Flatlined: Devils 5, Hurricanes 0

The Carolina Hurricanes were steamrolled by the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, 5-0 in front of another announced sell out crowd of 18,680 at the PNC Arena.

The Devils came out strong in the opening period and outshot the Canes, 17-7. The visitors scored a goal late in the first, three more in the second, and another in the third, to put the game away.

Brian Boucher picked up the loss for the home team as he allowed all five goals on 31 shots. The Hurricanes had just 22 shots for the game. Martin Brodeur earned the shutout for Jersey.

Boucher said after the game that the Devils were coming at him "in waves".

After the game coach Kirk Muller blamed the poor effort on the fact that the Canes were officially eliminated from the playoffs last night, but the realists out there had to recognize that Carolina was a long shot at best to reach the postseason for some time now.

Whatever the reasons, things could have been better than to have two losses during "fan appreciation" week, especially a blow out like this game.

The Canes have one more home game this season and will take on Montreal on Thursday night.

Game Notes:

• Jeff Skinner lost his temper late in the first when he was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The youngster will have to learn that he is falling into a trap and is doing exactly what the other team wants when he acts so.
• Tlusty, Skinner, and Harrison each had a team high three shots on goal.
• Staal won 71% of his faceoffs. The team rebounded from a poor evening the previous night with 54%.
• Bryan Allen once again had a team high four blocked shots.
  
• For post game interviews check Canes PR.com.
• (apologies for not having a game thread. I was out of town and could not post it from my phone. )