouldn't a fourth-liner earn a penalty shot?
13:40 2nd: Tim Gleason took a puck to the face, checked with his glove that he still had all his teeth...then he picked up his stick and kept playing. Yeah, he's a bit of a tough customer.
16:35 2nd: Oilers' night in a nutshell: Ales Hemsky gets the puck five feet from the net, no one near him, plenty of net to shot at...and he passes. And to make matters worse, the puck jumps off the stick of its intended recipient and the Canes clear.
End 2nd: The Oilers finally got some serious pressure on Ward late in the period, including an open-net whiff courtesy of Andrew Cogliano, but they're still staring at a goose egg on the scoreboard. Honestly, I haven't even noticed Taylor Hall tonight, while Jeff Skinner keeps plodding along with two more points. Shots in the 2nd were even more lopsided than the first: 14-7 Canes for a 26-16 lead overall.
1:06 3rd: Home team goes up 6-0; Samsonov 4 (Staal, Pitkanen) Not much to say here: Staal takes a shot that Dubnyk kicks out, Samsonov gets the puck on his backhand, fires home a backhand shot that surprises Dubnyk. The Canes have scored in the first five minutes of every period tonight.
5:21 3rd: Oilers get on the board! Penner 5 (Foster, Whitney) At some point, Cam Ward was allowed to make a mistake, and he finally made one after shutting out the Oilers for over 45 minutes. A point shot from Kurtis Foster was mostly handled by Ward, but the puck trickled to a stop right on the goal line and Dustin Penner pool-cued it into the net to put the Oilers on the board.
7:48 3rd: The extra point is good. Skinner 6 (Ruutu) And just like that, we're back to a six-goal game. Jeff Skinner adds to his great night (in which he's severely outplayed the player who went six slots higher in the draft, Taylor Hall) by redirecting a shot from Tuomo Ruutu in a similar play to the Cole goal from the first period.
10:30 3rd: In case you're wondering, Taylor Hall hasn't taken a shift since there were four minutes left in the second period. That's nearly 15 minutes on the bench. Safe to say Tom Renney isn't real pleased with his play tonight?
14:00 3rd: Eighteen minutes later, Hall finally sees the ice again.
16:04 3rd: Theo Peckham does what some in the press box thought should have been done long before: throw his weight around and pester the Canes physically. Eric Staal was on the receiving end of Peckham's chirping, and Peckham received a roughing penalty plus a misconduct for his trouble.
End 3rd: Nothing doing on the Canes' power play, but it didn't matter by then; the fourth line was getting extensive time with the man advantage, for goodness' sake. Shots in the third period were 16-6 Canes, who led 42-22 (!) overall.
Postgame: Can't say much more than this: that was a complete game all around for the Canes, and the Oilers looked nothing like the team that went into Chicago two nights before and beat the defending Stanley Cup champs. Jeff Skinner has really found a home with Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole, and it's obvious in talking to him that he has plenty of chemistry and confidence with the two longtime Canes. Paul Maurice certainly thinks so; Skinner played only 12:46 but it seemed like he was out there for twice that. As for Taylor Hall? 8:47 of ice time, and just :54 in the third period.
Click for audio from Skinner and Eric Staal. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
Back at it Thursday night when Peter Laviolette and the Flyers come to town...
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Game 14: Hurricanes 3, Panthers 2
By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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Last night, the Canes suffered the indignity of having a touchdown scored against them, falling 7-4 on the home ice of the Florida Panthers. Tonight, the two teams make the flight to Raleigh and face off again for their second meeting of the year.
To no one's surprise given his history, Paul Maurice did some line juggling during last night's game, moving Jeff Skinner off Eric Staal's wing and onto Tuomo Ruutu, while Sergei Samsonov went from the proverbial outhouse (the fourth line) to the penthouse (the first) and actually looked good in doing so. Cam Ward was beaten a little too often last night for his liking, but that was largely a function of a Swiss-cheese defense in front of him that surrendered 49 shots to the Panthers. Needless to say, giving up that many won't lead to good things, and the Canes need to lock it down a bit more tonight if they don't want to be swept.
Joni Pitkanen didn't play last night, won't play tonight and likely won't play on Tuesday when Edmonton comes to town, meaning Brett Carson will see action in his second game of the season tonight. Former Cane Cory Stillman suffered an upper-body injury last night and only played a few shifts, and he won't see action tonight either.
We're ready to go, and the good folks at the RBC hope the home team is ready too...
2:41 1st: Press box comment: "Well, this is already better than last night. It's still scoreless." Sadly, that's very true.
