Harrison and Faulk Come Through: Hurricanes 4, Bruins 2

I thought the Canes played solidly tonight. I thought our offense struggled, but I thought or defense played well. Boston is a very good team, but we continued to fight all night and had some things break our way.

I was not impressed by the Gleason/Allen pairing. I know they were going against the Bruins top line, but I know both guys can play better. McBain, through my eyes, continues to struggle in his own zone when any pressure is applied. Samson continues to look like a solid player that will work well in Muller’s system. Harrison & Faulk continue to be our best defensemen. I really don’t know where we would be without Harrison this season.

And my boy Staal continues his point streak and actually gets a goal; even if it was an empty-netter. The sad thing is he dropped back to last place in the league in +/- because Nash got a goal & a +1. :-(

Way to go Canes, that’s 2 in a row. Let’s make it 3 tomorrow in Washington. And that was the first Bruins game I ever seen that they didn’t commit a penalty!

Glad we won, but man, our passing was atrocious.

yes passing sucked at times,but when it counted it was there as ther score at the end proves that…and again..Faulk Proves why he was a great choice ti keep at traning camp,Samson also despite being roughed up as he was..also and yet again made the case for himself…it seems over all sevral of the younger guns on the Canes Bench showed the coaching staff they are NHL caliber type of players..and yes Thuggerie showed it’s ugly head..as Chara looked tired near the end of the game…loved the over all effort by the Canes..still have a few kinks yet to work out,but and again very pleased with the WIN!!

If you didn’t watch the game on FSCarolinas, there was a funny moment on the bench after Faulk scored to tie the game.

Booming shot and very agile eyebrows it seems. Here’s a 10 sec video clip on youtube – link.

Staal: Looks more confident. Winning face-offs against a good team, going to the net, winning his individual puck battles. He no longer looks defeated.

Samson—also looked solid—tenacious, constantly battling and winning the majority of them. Disciplined, smart, good passes towards the net. No defensive mistakes. He’s bona fide. He’s a keeper.

Faulk. 19. Strong for a kid. Had good checks stopping Boston forwards, taking the space, momentum and puck away, keeping calm skating with the puck or making smart passes-not trying to force passes that aren’t there. His play together with Harrison when they get the puck is the best of anyone else in our own end—back between each other, to the forwars, or bringing it up. He’s helped improve Harrisson’s game in this area.

Harrison. Two years agao was a 7th defenseman I did want re—signed. Last year, he came in and showed he was solid, a good defensive defenseman, maybe bottom pairing who could fill on the second pairing, but responsible. This year he comes in stronger again, had a little more physical play, blocks more shots, passes better, and is now adding offense—He’s now Pitkanen Light: as Pitkanen should be defensively (only better), but without Pitkanen’s more fluid skating and puck handling/passing. But again, what an improvement, what a quiet year he is having in the league, but he’s been big for us.

Gleason—despite others thought he had a pretty good game. What surprised me was he had a few Faulk like moves against the boards that stopped the forwards and turned over the puck. Twice gleason actually skated it out of the corner himself before passing it. Haven’t seen that aspect before, but it looked very Faulk like. Either the defensive coaches are working with Gleason on these things, or he’s seeing some of the good things Faulk does and is working on them.

Cam. Welcome back. We missed you.

Forwards in general: Best Defensive Backchecking Game. Actively engaged blocking shots, tying up sticks, anticipating and blocking/intercepting passes, getting to the pucks, taking away space and time, and helping the defense get the puck out of the zone—no cheating last night—no all forward out of the zone and wait for the long pass. Well played Sirs, Well Played.

Ruutu: Muller is using Ruutu the way he works best for the Hurricanes. Against physical teams like the Bruins, having Ruutu looking to make demolishing hits, makes the opposing teams look around to find him.

Staal: other than one shift where he was knocked to the ice and took his sweet time getting back up on his skates while Tlusty and Ruutu were gaining the puck, he had a strong game. He’s slowly adding a more physical aspect to his game.

Harrison and Faulk: I was so wrong about Harrison. He’s a big part of Hurricanes team. Faulk is a prodigy like Skinner. He’s also strong as an ox and knocked around Boston’s biggest forwards.

Tlusty: He is using his strength and speed to create havoc. He was a forechecking machine last night. Two goals came as a result of monster screens he set.

Nodl and Dwyer: They both were frustrating the Boston forwards with their speed and agility. Both also have great hockey sense and exercised excellent judgment when to go for the puck and when to prepare for the backcheck.

Samson: He plays a complete game. He, too, is extremely strong and has a relentless in getting to and hanging onto the puck. He also has no fear of shooting the puck.

Brandon Sutter: Another quietly excellent game by Brandon Sutter.

Cam Ward: I thought he started off giving some rebounds; but settled down into the amazing Cam Ward that carries the Hurricanes on his back.

Muller and MacLean: They have done an excellent job transforming the Hurricanes into a tough team to play against and one in which all the forwards backcheck consistently. I find myself wondering how different this season would be if Rutherford had signed Muller to start the season, if Rutherford had found a Cole replacement, and if Rutherford had foregone signing Kaberle.