FanPost

Fuel for Carolina's Fire

If the Canes needed any motivation going into their homestand against the Penguins perhaps Bob Smizik's blog at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is all they'll need.  His post Overrated Hurricanes are overmatched pretty much strokes the ego's of the entire Penguin team.  But if that title isn't enough to stir the feathers of Canes fans and players perhaps his last line should be: "The next dose of difficulty, if any, for the Penguins will come when the opposition is the Detroit Red Wings." Of course, Bob Smizik is not alone in his thinking that this series will be a cakewalk for the Penguins...this despite the fact that Game 1 was highly contested and nearly went to overtime and Game 2 was close until the final 7 minutes of the third period.  I think people may be reading into Malkin's amazing performance a bit too much.  The Canes made a lot of defensive mistakes during that game but they were just outworked in the third period.  But let's keep in mind that both of those games were in Pittsburgh and the Canes were without their leading checking forward in Game 2 (Tuomo Ruutu).  As a Canes fan I'd like to think this series is far from over.  Do Pens fans and writers not remember how the Washington series played out? Did that end up being a cakewalk? Even after Ovechkin's (another amazing Russian) dominating performance? The Canes obviously cannot get caught in another shootout like last night.  They will lose, even the high powered Capitals lost when they tried to do that.  However, the Canes are back at home and will be looking to simplify things, concentrate on defense, and will use the energy provided by the fans.  Pens fans and writers may be eating their words soon, because folks, this thing ain't over yet.