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Hurricanes Game Day Preview: Vs. Islanders -- Trying to build on Tuesday

November 7, 2013, 6:37 AM ET [10 Comments]
Matt Karash
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
In case you missed it the Canes today sent Elias Lindholm to Charlotte and recalled Chris Terry. The move makes sense in that Chris Terry is playing well and scoring in Charlotte and at least potentially could provide an offensive injection at the NHL level. Elias Lindholm will benefit from more ice time and a chance to build confidence.

The outcome of Thursday’s Canes game against the Isles will have a huge say in the current state of the Canes. If the Canes win, the team will have temporarily righted the ship, climbed into a tie for the #3 spot in the Metro (which is a playoff spot) and seemingly be headed in the right direction. With a loss, the Flyers win quickly becomes a 1-game blip that was not a great hockey game and was arguably a win only because of the competition.

The Tuesday win to start the 5-game home stand was a hockey game that looked more like a slog through the mud with skates on. But when Jordan Staal scored an extra attacker goal in the last minute and Manny Malhotra followed with an overtime game-winner, it was as if someone took a hose and a can of polish to it. For a team and fan base that had not seen a win in 5 games, it was suddenly a thing of beauty.

Game 2 of the home stand on Thursday versus the Islanders comes with very much the same set up. I think it is a bit premature to declare the Canes slump over by virtue of 1 single ugly win against the bottom team in what is currently the league’s weakest division. And the Isles come in with problems of their own. They have goalie issues. They are coming off a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of the Capitals. And they are muddling along at .500 just 2 points above the Canes.

At the start of the season, through 16 games would Canes fans have taken a Canes team that was tied for #3 in the Metro Division and therefore in playoff position? Of course they would have. Sure it is riddled with ugly asterisks like the recent losing streak, how bad the rest of the division had to be to make it possible, etc. But details aside, with a win Thursday that is exactly where the Canes will be.

Something has to give in this matchup between the Isles defense and the Canes offense. The Isles have given up 3.2 goals per game this year less on a per game basis than only Florida in the Eastern Conference and a sport a #28 ranking on the penalty kill. There is much grumbling about Nabokov’s play enough so that the Canes might well see Poulin in net. But with Thomas Vanek now added, the Isles bring offensive fire power and the potential to score in bunches if you play sloppy defensively and give them chances.

My keys to the game:

1) Stars against stars. The Canes won the previous meeting this season in what was probably the Tlusty/EStaal/Semin line’s best game when Tlusty notched the only 2 goals he has scored all season and Semin handled the playmaking duties. The Isles stormed back late on the power play, but the Canes held on to win. This game will likely be decided by whichever set of superstars can shake off their team’s recent struggles and win the big matchup.

2) Canes defensive “starting 5.” It will be interesting to see what Muller does matchup-wise. The last time the Canes faced a team with a juggernaut of a 1st line at home (Tampa with the St. Louis/Stamkos duo), he chose to play Eric Staal’s line against them most of the night instead of going with Jordan’s. Regardless of who the forward set is, it is likely to be Sekera/Faulk on the ice much of the night against the dangerous Vanek/Tavares/Okposo line. Sekera and Faulk started the season strong but have come back to Earth of late. The duo was a combined minus 14 in the 3 games prior to the Philadelphia win. They were victimized in the Pens game, not that great in the Lightning game and part of the mess against the Rangers. They need to rebound for the Canes to contain the Isles 1st line and push the scoring pressure to the Isles other 9 forwards who have not scored a goal in the past 2 games.

3) Dish it out instead of taking it. Both teams are fighting it a bit right now. The team that comes out and forces the issue early is likely to get the upper hand and therefore a better chance to get on the board first and further increase the pressure. It is not impossible for the Canes to for once be the aggressor in the 1st period, put the other team on its heels and hopefully reap scoreboard benefits.

I think this game has much bigger implications than your run of the mill early November game. The Canes finally stopped the bleeding with the win against Philadelphia, but if the Canes climb right back on the losing side of the ledger 1 game later, the Flyers win is going to be more of a mini consolation prize against a bottom shelf team that does little to suggest any real change in momentum or direction.

What say you Canes fans? Which Staal’s line gets the Tavares matchup? Will Sekera/Faulk be capable of handling the Isles best? Was the Flyers win a small blip against a weak team or the start of something bigger?

Puck drops a little after 7pm in Raleigh. Tune in to get answers to all the questions swirling around.

Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63

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