5:40 1st: That play was precisely why fans get so frustrated with Anton Babchuk. On a partial 2-on-1 from the blue line in, Eric Staal hit Babchuk as a trailer at the top of the slot. He was in perfect position for a one-timer, but he somehow thought it would be a good idea to pass the puck back to Staal, who was not expecting it at all. As a result, what should have been a goal (or, at the very least, a high-quality chance) turned into a harmless dump-in that the Panthers quickly cleared.
11:35 1st: This time last night there were already three goals on the board. Tonight? None, but we nearly had one after Scott Clemmensen misplayed the puck behind his own net but got back in time to kick Erik Cole's shot out to the far corner.
17:41 1st: Here's a shock: the Canes got a power play and proceeded to do nothing with it. In slightly better news, however, they're currently outshooting the Panthers 8-3.
End 1st: A late flurry led to the Canes' best chances of the period, but Clemmensen stood tall and didn't surrender the first goal of the night, leaving it scoreless after one. Shots were 9-4 Canes in the first period, meaning after taking 105 shots in the last two games the Panthers are on pace for precisely twelve tonight.
4:15 2nd: Not sure how this happened, but a shorthanded breakaway for Brandon Sutter was unsuccessful thanks to some, er, creative backchecking by Dmitry Kulikov that ended with Sutter being pulled down to the ice to the right of Clemmensen. Sounds like a penalty, if not a penalty shot, no? Nothing doing. Go figure.
5:09 2nd: A few seconds after the Florida power play expired, Brett Carson threw a heavy check on David Booth next to the Canes' bench. Hordichuk took exception and took a swing at Carson, which drew a response from everyone on the ice and ended with Brandon Sutter being clocked in the back of the head by Darcy Hordichuk. The only penalty, appropriately, went to Hordichuk.
7:51 2nd: Canes lead 1-0; Staal 6 (Samsonov, Skinner) (pp) A few seconds after Hordichuk went to the box, Mike Santorelli was whistled for hooking Sergei Samsonov behind the net, and with :18 left in the Hordichuk penalty Eric Staal made the Panthers pay. Some great movement and quick decisions in the zone got Staal open at the top of the slot, and Samsonov found him wide open for Staal to wire a shot from one knee high to Clemmensen's blocker side to get the Canes on the board first.
13:00 2nd: The newly-formed fourth line of Jokinen-Matsumoto-Kostopoulos has been relatively quiet tonight, but they nearly got on the board when Jokinen found Kostopoulos sneaking down through the near circle and just missed what would have been a tap-in goal. Like Wednesday night, the Canes are getting contributions from all four lines tonight, which is something that was sorely missing last night in Sunrise.
14:35 2nd: Another open-net chance as the puck pinballed off Clemmensen's pad and slowly toward the vacated net, but Dennis Wideman got back just in time to swipe the puck out of the crease (legally) and out of danger. The top line of Samsonov-Staal-LaRose has been on a roll, and not just at even strength.
18:05 2nd: The Panthers came perilously close to tying the game after Anton Babchuk panicked behind his own net and turned the puck over to Chris Higgins, who fired a shot from four feet that Cam Ward wasn't expecting and missed on. The shot hit the post twice but never went in the net, and Jay Harrison cleared the puck out of harm's way. A little too careless with the puck, and that's what happens.
End 2nd: The Panthers' Higgins came close to burying another one on a bad-angle backhander with 18 seconds left, but Ward stood tall and he's come up big when the Canes needed him to. It shows in the shot count; the Canes lead 20-9 overall after outshooting the Panthers 11-5 in the second period.
2:21 3rd: Canes lead 2-0; Skinner 5 (Cole, Ruutu) While Jeff Skinner gets the goal, Erik Cole did all the dirty work to make it happen. Cole drove the zone and went behind Clemmensen, while Skinner went straight to the net and waited. His patience paid off when Cole came around to the near side and found Skinner alone at the top of the crease for a tap-in.
3:21 3rd: Panthers cut it to 2-1; Hordichuk 1 (Weaver) A minute later, the Panthers' fourth line got them on the board. Darcy Hordichuk took a weird carom off the boards behind Ward and on a second rebound he roofed a shot that fooled Ward and may have been on edge when he shot it. Either way, we're right back to a one-goal game.
8:01 3rd: David Booth had a great scoring chance on a partial breakaway, but Ward shut him down and then Booth cross-checked Ward into his own net. Yeah, that's not looked on too kindly.
