Carolina Hurricanes at the St. Louis Blues: Going for Four
by Carolyn Christians on Oct 21, 2011 12:03 PM EDT
in Carolina Hurricanes Game Day Previews
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PrintThe Carolina Hurricanes (3-2-1) resume their October road trip in St Louis tonight. The Blues (2-4) are back at home after a 4-game West coast trip with only one win in the mix. It concluded Tuesday vs the Los Angeles Kings where the team took an ugly 5-0 loss.
In contrast, the Canes enjoyed an extra day in St. Louis following a wild and gratifying win over the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday. Only 6 games into the new season, they have reversed the early momentum to win the last three. Last year, we didn't see a 3-game win streak until Game 30 on December 16th. The last time the Hurricanes won more than 3 in a row was in 2010, when they put together a 5+2 win streak around the break for the Vancouver Olympics.
Coach Paul Maurice indicated yesterday that Cam Ward will be starting his 6th game of the season. The rest of the roster remains the same, and 7th defenseman Derek Joslin will be a healthy scratch. With another game tomorrow night in Manitoba, the coach hinted that he was leaning toward giving Brian Boucher his second start vs the struggling Winnipeg Jets.
Tonight, St Louis coach Davis Payne might go with back-up goaltender Brian Elliott, familiar to Canes fans from his days as an Ottawa Senator. Elliott was the starter in the Blues' 4-2 win over San Jose Saturday. Number 1 goalie Jaroslav Halak has struggled so far, surrendering 8 goals in his last 5 periods in goal.
**UPDATED: Brian Elliot will start (per @jprutherford, St Louis Post-Dispatch)
Like the Canes, the Blues also fly out of St Louus after the game, as they will be in Philadelphia tomorrow night to face the Flyers.
The Hurricanes lines should look like they did in Boston.
No changes expected on the backend either.
Zac Dalpe is week-to-week, so recently recalled Brett Sutter remains on the fourth line. Will he and Anthony Stewart get more than 6 minutes TOI tonight after their notable contributions in the win over Boston?
Audio of Paul Maurice following the skate this morning. [1:36]
St. Louis
For St.Louis, they enjoyed some good news when David Perron skated with the team for the first time in nearly a year yesterday. He has been out since last November with a concussion. He is not yet ready to play. However, the Blues top Centerman, Andy McDonald suffered a concussion in Dallas October 13th and is now on the injured reserve. Winger B.J. Crombeen is also out with shoulder injury.
According to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, look for this line up from the Blues coach:
Defensemen Barret Jackman, Kent Huskins, Kevin Shattenkirk, Alex Pietrangelo, Roman Polak, Nikita Nikitin are in for the Blues, though Carlo Colaiacovo may be ready to return from a head injury.
**UPDATE: From @jprutherford: Looks like Nikitin, Reaves and Chorney are scratches Colaiacovo is in.
Stats and notes
Carolina hasn't lost in St. Louis since Jan. 5, 2008, nearly four years ago.
Point streaks: Pitkanen has 5 points in his last 3 games. Jokinen and Brent also have 3-game point streaks.
Gleason and Allen have now played 3 full games without yielding a goal against.
Game previews and links
Must read: Big day for Stewart family as brothers finally face off - NHL.com Anthony Stewart of the Hurricanes will face Chris Stewart of the Blues in the first on-ice battle between the two brothers.
This morning's N&O print edition: All fists on deck for Canes - Chip Alexander, NewsObserver.com
The Hurricanes have guys who are willing to fight. Gleason obviously will go. So will Allen and defenseman Jay Harrison. But as the Canes proved against the Bruins, they seem to know when to fight and when not to.
"None of those three men have to prove that they can do it," Canes coach Paul Maurice said Thursday. "That has a lot to do with it.
From yesterday's practice: Canes expecting another physical game - Canes Now "St. Louis, to me, has some nice size and has some good size on the back end," Maurice said. "They didn't like their performance in (Los Angeles) and they're going to come out biting. It's going to be a good banging game."
Wondering how the Finns felt about their World Series experience Wednesday? Jokinen takes in Series game, again - CanesNow Who knew Jussi Jokinen had been to a World Series game before Wednesday? Or that he finds American baseball, dare we say it, a bit boring at times?
The odd couple - Matt Karash, HockeyBuzz.com After 6 games, Gleason and Allen have become defense partners. And they have been flat out good. Not just Carolina Hurricanes good, but NHL in total good.
For the latest on the Blues, check in with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and our SBN affiliate St. Louis Game Time.
Your guide to the evening
- Game time is 8pm Eastern. We'll have our game thread open for business at 7:30.
- FSCarolinas' Bob Harwood will host the televised pre-game show at 7:30 as well, with John Forslund and Tripp Tracey in the booth during the game.
- On the radio or streaming, as always it'll be Mike Maniscalco at 7:30, leading off on 99.9 the Fan before Chuck Kaiton calls the game.
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also,
we are used to seeing brother because of the sutters and staals.
but this could be different, the staals and sutters have generally been known to be laid back against each other. (for the most part)
but the i dont see the stewarts (given anthony’s style of play) being like that.
coudl be in for some family fireworks.
"a bit of love"
Actually, the Sutters in Carolina are all cousins, not brothers. But don’t forget about the Ruutu’s and Kaberle’s.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Oct 21, 2011 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Ruutu brothers have been on record that they really don’t like playing against each other at all, and Tuomo’s bio says his all-time favorite teammate is his brother.
