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Carolina Hurricanes Blogger •
With the 4-game sweep in the Eastern Conference finals including 2 rough losses at home at the RBC Center, today's Canes/Pens game had a little more meaning than your run of the mill weeknight October game. Everyone knows that nothing can undo last May, and in the bigger picture Wednesday was just another 2 points in the standings for the 09-10 season. But as a Canes fan who endured the heartbreaking and disappointing end to last season's great playoff run, you just really wanted to sock it to the Pens. In that respect, Wednesday night's game was not horrible, but it left you wanting more.
But in terms of playing hockey in late May again this season, Wednesday night was a small but significant step forward. The Canes more or less tied the defending champs and undoubtedly 1 of the best teams this season too. The team also showed resiliency coming back from a 2-goal deficit to do so. And maybe most significantly, the Canes seemed to find a gear that we have not seen this season, at least for stretches of the game, in terms of quality of play.
--The Hurricanes looked like a completely different team in the 1st period moving the puck crisply from stick to stick at times and playing with speed and jump, not the sluggishness and sloppiness that had mostly characterized the Canes through their 1st 5 games.
--Gone (mostly) were the boatload of bad penalties.
--Though the result was not 2 points, you could make a good case that this was the best 60 (+) minutes of hockey that the Canes have played this season. (There is still plenty of room for improvement, but you have to start somewhere.)
So while the 'fan with a good memory' part of me is a bit disappointed by the shootout loss, the 'looking forward to next spring' part of me is happy - 1 point against a good team and a step in the right direction in terms of quality of play.
A few player notes:
1) The Wizard. Ray Whitney is 1 of a couple offensive leaders who have been pretty quiet so far. It was great to see him bust out in a big way for 2 huge goals that led fairly directly to a point in the standings.
2) Tim Gleason. With both goalies playing well and Malkin and Whitney both registering 2 points, the sheet is a bit crowded, but I really think #6 was 3-star quality on Wednesday night. He just made play after play defending top-tier offensive talent often 1-on-1 the entire night logging a whopping 29:37 of ice time. His heady and quick pass to Whitney was a key part to the tying goal. Gleason was just flat out the Canes best player on Wednesday, and yes I did see Whitney's clutch plays and Ward's spectacular saves.
This is an aside but on queue with the assist tonight. Gleason is clearly making a concerted effort to be quicker moving the puck and showing a bias toward shooting. He is never going to be a 50-point type defenseman, but if the current trend continues, I stay he takes a big step up from only 12 last season.
3) Cam Ward. Is it just me or he racking up highlight reel stuff at a much faster pace this season? After giving up the short side on Malkin's 2nd goal, he rebounded nicely and battled to give his team a chance even going 6 deep in the shootout.
4) Tuomo Ruutu. He had another solid game physically and a good game offensively. You can see where the difference between 50-55 points and 70-80 points for him is the ability to pick corners. He blasted away on some pretty good scoring chances against the Pens and rightfully could have notched a goal, but he seems to lack the sniper ability to pinpoint a piece of open net and hit it. But you know what, I will take a 50-55-point Tuomo Ruutu on my team any day of the week. The guy just brings it every night. Ironically, his defining shift was not 1 of the 2 assists he had. If you have it on DVR, watch the Whitney/Staal/Ruutu shift about midway through the 3rd period where they drew the penalty. Ruutu made 2 tremendous plays at the blue line to keep the zone after earlier battling for pucks behind the net. The guy just goes and gets pucks regardless of how far away it is and if another body already has it. I would expect to see Whitney/Staal/Ruutu again to start Saturday's game. It seemed to get Whitney started. Hopefully it can do the same for Staal.
5) The 4th line. I thought Kostopoulos, Yelle and Conboy (and Walker in Conboy's spot a couple times late) did a lot with their limited minutes. They managed to play in the offensive zone which is the best way to defend Pittsburgh's skill and Yelle/Kostopoulos also contributed on the penalty kill.
