By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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It's Military Appreciation Day at the RBC Center, as the Ottawa Senators visit Raleigh for the first time this year. The Canes enter today's game after a 2-1 win over Colorado on Friday that saw Cam Ward come within sixteen seconds of his first shutout of the year, but the trips to the injured ward continue as Tuomo Ruutu suffered an upper body injury in a first-period fight with Darcy Tucker and will be out for at least a week.
Not to be outdone, the Sens will be without the services of a number of their regulars. Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek and Filip Kuba will all miss the game, so it will be a battle of minor-league fill-ins today.
The Canes, though, get a significant puzzle piece back today. Eric Staal returns after missing two games due to the death of his sister-in-law. We'll see if his return can spark the Canes to their first two-game winning streak of 2010.
Here we go...
:33 1st: It didn't take long for a good scoring chance from the Sens. Alexei Kovalev, who has victimized the Canes countless times in the past, was on the receiving end of a Chris Phillips pass at the top of the near circle, and his one-timer was just about perfectly placed, requiring Cam Ward to kick the puck out with a quick pad.
2:22 1st: The Canes came close to a terrible break, quite literally. Andrew Alberts broke his stick on an attempted clear and the puck rolled right to Jonathan Cheechoo in the low slot. Four years ago, when Cheechoo led the league in goals, that was automatic. Now, however, he was the victim of a quick Ward glove save.
2:50 1st: Staal made his presence known, setting up Ray Whitney with a one-timer that Pascal Leclaire had to be on top of his game to stop. Can't ask for a better start than that, except maybe finding the back of the net.
6:41 1st: For the second straight game, the Canes are forcing the physical play early. The Sens did nothing with an early 5-on-3, and Ward's been all over the place making save after save. Tim Gleason wasn't interested in seeing Nick Foligno crowd Ward's crease, and politely informed him of such with a couple of facewashes.
10:55 1st: Not sure how Chris Neil missed out on taking a roughing penalty after he went way too long with Eric Staal after an offside call and got two or three facewashes in before the linesmen came in. Strange, but par for the course with NHL officiating.
17:50 1st: It's come to this: there's been so little going on this period for the home team that the press box has been reduced to discussing the '80s Nintendo classic Blades of Steel. Yep...gonna be that kind of a day.
End 1st: Yeah...not much to get excited about unless you're a Sens fan. Shots in the first were 16-5 Ottawa, with most of those coming early. The Canes spent plenty of time running around their own zone and generally accomplishing nothing. They're lucky to be scoreless after a period like that.
2:53 2nd: Not a bad start to the period for the Canes. They've gotten three good shots in on Pascal Leclaire in the first three minutes, and have held the Sens without a shot. Small sample size, yes, but when you're outshot by eleven in one period you have to grasp whatever straw you can.
3:40 2nd: A wild scramble in front of Cam Ward somehow ends with the puck being cleared from the zone. Ward was down, his stick was outside the crease, and the Sens had an open net but couldn't make it work. The most entertaining part of the sequence, though, was referee Rob Martell doing a pushup on the back of the net to get out of the way of the puck as he had no idea the puck would come his way. He had to get up at least a foot above the ice to get out of the way.
7:04 2nd: Sens lead 1-0; Kelly 7 (Volchenkov, Cheechoo) That was a safe bet to happen. After the Canes failed to clear the zone, Jonathan Cheechoo circled around the back of the net and found Anton Volchenkov at the top of the slot. Volchenkov saw an unchecked Chris Kelly in the far circle, and Kelly made no mistake with the one-timer, picking a high corner over Ward's glove where there wasn't much daylight.
7:44 2nd: Canes tie it at 1; Kostopoulos 5 (Sutter, Jokinen) Just like that, the Canes make it a new ballgame again. Tim Gleason actually did more than Jokinen to get the second assist, but his breakout pass deflected off Jokinen's stick and right to Brandon Sutter. Sutter started a 2-on-1 with Kostopoulos from the blue line in, and the pass found the mark to give Kostopoulos an easy tap-in. Unfortunately for Kostopoulos, he lost his balance and slid hard into the end boards, but he didn't seem all that upset at paying the price for the tying goal.