11:41 3rd: Canes back up by two; Staal 7 (unassisted) When it's your night, it's your night. Eric Staal is having one of those tonight, and his second goal put the Canes back up by two. It was a harmless-enough shot that would have normally been stopped by Clemmensen, but the puck changed direction off the stick of Panthers defenseman Bryan Allen halfway to the net and snuck under Clemmensen's glove.
14:55 3rd: I'm sure Cam Ward would rather be both lucky and good, but he's had luck on his side for sure tonight. He's had three posts hit behind him and a copule of head-scratching non-goals courtesy of the Panthers' failure to capitalize on mistakes, including just a second ago when David Booth whiffed on an open net from five feet out.
19:17 3rd: Panthers make it 3-2; Frolik 3 (McCabe, Wideman) In a scene that recalled Maurice's pulling Cam Ward with 3 minutes left in the loss to Washington last week, Peter DeBoer pulled Clemmensen with 2:22 remaining and it paid off, at least temporarily, when Michael Frolik took a weird shot that fooled Ward from the far boards along the side of the circle. Ward may have been screened, but the Panthers sure weren't complaining.
End 3rd: The Panthers pulled Clemmensen again and came close with a couple of neat passing plays late in the period, but the Canes survived to win their second straight at home and pull out a split in the back-to-back series. They move to 25-5-2 all-time against the Panthers at the RBC Center, their best record against any team since the 1999 opening of the arena. The Panthers outshot the Canes 11-9 in the third period, to pull to within 29-20 for the night.
Postgame: Paul Maurice had a great line when asked about the shot differentials between here and Florida: "Our shot clock guy wasn't on Red Bull." Energy drinks aside, the Canes played a much more complete game tonight and they earned every bit of the win. It's hard to believe, but tonight's game was the start of the Canes' first homestand of the season; they haven't played more than one game in a row at the RBC all season, but they're back here Tuesday and Thursday of next week. Tuomo Ruutu, for one, was quite pleased.
Click for audio from Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Tuomo Ruutu. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
Back Tuesday night when the Canes host the Edmonton Oilers in their only meeting of the season, a rematch of the 2006 Stanley Cup final.
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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Last night, the Canes suffered the indignity of having a touchdown scored against them, falling 7-4 on the home ice of the Florida Panthers. Tonight, the two teams make the flight to Raleigh and face off again for their second meeting of the year.
To no one's surprise given his history, Paul Maurice did some line juggling during last night's game, moving Jeff Skinner off Eric Staal's wing and onto Tuomo Ruutu, while Sergei Samsonov went from the proverbial outhouse (the fourth line) to the penthouse (the first) and actually looked good in doing so. Cam Ward was beaten a little too often last night for his liking, but that was largely a function of a Swiss-cheese defense in front of him that surrendered 49 shots to the Panthers. Needless to say, giving up that many won't lead to good things, and the Canes need to lock it down a bit more tonight if they don't want to be swept.
Joni Pitkanen didn't play last night, won't play tonight and likely won't play on Tuesday when Edmonton comes to town, meaning Brett Carson will see action in his second game of the season tonight. Former Cane Cory Stillman suffered an upper-body injury last night and only played a few shifts, and he won't see action tonight either.
We're ready to go, and the good folks at the RBC hope the home team is ready too...
2:41 1st: Press box comment: "Well, this is already better than last night. It's still scoreless." Sadly, that's very true.
5:40 1st: That play was precisely why fans get so frustrated with Anton Babchuk. On a partial 2-on-1 from the blue line in, Eric Staal hit Babchuk as a trailer at the top of the slot. He was in perfect position for a one-timer, but he somehow thought it would be a good idea to pass the puck back to Staal, who was not expecting it at all. As a result, what should have been a goal (or, at the very least, a high-quality chance) turned into a harmless dump-in that the Panthers quickly cleared.
11:35 1st: This time last night there were already three goals on the board. Tonight? None, but we nearly had one after Scott Clemmensen misplayed the puck behind his own net but got back in time to kick Erik Cole's shot out to the far corner.
17:41 1st: Here's a shock: the Canes got a power play and proceeded to do nothing with it. In slightly better news, however, they're currently outshooting the Panthers 8-3.
End 1st: A late flurry led to the Canes' best chances of the period, but Clemmensen stood tall and didn't surrender the first goal of the night, leaving it scoreless after one. Shots were 9-4 Canes in the first period, meaning after taking 105 shots in the last two games the Panthers are on pace for precisely twelve tonight.
