Florida Takes Out Carolina: Panthers 4, Hurricanes 1
by Bob Wage on Mar 6, 2010 10:47 PM EST
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PrintThe Carolina Hurricanes started out slowly, fell behind 2-0 in the opening period, and ended up being stymied by goalie Tomas Vokoun as the Florida Panthers put an end to the visitor's seven game winning streak, 4-1.
The Canes only put two shots on goal throughout most of the first period, but were able to get some shots through near the end after they earned a powerplay. They ended up being out-shot 15-6 in the period.
Michael Frolik and Kamil Kreps scored for the Panthers.
There was no scoring in the second period, but the Hurricanes had several opportunities on the powerplay, including over a minute of a 5-on-3 advantage, but they were unable to get a puck past Vokoun. In all, the team was 0-8 with the man advantage.
In the third period, Carolina really got their game together and they were able to put a lot of pressure on consistently in the Florida zone. Vokoun was equal to the task until Jussi Jokinen scored his team leading 25th goal of the season at about the eight minute mark, making the score 2-1. Brandon Sutter and Tuomo Ruutu picked up the assists on the weird goal which bounced up over the Florida goalie.
The Canes continued the pressure to no avail until eventually Cory Stillman got a nice pass out front from Steven Reinprecht and the ex-Cane beat Justin Peters with about 3:30 left in the game.
Paul Maurice pulled the goalie in the last minute and Kreps took a perfect feed from Stillman and buried the empty netter to finish the scoring.
The Hurricanes travel to Atlanta immediately following the game for a match against the Thrashers at 5 p.m. Sunday. The game will not be televised locally and is not scheduled to be televised by the Thrashers either, but there is a chance they might stream it from the jumbotron feed. Otherwise, it will be 99.9 The Fan or nothing for that game.
Game Notes:
- The ineffective powerplay cost the team this contest as they could not get anything going even though they had several chances. Paul Maurice said after the game that the powerplay was "not moving", or was not "moving fast enough.". The coaching staff put Erik Cole on the point for the first time in a long time and Cole seemed ineffective in the role. There was no reason given why the powerplay pairings were changed from Thursday night. Pitkanen and Picard were on the first team and Pitkanen and Gleason manned the second.
- Give some credit to the Panthers. Vokoun played very well and his teammates were blocking shots all night. They finished with 19 blocked shots compared to 3 for the Hurricanes. That's not a typo, the Canes only had 3 blocked shots for the game.
- Justin Peters made several fine saves in the losing effort. He can not be faulted with any softies in this game and did well to keep his team close as he made save after save throughout the second and third periods. Unlike the Canes, who could not seem to get any clear attempts in the Florida zone, the Panthers had a couple of breakaways and other open shots which Peters stopped nicely.
- Brandon Sutter had a very good game and extended his scoring streak to five games as he assisted on the Jokinen goal. He came close to scoring himself on a couple of superior efforts.
- Tuomo Ruutu and Tom Kostopoulos led the team with five hits each.
- The Canes did well on the pugilistic side of things as Jay Harrison took down Nick Tarnasky and Tim Gleason did well against Bryan Allen, (from what little was shown on the telecast).
There is not much more to report about this game. Obviously, if the team wants to keep any slight hope alive for the postseason, they can not afford many more losses.
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What ever happen to crashing the net? Crowding the crease so Vokoun can’t see, Canes also should have doubled their SOG. When a goalie is hot, you got to get the ugly goals. Canes didn’t want this one until late in the third, a little to late, the saying of the season.
Silver Medal- "In our business it's winning the whole thing. In five years no one will give a damn. It's who won."- Ron Wilson
do you still believe?
Did you think the streak would ever end?
Did you prepare yourself for the emotions of an eventual Canes loss?
Did you do a 180 on your opiniopn of the Canes’ chance to make the playoffs?
Did yout flush your Cole rookie card because he is now just a fast one touch forward?
Did you tell yourself that Stiller was sure to score and again when he did?
Did you hear Pothier’s assessment of Mo’s system and long for Lavy?
Do you still believe?
I hope so…
I still think this team believes.
Exnihilo
Two things, first do I think the Canes will make the playoffs?…Hell no! but they have proved me wrong time and time again.
Until they are out by numbers you never know with the Canes. Second, not a big fan of Cole the first time around not impressed again…….would NEVER buy a Cole rookie card. If I had one, it wouldn’t be worth a waste of water to flush, go with matches.
Silver Medal- "In our business it's winning the whole thing. In five years no one will give a damn. It's who won."- Ron Wilson
Cole started to endear himself to fans with the BBC line as a rookie I would love to have a Cole rookie card. That was a magical year. I would have to say I was impressed. I was a hugh Cole fan as I’m sure you were when he was busy scoring 30 goals in back to back years
It’s not that Cole is slow, or isn’t able to use his body. It is just a mental thing IMO. It seems like the game is too quick for him. I don’t know if he will ever get it back but if he can stay healthy for a good bit we all might remeber why we (most of us) loved him to begin with.
by CarolinaCanes on Mar 7, 2010 11:52 AM EST up reply actions
I agree with you for the most part.
