Scoreless and Losing Streaks are Over: Hurricanes 3, Maple Leafs 2
by Bob Wage on Nov 20, 2011 8:45 PM EST
in Carolina Hurricanes Game Recaps
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PrintThe Carolina Hurricanes stopped a three game losing streak on Sunday night when they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 in front of 13,187 at the RBC. The Canes also broke up a scoreless streak that stretched over the past two games when Jay Harrison lit the lamp with just seconds left in the first period. The team went a total of 154:55 without a goal during that time frame.
Harrison gave his team an important lead after they pretty much had dominated the first period, but had nothing to show for it. The Canes outshot the Leafs 10-5 in that period.
The home team went on to dominate the second period as well and again outshot the Leafs, this time 19 to 7. They took a 2-0 lead when a pass to the front of the net by Jussi Jokinen bounced in off of Luke Schenn's skate. Chad LaRose was in front of the net creating havoc and was looking to bang the puck home.
The third period was a tighter one though as league leading scorer Phil Kessel would score two goals to make things interesting. He made the score 2-1 when he knocked in a rebound during a 4-on-3 advantage just 4:31 into the period.
Then after the Canes would make it 3-1 on a Jeff Skinner putback of an Eric Staal attempt, Kessel would fire in a perfect shot with just a minute left, to keep his team in it.
Skinner's goal was his eighth of the season. He followed Staal when his team captain had a nice chance on a clean breakaway. Staal was stopped, but last year's Rookie of the Year made no mistake as he lifted the rebound up over Ben Scrivens, who had a decent game for Toronto with 38 saves on 41 attempts.
The Canes will jump on a plane and fly to Philadelphia to get set for a match against the Flyers on Monday night.
Game Notes:
- The team did well for stretches tonight, but it's important to note that they were playing a tired Toronto team who had played against the Caps the night before. The schedule worked out in Carolina's favor for this one.
- The defense did a nice job of limiting shots the first two periods, (12), and allowed a total of 25 for the game, the second straight game they allowed less than 30.
- The Canes put 41 shots on net led by Skinner and LaRose with five each.
- Carolina won 65% of the game's faceoffs. (Staal 76%, Sutter 47%, Jokinen 80%) Tom Brent went 1-1 for 100%.
- Paul Maurice tried new lines for this game (12-53-15...16-39-19...36-23-59...and 13-37-11). But look for new lines again tomorrow night in Philadephia as the coach said he would mix things up for that one. (see interview)
- Justin Faulk continues to impress. He finished with 21:41 of ice time, had three hits, and his first career NHL assist. He was paired with Harrison, who had a team high 22:13 of ice time. Harrison also had a team high four blocked shots to go along with his goal.
- The team was credited with 22 hits, led by Alexei Ponikarovsky with five.
- The Hurricanes broke a six game scoreless streak on the powerplay with Jokinen's goal. Officially, they were 1-5 on the advantage. The Leafs were 1-2.
- Staal had two assists and finished +2 for the game. Skinner was named first star of the game with an assist and the game winning goal. He also had a +2.
Post game interviews:
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Nice win. With the Leafs on a back-to-back, the Canes should have had the advantage, and they did.
Didn’t like Staal’s expression when he didn’t score on the breakaway. Didn’t like Boychuk not getting more TOI. Despite that, a much needed win.
Great Win - now we need some Mo-Mentum...
For tomorrow night, knowing that we are playing on the toughest Broad Street outside of New York (that’s where the Stock Exchange is – corner of Wall and Broad), I suggest we invite the Hanson Brothers to play tomorrow night. Either that, or try the Tampa offense to throw them off the chase.
We need to take advantage of nights like tonight – and then figure out how to steal one tomorrow night. This is why only playing 3 lines (5 minutes for Boychuk/Dalpe/Brent doesn’t count). We need these guys to play 10-12 minutes every night. Doesn’t have to be 30 minutes like Brind’Amour, but now Staal and Skinner will be gassed for tomorrow night.
Great win, great entertainment reading the open blog, and great writeup, Bob. Wonder what the real attendance was…
Dalpe got almost 6 hours, not 5 minutes. That was the time of his round trip from Charlotte to here. I bet Boychuk wishes he was riding back with him. They missed a Checkers win, not much of anything else.
i think you have to average-out the drive time per number of games played while he’s with the big club, then add them to his actual T.O.I. to get a real number.
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Nov 21, 2011 6:50 AM EST up reply actions
was glad for the win
and i agree that more of the other players do need to step it up a notch as Staal,Skinner & Ward can’t carry the tewam all the time..and the flyers will work on the bodies and wear/tire a player out…but I’m NOT Mo so what do i know ? And i too add my heartfelt thanks to Bob & Crew of Canes Country who keep us all in the loop as well and as quickly as they do !! :-D
9/11/01 - Never Forget !!
Long Live #63 The Condor
Go Canes & Checkers !!!
LOL
I’d love to see us take down the Flyers with the 1-3-1. :D
Ready for the Canes to win the Cup again! :)
hehehe that would be 'awesome' if the canes were to be able to pull that off !!
9/11/01 - Never Forget !!
Long Live #63 The Condor
Go Canes & Checkers !!!
mo said “i get to get on the plane. just don’t answer the phone and get on the plane” lol
by Cincinnati Reds on Nov 21, 2011 12:56 AM EST reply actions
What did we learn from this game?
