The Carolina Hurricanes came into Thursday's game look to extend their winning streak to 5 games. And they played a game that had a couple options to get a 5-4 win if you make a couple adjustments. The burst in the 2nd period might be enough to eek out a win against 1 of the 2 previous opponents, but against a better Canadiens team you need a more complete game to win.

Canes just had too many "not good enoughs" to even steal a point late:
--The power play struggled again. Montreal netted a power play goal, so the Canes were minus 1 there with their 0-for effort.
--The Canes also had 2 big "sorting things out" kind of oopses off the rush that led directly to goals. First, Jordan Staal failed to play a passing lane at the same time that Jeff Skinner failed to beat a Canadien down the ice (Gorges goal). Then the 2nd oops (Eller) goal found the Canes with 4 back on defense but Wallace (pretty sure I got the right #) failing to identify the open man leaving the Canes with 4 on 1 side and a streaking Eller by himself with an easy tap in goal on the other side.

In recent games, huge offensive surges have been enough to cover up any minor problems here and there. But a good Montreal team with Carey Price playing a solid game in net were too much for the kind of win that relies solely on a couple overpowering offensive bursts.

A few positives on the Canes side:
--Tlusty/EStaal/Semin were actually very good again. Semin seemed to get almost all of the good scoring chances and just had a rough night finding the net otherwise it could have been another night with a goal or even 2. It was an interesting juxtoposition with Semin (who has been the primary playmaker and a very good one) getting the majority of the chances to finish. I have seen enough Alexander Semin scoring nights against us to worry that finishing will be a long-term problem.

--Drayson Bowman providing scoring depth. His laser shot that beat Price clean marks his 2nd big goal in a couple weeks. (His goal against Tampa was a big one to draw the Canes back to 2-1 before things went to heck down the stretch.)

--The 2nd period. The 2nd period was top quality. The team got rewarded with a 2-0 period win and could have had more. But 1 period is not enough against a team of Montreal's caliber.

--Timing is good. Canes were rolling off win after win of the medium-good not super good kind of quality. A quick reset against a good defensive team that works hard sets a good measuring stick for what it will take to truly be at the top of the conference.

The key is to rebound quickly. The Canes beat New Jersey a couple weeks back when they were playing real well. This time the Canes catch the Devils at home at a time when they are struggling. Canes need to bring the 2nd period effort from tonight early and apply the pressure early on Saturday night.

For a quick heads up when I post a Canes blog follow me on Twitter at CarolinaMatt63.

Go Canes!

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