Minute by Minute

The Canes didn't have their legs or their A game last night but were still able to manufacture a win. They were outhit 29-17, outshot 36-17, and loss the faceoff battle 29-25, but played the game minute to minute and literally stole the 2 points and overtime win. After falling behind quickly in the 1st period 2-0, John Grahame tightened his bootstraps and didn't allow another goal the rest of the game. In the meantime, the Canes offense came alive with goals by Ray Whitney and Justin Williams. Both players have done well lately, but Willie is really on a tear with a 7 game scoring streak.

The game ended in a tie and the overtime began with a questionable tripping call on Jay Bouwmeester. That was a tough call to take in OT, but seemed to be a makeup call for some earlier, uncalled infractions near the end of regulation that were complained about by the Canes. To their credit, the Hurricanes took full advantage. Cory Stillman made a beautiful pass over to Scott Walker who rifled a shot on Eddie Belfour. The rebound came right out to Erik Cole who had good enough timing to get his stick on it and poke it in. Canes 3, Panthers 2 This was a game we probably didn't deserve to win but since we played a fresh team on the 2nd night of a back to back, we'll take it without any complaining about how badly we may have looked doing it. Great job Canes!

I'm keeping this brief today, I hope everyone who celebrates the holiday has a safe and enjoyable one!

Peace!

Doobie Brothers