Needing a win to right the ship after 2 consecutive losses, the Carolina Hurricanes came out on fire Sunday night versus San Jose. For the 2nd consecutive game, the Canes somehow exited a 1st period that they dominated with a 1-goal deficit. After dominating in terms of offensive zone time, puck possession, shots on goal or just about any other stat for the entire period, 1 ill-timed Ron Hainsey pinch and an unfortunate bounce that saw Sekera block a 2-on-1 pass right back to the passer gave San Jose a 1-0 lead and the only goal that they would need for a win (the 2nd goal was a late empty-netter). The story of the game was rookie Troy Grosenick going 45 for 45 in the save department in his NHL debut for what must rank among the best goalie debuts in league history. There really is not much else you could ask from the Canes. They dominated the 1st period just like in Boston and did a better job of following it up with 2 more good periods. They won any possible stat battle except goals scored. And they very plainly just deserved better.

A few random notes:

1) Chris Terry. He had a solid game offensively especially early. He picked off a pass just inside the offensive blue line to feed Victor Rask for 3 chances at point blank range and also sprung Jeff Skinner for a pretty good chance. He continues to play heady hockey with enough positional defense to be a regular at the NHL level.

2) John-Michael Liles. He is quietly playing very good hockey right now. He is playing with very good awareness of when he needs to help provide an outlet to exit the zone and pushing the puck forward when it is on his side of the ice.

3) Anton Khudobin. This was a tricky game for a backup. You come in chomping at the bit to play and then have nothing to do for the 1st period. Then you get beat for a fluke goal where you have no chance. Then you mostly watch the guy at the other end light it up while you are intermittently asked to make a save to keep you team from falling into a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 hole. He answered the call and held San Jose to the 1 1st period goal which is all you can ask.

4) If I had to nitpick...The game did have a bit of the smell of some of the Canes old losses to Luongo when he was with Florida where they got pushed to the outside and took a bunch of bad angle shots and also just did not get a traffic directly in front of the goalie. About midway through the 3rd period, Riley Nash tried to split 2 defenders to go straight to the front of the net. He did not make it, but I think that was the kind of play that had a chance to net a goal when a big mess with the puck all showed up in the crease. And while the Canes did send sporadic traffic to the front of the net, it continues to be more "let me set up on the side for a tip" or "let me float through and try to time it" and less of the "let me just park directly in front of the goalie and stay here indefinitely."

But again, if I could take Sunday's game for the rest of the year, I would. The effort and compete were phenomenal, and the Canes played a good game and were the better team. More often than not, that earns wins and points in the standings.

The painful part is where it leaves the Canes in the standings. After an 0-6-2 October, the Canes at 1 point had earned back 5 of the 6 games that they had fallen below .500. Suddenly, they have given 3 of those back and sit only 2 games better (relative to .500) than the end of the abysmal October.

Next up is a long 5-game road trip that starts Tuesday in Dallas.

Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63

Go Canes!

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