Why the meaness CCup ? That was like a random drive-by.
Eric Staal...Team Canada first line
by drifterscape on Mar 7, 2010 12:01 PM EST up reply actions
I didn’t really mean for it to sound that bad, JR really irritates me when he brings back players. If they are bad enough to trade them off don’t bring them back, simple. I would say 9 out 10 times it just don’t work. Sometimes JR gets personel feelings mixed with business. You could be the nicest guy in the locker room but if you suck you don’t play.
Silver Medal- "In our business it's winning the whole thing. In five years no one will give a damn. It's who won."- Ron Wilson
The team obviously was going to lose at some point. It is a far, far outside shot at a playoff. If it happens, it would be amazing and fantastic; but in the end what matters to me is watching the Hurricanes shift by shift. Cole is still big and fast and is willing to bang bodies; but he has never returned to his pre-injury reckless abandon. I would not have put him on the first line other than to have a Jokinen/Sutter/Ruutu line — which is a line in which I have faith. I was disappointed, the Hurricanes didn’t have Cole post up in front of the goalie and stay there creating chaos; and I would never have him on the point. I am fine with the Maurice/Francis/Rowe system; and the winning streak shows it has potential. I do long, however, for some players with the size and skill sets of Osala if the Maurice/Francis/Rowe system is going to be employed. Bitz and Booth are large forwards of the type the Hurricanes need. Booth is more skilled; but Bitz bounces people around as he charges the net. Samsonov has a very difficult time when matched against 6’3" 230 lbs forwards; and the Hurricanes have trouble in general on power plays when the defense packs in and blocks shooting lanes. The Hurricanes lack that player who imposes his will on the other team by taking the puck to the net in traffic. Cole is not that guy. He is now a third line power forward who has speed and strength, but little puck handling skills and a very average to below average shot.
Next year is going to be better no matter how things go for the rest of this season.
I am with you on all fronts. I would like to see Cole Brindamour and Boychuk on the fourth line. Bribg uo Bowman and/or Tlusty again as well, Not sure who sits or who is waived to make that happen…waive Cole?
Exnihilo
and other BBC line though Boychuck is much better than Bates was you would have to think Rod/Cole are a little to past it to conjure up memories of ’ol.
by CarolinaCanes on Mar 7, 2010 11:55 AM EST up reply actions
IMO, if Cole is going to be out there on the PP, he needs to be in front of the net. Put Staal at one of the points. The 1st line PP should be Pitkanen and Staal on the points with Whitney, Sutter, and Jokinen down low. Sutter does a good job around the net. The problem with that line is it leaves no one centering the 2nd PP unit. We need to find another center.
Triple Gold Juice - It's Potent and Guaranteed to Help You Score!
by PackPride17 on Mar 6, 2010 11:39 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Someone has to be the culprit…why not Cole?
by Killswitch on Mar 6, 2010 11:45 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Cole -- not a culprit at all
I don’t see Cole as a culprit in any sense. He was played on the power play exactly where the coaches told him to play. He played hard and did not have any particular bone-head play where one wondered if he had experienced an “Aaron Ward” out of body moment. I disagreed with the coaching decision to put Cole at the point on the power play and I felt other players had a higher likelihood of success than Cole on the power play.
Florida’s coaches did an excellent job of assessing the strengths of their team and the weaknesses of the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes struggle when they have to deal with a penalty kill defense that does not over play and which opens passing lanes. The Hurricanes do not have a Nash, a Jordan Staal, or a Getzlaf who has such power and speed and puck control that he can crash the net and score.
Cole lacks the puck contol and hands to play the point and he does not have even a C+ shot from the point. Even though Boychuk is young and inexperienced, I’d rather see him at the point than Cole because he has speed and hands and great vision. Boychuk is also unafraid to skate the puck between defenders and when a defense packs in, somebody has to take the puck and make a move to create movement of the defense. When that doesn’t happen the defense blocks all shooting lanes and wait for the puck to come to them — and they clear it down the ice.
My point was, there always seems to be one player that gets singled out for a loss. 0 for 8 on the PP so the wolves look for the new guy manning the point, which was Cole. The puck movement was concentrated on the perimeter, even on the 5-3, so its no wonder why the majority of shots were blocked. It doesnt require a whole lot of movement by the Pkers to get into lanes when they know theyre looking for one timers from the outside.
It isn’t within Cole’s game to slash through the packed defense, maintain possession of the puck, and score. Neither is it within his game to weave through the top defense and fire a laser top shelf. It seemed foolish to me that the coaches positioned Cole at the point when he couldn’t be expected to succeed. Add the fact he is still rusty from time off with injuries and the coaching decision is even more dubious. I don’t blame Cole. I do question that coaching decision.