4:15 2nd: Not sure how this happened, but a shorthanded breakaway for Brandon Sutter was unsuccessful thanks to some, er, creative backchecking by Dmitry Kulikov that ended with Sutter being pulled down to the ice to the right of Clemmensen. Sounds like a penalty, if not a penalty shot, no? Nothing doing. Go figure.
5:09 2nd: A few seconds after the Florida power play expired, Brett Carson threw a heavy check on David Booth next to the Canes' bench. Hordichuk took exception and took a swing at Carson, which drew a response from everyone on the ice and ended with Brandon Sutter being clocked in the back of the head by Darcy Hordichuk. The only penalty, appropriately, went to Hordichuk.
7:51 2nd: Canes lead 1-0; Staal 6 (Samsonov, Skinner) (pp) A few seconds after Hordichuk went to the box, Mike Santorelli was whistled for hooking Sergei Samsonov behind the net, and with :18 left in the Hordichuk penalty Eric Staal made the Panthers pay. Some great movement and quick decisions in the zone got Staal open at the top of the slot, and Samsonov found him wide open for Staal to wire a shot from one knee high to Clemmensen's blocker side to get the Canes on the board first.
13:00 2nd: The newly-formed fourth line of Jokinen-Matsumoto-Kostopoulos has been relatively quiet tonight, but they nearly got on the board when Jokinen found Kostopoulos sneaking down through the near circle and just missed what would have been a tap-in goal. Like Wednesday night, the Canes are getting contributions from all four lines tonight, which is something that was sorely missing last night in Sunrise.
14:35 2nd: Another open-net chance as the puck pinballed off Clemmensen's pad and slowly toward the vacated net, but Dennis Wideman got back just in time to swipe the puck out of the crease (legally) and out of danger. The top line of Samsonov-Staal-LaRose has been on a roll, and not just at even strength.
18:05 2nd: The Panthers came perilously close to tying the game after Anton Babchuk panicked behind his own net and turned the puck over to Chris Higgins, who fired a shot from four feet that Cam Ward wasn't expecting and missed on. The shot hit the post twice but never went in the net, and Jay Harrison cleared the puck out of harm's way. A little too careless with the puck, and that's what happens.
End 2nd: The Panthers' Higgins came close to burying another one on a bad-angle backhander with 18 seconds left, but Ward stood tall and he's come up big when the Canes needed him to. It shows in the shot count; the Canes lead 20-9 overall after outshooting the Panthers 11-5 in the second period.
2:21 3rd: Canes lead 2-0; Skinner 5 (Cole, Ruutu) While Jeff Skinner gets the goal, Erik Cole did all the dirty work to make it happen. Cole drove the zone and went behind Clemmensen, while Skinner went straight to the net and waited. His patience paid off when Cole came around to the near side and found Skinner alone at the top of the crease for a tap-in.
3:21 3rd: Panthers cut it to 2-1; Hordichuk 1 (Weaver) A minute later, the Panthers' fourth line got them on the board. Darcy Hordichuk took a weird carom off the boards behind Ward and on a second rebound he roofed a shot that fooled Ward and may have been on edge when he shot it. Either way, we're right back to a one-goal game.
8:01 3rd: David Booth had a great scoring chance on a partial breakaway, but Ward shut him down and then Booth cross-checked Ward into his own net. Yeah, that's not looked on too kindly.
11:41 3rd: Canes back up by two; Staal 7 (unassisted) When it's your night, it's your night. Eric Staal is having one of those tonight, and his second goal put the Canes back up by two. It was a harmless-enough shot that would have normally been stopped by Clemmensen, but the puck changed direction off the stick of Panthers defenseman Bryan Allen halfway to the net and snuck under Clemmensen's glove.
14:55 3rd: I'm sure Cam Ward would rather be both lucky and good, but he's had luck on his side for sure tonight. He's had three posts hit behind him and a copule of head-scratching non-goals courtesy of the Panthers' failure to capitalize on mistakes, including just a second ago when David Booth whiffed on an open net from five feet out.
19:17 3rd: Panthers make it 3-2; Frolik 3 (McCabe, Wideman) In a scene that recalled Maurice's pulling Cam Ward with 3 minutes left in the loss to Washington last week, Peter DeBoer pulled Clemmensen with 2:22 remaining and it paid off, at least temporarily, when Michael Frolik took a weird shot that fooled Ward from the far boards along the side of the circle. Ward may have been screened, but the Panthers sure weren't complaining.
End 3rd: The Panthers pulled Clemmensen again and came close with a couple of neat passing plays late in the period, but the Canes survived to win their second straight at home and pull out a split in the back-to-back series. They move to 25-5-2 all-time against the Panthers at the RBC Center, their best record against any team since the 1999 opening of the arena. The Panthers outshot the Canes 11-9 in the third period, to pull to within 29-20 for the night.
