Hello again, Canes fans, that time of the week again! The Canes just wrapped up a nearly perfect week on home ice grabbing five of six points, so let’s get to our review.
Canes beat Canucks in wildest game I’ve ever seen- No, I’m not exaggerating. I’ve never seen anything like that before. The first period started normal, with the Canes up 2-1 on goals from Sebastian Aho and Jeff Skinner. The second was, frankly, the worst the Canes have played in a long time. The team was sloppy defensively, turned pucks over, and was beat to the front of the net with regularity. The result was a 5-2 deficit at intermission, and the Canes were lucky it was not worse. Entering the third, the team seemed to be well on its way to an embarrassing home defeat. That’s when all hell broke loose. The Canes came out firing in the third, and got goals in a span of 4:40 from Skinner, Ron Hainsey, Victor Rask, and Justin Faulk to take a 6-5 lead. Jordan Staal later made it 7-5, then former Hurricane Brandon Sutter cut the lead to 7-6. The Canes had to kill a penalty late, but held on, and Lee Stempniak’s empty netter gave the team an 8-6 win. This was a crazy game, the likes of which has not been seen for a long time and will not be seen again. Obviously the Canes do not want to play this way defensively, but kudos to them for showing some resilience in coming back. This one falls under the category of “That was fun, but let’s never do it again. My colleague at Technician David Kehrli and I’s recap is here, and Matt’s is here.
Canes fall to Capitals in shootout– In a crucial game against a divisional opponent, the Canes came up with one point in a disappointing result. The team led 1-0 after a strong first period courtesy of a Jeff Skinner goal. In the second, Capitals forwards Justin Williams and Alex Ovechkin quickly made it 2-1 Washington before Faulk tied it. The Canes got an early power play goal from Teuvo Teravainen in the third to make it 3-2, but the Caps tied the game at three on a deflection by TJ Oshie with around seven minutes left in the game. In a familiar result, the team then fell in the shootout. This is a game the Canes probably deserved better in, as the they were the better team for most of the game. I would not fault the late tying goal so much as I would the inability to get a key insurance marker on a lengthy 5-on-3 power play in the second period. Matt’s recap of this game is here.
Canes come up with shootout win over Sabres- The Canes again played in the skills competition in this game, but got a better result. In a sluggish game between two teams that played the night before, Joakim Nordstrom put the Canes on top in the first period. The second was very slow, but the Canes did have a few chances to extend their lead. Then, in the third, the team played the “hold the lead” game and tried to ride it out. Predictably, this didn’t work, and the Sabres tied the game late. However, tonight, the Canes were able to get a rare shootout win and key second point, as Stempniak and Aho scored on their shootout attempts and Ward stopped both shooters he faced. I recapped this game here, and Matt did the same here.
Thanks for joining me for another weekly review. Join me next week as the Canes have three games remaining before the Christmas break.
