Glen Wesley picked a perfect time to score his first goal of the season. Not only was it his first of the season, it was his first goal in 82 games! Last night while the Canes were on the short side of a 4 on 3 situation in overtime, Wesley bravely joined a Justin Williams and Mike Commodore rush up thie ice and buried a nice feed from Williams to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 victory, just 16 seconds into the extra period. The move was a gutsy one by Glen because if he would have missed that shot, the Flyers would have had an open breakaway opportunity coming back.
The game certainly wasn't the best one of the year by the Canes. They were able to generate a 2-0 lead on a soft goal by Brind'Amour, (it went off Nittymaki's glove), and a really good effort by Ladd to shove a loose puck from in the crease, into the goal. After those two goals by the Canes in the 1st period, it was pretty much an even game until the 3rd period when the Flyers actually outplayed and outchanced the Hurricanes. The powerplay was a complete exercise in futility once again. During one 4 minute powerplay chance when Craig Adams took a high stick which bloodied him and caused him to go to the locker room to get stitches, the Flyers actually generated more chances than the Canes. During that 4 minute powerplay, I don't think that there was an official shot on goal for Carolina. If the team doesn't make the playoffs, I think the ineffectiveness of the powerplay can be looked at as a major contributing factor. Last night it was rated 29th in the league at home. Maybe today it's officially number 30?
The Flyers didn't play like a last place team in the 3rd. They outshot the Canes 14-7 and controlled the play. They were able to tie the score up with about 4 minutes left. Unfortunately, Rod Brind'Amour took a tripping call with about a minute and a half left and that really put the pressure on John Grahame and the defense. They were equal to the challenge though, forcing the game into overtime and allowing Wesley to take advantage of his short-handed opportunity. Overall, Grahame played a good game and earned 1st star honors. The Captain won 3rd star honors but didn't skate out for the fans, obviously still peeved about events in the game. He smashed his stick and broke it after one Flyers goal and berated the officials after his tripping call and after an earlier "too many men on the ice" call. Brindy was definitely in a foul mood.
Yesterday, I was speculating who was going to be called up from Albany and wondering when it would be announced because the Canes certainly wouln't want to continue to play Seidenberg at forward (since he is a defenseman). There was a late update that Bayda had indeed been recalled. But much to my surprise, Bayda was scratched and Seidenberg played forward anyway. Is it just me, or is that a head scratcher? On the good news front, after Eman, Biggie and I complained yesterday about the team not sticking up for each other, Tim Gleason dropped the gloves with tough guy Todd Fedoruk, after Fedoruk hit Whitney from behind. It was great to see someone care about it when their leading scorer was decked. It was better yet to see Timmy take Fedoruk down. I think the Flyers tough guy was surprised by Gleason's spunk. Nice job Tim Gleason! Here is a link to the fight...Gleason-Fedoruk
Last night's game might have been one that the Canes didn't deserve to win, but to their credit they hung in there and got the much needed two points. They need to play better than that though against Atlanta on Saturday and Ottawa next week. As much as Rutherford would love to get the team some help with a trade, it looks less and less like that might happen the closer it gets to Tuesday. The GM can't afford to give away valuable pieces of the franchise's future just for a 2 month rental, no matter how badly they might need one. The price is still too high. We'll see if things change over the weekend. TGIF, Go Canes!
Foreigner
UPDATE>>>>> Just when I said JR probably wouldn't pull the trigger on a trade, he proves that once again, I don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Today the Canes obtained the services of Anson Carter for a 5th ROUND PICK! That's not a mis-print! The pick will be from the 2008 draft. So much for the high prices for rentals! Carter wasn't taken from the top of the list of the rental chart, but he is a warm body with scoring potential and is certainly a huge upgrade over Ryan Bayda or Dennis Seidenberg playing forward. Great job once again Mr. Rutherford! The bad news is that the Blue Jackets consider a 5th round pick to be more valuable than Andrew Hutchinson, the asset Rutherford probably wanted to trade. That doesn't matter too much though, I can't wait to see Carter don the jersey of the sightless eye!  Â