Postgame: Paul Maurice had a great line when asked about the shot differentials between here and Florida: "Our shot clock guy wasn't on Red Bull." Energy drinks aside, the Canes played a much more complete game tonight and they earned every bit of the win. It's hard to believe, but tonight's game was the start of the Canes' first homestand of the season; they haven't played more than one game in a row at the RBC all season, but they're back here Tuesday and Thursday of next week. Tuomo Ruutu, for one, was quite pleased.
Click for audio from Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Tuomo Ruutu. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
Back Tuesday night when the Canes host the Edmonton Oilers in their only meeting of the season, a rematch of the 2006 Stanley Cup final.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Game 12: Hurricanes 7, Islanders 2
By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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We're eleven games into the season, and the Carolina Hurricanes have handed opposing goaltenders at the RBC Center a sparkling save percentage of 1.000. Needless to say, that isn't a tried and true recipe for success.
Tonight, we'll see if the Canes can make their third chance a charm. It's certainly an inviting situation, with the New York Islanders in town. Isles goalie Rick DiPietro, expected to get the start tonight, sports a 5-10-1 career record against Carolina, and the Isles are one of the few teams so far this season to face the Canes with a lower position in the standings.
The Canes are trying everything they can to light a goal lamp tonight, including shuffling the lines so that rookie sensation Jeff Skinner will skate on the top line with Eric Staal. Skinner and Tuomo Ruutu both enter the game tonight with four points in their last three games, and Staal has been held without a point in that same stretch. Doesn't take much to figure out that Paul Maurice expects Skinner to spark Staal to some good production by uniting them for the first time this season.
We'll be sure to alert you to any breaking news tonight, including if the Canes manage to set off a goal horn or two...
3:36 1st: So far, that Staal-Skinner-LaRose combination has been a gold mine for Paul Maurice tonight. In two shifts, they've had some great low-offensive zone pressure and a 2-on-1 that was barely whistled offside when Staal entered the zone a split second before Skinner and the puck.
4:46 1st: They've talked about it for the first four minutes of the game, and Zenon Konopka finally convinced Jay Harrison to drop the gloves. (And if this comes as a surprise, you probably haven't seen Konopka's 5 PIM-per-game average yet.) Call it a split decision.
6:46 1st: An unfortunate bounce off Jamie McBain at the right point sprung former Cane Doug Weight and Michael Grabner alone on a 2-on-0, with McBain desperately trying to get back. He did get back enough that Weight's pass for Grabner had to go over McBain's stick, and Grabner couldn't get a clean shot off before dislodging the net and killing the play. The Canes dodged a huge bullet.
10:12 1st: The goal horn has sounded! 1-0 Canes; Corvo 2 (Skinner, LaRose) Hey, at this point you'll take whatever you can get, right? Give Rick DiPietro a third assist, as he fumbled the puck behind the net and LaRose knocked it off DiPietro's stick. Jeff Skinner picked up the trash and fed Joe Corvo for a one-timer at the top of the far circle. DiPietro tried to get back in time, but Corvo's shot beat him cleanly and -- finally -- the Canes had a lead in their home rink.
13:10 1st: Another close call for the Staal line. This time, it's Skinner finding LaRose behind the Isles' defense at the blue line for a partial breakaway. LaRose drew DiPietro down, but the puck rolled off his stick and he wasn't able to get a shot off. Seconds later, Skinner and Tim Gleason drew a 2-on-1 where Skinner faked DiPietro out with a shot from the far circle, but his pass for Gleason was off the mark and didn't hit paydirt.
15:49 1st: Hello, (Matsu) Moto. Canes lead 2-0; Matsumoto 1 (Samsonov, Kostopoulos) Probably came a night later than he wanted, but Jon Matsumoto will take it for his first NHL goal, and it was a perfectly placed setup at the near post that led to it. Sergei Samsonov did the heavy lifting, dangling through two Islanders defenders before centering the puck from the far faceoff dot right onto Matsumoto's stick for an easy tap-in past DiPietro.
18:51 1st: Canes lead 3-0; Staal 4 (Samsonov, Kostopoulos) No, it wasn't a juggled line combination. Yet again, Kostopoulos got the puck deep in the zone and Samsonov again placed a perfect pass on the tape of a teammate. This time, Eric Staal was the beneficiary, coming off the bench untouched and firing home a 40-foot one-timer to put the Canes up by 3 for their first three-goal lead since October 19 in San Jose.
