Matt Cullen, Patrick Dwyer Lead Hurricanes Past Panthers, 3-2
by Cory Lavalette on Dec 20, 2009 1:42 AM EST
58 comments
The Carolina Hurricanes needed a top-to-bottom effort to split their home-and-home series with the Florida Panthers. That's exactly what they got. After surging to a three-goal lead, the Canes survived a fluke goal and a 5-on-3 tally from the Panthers to hold on for a 3-2 win at the RBC Center and avenge Friday night's 6-3 loss in South Florida.
The combination of Matt Cullen and Patrick Dwyer led the way for Carolina, while Cam Ward played perhaps his best game in net since returning from injury. Cullen had a shorthanded goal and an assisted on Dwyer's second goal in as many games. But the duo — specifically Dwyer — were dangerous throughout the evening.
"We're going to work on the empty nets with him," Maurice said, referring to Dwyer's failed pass to Ray Whitney with Florida goaltender Scott Clemmensen pulled for an extra attacker late in the game. "But you're seeing what he's been doing in the American league, almost a point a game, now he's starting to get comfortable. I think you're starting to see what he's capable of doing every night. But he's certainly generating some chances."
Dwyer — playing his 11th game with the Canes this season — absorbed a board-rattling hit behind the Panthers net from Keith Ballard, scooted back to Clemmensen’s right and banged in Cullen's centering feed to open the scoring at 12:28 of the first. It was Dwyer's third career NHL goal.
Cullen would score next. After Stephane Yelle took a tripping penalty on an odd collision with Florida's Victor Oreskovich, Cullen raced past ex-Hurricane Dennis Seidenberg as he failed to hold the zone. Cullen skated down right side shorthanded on a 2-on-1, faking a pass to Dwyer and beating Clemmensen on the short side at 14:47 for an unassisted goal — his eighth tally and second shorthanded marker of the season — to make the score 2-0.
Sergei Samsonov then pushed the Canes to a 3-0 lead at 8:27 of the second after converting a cross-ice feed from Tom Kostopoulos. Kostopoulos first accepted a long blueline-to-blueline pass from defenseman Jay Harrison from the opposite side of the ice, raced up the right wing and zipped the pass across to Samsanov, who notched his fifth goal of the season.
With memories of past third-period leads blown fresh in everyone's mind, Carolina had a bad bounce lead to Florida's first goal. Shawn Matthias scored at 2:17 of the third when an odd carom off the glass left goalie Cam Ward stranded behind the net. Matthias fired the puck into the wide open goal to make the score 3-1.
Then with Ray Whitney and Stephane Yelle in the box on separate hooking calls, red-hot Stephen Weiss — who was otherwise quiet all evening — made it a one-goal game at 12:39 of the third when he shot in a loose puck with the Canes scrambling while down two men.
But the Hurricanes were able to shut the door as Ward — 28 saves on 30 shots — stifled the Panthers down the stretch to give Carolina its second win in three games and third consecutive home victory.
- Outside of looking silly courtesy the bad bounce on the Matthias goal, Ward looked like the goalie that led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Although he wasn't tested much the first two periods, Ward made several acrobatic — a few of them stylish — stops at opportune times to keep the momentum out of Florida's hands.
- Kostopoulous looked to spark Carolina early, squaring off with the Panthers' Gregory Campbell just 1:16 into the game. There were more spins and twirls than landed punches, but the message was delivered that the Canes were prepared to avenge their loss Friday night.
- Whitney was credited with the secondary assist on Dwyer's goal, his 300th point as a Cane.
- Dwyer tied Eric Staal with a team-high four shots, while Tuomo Ruutu was credited six hits.
- The Carolina defense played one of its best games of the season. Aaron Ward had a particularly good outing, going plus-2 and blocking a key shot when Ward was hung out to dry.
- Tim Gleason and Niclas Wallin were healthy scratches again, but Albany call-ups Bryan Rodney, Brett Carson and Harrison all played well. Joni Pitkanen had the hit of the night, flattening Florida's Radek Dvorak. Andrew Alberts led all blueliners with four hits.
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I called into 99.9 The Fan
of course gave a shout out to Canes Country AND Hockeymomof2…..
Anyways, I thought the Canes got lucky. They were timid, tentative, crowding one side, crashing into each other, etc. One of the last powerplays, the one right before Ruutu made it a 4 on 4 with a hook, they looked as if they were killing time, and not trying to score a goal.
Mike M. thought they had it together and they were playing defensive hockey well, etc.
Was I watching the wrong game?
Happerry Chrisolkwanaka
I think we were watching the same game.
