On Thursday night in Dallas, the Canes continued marching toward another April without playoffs. The biggest story of the game for me was the Stars’ speed. Despite a fairly even shot total, the Stars very much got the better of the 1st period and scored twice off the rush. Khudobin settled in after the 2 early goals and held the fort until late in the 2nd period before the Canes inability to score and another goal off the rush by Jamie Benn mostly finalized the outcome when the 2nd period ended at 3-0 Dallas. Whereas the Canes were the better team and deserved better in Tuesday’s loss, they very much received what they deserved on Thursday. When things got chippy after Antoine Roussel blatantly ran Anton Khudobin in the 3rd period, even that mostly went awry. Ron Hainsey immediately going after Roussel and pummeling him was good, but then the random collection of bad Canes’ penalties that followed just got in the way of any possible late miracle comeback.
A few player notes:
--Jeff Skinner. You can see the effort, want and determination, but the results just are not coming. He beat Gonchar with a nifty move to the net in the 2nd period and was generally fast and aggressive with the puck on his stick whenever given the chance. But we are very much at the point where the Canes need goals not decent efforts.
--Justin Faulk. I noted multiple games right before the Olympic break that his game was not up to his early season level. With a very limited amount of ice time in Sochi, my hope was that he would return rejuvenated and maybe even a little bit motivated by lack of Olympic playing time. But he was absolutely horrible on Thursday night. It was a combination of Faulk and Dwyer who left dangerous goal scorer Seguin wide open on the back side for the 1st goal. Even if Dwyer should have had Seguin Faulk should be filling the passing lane anyway. Also in the 1st period, he picked up a neutral zone interference penalty and was on the ice (not as much at fault) for Dallas’ 2nd goal. In the 2nd period, he nearly coughed the puck up in front of his net while on the power play and then was later beaten by Jamie Benn (with Sekera) 1 against 2 shorthanded on a rush right to the front of the net. My wild guess is that he is just worn down, but it is also possible that he just hit a rough patch or has some kind of minor mobility-limiting ailment.
--Power play inconceivably manages to take another step backward. The power play looked beter actually (up from horrible on Tuesday) and though it was technically after the power play expired scored even. But along the way, the team managed to give up 2 shorthanded goals. Just when it seemed to be at the lowest point possible, the Canes found a way to go from nothing to negative.
--Brett Bellemore. Amidst all the noise right now, he has quietly gone back to playing the same pretty solid defense-first hockey that won him a roster spot and ice time to start the season.
--Tuomo Ruutu. He continues to play his best stretch of hockey this season.
--Ron Hainsey. Good for Ron Hainsey stepping up when needed. I hope the league looks at that play. Roussel did get nudged a little bit from behind, but he made ZERO attempt to stop or miss Khudobin and instead got his elbow/forearm up to make sure the contact was head high. That is simply inexcusable.
--Anton Khudobin. This will not go down as his best effort (not that the loss was his fault), but he battled for the entire 60 minutes even when the game was over. All 3 goals he allowed were on defensive breakdowns that led to breakaway chances. Ideally he would have saved the team a bit more when it struggled early, but with the Canes’ defense loose most of the game and the Stars racing in off the rush all night, he did a pretty good job holding on. But what impressed me most was his compete level late making a number of great saves when the game was mostly over.
If the Canes do not make the playoffs, I just might have found my team for the playoffs (realizing that the Stars are by no means a sure thing to make it). I love the combination of size and speed. With Cole, Benn, Nichushkin, Chiasson, etc. the Stars fly up and down the ice but not with small quick guys but rather with 6-2+ and 200lb+ players who have skill to boot.
With wins by the Rangers, Devils, Canadiens, Red Wings and Capitals, the Canes lost 2 more points to a number of teams also in the playoff hunt. That leaves 3 more games before the trade deadline and a tough bunch in LA, Ana and SJ. Barring a stunning turnaround this weekend, the Canes are increasingly looking like sellers not buyers.
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
Go Canes!
Matt on Google+ 
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»