End 1st: Simply a dominant period by the home team. Not much more to say than that. The Canes will start the 2nd on a long power play after James Wisniewski boarded Tuomo Ruutu with three seconds left in the first. Shots in the first were 15-9 Carolina.
5:30 2nd: Not much going on early in the second, but Staal nearly had his second of the night on a tap-in at the far post. Sure looks like the Canes have practiced that play a bit recently, because every line on the ice is giving it a whirl.
8:30 2nd: As a power play expired, the Staal line tried another tic-tac-toe passing play that nearly ended with Eric Staal hitting an open net.
9:40 2nd: Canes lead 4-0; Sutter 3 (unassisted)
10:23 2nd: Canes lead 5-0; Tlusty 1 (Harrison, Babchuk)
OK, these are going to take a bit of explaining. On the Sutter goal, DiPietro misplayed a puck at the near post and despite having two defensemen in the crease to clear the puck, neither did and Brandon Sutter slammed it home after it squeezed out to DiPietro's right. That was a break the Canes haven't gotten all year.
As for the Tlusty goal, the Islanders had a legitimate beef with Sutter falling backwards into DiPietro with no call, similar to the David Steckel non-call when he backed into Cam Ward in the home opener that led to a goal. Jiri Tlusty fired a shot from the far circle that caught DiPietro before he could get back into position for a five goal lead. The follow-through on Tlusty's shot hit Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek in the forehead and he had to leave the ice for repairs before the ensuing faceoff.
15:39 2nd: LaRose heads to the box for 4 minutes after whiffing on a clearing attempt and hitting John Tavares square in the mouth with the end of his stick. Some dentist is going to be very, very happy tonight.
18:40 2nd: Sutter came within an inch of finding Kostopoulos for a six-goal lead on a 2-on-1 down low, but the Isles' defenseman forced Kostopoulos out of position just enough that he backhanded the puck into the outside of the net.
End 2nd: The Canes are escorted off the ice with their second standing ovation in five minutes after killing over a minute of a 5-on-3 and a four minute penalty in the last five minutes of the period. Well done, and the Canes are in the zone tonight, especially Cam Ward, who hadn't had much to do but earned his money with a superb performance on the penalty kill. Shots in the period were 12-10 Isles, helped along by the late power plays.
2:12 3rd: Isles cut the lead to 5-1; Grabner 3 (Weight, Gervais) Michael Grabner made up for the missed 2-on-0 in the first period. Jay Harrison missed an assignment on Grabner, who was skating unchecked down the slot, and Doug Weight threaded the needle through two Canes sticks to set Grabner up on a one-timer.
9:12 3rd: Some extracurricular activity behind Ward after Jamie McBain is boarded by Rob Schremp. McBain was fine, but Schremp earned two minutes in the box.
10:09 3rd: Canes back up by five at 6-1; Skinner 4 (Staal, LaRose) (pp) And if you were wondering, a "Skinner...!!" sound byte from the Simpsons accompanied Jeff Skinner's first of what should be many at the RBC. Again, like they've had all night, the Staal line has had all sorts of pressure in front of the net all night, and Skinner was the man doing the dirty work to be in position this time. His first shot was stopped by DiPietro, but the puck wasn't covered and Skinner shoveled the puck home on the rebound.
15:29 3rd: Islanders get their second, pull to 6-2; Parenteau 3 (Comeau, Schremp) (pp) And the Isles match the Canes' power play by scoring one of their own about five minutes later. P.A. Parenteau beat Ward high to the glove side on a one-timer from the high slot after Blake Comeau beat Anton Babchuk around the edge in the near corner.
19:26 3rd: Canes back up 7-2; Matsumoto 2 (Samsonov) Yep, it's that combination again. Samsonov pried the puck free along the near boards and fed a wide-open Matsumoto, who wired a top-shelf one-timer from 45 feet for his second career goal to give the Canes their third five-goal lead of the game.
End 3rd: Surprisingly, the Isles actually outshot the Canes 33-32 in the game, but where it counted it was no contest. Not a great night for Rick DiPietro, who let in all seven Canes goals for a sterling .781 save percentage. Yikes.
Postgame: It's been a while since we've seen a Canes locker room as pumped up as tonight's was. Jon Matsumoto was quick to give all sorts of credit to Sergei Samsonov, and with good reason: although Matsumoto had two goals, Samsonov finished with three points and the second star of the game. Jeff Skinner was his usual jovial self, and Brandon Sutter & Chad LaRose had a great bit of back-and-forth going during an interview. This is what makes it fun to cover this team.