I wouldn’t say they were lucky, I’d say they’re fortunate. They looked like were trying to run drills in the offensive zone, especially when entering the zone in transition. This lead to weak forchecking game overall — one exception being Dwyer’s goal. The rest of the time the second forward would join the mix right after Florida gained possession. There was too much standing around, but more so in the defensive end — like on the Weiss goal.
Cam Ward made a tone of acrobatic saves in the third period on first-shot opportunities — when the team is clicking on all cylinders he doesn’t need to do that. But it is good to see him get better with his lateral movement as he fine-tunes his game after the injury.
Gleason and Wallin healthy scratches?? Don’t know about Wallin, but Gleason probably isn’t completely healthy. Well, he’d beat it into you that he’s healthy, but I think we can cut him some slack.
Sorry. Just a mistake from writing at 2 a.m.
by Cory Lavalette on Dec 20, 2009 5:49 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Overall a great re-cap Cory. Maybe Bob will start taking his Saturday nights out on the town more often. Liked the quotes, liked the color, liked the bullets. Only complaint: your man-crush on Paddy (Patty?) Dwyer was a little obvious, but it’s okay, after he had such a great showing…..;)
BTW – is there a video highlight somewhere of the Pitakanen hit on Dvorak – not sure they re-played it on FSN.
Gleason for the "C" :
Just what do we need to do to make this happen?
by hockeymomof2 on Dec 20, 2009 6:12 PM EST up reply actions
I’m not even a huge Dwyer fan .. he’s a bottom six guy at best, if it all. But he was definitely the best forward out there tonight.
by Cory Lavalette on Dec 20, 2009 8:18 PM EST up reply actions
Cory, run down the list. You rather Rod? Yelle?
on this squad he’s a proven asset.
The rest of league, I dunno.
He makes shit happen here and there several that don’t come close to what he brings…
A
The Canes are like a box of expired chocolates......
I didn’t say I wasn’t a fan … I just said I’m not a huge fan. I thought this past offseason he could easily fill LaRose’s shoes (b/c I never expected Chad to match the numbers he put up last year). He’s a serviceable 9 thru 12 forward.
by Cory Lavalette on Dec 21, 2009 9:03 AM EST up reply actions
Okay.
Anyone have a bead on the Pits hit?
Gleason for the "C" :
Just what do we need to do to make this happen?
by hockeymomof2 on Dec 20, 2009 9:14 PM EST up reply actions
I thought we looked at lot better… yet Cam Ward is constantly looking silly behind the net. When is he going to wake up?
I’d like to know a stat of how many times he gives up the puck, or given up a goal because of being behind the net.
Are you serious????
That bad bounce of the glass supports has happened to every goalie in every league. No goalie can do anything about that goal.
A TRUE CANIAC......YES I AM........
I can’t believe you’re defending him! LOL
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
I know it hurt to say that but if anyone says that one was Cams faught doesn’t know or watch hockey.
A TRUE CANIAC......YES I AM........
that goal wasn’t his fault, but there were other times he looked awkward behind the net.
by Andrea's evil twin on Dec 21, 2009 9:47 AM EST up reply actions
Manascalco and lcd2you
I heard that call and thought the shout out to Canes Country and Hockeymomof2 was great. I agree that the Hurricanes have something wrong with their chemistry. The veterans of all people ought to know how to go wide open throttle when they have a 3-0 lead.
When I watch Washington, Pittsburgh, LA Kings, etc. when they get a 3-0 lead they are unmerciful with the opposition. Last night yet again the Hurricanes worked hard to get a 3-0 lead and then suddenly they backed off.
As described by lcd2you and CynCanes there was far too much looking and not enough moving of feet by the Hurricanes, but I would have probably rated the play higher overall than them. I see the issue as one of pure speed more than lack of continuity or desire. Florida is a very fast team; and when the Florida forwards gain speed, some of our veterans lack the pure burning speed to keep up. As a result, the overall team looks slow.
Cullen, Sutter, and Dwyer on the other hand have blazing speed and it shows. Once again, the Hurricanes power play needs improvement; but looked its best when Maurice/Francis had almost all Albany Rats and Sutter on the power play at the same time.
The referee called Ruutu for holding (at least that is what he said on the ice) and that really was an outrageously bad call. It was a battle behind the Florida net and all I saw was too NHL hockey players working hard to gain the puck.