If we face a tired team and their backup goalie, we’re good for a one-goal win? That’s the glass half empty…
If we dominate in the faceoff circle, keep play in front of us, stay out of the box, and get traffic in front of the other team’s goalie we have a chance of scoring goals and keeping shots against down? That’s the glass half full…
Somewhere in between, we have the reality that we have good players who can play well enough (Skinner, Staal, Ward) to keep us in a position for the rest of the team to help win games, if everyone is clicking 100%. The margin of error with this team is so thin right now, it’s scary.
p.s. non-use of fourth line a glaring problem, we still give up waaaaaaaaaaay too many goals in the 3rd. is it because the other 3 lines are tired?
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Nov 21, 2011 6:49 AM EST reply actions
thank the schedule makers, the Leafs played 4 games in 6 nights with a number of key players out. Why Harold Ballard?
he’s the epitome of one man ruining a franchise. read into it what you will…
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Nov 21, 2011 9:10 AM EST up reply actions
i didn't say that -- you did
but if the shoe fits…
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Nov 21, 2011 9:24 AM EST up reply actions
The bleeding has been slowed, but not stopped.
It was a win, so the bottom line objective was met. Ward had some highlight reel stops, and Skinner once again proved he is far and away the teams most skilled player that is not a goalie. Otherwise the team got a goal from a defenseman who isn’t expected to put up big numbers and another goal that bounced off a opponents skate. I watched the Leafs Saturday night and the effort they showed in the 3rd against the Canes after they got their first goal was the level of play they had for 60 min. against the Caps. Had we faced a rested Leafs team the Canes would have lost. I am glad for the team, they needed a win badly, regardless of the circumstances, and maybe they will lighten up and feel more confident with a “W” under their belt. However core issues have not been altered. Other than Skinner we have not had a forward directly score a goal in 3 games. Philly is rested and not happy about the Jets/Thrashers continued dominance over them, so I expect a tough one tonight.
A good game
I thought the Canes dominated most of the game, the score was closer than it should have been. Maybe their confidence level is still low.
I thought Faulk played great, He moves with the puck very well and passes very well. I wish we could trade away Kaberle and keep all our you defensemen. My guess is that Joslin will be traded and he’ll turn into a top notch defensemen for some other team.
Again the fourth line got very little ice time, this seems strange to me for a couple of reasons. One, they seem to play pretty well keeping the puck in the offensive zone and creating chances. Two, we do have back to backs, seems like spreading he playing time would be a wise decision.
man..my grandson just said the same thing !
as he texted me and i texted back asking him why he was up so early…he LOL’s me saying on his way to band practice before school ! He’s hero is Cam Ward & wants to get to play in a tourny like Matthew ( John Forslund’s son) Forslund as he too is a goalie…go figure..
9/11/01 - Never Forget !!
Long Live #63 The Condor
Go Canes & Checkers !!!
Joslin has the potential to be at least as good as Gleason, with more offense. He played well for the club after getting traded here, but had medical issues during camp and is not getting the ice time because JR had no clue about his defensive situation this fall. He would be far better than Kaberle in the lineup, but you don’t bench big contracts.
I’m glad the Canes won and the style they played this weekend is much more how I think they should play night in & night out. Our defense is still very much a question mark, so we need to provide some offensive zone pressure and take a lot of shots; that will help most nights with our poor defense. Staal was good this weekend, Skinner was very good, Harrison & Faulk were our best defenders, and both goalies played well.
Now on the the bad stuff. The team still needs to learn how to finish! I understand its the goalie’s job to stop the shots, but we missed on so many golden opportunities. Our lack of top 6 talent really came to the forefront to me on Sunday. The top line was a pretty decent look, but the 2nd line of Poni-Jussi-LaRose really worried me. I know they scored a PP goal, but I don’t think we could make it through a season with that 2nd line. Finally, we need to develop SOME TYPE of offensive system. All we do is shoot the puck around the boards, chase it, if we get to it, we shoot it around the boards again the other way. It seems like our system is to wear down the other team until they make a mistake, but this also wears down our own players; chasing the puck all the time. And because of this style, we are not in great position to score. If/when we do turn the puck over, our forwards are too tired to get back; especially in the 3rd. If this is going to be the style Mo uses, he HAS to roll 4 lines all game long to keep everybody of being worn down.
It's time for change! "If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organization." - Mary Douglas
Yes, they won but against a team that is missing a lot of regulars and who played the night before in Toronto.
This is old-style Maurice hockey. Defense-first, score a couple if they are lucky and hold on if they are even luckier. A change needs to be made behind the bench to use the talents they have. The NHL and the fans have moved on.
Had Toronto not been at the end of a tough stretch, the back end of a back to back, we didn’t look good enough to win. Toronto was nto winning any battles last night, and that’s not how they’ve been winning this year.
Overall I thought the line were puzzling. At Least Ruu and Skinner stayed together, but Jussi was saddled with leftovers. Jussi can really see the ice and pass—yet Chad aint the guy he needs to be passing too. Thank you Toronto defender for kicking the puck in off your skate… Jussi and Boychuk might have had something. Jussi and Dalpe might have had something. We’ll never know with this coach.
We get ahead, we have a back to back, and we still don’t play the 4th line. Mo makes comments that Boychuk has been playig well, he likes what he sees this time says Boy will get his chance…Then Mo buried him and he’s forgotten. We wonder why we have no finishing skills? Mo kills them. All forwards need to play the same, battle and grind. play responsible, defense first… Propects, don’t expect 13 minutes a night on this team. Any and every other team that calls up offensive forwards with the AHL and JR records of our prospects gives them time on ice, and in the top nine. And they do it for multiple games on end. Boychuk came up and got noticed from the 4th line—a feat in itself given lack of time and roles… He gets two games where he’s both responsible defensively and good offensively. He gets sat, now sent down.
Same old Mo. We get a lucky win while using the same old tactics—line shuffling, over slotting players, not rolling four lines, killing prospects—and Mo feels justified…
Sad, sad, sad…
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