With only 2 games on the schedule this week, both against good teams, I would have been reasonably happy with 2 points and ecstatic with 3 or more. Here is hoping for a win in New Jersey to close out the playoff reunion tour to get the 3.
Go Canes!
But in terms of playing hockey in late May again this season, Wednesday night was a small but significant step forward. The Canes more or less tied the defending champs and undoubtedly 1 of the best teams this season too. The team also showed resiliency coming back from a 2-goal deficit to do so. And maybe most significantly, the Canes seemed to find a gear that we have not seen this season, at least for stretches of the game, in terms of quality of play.
--The Hurricanes looked like a completely different team in the 1st period moving the puck crisply from stick to stick at times and playing with speed and jump, not the sluggishness and sloppiness that had mostly characterized the Canes through their 1st 5 games.
--Gone (mostly) were the boatload of bad penalties.
--Though the result was not 2 points, you could make a good case that this was the best 60 (+) minutes of hockey that the Canes have played this season. (There is still plenty of room for improvement, but you have to start somewhere.)
So while the 'fan with a good memory' part of me is a bit disappointed by the shootout loss, the 'looking forward to next spring' part of me is happy - 1 point against a good team and a step in the right direction in terms of quality of play.
A few player notes:
1) The Wizard. Ray Whitney is 1 of a couple offensive leaders who have been pretty quiet so far. It was great to see him bust out in a big way for 2 huge goals that led fairly directly to a point in the standings.
2) Tim Gleason. With both goalies playing well and Malkin and Whitney both registering 2 points, the sheet is a bit crowded, but I really think #6 was 3-star quality on Wednesday night. He just made play after play defending top-tier offensive talent often 1-on-1 the entire night logging a whopping 29:37 of ice time. His heady and quick pass to Whitney was a key part to the tying goal. Gleason was just flat out the Canes best player on Wednesday, and yes I did see Whitney's clutch plays and Ward's spectacular saves.
This is an aside but on queue with the assist tonight. Gleason is clearly making a concerted effort to be quicker moving the puck and showing a bias toward shooting. He is never going to be a 50-point type defenseman, but if the current trend continues, I stay he takes a big step up from only 12 last season.
3) Cam Ward. Is it just me or he racking up highlight reel stuff at a much faster pace this season? After giving up the short side on Malkin's 2nd goal, he rebounded nicely and battled to give his team a chance even going 6 deep in the shootout.
4) Tuomo Ruutu. He had another solid game physically and a good game offensively. You can see where the difference between 50-55 points and 70-80 points for him is the ability to pick corners. He blasted away on some pretty good scoring chances against the Pens and rightfully could have notched a goal, but he seems to lack the sniper ability to pinpoint a piece of open net and hit it. But you know what, I will take a 50-55-point Tuomo Ruutu on my team any day of the week. The guy just brings it every night. Ironically, his defining shift was not 1 of the 2 assists he had. If you have it on DVR, watch the Whitney/Staal/Ruutu shift about midway through the 3rd period where they drew the penalty. Ruutu made 2 tremendous plays at the blue line to keep the zone after earlier battling for pucks behind the net. The guy just goes and gets pucks regardless of how far away it is and if another body already has it. I would expect to see Whitney/Staal/Ruutu again to start Saturday's game. It seemed to get Whitney started. Hopefully it can do the same for Staal.
5) The 4th line. I thought Kostopoulos, Yelle and Conboy (and Walker in Conboy's spot a couple times late) did a lot with their limited minutes. They managed to play in the offensive zone which is the best way to defend Pittsburgh's skill and Yelle/Kostopoulos also contributed on the penalty kill.
With only 2 games on the schedule this week, both against good teams, I would have been reasonably happy with 2 points and ecstatic with 3 or more. Here is hoping for a win in New Jersey to close out the playoff reunion tour to get the 3.
Go Canes!
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