Defensively, although Aaron Ward played better, any time he is on the ice, whoever else is paired with him is going to look tentative trying to make up for A. Ward’s slack play and slack attitude. I get the feeling A. Ward is mentally a short timer and is already trying to weigh whether to build a tavern or go into announcing. He is hardly ever on the ice mentally. Also, with Rodney, Carson, and Harrison, they are going to make mistakes. I welcome each mistake by them frankly, because it is one more teaching lesson for them. I want them to make plenty of mistakes this season, so they can figure out how to avoid the mistakes next season. I am delighted with the play of Rodney, Carson, and Harrison, mistakes and all.
As far as I am concerned the athletic skill and determination of the Albany Rats far outweigh their errors. I think they will play much better when Gleason returns and the defensive pairings can be more balanced — and A. Ward can be sent to the press box to prepare for his new career next year as a commentator.
yeah, what he said… especially about the rats
by Andrea's evil twin on Dec 21, 2009 9:50 AM EST up reply actions
Cam Ward's Lack of Puck Handling
Is there any elite NHL goalie with worse puck handling skills than Cam Ward? What’s up with that?
With a young defense Cam Ward really needs to help them break out with intelligent passing rather than creating havoc with muffed passes into traffic or passing directly to the opponent in the corner.
While Cam Ward is working on self-improvement, perhaps glove side high work might be mentioned. What’s impressive is how effective Cam Ward is despite having a glaring weakness with glove side high shots and poor puck handling. He’s still an immature goalie, despite his Stanley Cup victory and games played. I suppose I am required to be patient with him as well. Note to self: give Cam Ward some slack.
They’ve actually come a long way since 05-06 (and moreso 06-07 when he was the full time guy). Tommy B has made amazing improvements with him in that area. There is still quite a bit of room for him to improve, but don’t forget that he is working with a pieced together defense-things aren’t ideal this season in any area.
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
Aaron Ward problem.........
Ok, so it is clear that Aaron Ward is not checked in mentally. It is like feeling last year with the incident in Boston is not gone from his mind. Perhaps he was really affected by that thing. As fans, it seems simple, forgive and forget. It may be a situation where he really felt like he was rejected by the team and the fan base. Maybe his heart just is not in Raleigh anymore. He may be a toxic waste player here. He could be the cancer that is undermining the team and Maurice. He clearly does not believe in hitting anymore. He chases the puck……..and goes thru the motions. It is embarassing really.
Cam was very efficient last night. Florida was really not into it. He was positionally better. The fluke goal would have caught Brodeur too. He had about 6 or 7 chances behind the net last night that had to happen quickly. He does not seem to be moving as fast as normal and that extra half second caused some posession problems. He is still looks ……..not hurt…..but stiff. He looked better in this game but sitll needs to just have fun.
As far as the effort last night. First the officiating was just awful. I mean it had to be a setup. Some of the calls they let go….were a mystery. The calls at the end were ….. a mystery. Really this stuff causes me to question the integrity of the sport. The play of the Canes was good. They looked much better overall. The third period was again the institution of the prevent defense….aka….collapse defense…(the only thing it prevents is winning). I have been beating the drum all season long. It is not the 1990’s anymore. NHL teams will and do just feast on that moronic strategy. It allows the other team to build confidence and "MO"mentum. Just that coaching decision alone is enough to fire Maurice.
For the first time this season, the Canes played angry.
Maybe Mo needs to try the ANGER defense instead of the stand around defense.
The Strange Puck Goal and NHL Officiating
The open net goal was really not on Cam. At the time from my seat, it looked like Cam mishandled the puck. My son strongly disagreed and said I had old man’s eyes. He is right. When I went home and looked at it on video, Cam was in the correct position and the puck took a bizarre and unforeseeable bounce. From the video I saw, Cam never got to the puck.
The NHL officiating overall is useless and worse than bad. It is happening all over the NHL. Every game I see, which is a ton on Center Ice, the officials are making outrageously bad calls. I think the NHL officials are incompetent and not malicious given the magnitude of their incomprehensible calls. No other professional sports would tolerate this level of officiating incompetence and arbitrariness.
Maurice claims he isn’t telling the team to back off when they get a lead. I think it is combination of his personality and the team’s personality at work. Whatever it is, that mentality of backing off from the fight along with a pitiful power play through the first 40% of the season has cost the Hurricanes enough games that the playoffs are a distant dream. It needs to be fixed or Maurice needs to go and Rutherford needs to find a coach who can reach the players. In fairness to Maurice, I think a large part is personnel.
There is a hunger factor and skill factor at work. Dwyer has something to prove. He is also very fast and has great hands. Walker loves hockey, but his skill set doesn’t include great hands and overwhelming speed (although he is far from slow). Samsonov is really quick, but he is not a fighter and doesn’t have open ice blazing speed.
