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...
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