The Song Remains the Same - Pens 5 Canes 2
by Bob Wage on Dec 5, 2008 2:57 AM EST
22 comments
Scotty Bowman himself could have been behind the Carolina bench last night and it would not have mattered. The Hurricanes turned the puck over, gave it away, mis-handled it, and couldn't keep it out of their own net. They pretty much kept on doing what's been happening all too much, all year long.
At least new coach Paul Maurice got a chance to see what's been going wrong, up close and personal.
The Canes fell behind again, (for the 11th game in a row), and didn't grace the scoreboard until the Pens had built a 3-0 lead. By the end of the second period, the game was as well as over and the scoring had been completed, 5-2.
Tuomo Ruutu took a nice pass from Sergei Samsonov, made a slick move, and shot in his ninth goal of the season, and Matt Cullen fired in a rare powerplay goal to complete the home team's scoring.
The Hurricanes did out-shoot the Penguins, (36-22) but many of the shots were harmless shots from the point with no traffic in front of the net. Surprisingly the Penguins, (who had played and traveled the night before) out-hit the Canes, (who had three days rest), by a margin of 28-20. One might have thought that the home team would have come out with more physicality in an attempt to impress their new coach, if not their fans.
Justin Williams was on the ice for about 13 minutes and did well, for not having played in so long.
Frank Kaberle went down with an injury and it's not known when he will be able to return.
Kevin McCarthy was the "odd coach out" on the bench. He moved upstairs with Tom Barrasso. Tom Rowe stayed with the defensemen, Ron Francis was with the forwards, and Maurice was giving tips and advice throughout the game.
If Jim Rutherford felt that he was going to energize the fanbase with his re-hiring of Maurice, his plan seems to have back-fired. Before the game, the "new" coach was introduced to a mixture of boos and cheers. There was a sparse crowd of 14,559, many of whom were faithful Penguins fans. One might have thought that the announcement of a brand new coach would have inspired more fans to come, out of curiosity if nothing else.
Next up for the Hurricanes will be the Flyers on Saturday night.
(Thoughts from the peanut gallery-)
Josef Melichar might need to take a break. He had two consecutive turnovers, the second of which ended up in the back of the Hurricanes net. It's not the first game this has happened. The Canes tried putting him on waivers, but he went unclaimed. That is no surprise because what team wants to pick him up with his million dollar salary? This is one mistake Jim Rutherford needs to own up to and rectify somehow. Could exchanging him with Tim Conboy be any worse? At least Conboy would bring some edge to his game, even if he does make mistakes. Melichar was supposed to be a physical defenseman, and fans have yet to see any of it.
Team captain Rod Brind'Amour is now at -20. That is not a typo, -20. Something needs to change here. One can make all the excuses in the world for him, but when the next closest Hurricane is Ray Whitney at -8 and it's the worst plus/minus in the entire NHL, that glaring stat is more than just bad luck. Not only is he team captain, he is one of the high earners of the team at 4 million this year. This franchise really needs more out of him.
Who was supposed to answer to the likes of Hal Gill, Brooks Orpik, and Eric Godard if they acted up? Was Brandon Sutter supposed to fight them?
Michael Leighton needs to be better if the Canes have any chance of winning their next two games this weekend. By the end of the second period, the Pens had scored 5 goals on just 14 shots. While some of those were tough chances, the goalie looked out of position at times and allowed too many rebounds or loose pucks.
Tuomo Ruutu and Matt Cullen continue to be bright spots for the team.
I took some video of a Justin Williams interview after the game and a portion of Paul Maurice's first post-game press conference.
((REMINDER))
Hall of Fame announcer Chuck Kaiton will be at Legends Autographs to talk hockey and sign free autographs tonight, (12/5) from 6:30 to 8PM. For more information, check out this link.
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You keep stealing my quotes and we’re talkin’ royalties here, man!!!
Now I took away a diff. slant. Yes the play was similar and the result typical. I did notice Staal once and again. I thought the secondary guys except Melichar were playing well. The effort was tepid, but pretty consistant right to the horn. I think the mistakes and LEIGHTON put this one out of reach. If the effort keeps coming the big guys show and we get Tatoo from Fantasy Island to play big in net we are on to something.
That was the worst goal tending I ahve seen. Sorry, breakaways are the norm here right now and 5-14 isn’t even AHL level. I did like the fact that Mo kept in for the whole enchilada. Hopefully the shit play leaves a bad taste in his mouth and he picks it up Sat. Philly will be alot harder and meaner and it looks like Leighton is it for a stretch.
Wonder if Weees is available….. WTF???