I will place the blame squarely on Maurice if the same thing happens next season after Maurice, Francis, and Rutherford get together and work on adding new players. I’ve seen Boychuk in Albany enough to know he does not stop and is one of the most determined players the Hurricanes have. My instinct is that Samson is a man with something to prove and he could provide on the fourth line a combination of skill and grit that keeps the Hurricanes skating downhill.
Finally, I agree completely about the anger factor. For example, Jordan Staal is an angry man on the ice. He is a man on a mission to search and destroy. Eric Staal is too busy berating himself to be angry at the other team. The Hurricanes need a fast, puck moving, defenseman with Gleason’s inner rage. A hopeful sign was Pitkanen’s massive hit last night. Pitkanen has so much speed and athleticism that if he unleashes his inner rage, he will be a physical force of nature like Ruutu.
Posted about this on HFBoards and I’ll mention it here too… The Scott Stevens clip on the videoboard was a disgrace. Mr. Stevens had a legendary career and has a great legacy in hockey, but he is probably one of the top 5 all time Hurricane villains. The only memories anyone in that building has of him are him plastering the guts of Ron Francis and Shane Willis all over the ice, and effectively ending Willis’ career. I wish the clip had gone a little longer, though, because by the end the boos were really starting to swell.
+++
That clip is appropriate in NJ only. Unless they were just trying to get the crowd riled up…………..disgrace. WTF Like the Red Socks celebrating Bucky Dent’s HR. It made me feel soiled.
REVISED LINES 2010-2011 --- OR RETURN OF THE KILLER RATS
Revised Lines 2010-2011
2010-2011 Hurricanes Depth Chart
Jim Rutherford has said that he wants to re-sign Ray Whitney. I have revised my projected 2010-2011 lines to accommodate Ray Whitney in the lineup. Under most of these scenarios, the Hurricanes are adding Taylor Hall as their draft pick. I believe that Taylor Hall is indeed the reward for this season.
For comparison, I included Fabian Brunnstrom as being added. Given these lineups, it looks like Matt Cullen for Cam Barker is the most likely trade situation. I have not included Samsonov or LaRose in the lineup even though their contracts don’t expire. I assumed they would be traded in order to make room for younger players. I can’t see LaRose being favored over any of the third or fourth line players. Similarly, for the top nine, I would not pick Samsonov over any of the top nine. I don’t foresee Samsonov being bought out next year and I have a hard time envisioning Samsonov as a fourth line player. Samsonov is my sleeper. He could well make a huge comeback next year and score 20+ goals.
VERSION 1:
Taylor Hall Eric Staal Tuomo Ruutu
Ray Whitney Jussi Jokinen Erik Cole
Zach Boychuk Brandon Sutter Jiri Tlusty
Pat Dwyer Jerome Samson T. Kostopoulos
VERSION 2:
Taylor Hall Eric Staal Erik Cole
Ray Whitney Jussi Jokinen Tuomo Ruutu
Zach Boychuk Brandon Sutter Jiri Tlusty
Pat Dwyer Jerome Samson T. Kostopoulos
VERSION 3:
Taylor Hall Eric Staal Erik Cole
Ray Whitney Brandon Sutter Jiri Tlusty
Zach Boychuk Jussi Jokinen Tuomo Ruutu
Pat Dwyer Jerome Samson T. Kostopoulos
VERSION 4:
Taylor Hall Eric Staal Erik Cole
Ray Whitney Brandon Sutter Tuomo Ruutu
Zach Boychuk Jussi Jokinen Jiri Tlusty
Pat Dwyer Jerome Samson T. Kostopoulos
VERSION 5:
Tuomo Ruutu Eric Staal Taylor Hall
Fabian Brunnstrom Brandon Sutter Zach Boychuk
Jiri Tlusty Jussi Jokinen Eric Cole
Taylor Pyatt Pat Dwyer T. Kostopoulos
Bleacher Report on the Hurricanes -- Power Play and Penalty Kill Inefficiency Killed Hurricanes
Here’s the link to an interesting article on the Hurricanes. It argues forcefully that the poor power play and inefficient penalty kill at the first 25% of the season ruined the Hurricanes’ season.
Intuitively known to us, but justified within the numbers. Poor power play and too many penalties will lose you some games, all right.
And, with power play clicking in December, we’re cruising at 0.500 hockey (4-4-0) against fairly difficult competition.
One thing I did notice at this game, It was the loudest ‘Refs you SUCK’ chant I’ve ever heard at any game.