Blind optimist and Kool-Aid drinker
by Jamie Kellner on Oct 21, 2011 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Not going to be able to catch this. Starts 2 AM here, and finishes about an hour before I have to get up for work. Enjoy, I hope and think we keep things up tonight!
GO CANES!
by NorwegianCaniac on Oct 21, 2011 12:19 PM EDT reply actions
Does the new TV deal help you out? Seems like that was a big problem that they fixed yesterday…
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Oct 21, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Definitely, but it doesn’t look like they have capacity to air every single game until January. Starting out with 15 matches per week, and I doubt Carolina will get a lot of airtime until capacity problems have been sorted out. Better than nothing thouhg I guess.
by NorwegianCaniac on Oct 21, 2011 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Despite the road trip, it would seem we have two winnable games over these next two days. Obviously, anything can happen, and the both teams are going to be hungry for a win, but winning games like these are the ones that get you into the playoffs. Picking up 4 points over these next two days would be a great step in the right direction.
And then home again Tuesday vs Ottawa. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but after the last 3 they just need to keep their focus and not let down because they perceive the competition won’t be as difficult.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Oct 21, 2011 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Given our opponents
…and everyone saying we need a better start to this year, these next two games are exactly the type of games we need to work hard to get a win from.
I hope the team does NOT have your level of cockiness. Both games this weekend can easily be lost. The Blues are hungry for a win, and the Jets have been looking better lately.
I agree with you. Can be no let down.
The Jets at home are definitely a wildcard. Though I thought they looked terrible in the games at Toronto and Ottawa the last 2 nights.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Oct 21, 2011 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah I agree they looked not so good against the Leafs, and I didn’t see the Sens game. I thought they played well against the Pens Monday night. If the Jets can reproduce that effort the Canes will need a solid 60 minute game to win.
I watched most of the Sens game. They couldn’t even gain the zone against one of the worst defenses in hockey. They looked totally beat after giving up that 3-1 lead they had over the Leafs. Ladd took a puck to the face (bridge of his nose) and returned with stitches, still bleeding in the third. Great symbolically, but they were a lost cause.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Oct 21, 2011 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions
shaky........saky.........shaky
Lets see what the “great and powerful eight-ball” has in store for us this afternoon ???
“Better not tell you now”……..maybe its the time difference…… but to be on the safe side looks like we the Canes Nation are going to have to pull out the positive mojo and push this thing thru…………….
I feel better already with all them positive waves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05G8xk9YMMM
Mi piace l'hockey su ghiaccio.
l'hockey è buono qui .. sì?
Having a goalie like Boucher to spell Cam is going to be huge this year.
Especially on all our back to backs and on the road. I’m looking forward to seeing what a fresh Boucher will be able to do against the Jets.
I’m thinking this was in mind already when he played the full game there in the preseason. Getting him comfortable.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Oct 21, 2011 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Hoping tonight will be a good game for our guys! Really hope they can deliver the same pluck and spirit they’ve been doing in the last few games. I’ll be really eager to see what the 4th line can bring – so far I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from Tim Brent (great addition to this team) and Brett Sutter really gave it his all in the last game! Though I had some misgivings with Stewart in the pre-season and the first couple regular season games, NOW it’d seem like he’s gotten a bit more motivated and is playing better. 4th line has got some mojo.
LETS GO CANES!
"It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times..."
by Gramm Matthew Esq. on Oct 21, 2011 2:25 PM EDT reply actions
I think these 2 games will be another good test for the Canes. Neither are considered top level teams, but they should both be hungry and pretty physical. I fully expect Staal to play a little better than he has so far. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him have one of those games against Winnipeg, like he did when they were Atlanta.
Go Canes!
Some managers manage using the carrot, Mo manages by using "The Stick."
Expect us to keep up the 60 minute effort...but
what I’d really like to see is some 5 on 5 offense from our top two lines. You’ve singles out STaal, but both top lines have got to start delivering even strength. The team has looked real good defensively and that has led to PP goals, but most of our scoring is coming off special teams—to include PKs….
…that will not always be the case. This is still on Mo. Lewis has done a fantastic job with the team defense and our new system. On offense however, same old, same old. It took prolonged 5 on 3 to get a PP goal last game, and the second PP goal was really just a 2 on 1 rush result, not a true PP set result.
For the most part Ruutu has done nothing this season. Many speculate he’s banged up. I am one who thinks he is. If he’s not he needs to get going. Skinner is only 19 and a sophomore in the NHL. While we expect big things from him based on last year and his obvious abilities, he should not be looked at to carry a load every night. Staal, Ruutu, Jussi, and Poni are the teams veterans who should be the primary drivers here. Get those guys going and Skinner will follow. A year or maybe two from now I’ll say Skinner needs to be the man, but it’s still to early for him to have all that on his shoulders.
It was Cole who killed Atlanta last year.
by curiouscanesfan on Oct 21, 2011 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes, that is true; but Staal has a history of throwing up a hat trick against Atlanta every once in a while. I hoping he can do that against Winnipeg this Saturday.
Some managers manage using the carrot, Mo manages by using "The Stick."
by PackPride17 on Oct 21, 2011 7:59 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
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