A
by Paladin6 on Dec 5, 2008 5:07 AM EST reply actions
That was “Weekes”.
Couldn’t even type with a straight face..
A
by Paladin6 on Dec 5, 2008 5:08 AM EST reply actions
It’s wrong to point the blame at one person. But I’m doing so, Leighton was AWFUL in goal.
by neaux on Dec 5, 2008 8:15 AM EST reply actions
Spot on everyone. Scoring goals will help take pressure off the D, but Leighton & Melichar looked terrible – where IS this physical defenseman that I was hoping / heard he was? Everyone else was average – Rutuu & Cullen were bright spots. It is going to take a LOT to convince Ru to stay here. PP goal a small step forward. You could tell Mo was assessing the situation. Philly will be another game of assessment. Bring up Conboy & LaCouture!
by marc on Dec 5, 2008 8:25 AM EST reply actions
why if someone scroes a goal, are they automatically the bright spot…
the bright spots were samsonov and williams.
rutuu has played that great all year,
and cullen scored once, and made a good move one other time.
im glad cullen is starting to get his confidence back, but his shot went off a penguin skate on its wayto the net.
williams looked great in his first game back and it affected everyone else.
SAmsonov, was skating like he used to last year.
weaving around and spinning in circles and accelerating past people.
this is something i havent seen since last year,
maybe lavi was keeping him from holding on to the puck that much…
this was a great game last night,
lots to look forward to.
the score was 5-2 because the d was weak.
we are really missing gleason and seidenberg.
i can remember thinking often during this season:
“im glad gleason was out there for that” which obviously wasnt the case last night.
and once our forwards get back in front of the net, those shots wil start going in.
my $.02:
waive melichar
bring up conboy, he will energize this team.
we all know it.
then we wont so much have needed brookbank. and his scratch for wiliams or walker when he returns wont be so questionable.
-c
by chris j on Dec 5, 2008 8:43 AM EST reply actions
Bubba,
if its true and pittsburg is baiting jordan staal to get a top winger.
why not make this happen.
we could package a winger and a center for jordan staal and a winger.
maybe this is blasphemy,
but brindy and whitney
for staal and and one of their top wingers.
or some crazy combination like that.
not saying i want to get rid of anybody.
but am i wrong in thinking jordan staal would be worth giving a little up?
bubba and cory, can you think of any possibilities?
just wondering.
remember me? im the guy who was all about drafting jared..
but my pleas went un heard.
(now we could have three)
just sayin…
by chris j on Dec 5, 2008 9:01 AM EST reply actions
All I have to say was good performance over all with the energy and Leighton was terrible!!! We need Ward back soon to have a chance at saving this season! That pretty much wraps everything up!
ChrisJ,
I would love to trade brindy for jordan staal. Lets just do that straight up!!! I would even be willing to do the brindy/whitney trade for Jordan Staal and someone else! Lets get that done ASAP!!!
by Jonathan on Dec 5, 2008 9:06 AM EST reply actions
I think Canes fans needs to calm down. We will not see the full affect of Maurice/Francis until Jan. Did Fans realy think that the team would change into the Red Wings overnight? seriously?….. Plus it doesn’t help when the best player “Ward” is out. I know there is a lot of Ward haters out there but after watching Leighton, people should realize how good he is. Fans who don’t like Ward is clueless about hockey
by Bad Boy on Dec 5, 2008 9:07 AM EST reply actions
brindy/staal would be great given the current minus 20, and then eric staal could pick up as Captain.
but the pens want a top winger,
so really whitney is the one.
i love ray whitney, and would hate to see that happen,,
but…..
its hockey..
(this is all way too soon..ha)
i should stat my own rumors blog..
by chris j on Dec 5, 2008 9:08 AM EST reply actions
Good lord… I have too much to do this morning to really read through all of that… But I’m glad that there isn’t a ton of “Mo hate” going around this morning (although I did hear some from my seats in 115 last night).
I’ll say I was disappointed with the outcome of the game last night… However I didn’t leave in a totally disgusting mood as I did from the Ducks game last Sunday.
