Canes Recover to Take Lightning, 3-2
by Bob Wage on Jan 4, 2009 1:16 AM EST
8 comments
After a slow start, Carolina woke up mid-way through the first period and took over the hockey game last night in Tampa. The Lightning came out with major jump, controlled play in the Hurricanes zone, and took the lead just five minutes into the game on a rebound chance by Ryan Craig.
About a minute and a half later, Vaclav Prospal tipped in a Vincent Lecavalier shot and the Bolts looked like they might skate the Canes right out of the rink.
The Carolina coaching staff flipped the right switch though and the Canes bounced back in a big way. Once they got their legs under them, the Hurricanes started to fire pucks on goal and crash the net. They picked up two consecutive goals using this strategy.
During the team's first powerplay of the night, a Rod Brind'Amour shot deflected off Justin Williams for the Canes first goal. Just about a minute later, Dennis Seidenberg rifled a shot that hit Chad LaRose and the puck got past goalie Mike Smith. The Hurricanes put on an amazing display of passing before the goal, almost teasing the Lightning during the sequence.
About six minutes into the second period, Joni Pitkanen fired a shot from the blueline which seemed to have eyes. The rocket hit the inside of the post and bounced in net. The defenseman had a monster game and was all over the ice. He finished the affair with a goal and an assist, had a +2, led the team with over 24 minutes of TOI, and was named the first star of the game.
The Canes held on to the slim margin for the rest of the game. But unlike the St. Louis win, they still seemed to have control. Cam Ward was not pressured nearly as much as he was early on, as the Lightning could only muster a total of nine shots on goal during the final two periods.
The victory gives the Canes three straight wins and ties their longest winning streak this season. They have also won 7 of their last 10.
Game Notes-
The coaching staff deserves credit for getting the team back on track about mid-way through the first period. One thing coach Maurice changed was to move Justin Williams on the Brind'Amour/Whitney line and put Scott Walker with Matt Cullen and Chad LaRose. The Walker/Cullen/LaRose line had a great game and they were rewarded with extra ice time. Williams and Brind'Amour have always had good chemistry and that line should improve as well.
Justin Williams had two points and had one of his better overall games.
Speaking of ice time, LaRose had more TOI than Brind'Amour did as he racked up 17 minutes. The little sparkplug had an excellent game and never stopped skating all night.
Brind'Amour had another costly turnover which led directly to a goal, but was able to erase the "minus" later in the contest.
Anton Babchuk had over 20 minutes of TOI, continued looking for offense. and seems more and more confident each game. He was tied with Pitkanen for the most shots on goal for the Canes at four each. That's right, two defensemen led the team in shots on goal.
Dennis Seidenberg was paired with Pitkanen and also had an excellent game. He chipped in with a couple of shots as well.
According to the official scorer, Tim Gleason led the Canes with four hits. Apparently, Chad LaRose, Tuomo Ruutu, and Scott Walker only had two each. Evgeny Artyukhin was credited with eight.
One Babchuk shot which did not make it to the goal was deflected into Bolts defenseman Andrej Meszaros' face. The ex-Senator had to leave the game. Fortunately, the puck hit the mouth/jaw area and not an eye.
Next up for the Canes is New Jersey at home on Tuesday night.
0 recs |
8 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
One could almost see a glimmer of a team coming together….
A
by Paladin6 on Jan 4, 2009 7:09 AM EST reply actions
New Jersey game will be measuring stick game to see where we are at. We already showed we can play with Boston and we have slapped Montreal around since 2002. Unfortuntely Washington has more skill and size than us. We need someone else to knock them out come playoff time
by Bad Boy on Jan 4, 2009 9:23 AM EST reply actions
Look, this style is the Devils style. The Maurice was using this same style in 2002 when they made the finals. The difference is this team has some talent offensively. The defense style will beat any team if they execute it correctly. Right now they are getting close to nearly flawless execution. Other teams are starting to become more restrained for fear of making a mistake. While Laviolette thought offense first, the team has the personnel to make the defense first style work consistently. They nearly beat Boston when they were not fully on board with the system. By the time the playoffs come around, they will look like the Devils of old. This has to do with strong positioning and working the puck to the offense when the opportunity presents.
The team has grinders, scorers and agile defense. Early this year was so frustrating because those guys were not being put together in the most effective way. Now that they have a purpose, they are coming together and will continue to grow.
What will they be like if Rod begins to get his knee back??? This could be a special season yet. Patience people it is coming.
by ken on Jan 4, 2009 9:57 AM EST reply actions
I’m just glad to see us getting a winning streak going. I’m liking what I’m seeing, just afraid to jinx us.
by neaux on Jan 4, 2009 11:02 AM EST reply actions
I know that this is boarderline blasphemous, but if Brind’Amour was any other player he would be sent down or atleast demoted to fourth line duties. Now Im not saying that this should happen, I dont really know what should happen. My problem is this: Whitney and now Williams are on his line and If that line gets less ice time b/c of the Capt. then we now have two of our top four scoring threats on the bench more often.
Roddy has always been one of the top defensive forwards in the game and Willy imo was becoming one of them before his injuries. These are my two favorite players on this team but I have to say that I hold my breath when they are on the ice. Willy is getting back to normal, his mistakes are not as glaring as they were a week ago but something has to change.
Any ideas on what that maybe?
by Charles on Jan 4, 2009 11:02 AM EST reply actions
Brind ámour is getting there, it just takes time to recover
from a major injury. He has been much better the last 30 days.
The turnover last night was a bit of a fluke. He was trying to go up the boards and the the puck hit a skate, bounced
directly to a Tampa player.
by JohnS on Jan 4, 2009 11:09 AM EST reply actions
I could not agree more about Brind’amour needing less ice time. I would love to see Cullen and Sutter moved up a line, but I just do not think that Brind’amour would fit in with the other lines either. Walker and Larose work too hard and Dwyer/Eaves with Bayda do not have enough talent to hide Brind’Amour’s problems.
I guess that we fans just need to be patient because things are getting better. The team still has the tendency to take a period off, but they are competing hard and I am loving what is happening right now.
GO CANES!
by grasshopper on Jan 4, 2009 11:16 AM EST reply actions
JohnS, I’d have to disagree with you about the Brindy turn over being a “fluke”. It was a poor decision to softly throw the puck up the middle of the ice and hope for the best. The option was there to throw the puck high off the boards if he wanted to get rid of the puck immediately. The option to skate the puck up ice was also there as there was no one in Brindy’s immediate vicinity.
For me there can be no clearer example of the problems Brindy is having this year. He may be getting back to healthy, but the only way he’s going to get back to the player he was is if he resets his mind on where his plus/minus is. Best thing he can do is say “alright, I’m starting today over at even in my mind and try to get to around +10 for the rest of the year.” If he doesn’t he’s going to keep making those mental mistakes like he did last night trying to get all -26 back in one game.
by C-Leaguer on Jan 4, 2009 1:06 PM EST reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Canes Country
Related FanShots on Canes Country
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Latest Puck Daddy - NHL from Yahoo! Sports
- In which former NHL coach Ken Hitchcock foils a shoplifter
- Montreal's Price talks new 2-year contract, expectations post-Halak
- Donald Fehr aware of Kovalchuk drama, mum on everything else
- Puck Headlines: Savard's agent rants on Bettman; Halak in Montreal
- Boudreau, Crawford placed on the coaching hot seat
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