12:20 2nd: A great pair of plays on a Canes power play by Jiri Tlusty, who first maintained a forecheck deep in the Ottawa zone then made a nice behind-the-back pass to...um, no one in particular. Right idea, though, and if the Canes had a guy in position to receive the pass they would have had an easy tap-in.
15:35 2nd: Whitney drew Leclaire out of the net on a wraparound behind the net, but the Sens collapsed in and denied a shot for Whitney on the far side of the net. Despite not getting a shot off, the Canes have pulled to within five shots of the Sens. After the disaster that was the first period, the Canes have acquainted themselves pretty well in the second.
17:52 2nd: Canes lead 2-1; Brind'Amour 4 (Dwyer, Tlusty) OK, if you had Rod Brind'Amour, of all people, scoring a goal today on a sixty-foot slap shot, pat yourself on the back and pass along the winning lottery numbers if you don't mind. Patrick Dwyer took the puck behind the net and to the far boards, and somehow Leclaire lost track of it on the cycle and was horribly out of position for Brind'Amour's one-timer from well out. It looked like Leclaire lost the puck in a mass of players at the same time Dwyer made the pass to the point, but that's an inexcusable goal for an NHL goalie to allow.
End 2nd: That's exactly the kind of period the Canes needed against a team that played last night. Shots were 13-7 Canes, who pulled to within 22-18 overall. Now, can the Canes hold it together for one more period?
2:24 3rd: The Canes came close to a two-goal lead, but Staal's pass for Whitney was somehow kept out of the net even though the puck trickled through Leclaire's legs. Chris Campoli was on the spot to shove it back under his goaltender's pads and get a stoppage, but Leclaire has been increasingly shaky as the game has gone on.
7:08 3rd: The Canes are really buzzing now, and Leclaire doesn't look up to the task. If not for some sharp defending by the Ottawa skaters the Canes would be up by multiple goals.
7:50 3rd: Unintentional comedy: Thor Nelson, the linesman working the blueline in front of the Canes' bench, lost track of the puck and thought it had been tipped into the bench, but it was actually stuck in his skates and he didn't realize it until a couple of players started to fish for the puck underneath him.
9:55 3rd: The Sens' Peter Regin (who? Exactly.) had Ward beat with a wraparound, but he was too quick to pull the trigger and his shot hit the side of the net. That's what happens when half of your team is minor-league callups, I suppose...
13:32 3rd: Canes take a 3-1 lead; Carson 1 (Whitney) Brett Carson's first career goal came at a heck of a time. Ray Whitney drew two defenders to him on the near boards, leaving Carson unchecked at the top of the slot. Carson fired a wrister that was deflected a few feet out by a Senator up and over Leclaire's blocker. Not much he could have done there.
15:43 3rd: 4-1 Canes; Staal 9 (Whitney, Cullen) Staal's return is successful, Whitney has two assists in two minutes and Cullen has a three-game point streak. Again, Whitney drew a defenseman to him and left someone unchecked in the slot. Staal was the lucky beneficiary this time, with all day to outwait Leclaire before he backhanded the puck through the five-hole to give the Canes a three-goal lead.
17:40 3rd: Cullen nearly had his second point on a turnover in the slot, and he got everything on the slap shot but couldn't beat Leclaire's glove.
End 3rd: A solid win for a team that's seen painfully few of them this year. Shots in the third were 15-9 Carolina, and they managed to outshoot the Sens 33-32 despite that dreadful first period.
Postgame: Eric Staal was emotional, as you'd expect, following a very rough week for his family and everyone in the locker room was encouraged to see him come back and fit right in on the ice. It was an upbeat locker room, and Brett Carson especially seemed thrilled to get his first goal (who wouldn't?). I asked if he got the puck from anyone, and he said Ray Whitney fished it out of the net for him. Quite a thrill for a guy who was way down on the depth chart to start the season.
Click for audio from Brett Carson, Tom Kostopoulos, Cam Ward and Rod Brind'Amour. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes start a two-game homestand on Tuesday in Toronto, and they're back at the RBC on Saturday when the Atlanta Thrashers come to town. We'll be back then, and we hope you'll join us as well.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
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