While it’s true that the effort was not 100% there last night… it wasn’t awful either… and I kind of give the guys a pass this one time. The previous 36 hours had been sort of hard to swallow for some of them…
And with that said… Defensive break downs and poor goal tending could be the blame for us being out of the game altogether. I counted 2 goals that were beyond soft and should have been stopped without question… or effort really… But that would have still left the score at 3-2 for the other guys…
In other news… We had a pens fan annoying the hell out of us last night… and he had the nerve to call P(sh)itsburgh the “real hockeytown.” This was after they lost to Detroit last year in the finals… I’ll give that guy an A+… although he was more annoying than most Devils fans… he has a ton of nerve… and wore his Crosby jersey quite well…
by Mateo on Dec 5, 2008 9:40 AM EST reply actions
Just reading over everyone’s comments and I must say I thought the team played horrible last night. Melichar turned the puck over and as a result the Pens scored…then soon after that it looked like Brindy just honestly gave up and therefore another goal for the Pens. I mean the spark needs to start somewhere, and it obviously is not coming from the captain…so maybe a trade does need to happen. It is so frustrating to watch your team play out there with no heart (except Ruu and Cullen).
Chris J,
no offense but I was watching Samsonov last night as well and I obviously didnt see all that greatness you saw in him. What I saw was him playing with the puck instead of getting shots on goal. He still doesnt look like the sammie from last year…somewhat disappointing.
very frustrated…
by CaniacIV on Dec 5, 2008 10:20 AM EST reply actions
Samsonov is playing alright… but he puck handles too much… I think Forslund said… Sammy will dangle through nine guys and then not shoot… I love having him on the team… but he has to shoot the puck more! Shoot and it will go in.
by Mateo on Dec 5, 2008 10:41 AM EST reply actions
Leighton & Melichar were both horrible last night. Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes! Ruutu and Cullen are by far our best players on the ice. Samsonov needs to go! He has NOT impressed me at all this season. Williams was rusty but he put forth a good effort. We desperatedly need Ward back in front of the net.
I was at the game last night, surrounded by Penguins fans. It seem they out numbered the Canes fans! Every where I turned there was #87 or #71 Jerseys. And to top the night off, our mascot Stormy is used in a wedding proposal between two Pens fans?
by Kayla on Dec 5, 2008 11:02 AM EST reply actions
ChrisJ – I agree with everything you say, but anyone who scores a goal & hits right now is a bright spot!
by marc on Dec 5, 2008 11:17 AM EST reply actions
I thought it was a GREAT game lastnight….for one reason. Maurice got a chance to witness first hand everything that is wrong with the team within a very short period of time. Now he has the task of fixing it!
by Frank on Dec 5, 2008 11:38 AM EST reply actions
Bad goaltending will deflate a team any day of the week. I’m not trying to use it as an excuse, b/c clearly there are issues beyond on that, but first and foremost Leighton was dreadful. And I highly doubt Peters will get one of these games this weekend (and he shouldn’t have to) … but we’re in for a long weekend if Leighton’s play doesn’t improve exponentially.
by Cory on Dec 5, 2008 12:23 PM EST reply actions
Those of you hating on Sammy…not sure what else you want the guy to do. I think he has like 6pts in the last 6 games. Do you really expect more than a point a game out of the guy like you would a Staal or Crosby or OV?
by Justin Walther on Dec 5, 2008 1:15 PM EST reply actions
Just read that Conboy and Borer are on the way up…Melichar and Dryer going down. Looks like Maurice is reading what you guys are saying..lets get physical…physical…i wanna get physical…
by Justin Walther on Dec 5, 2008 1:20 PM EST reply actions
“Scotty Bowman himself could have been behind the Carolina bench last night and it would not have mattered.”
Lol I said the same exact thing to my mother!
And I agree with CaniacIV, Ruutu & Cullen were the only two whose game I really liked. I heard some post game comments from people saying Staal had a better game – I don’t agree with that at all. Breaking news, I know, but Leighton was poor. Just speaking for myself, I’d like to see Sammi pirouette a little more. If he doesn’t do at least 35 spins a shift I demand a refund!
RE: Mo hating – well I hate that he’s the coach but I don’t even want to talk about it. I’m too upset & frustrated over the complete futility of it all.
by Sunny on Dec 5, 2008 1:44 PM EST reply actions
samsonov’s puck handling is very good at opening up the ice for plays to happen.
you guys can hate on his “dancing” but it leads to good things. he did it the entire time he was here last season and everyone is wanting him to put up the kind of numbers he did then. now the “dancing” is gone this season, (probably by request to fit into the "system") and hes not getting on the score sheet…
…now maurice comes in, and all the sudden we see it again.
i dont think its a coincidence,
and i, for one, am all for it.
by chrisj on Dec 5, 2008 1:53 PM EST reply actions
Samsonov’s improved play came well before Maurice was in the picture.
by repenttokyo on Dec 5, 2008 2:18 PM EST reply actions
Justin -1 for the Olivia Newton John reference
I also get a -1 for recognizing it…….
by wylde4canesHatesJR on Dec 5, 2008 2:24 PM EST reply actions
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