A TRUE CANIAC......YES I AM........
Bummer – I was hoping Harrison would be making that trip and Rodney would hang out here a little more – he’s more our Corvo guy. I guess my thought was Harrison subs for Wallin, Carson for Gleason..
Gleason for the "C" :
Just what do we need to do to make this happen?
by hockeymomof2 on Dec 20, 2009 3:15 PM EST up reply actions
Chip Alexander says that Gleason will be back. I am hoping Aaron Ward will be put on re-entry waivers and that some team will take him.
My guess is that you won’t see that action taken until a taker has been identified.
The league now knows the price. JR’s phone will ring if they’re interested at half-price. And Aaron knows that no one jumped for him.
Could be something is arranged for the post-holiday resumption of trading activity. We’ll see.
I agree, while I want Award gone as much as anybody, re-entry serves no purpose without a buyer. As soon as somebody wants him, JR will run in whatever he is wearing to chuck him on the re-entry process. Just be wasting paper work now. The real sad part (other than agreein’ with Elsker ;-) ) is I doubt anybody wants him, even at half his salary. The dude looks like he had an anurism or something. I expect he finishes out his contract here, just like Rod.
A
The Canes are like a box of expired chocolates......
Whitney (slightly OT)
Passing comment made during the rapid-fire “what have you heard?” round robin they routinely do at the end of Satelite Hotstove during the 2nd intermission of HNIC’s first Saturday night game:
Mike Milbury: JR says that Ray Whitney will NOT be traded and that he’s more interested in re-signing him than trading him.
Boom, they move on to the next talking head.
I’m not sure how many grains of salt needed to be added to this. Just passing it along as a data point. Could be JR blowing smoke, could be Milbury misunderstood his intent, could be Whitney’s put his foot down with the no-movement clause.
Because, actually, we all could have both…the trade AND the re-sign. But, that does take Whitney’s consent and he may not feel like going anywhere, even to a contender.
I heard that reference to Whitney by HNIC and adjusted the lines for 2010-2011 to account for Whitney staying in Carolina. Rutherford has tremendous respect for Whitney and I anticipate Whitney will ultimately be a coach at Carolina after his playing career ends.
Given those facts, I don’t see Rutherford changing his mind about wanting Whitney to play out his career with Carolina. As you point out, it could also be Rutherford’s way of saying the deal would have to be the deal of a lifetime to get Carolina to trade Whitney. My guess is still that Rutherford and Whitney have a mutual understanding that Whitney will be part of the Hurricanes organization after he finishes his playing days. Whitney would be an exciting head coach.
True, but if I’m JR, I’m probably a bit more coy about the future and the conversation goes something like this when the topic of re-signing with us comes up:
Tell you what, Ray. Let us sweeten the deal by collecting a pick/prospect for interested contender of your choice and we’ll re-up you over the summer for a fair market value.
No, Ray, it won’t be a two-year deal. Yeah, I know you want a two-year deal, but the answer is no. We take it one year at a time, and there’s a place in the org for you when you can no longer play for us.
Deal?
Your scenario makes the most logical sense. Your scenario gives Whitney another shot at a Stanley Cup if the trade is made at the deadline and gives the Hurricanes a draft pick and/or a prospect. Sounds like a win-win situation.
He has to leave home for a few months (March until elimination), but doesn’t have to move the family to a new city. And, it’s for a fun/good cause with his “extension” already negotiated (assuming rules permit this kind of a discussion in advance).
I’m banking on hoping that his wife and he want to continue to make Raleigh their home for the foreseeable future and that this would be the path for doing so.
Cullen for Barker (OT)
While on the subject of trades and no-trades, there have been numerous rumors about Cullen being traded for Cam Barker. If Whitney is going to be kept, then with all the talent in Albany, it would make it more likely Cullen might be traded.
Cam Barker would fit well within the Hurricanes needs and is a young and still developing defenseman.
Here’s the scouting report on Cam Barker:
http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/56126/Cam_Barker
Cam Barker
Chicago Blackhawks #25 – Defenseman
Born: 1986/04/04 Age: 23
Height: 6-3 Weight: 213
Place of birth: Winnipeg, Man., Canada
Seasons: 4
Drafted by: the Chicago Blackhawks in 2004 (1st round)
Scouting Report
Assets
* Possesses a hard, accurate shot from the point, which is especially effective on the power play. Can play a physical brand of hockey.
Flaws
* Must improve his decision-making and defensive-zone coverage in order to become a complete blue-liner. Needs more game-to-game consistency.
Career Potential
* Aggressive offensive defenseman.
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