They didnt have Cole bringing the puck up and even so, they run the same transition play everytime, bringing the puck up the middle, moving it to either side and into the zone. Cole at the point was more for his passing than anything, like I said they were looking for the one timer from the outsides.
this game can’t be blamed on any single one thing, it was ALOT of things. They started off slow, looked bad, and generally got nothing done the whole game. The Cats played a good defense for Vokoun. You cannot take point shots at that guy and expect them to go in. Like Maurice said in the first period interview…its going to happen at his feet (which is exactly what happened with the one goal).
This game was one of the most important for the Canes on a playoff push. I believe in them, all the way. Otherwise I wouldn’t be posting here. It hurt, but they still have a chance if they can shrug this loss off.
I believe in this team, coach and organization.
Folks—be real !!
Everyone has been pushing for JR to sell off assets—and he did !
We can’t complain about the power play too much, cause we
lost Corvo on the point and Cullen as well. We lost 4 defensemen
in the selloff ! I think it is unrealistic to see us as anything more than
“spoilers” for the rest of the season—who, hopefully, continue to play
with heart and for pride !!
GO CANES !!
GO CANES! Go Heels!
Pothier
I didn’t really get to see him play tonight at all, but I look at the dude’s stats and am reminded of the Greenday “Dookie” cover art: the monkey looking at the handful of poop and thinking “throw?”
really the only thing that got under my skin was Scott Walker going for a 7th round pick. He deserved more than that…at least to me. But 2 goals in his Caps debut shows that. Beyond that, I think JR made the right moves….
meant to throw in there, that trading Scott for the 7th round pick WAS business, and I respect that….
Also, props to Jay Harrison for throwing fists early on! Excellent show of dedication to the team!
I think we got a great return for Corvo. I’m sure we would have had a second round pick this year if they didn’t just make the move for Belanger. Scott Walker might have been a good will thing for both scott and washington. JR shipped Scott to the best team in the league (or the very least the East) and Scotty now gets to have his first legitimate shot at a Cup. If you average both the Corvo and Walker trades together I think its a pretty good deal.
by CarolinaCanes on Mar 7, 2010 12:55 PM EST up reply actions
walker didn't just yield a 7th rounder
corvo went with him and he bought back pothier , the finn and a 2nd rd so it came out even
by jej on Mar 7, 2010 3:47 PM EST up reply actions
OT but we were discussing it in the game thread last night… There are no TV broadcast crews in Atlanta today for our game against them, the broadcast was originally reserved for NBC but in a surprising twist of fate they decided not to air it. According to some sources on twitter, the Thrashers are going to try to broadcast their in-house arena feed which will air on Center Ice. Usually when a team does that they will also air the radio broadcast. So better than no picture at all, but still limited viewing for tonight’s game.
Sees the world through ruuu-colored glasses...
Sisu
I wish this happend last night. I love the guys calling the plays for the Panthers.
by CarolinaCanes on Mar 7, 2010 12:56 PM EST up reply actions
There is a game link
at channelsurfing.net . Now it will be a possible in house feed of a NHL center ice feed not sure. but it will be there…as it is alrady posted on the site…i too was disappointed but wasn’t surprized…the canes skated like they had cement or lead bars on their skates with the exception of a few…and the florida defencive game was on the canes like fleas & ticks on a coon hound left out too long…but such is life for a member of the caniac nation huh ? the thrashers lost lst night too..so which team will show up @ 5:00 PM ?
at least the race @ atlanta could be over by then…hmmm…now if i had a dvr…which would i save ???? hmmm
Relax !! Even Micro Wave Popcorn takes time !! Go Canes !!
I’m not trying to put this loss on Cole’s shoulders, the team didn’t play well tonight. They didn’t come with the same fire they have been coming with for the past couple of games. For all of the things that went our why during the 7 game winning streak, they didn’t happen in this game. One that sticks out was a wiff by Staal in the 2nd. Yeah, the puck was bouncing, but down 2-0, he has to knock that in the open side of the net. Another thing that we have to watch for is Timmy fighting. With our inexperienced D, we can’t have him sitting in the box for 5 minutes. He is going to have to let someone else do his fighting for him, because he is to important to be taking those penalties when the game is still in hand.
Triple Gold Juice - It's Potent and Guaranteed to Help You Score!
by PackPride17 on Mar 7, 2010 9:59 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Team loss
Florida played like they understood that they were one point ahead of Carolina in the standings.
Carolina did not.
One of the “three losses” squandered. The kool-aide drinkers will now have to hope for a surprise victory in one of the budgeted “three losses” against Washington or Pittsburgh later this week…or maybe even both of them.
You could always have the “Age Progression” line of Whitney-Sutter-Ruutu. And then Mo could put together the “Baby and his Binkys” line of Jokinen-Staal-Cole.
Triple Gold Juice - It's Potent and Guaranteed to Help You Score!
by PackPride17 on Mar 7, 2010 11:22 AM EST via mobile reply actions
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