By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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Six months ago, the season started with expectations that tonight's game would simply be a stepping stone to bigger and better things. After all, most folks expected the Canes to make the postseason, and some among us even had them pegged for 100 points.
How silly those people (ahem) look now.
Gary Bettman was in town this morning to make what would otherwise be a disappointing day to end a disappointing season significantly better, announcing that after a long and sometimes maddening wait the NHL would indeed award the 2011 All-Star Game to the Hurricanes, giving everyone something to look forward to for next season. With the All-Star Game finally in the Hurricanes' immediate future, an expected sellout crowd will be at full throat for the last home game of the season. And why not? Despite being one of the better teams in hockey since the Olympic break ended, the Canes have been eliminated from the postseason, and tonight is the last opportunity for the home fans to see a win at the RBC Center this season.
The opponent, the Montreal Canadiens, do have plenty riding on tonight's game, and a point tonight will secure a postseason berth for the Habs. A loss, and they're right back in the jumble of teams hoping to earn one of the last three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The likelihood is high that the Habs will earn a point in their last three games and comfortably make the playoffs, but the Canes would like nothing better than to prolong the agonizing wait for their frequent playoff rivals.
Drayson Bowman is out tonight due to a contractual situation; tonight would be his ninth game of the season, and I haven't confirmed this with anyone but I believe it has something to do with burning the first year of his entry-level deal (which kicks in for salary cap purposes after he plays ten games). I'll try to confirm. Joni Pitkanen was injured Tuesday night in Tampa, and the Canes have called up Tim Conboy and Casey Borer from Albany to take their places, meaning the Canes will roll 7 defensemen tonight. Borer will get a loud ovation, as this is his first appearance in Raleigh since the River Rats' bus crash last February.
Will the Canes send their fans home tonight for the last time this season on a positive note? We're about to find out...
Begin 1st: OK, so here's the story with Bowman's inability to play. Players who are up on emergency recall (which Bowman is, after the surgery to Tuomo Ruutu) are only eligible to play as long as they are filling out the roster. In other words, the team can't have more than 20 players on the active roster; the player on emergency recall cannot be on the roster if there are more than 20 active players. With Joni Pitkanen's injury, he remains on the active roster even though he isn't playing, so when the Canes called up Tim Conboy to replace him that put 21 players on the active roster and makes Bowman ineligible. So there you go.
5:30 1st: Not much action yet for either goaltender, but it's obvious this isn't the Devils we're seeing here tonight. There's been some great up and down action on both ends, and some halfway decent scoring chances on both ends.
9:15 1st: Sergei Samsonov is cursing the name of Client Jaroslav Halak so far tonight. Two great scoring chances and two big saves by Halak.
15:02 1st: A few seconds after a great Ward save on Travis Moemn, stretching his leg out as far as it could go to deny a tap-in on a cross-crease pass, Brandon Sutter marched back down the ice and Halak matched Ward's save with a quick kick save and a swallowed rebound. The Canes are sure getting some great opportunities; I think they've had more in the first fifteen minutes tonight than they did all night on Saturday.
19:40 1st: Ward robs Andrei Kostitsyn on what could have been an easy redirection to put the Habs up by one. The entire team has shown up tonight, including Ward, who has looked sharp all night.
End 1st: Scoreless after 1, and shots were 10-7 for the Canes in the period. Like I said, that was a really, really entertaining period. Nothing like Saturday night, and that's a very good thing in more ways than one.
1:24 2nd: 1-0 Canes; Staal 27 (LaRose) Great play by Staal and LaRose, who played give and go all the way up the ice and after LaRose took a sharp angle shot that Halak kicked out but didn't cover, Staal cleaned up the garbage and potted his 27th of the year on a fortuitous shot over Halak's blocker to give the Canes the first goal of the night. Still an outside chance at 30 for Staal, who has been injured nearly all year. That's a heck of an accomplishment.
4:51 2nd: 2-0 Canes; LaRose 10 (Staal, Kostopoulos) I'm not entirely sure where that line came from, but it's got two goals in three and a half minutes to put the Canes up by two. Kostopoulos gets an assist I wasn't sure he'd get for starting the play with a brilliant poke check in the high slot to spring Staal up the ice two-on-two. Staal fed LaRose at the blue line, and Rosey got behind the defense and drew what would probably have been a penalty shot before going five-hole on Halak while falling to the ice in highlight-reel fashion.
