In a game that featured the out of the playoffs Chicago Blackhawks and a Carolina Hurricanes team that has been headed in the same direction and two struggling backup goalies, the first period played out maybe as expected. Each goalie allowed a goal against after a turnover and then inability to find the puck. And both teams were loose defensively throughout the first period that was sloppy for both teams. Chicago scored twice on a couple of Scott Darling miscues noted below in the player notes. And Jaccob Slavin scored off a Chicago defenseman’s stick with Brett Pesce and Elias Lindholm creating chaos in front of the net. The period ended with the Blackhawks holding a 2-1 lead.
After a front part of the game that was sloppy in both directions, the Hurricanes level of play improved as the game wore on. Justin Williams scored on a breakaway coming out of the penalty box early in the second period after receiving a heady Lindholm pass. The second half of the second period saw the Canes tilt the ice and start to pile up shots and even decent chances. Darling was not tested much during a dominant period for the Hurricanes, but he made two really good saves to hold the score at 2-2. But despite finding a higher gear, the Hurricanes were not rewarded past Justin Williams’ goal and entered the locker room after two periods still tied at 2-2.
The third period picked up right where the second period left off. The Hurricanes continued to win in terms of puck possession, shots and everything else except the scoreboard. But when a power play presented a chance to gain an advantage, and the Hurricanes capitalized. Teuvo Teravainen got a shot past the first defender and into the traffic in front of the net where both Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho were waiting. Aho deflected the shot in for his 22nd goal on the season and a 3-2 lead. From there, the Hurricanes held on and saw Darling make another really good save late to make the 3-2 advantage hold up for a win.
Notes from the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks
1) Elias Lindholm
He had a strong game across the board in a fairly quiet way. He was credited with an assist on a heady stretch pass that found Justin Williams coming out of the penalty box for his breakaway goal. His role on Slavin’s goal was just as good or better despite not registering a scoring point. And he added a second assist on the third period power play goal. Lindholm was also strong in all three zones throughout the night, and his line (with Williams and McGinn) was on the ice for both even strength goals for. On a team that is short longer-term at right wing and needing to dedicate at least one center slot to a more offense-leaning player, I am torn on whether Lindholm is better utilized to help fill his regular right wing slot, but a couple things jump about his play at center. First is that he is capable in terms of the responsibilities that come with it. Maybe more significantly, I think his game improves with the additional requirements such that he just looks more engaged and active playing center as compared to wing where he is still prone to lulls of quiet. But back to the here and now of Thursday’s game, I thought Lindholm was the Hurricanes’ best player on the night.
2) Scott Darling
The hope that a return home and the good vibes and memories that came with it might help spark Darling seemed to fade quickly into the Chicago night during a tough first period. The period saw Darling allow a goal after his mishandle turned over the puck. Very quickly, a point shot found its way through a screen and into the net behind Darling. Next Darling allowed another goal where he just could not seem to corral it in the crease. The awkward play saw him think he had it covered while he strayed off to the side of the net and wound up wobbling off balance. When he did not actually have it, the net was wide open for an easy goal.
To Darling’s credit on Thursday night and in total for the season, hecontinued to battle on each every puck which is a testament to his character during a generally tough season. And on Thursday, he was rewarded for sticking with it. The team in front of him was better all night which made for a low volume of chances, and Darling did chip in a handful of grade A saves to put up two shutout periods on the way to a much-needed 3-2 win. The burning question is whether he can parlay the successful trip home into more over the final month of the 2017-18 season.
During the game, I tweeted:
You heard it here first…Scott Darling goes back to #Blackhawks this summer with #Canes retaining maximum 1/2 of salary. With Crawford situation, Hawks need another option, $2M salary works & it is where rebound seems most plausible. #Canes
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) March 9, 2018
Not sure what else needs to be included to make the deal happen, but I just think it makes a ton of sense. With Corey Crawford’s vertigo issues and questionable status, the Blackhawks need another goalie. They would gladly have re-signed Scott Darling but just could not afford to pay two goalies starter money. If the Canes pick up up half of his salary, $2 million per year works for the Blackhawks budget. Finally, if there is a plausible case for Darling rebounding in 2018-19 and beyond, a return home to a familiar team and situation is as strong of a story as possible especially given the reduced cost.
3) Jeff Skinner
He seems to gripping the stick really tight right now for whatever reason. Set up in front, he failed to handle the puck such that it redirected softly toward the net for a fairly easy block for the defenseman who was the only thing in the way of a goal. Shortly thereafter, Skinner had another chance in close and missed. He had another good look in the third period and also came up empty.
4) Slavin/Pesce
Reunited for much of the game, I thought both players had strong games. Slavin scored actually with Pesce as one of the players creating traffic in front. Brett Pesce had two decent chances including a breakaway attempt that was thwarted. And the duo’s bread and butter defensive play was intact.
5) No help in the standings
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers both won, so the win merely kept pace with the teams ahead of the Hurricanes. Adjusted for games played, the Hurricanes and their 71 points are still five points below the cut line which sees New Jersey with 76 points. My math puts Florida in the other wild card spot with only 73 points (compared to Columbus’ 75) because they also have three games in hand.
