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Carolina Hurricanes Blogger •
On the surface, the outcome of Saturday's Canes/Devils matchup was fitting. Picking up right where we left off last Spring, it was a goalie duel to the finish and a tight 1-0 (not counting the empty-netter) finish. And like the Bruins the Devils got their revenge even if it just makes the fans feel a little better without doing anything to the more important history of last Spring.
But beyond the low-scoring affair and good goaltending at both ends of the ice, the similarities end. Both teams labored for much of the game to generate much offensively. And the game took on a sluggish pace for long stretches. In the playoffs, 1 team if not both was great in every single game. I am not sure you could say that even for the Devils on Saturday night, though the team is obviously happy with the result and the important points in the standings.
From a Canes standpoint, Saturday represented a disappointing step backward from Wednesday. Wednesday was a solid hockey game with some amount of crisp passing, decent speed up and down the ice and good fight for pucks and position. This game very much had the feel of the win at home against Tampa minus the positive results. After a slow start, the team's effort was decent, but there just was very little there in terms of jump in the skates and sense of purpose and crispness making offense happen. So that leaves the Canes at 2-4-1 and starting from square 1 again in terms of trying to find and keep a good brand of hockey that is playoff-capable.
A couple positives on an otherwise disappointing night:
1) Welcome back. Joni Pitkanen started and finished a hockey game for the 1st time this season and looked pretty good in the process. He ranks either #2 or #3 on the roster of guys the team needs in the lineup (Ward is 1 and either Pitkanen or Staal is #2).
2) 12 deep. In a close game with 3 days rest before and after the game, Coach Paul Maurice used the 4th line for 26 minutes (total) with no ill effects. For a coach who has leaned toward going only 3 lines deep when he can, this is a big vote of confidence for these guys. This bodes well for the dog days of the season in February and March with key players playing a couple fewer minutes here and there.
3) #30. By virtue of winning, you have to give Brodeur the nod in this game, but Ward was good too. It's just hard to win when your team puts up a 0.
And that is about it.
Suddenly a team that looked deep at forward going into training camp is struggling mightily to find offense. Ray Whitney's super hero routine bailed out a point on Wednesday, but there was no one in line behind him for tonight. The obvious answer to more scoring is Staal, but there needs to be more. The power play struggled mightily, and unless I missed 1, I am pretty sure they did not register a shot on goal Saturday night. I think it is also time for the coaching staff to get creative. Might Jokinen be capable of more with more skilled linemates? How do you get Larose off 0? What do you do to generate more offense from up top on the power play? Can BrindAmour find the missing offensive gear from 2 years back, or is it just gone? The questions right now are many.
The other upside is that despite playing maybe 1 good game this season and not even winning that 1, the team has clawed its way to some points.
The team does get 3 off days to work on things and also gets a winnable game against a young Islanders team on Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday's (and maybe tomorrow's) practice should be interesting. There is definitely some work to be done right now.
Go Canes!
But beyond the low-scoring affair and good goaltending at both ends of the ice, the similarities end. Both teams labored for much of the game to generate much offensively. And the game took on a sluggish pace for long stretches. In the playoffs, 1 team if not both was great in every single game. I am not sure you could say that even for the Devils on Saturday night, though the team is obviously happy with the result and the important points in the standings.
From a Canes standpoint, Saturday represented a disappointing step backward from Wednesday. Wednesday was a solid hockey game with some amount of crisp passing, decent speed up and down the ice and good fight for pucks and position. This game very much had the feel of the win at home against Tampa minus the positive results. After a slow start, the team's effort was decent, but there just was very little there in terms of jump in the skates and sense of purpose and crispness making offense happen. So that leaves the Canes at 2-4-1 and starting from square 1 again in terms of trying to find and keep a good brand of hockey that is playoff-capable.
A couple positives on an otherwise disappointing night:
1) Welcome back. Joni Pitkanen started and finished a hockey game for the 1st time this season and looked pretty good in the process. He ranks either #2 or #3 on the roster of guys the team needs in the lineup (Ward is 1 and either Pitkanen or Staal is #2).
2) 12 deep. In a close game with 3 days rest before and after the game, Coach Paul Maurice used the 4th line for 26 minutes (total) with no ill effects. For a coach who has leaned toward going only 3 lines deep when he can, this is a big vote of confidence for these guys. This bodes well for the dog days of the season in February and March with key players playing a couple fewer minutes here and there.
3) #30. By virtue of winning, you have to give Brodeur the nod in this game, but Ward was good too. It's just hard to win when your team puts up a 0.
And that is about it.
Suddenly a team that looked deep at forward going into training camp is struggling mightily to find offense. Ray Whitney's super hero routine bailed out a point on Wednesday, but there was no one in line behind him for tonight. The obvious answer to more scoring is Staal, but there needs to be more. The power play struggled mightily, and unless I missed 1, I am pretty sure they did not register a shot on goal Saturday night. I think it is also time for the coaching staff to get creative. Might Jokinen be capable of more with more skilled linemates? How do you get Larose off 0? What do you do to generate more offense from up top on the power play? Can BrindAmour find the missing offensive gear from 2 years back, or is it just gone? The questions right now are many.
The other upside is that despite playing maybe 1 good game this season and not even winning that 1, the team has clawed its way to some points.
The team does get 3 off days to work on things and also gets a winnable game against a young Islanders team on Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday's (and maybe tomorrow's) practice should be interesting. There is definitely some work to be done right now.
Go Canes!
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