11:21 2nd: Habs cut it to 2-1; Gionta 27 (Moore, Markov) Finally, the Habs break through on Ward with some hard work in front of the net. Brian Gionta was in perfect position at the top of the crease to receive Dominic Moore's pass from behind the net, and it took a few pokes but Gionta eventually willed the puck past Ward on a rebound.
14:30 2nd: Marc-Andre Bergeron breaks up what would have been a Patrick Dwyer breakaway from the blue line in with a great defensive play, one of a few we've seen tonight from the Habs' defense. Except for getting caught napping on LaRose's goal, the entire Habs blue line has played very well.
14:50 2nd: No sooner do I say that than Erik Cole somehow whiffs on a tap-in at the far post, fooling even the guy on the goal horn who gives a short toot before realizing the puck never went in. By all accounts it should have, and there's no explanation for why it didn't.
End 2nd: Another entertaining period, if a little looser on both ends. Shots were 14-9 Canes, who have earned every bit of their lead tonight. Nothing like a good way to send the team into the offseason like a win, right guys? (Right...?)
2:42 3rd: Canes lead 3-1; Staal 28 (McBain, Rodney) (pp) The Canes' first power play of the night cashes in on a couple of sweet passes. First, Bryan Rodney started the play with a dish to Jamie McBain along the far boards, and McBain didn't hold on for long before firing to Staal in the near circle. Staal one-timed it home for a short-lived two-goal lead...
3:03 3rd: Habs get it back, down 3-2; Bergeron 12 (Gomez, Cammalleri) ...because just 21 seconds later, Marc-Andre Bergeron wired a one-timer from the top of the near circle over Ward's glove and into the net to make it a one-goal game again. Ward will probably be kicking himself for that shot later, but he's had a strong night even discounting that goal.
8:13 3rd: There have been only three penalties tonight, and they've all been tripping calls. Odd.
12:50 3rd: The Habs are slowly starting to take the game over, and the Canes need to be careful. They don't want to cough up this lead in the last game of the season...
15:40 3rd: A 2-on-1 to ice the game for the Canes leads to nothing, as Ray Whitney's pass intended for Erik Cole was just a bit too long and couldn't be converted. The Habs are still all over the Canes this period, and they've nearly pulled even in shots.
17:22 3rd: Canes lead 4-2; LaRose 11 (Staal, McBain) Beautiful play. Staal led a 3-on-1 down low, and while his shot didn't go in, bouncing right off Halak's right pad, LaRose was right there to clean up the mess and put the Canes up by two for the third time tonight. Staal has 4 points tonight.
End 3rd: A hat trick goal for Eric Staal into the empty net sealed the deal. A hat trick on hat night, the Canes' third or fourth in history, gave the home crowd something to cheer for heading into the offseason, and even though the Canes won't make the postseason they sure made today one heck of a day. An All-Star Game announcement, and then this? Not too shabby. Shots in the third were 16-9 for the Habs, who pulled to within one of the Canes overall at 33-32.
Postgame: Staal didn't even realize it was hat night until they started raining down from the stands after his goal. Guess that's what happens when you're playing focused. It was obvious from the drop of the puck which team was playing with house money and which team was gripping their sticks just a bit too tight, and now the Habs do indeed have to sweat it out to learn whether they'll make the postseason. Again, it's all but a foregone conclusion, but knowing Montreal this game has to send them (the team and the city) into some serious soul-searching.
Click for locker room audio from
Cam Ward,
Chad LaRose and
Eric Staal.
Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
I usually use this space to tease the next home game, but since that won't be known for awhile I'll just have to leave you to figure things out on your own. I mean, technically the next home game is October 7 against Minnesota, but that's in Helsinki and unless I hit the lottery I'll be watching on TV like a good many of you. Instead, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for all your contributions to the blog this year. It's been a lot of fun, and we have some great things planned for next season that will really make it even better.
I know I kid often about how many (few?) people I'm talking to in this space, but I want you to know how appreciated you are and how gratifying it is to see so many fans interact through Twitter and on the blog. I hope you have a fantastic offseason, and come back next year for an All-Star season at the RBC.