Next up for the Canes is a weekend off before another back-to-back set that starts Monday against the Rangers and returns home to face the Bruins on Tuesday in Raleigh.
Go Canes!
I don’t want to get too hyped up about one game, but I was really impressed with Darling’s composure, especially near the end when he faced several real quality chances from CHI and didn’t flinch. I hope he get’s plenty more starts the rest of the way.
The rest of the team played pretty good, too!
I do not want to throw cold water on what legitimately could be a stepping stone in the right direction.
On the surface, Darling battled hard, played well in the 2nd half, made a couple big saves and won. Nothing wrong with that.
But if I peel back the layers, he let in 2 bad goals which is about 2 too many. He did have a handful of really good saves after that, but the team in front of him was utterly dominant such that he really was not tested otherwise.
More than slicing and dicing a single game is seeing if he can build on it and find a higher gear for a run of games.
I agree, it’s hard to get hyped about goaltending until we see a string of solid performances. Great job by Scottie to rebound after those two goals allowed though, so hoping it’s a start for him!
Good win, and was pleased to see the forward net presence (where was this all year?).
My last thought can be taken the wrong way, but I will say it anyway. While homecomings for players and their former teams are human interest stories, next year I hope the players on this team can show that same glow in their face when speaking of the Canes and Raleigh. I want players on the Canes who say it’s nice to come back to ex-building but limits the awe struck expressions and shows passion for the team they are on. Enough with the “former” Blackhawk Cup mentions and show that same passion for building a winning environment in Raleigh.
It was a win by THE TEAM. No need to pare everything down to each individual play. If we are going to do that (pare down), Then for every excellent stop we should also be going into why an excellent stop was required, etc. The team played excellent defense overall with few lapses and the team performed well on offense leading to three goals and controlling the puck leading to fewer Chicago scoring chances. “That’s how you win hockey games baby!”
I found the Scott Darling interview downright alarming.
He basically said he was happy in Chicago and hated Carolina, not directly, he’s classier than that, but his tone of voice, gestures and selection of words made it abundantly clear. No “thanks for the 16 million dudes”.
At least we may be able to offload him to Chicago if we’re willing to eat some salary and sign him p for the Semin club.
I was not impressed last night, he let in two goals that no NHL caliber goalie should let in, one whoopsie is ok but he had 2 huge ones.
The only reason Chicago didn’t win is that they were trying hard not to.
I didn’t notice Kane playing or any of their great leaders, I’m sure they hav their marching orders, suck today, draft for next year.
I also don’t understand why Walmark wasn’t in the lineup yesterday. I mean, why are we not trying to assess what we have for next season? Why not sit Rask and bring Walmark in. He’s been knocking on the door and was actually the guy who impressed the most in the Minnesota game.
This has nothing to do with the game last night, although it was good to get a win (that certainly wasn’t the Blackhawks team I remember) – but I was just going through our roster and something really jumped out at me. The only forwards we have over 6’ tall are Rask and Staal. And Staal is the only forward over 200 pounds. I knew we were a small team, but I didn’t realize we were THAT small. As a comparison, I took a look at Columbus. They have 7 forwards over 6’ and 7 over 200 pounds. Hmmm… could be one of the reasons we no longer have a certain GM…
This has been true of the Canes for quite some time. I am not a big believer in just purely size and weight being a huge factor- plenty of players undersized play heavy games and are difference makers in the league. Speed is the most important asset if anything I would say, but I cannot deny despite whatever analytics might say my eye test does not deceive me – teams with big heavy players are a nightmare to play against and those teams win more 50 50 battles throughout games and just seem to have success. Sure every team would love to have big, strong, fast and skilled guys, but when settling for less than that it seems whatever recipe the Canes have doesn’t work (speed and skill, without enough raw physical strength?).
One thing you have to acknowledge about Ron Francis is that he liked big players on draft day. This past draft every player was listed as 6’0″ or taller. Luke Martin was listed as 221 lbs.
In fact, the only player drafted in the last three drafts (26 picks total) who was not listed as at least 6 feet tall was Aho. Three forwards were 200 lbs. or heavier (Gauthier, Elynuik, Cotton). Nicolas Roy was listed as 6’4″ 195. Steven Lorentz is now listed as 6’4″ 201.
If size was needed, it was being addressed the past three drafts.
Agreed CT. RF was always talking about the size of the prospects he drafted.
Just an observation. A few weeks back somebody looked at Tampa bay, and they were small, but are very fast with skill. Looking at them as an example, big may not always be the answer. Time will tell if RF was getting the right guys.
Ironically , ho is also the only draft pick from the last 3 years who is an NHL regular.
Proves the old saying that size isn’t everything.
Hope they bring up Zykov for one of the back to back games next week. He’s broken the 30 goal barrier in the AHL, 5 goals ahead of the closest competition.
I know AHL scoring does not necessarily translate to NHL success (Zack Boychuk), but if anybody deserves a look, especially a big guy, who parks in front of the net, with a knack for scoring goals.