Maurice said that his report on Joni Pitkanen was that he aggravated the earlier upper-body injury with a hit in the first period, and he wasn't sure of Pitkanen's status for this weekend's home-and-home series with Florida.
Click for audio from Jon Matsumoto, Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner. Maurice's press conference is attached.
Back at it when the Canes come home to face the Panthers on the back end of the home-and-home Saturday night at the RBC...
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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We're eleven games into the season, and the Carolina Hurricanes have handed opposing goaltenders at the RBC Center a sparkling save percentage of 1.000. Needless to say, that isn't a tried and true recipe for success.
Tonight, we'll see if the Canes can make their third chance a charm. It's certainly an inviting situation, with the New York Islanders in town. Isles goalie Rick DiPietro, expected to get the start tonight, sports a 5-10-1 career record against Carolina, and the Isles are one of the few teams so far this season to face the Canes with a lower position in the standings.
The Canes are trying everything they can to light a goal lamp tonight, including shuffling the lines so that rookie sensation Jeff Skinner will skate on the top line with Eric Staal. Skinner and Tuomo Ruutu both enter the game tonight with four points in their last three games, and Staal has been held without a point in that same stretch. Doesn't take much to figure out that Paul Maurice expects Skinner to spark Staal to some good production by uniting them for the first time this season.
We'll be sure to alert you to any breaking news tonight, including if the Canes manage to set off a goal horn or two...
3:36 1st: So far, that Staal-Skinner-LaRose combination has been a gold mine for Paul Maurice tonight. In two shifts, they've had some great low-offensive zone pressure and a 2-on-1 that was barely whistled offside when Staal entered the zone a split second before Skinner and the puck.
4:46 1st: They've talked about it for the first four minutes of the game, and Zenon Konopka finally convinced Jay Harrison to drop the gloves. (And if this comes as a surprise, you probably haven't seen Konopka's 5 PIM-per-game average yet.) Call it a split decision.
6:46 1st: An unfortunate bounce off Jamie McBain at the right point sprung former Cane Doug Weight and Michael Grabner alone on a 2-on-0, with McBain desperately trying to get back. He did get back enough that Weight's pass for Grabner had to go over McBain's stick, and Grabner couldn't get a clean shot off before dislodging the net and killing the play. The Canes dodged a huge bullet.
10:12 1st: The goal horn has sounded! 1-0 Canes; Corvo 2 (Skinner, LaRose) Hey, at this point you'll take whatever you can get, right? Give Rick DiPietro a third assist, as he fumbled the puck behind the net and LaRose knocked it off DiPietro's stick. Jeff Skinner picked up the trash and fed Joe Corvo for a one-timer at the top of the far circle. DiPietro tried to get back in time, but Corvo's shot beat him cleanly and -- finally -- the Canes had a lead in their home rink.
13:10 1st: Another close call for the Staal line. This time, it's Skinner finding LaRose behind the Isles' defense at the blue line for a partial breakaway. LaRose drew DiPietro down, but the puck rolled off his stick and he wasn't able to get a shot off. Seconds later, Skinner and Tim Gleason drew a 2-on-1 where Skinner faked DiPietro out with a shot from the far circle, but his pass for Gleason was off the mark and didn't hit paydirt.
15:49 1st: Hello, (Matsu) Moto. Canes lead 2-0; Matsumoto 1 (Samsonov, Kostopoulos) Probably came a night later than he wanted, but Jon Matsumoto will take it for his first NHL goal, and it was a perfectly placed setup at the near post that led to it. Sergei Samsonov did the heavy lifting, dangling through two Islanders defenders before centering the puck from the far faceoff dot right onto Matsumoto's stick for an easy tap-in past DiPietro.
18:51 1st: Canes lead 3-0; Staal 4 (Samsonov, Kostopoulos) No, it wasn't a juggled line combination. Yet again, Kostopoulos got the puck deep in the zone and Samsonov again placed a perfect pass on the tape of a teammate. This time, Eric Staal was the beneficiary, coming off the bench untouched and firing home a 40-foot one-timer to put the Canes up by 3 for their first three-goal lead since October 19 in San Jose.
End 1st: Simply a dominant period by the home team. Not much more to say than that. The Canes will start the 2nd on a long power play after James Wisniewski boarded Tuomo Ruutu with three seconds left in the first. Shots in the first were 15-9 Carolina.
5:30 2nd: Not much going on early in the second, but Staal nearly had his second of the night on a tap-in at the far post. Sure looks like the Canes have practiced that play a bit recently, because every line on the ice is giving it a whirl.
