New material from real hockey games and Canes success inspired a bit of a writing spree. If you have not checked in since Sunday’s game recap, you can find 2 blogs that I posted Monday here:
Story lines beneath the results: Transformation in process?
Jeff Skinner, Riley Nash, Radek Dvorak oh my! -- Canes line by line
Winning and playing well at home can sometimes be manufactured via correctly identifying matchups to your favor and executing on a game plan to win those. But winning on the road much more so requires being capable of playing good sound hockey from the top to the bottom of your lineup. Weaknesses get exposed and taken advantage of.
After a solid 1-0-1 start at home last weekend, the Canes move on to the level 2 challenge for the next 2 games. With a bit of confidence gained and a couple games to get up to speed, I think the timing is perfect to go against 2 big Metro Division measuring sticks on the road. The Pens and Caps boast 3 Hart Trophy types in Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin and lines that are real dangerous. More significantly, the Canes get both games on the road where the opposing coach is more able to dictate matchups.
You can bet that:
--The Pens and Caps will make an effort to test the rookies on defense and also the bottom 6 forwards who Muller used strategically at home.
--The Skinner/Nash/Dvorak line that was an offensive predator at home will see more challenging matchups on the road and tested defensively.
--Etc.
Early in the season, home games are the level 1 test that shows how your team looks when matched up to its advantages. Road games are the level 2 test that shows how good your team looks when people try to capitalize on its potential weaknesses.
This level 2 test defines much of what I will be watching for on Tuesday versus Pittsburgh:
1) How do the Hainsey/Bellemore and Harrison/Murphy pairings hold up against the difficult task of stopping the likes of Crosby and Malkin with the Pens coach Dan Bylsma dictating matchups a bit more?
2) Can Skinner/Nash/Dvorak hold its own if Bylsma sees them as the weak link and aims to change them from hunter at home to hunted on the road?
3) How do the Canes look moving the puck as a 5-man unit (key is forward support)?
4) How do the Jekyl and Hyde special teams fair? With the Canes power play still very much a work in progress, I would rather play the game at even strength. But if it does not work out that way, then 2 questions: 1-Do we see signs of life for the power play yet? 2-Can the penalty kill keep it up against the power play-elite Pens?
Timing would also be very good for Tlusty/EStaal/Semin to break the ice on scoring 2013-14, as it will be difficult to win with 2 goals on Tuesday night.
The quick Pens update goes…The Pens are minus a couple key players in Neal, Letang and Vokoun, but it seems to matter little. The team enters the game 2-0 with a 7-1 goal differential (3-0 over NJ; 4-1 over Buf). There is still plenty of fire power to fill out a couple scoring lines a good power play unit or 2. Marc Andre-Fleury entered the season as a big question mark and then got thrust into the 1 slot without a real #2 available with Vokoun’s blood clot issue putting him on the shelf for at least a couple months. We are only 2 games deep but so far he has been very good. As much as I enjoyed kicking the Flyers when they were down, busting out offensively, putting up 4 or 5 goals and introducing Fleury to self-doubt would be an equally great first impression on a new division foe.
But wild hopes aside, any kind of point in the standings on the road is a decent one, and 1 against division favorite Pittsburgh is even better.
Puck drops at 7pm with John and Tripp.
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
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