8:30 2nd: As a power play expired, the Staal line tried another tic-tac-toe passing play that nearly ended with Eric Staal hitting an open net.
9:40 2nd: Canes lead 4-0; Sutter 3 (unassisted)
10:23 2nd: Canes lead 5-0; Tlusty 1 (Harrison, Babchuk)
OK, these are going to take a bit of explaining. On the Sutter goal, DiPietro misplayed a puck at the near post and despite having two defensemen in the crease to clear the puck, neither did and Brandon Sutter slammed it home after it squeezed out to DiPietro's right. That was a break the Canes haven't gotten all year.
As for the Tlusty goal, the Islanders had a legitimate beef with Sutter falling backwards into DiPietro with no call, similar to the David Steckel non-call when he backed into Cam Ward in the home opener that led to a goal. Jiri Tlusty fired a shot from the far circle that caught DiPietro before he could get back into position for a five goal lead. The follow-through on Tlusty's shot hit Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek in the forehead and he had to leave the ice for repairs before the ensuing faceoff.
15:39 2nd: LaRose heads to the box for 4 minutes after whiffing on a clearing attempt and hitting John Tavares square in the mouth with the end of his stick. Some dentist is going to be very, very happy tonight.
18:40 2nd: Sutter came within an inch of finding Kostopoulos for a six-goal lead on a 2-on-1 down low, but the Isles' defenseman forced Kostopoulos out of position just enough that he backhanded the puck into the outside of the net.
End 2nd: The Canes are escorted off the ice with their second standing ovation in five minutes after killing over a minute of a 5-on-3 and a four minute penalty in the last five minutes of the period. Well done, and the Canes are in the zone tonight, especially Cam Ward, who hadn't had much to do but earned his money with a superb performance on the penalty kill. Shots in the period were 12-10 Isles, helped along by the late power plays.
2:12 3rd: Isles cut the lead to 5-1; Grabner 3 (Weight, Gervais) Michael Grabner made up for the missed 2-on-0 in the first period. Jay Harrison missed an assignment on Grabner, who was skating unchecked down the slot, and Doug Weight threaded the needle through two Canes sticks to set Grabner up on a one-timer.
9:12 3rd: Some extracurricular activity behind Ward after Jamie McBain is boarded by Rob Schremp. McBain was fine, but Schremp earned two minutes in the box.
10:09 3rd: Canes back up by five at 6-1; Skinner 4 (Staal, LaRose) (pp) And if you were wondering, a "Skinner...!!" sound byte from the Simpsons accompanied Jeff Skinner's first of what should be many at the RBC. Again, like they've had all night, the Staal line has had all sorts of pressure in front of the net all night, and Skinner was the man doing the dirty work to be in position this time. His first shot was stopped by DiPietro, but the puck wasn't covered and Skinner shoveled the puck home on the rebound.
15:29 3rd: Islanders get their second, pull to 6-2; Parenteau 3 (Comeau, Schremp) (pp) And the Isles match the Canes' power play by scoring one of their own about five minutes later. P.A. Parenteau beat Ward high to the glove side on a one-timer from the high slot after Blake Comeau beat Anton Babchuk around the edge in the near corner.
19:26 3rd: Canes back up 7-2; Matsumoto 2 (Samsonov) Yep, it's that combination again. Samsonov pried the puck free along the near boards and fed a wide-open Matsumoto, who wired a top-shelf one-timer from 45 feet for his second career goal to give the Canes their third five-goal lead of the game.
End 3rd: Surprisingly, the Isles actually outshot the Canes 33-32 in the game, but where it counted it was no contest. Not a great night for Rick DiPietro, who let in all seven Canes goals for a sterling .781 save percentage. Yikes.
Postgame: It's been a while since we've seen a Canes locker room as pumped up as tonight's was. Jon Matsumoto was quick to give all sorts of credit to Sergei Samsonov, and with good reason: although Matsumoto had two goals, Samsonov finished with three points and the second star of the game. Jeff Skinner was his usual jovial self, and Brandon Sutter & Chad LaRose had a great bit of back-and-forth going during an interview. This is what makes it fun to cover this team.
Maurice said that his report on Joni Pitkanen was that he aggravated the earlier upper-body injury with a hit in the first period, and he wasn't sure of Pitkanen's status for this weekend's home-and-home series with Florida.
Click for audio from Jon Matsumoto, Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner. Maurice's press conference is attached.
Back at it when the Canes come home to face the Panthers on the back end of the home-and-home Saturday night at the RBC...
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