A great surprise yesterday morning as captain Erik Karlsson rejoined the team for the morning skate, and then announced that he would be in the lineup for the game, missing just a pair of games following the tragedy that he and his family endured.
But little surprise in the fact that his return wasn't enough to make it a close game as the Hurricanes put four past Mike Condon and one more into the empty net for a 5-2 win.
Bobby Ryan with a goalmouth tip in and Thomas Chabot with a back door tap-in were the only Senators able to beat Cam Ward, despite the fact that they put 36 shots on the Hurricanes netminder.
It wasn't quantity but quality shots for the Hurricanes, as Condon didn't have much chance on the goals that did find their way past him. Phil De Guisseppe opened the scoring with a laser beam shot that went bar-down, Brock McGinn's high-slot tip went through about 4 sets of legs before finding it's way through, Noah Hanifin was set up for an easy gaping net following Sebastian Aho's brilliant "around the world" dash through the Senators defensive zone. Finally, Jeff Skinner's sweet hands on the breakaway to elude the backchecking Mike Hoffman's stick-check and go backhand shelf. He let in four, but I wouldn't blame Condon for this one.
Guy Boucher's challenge of the McGinn goal for offside and subsequent look of shock when his challenge was overturned was comical and borderline embarassing. A freeze-frame of the play showed that it wasn't even close, that all of the Hurricanes had tagged up on the entry play, and it was an ill-advised decision that cost them a penalty as well. I get that you have to make the decision quickly and maybe in the heat of the moment you might see it one way, but during the review they had plenty of time to see that they were indeed wrong and it was pretty plain to see. If his shock was genuine then I am concerned that he doesn't know what offside is, and if it was gamesmanship it is even worse.
It hasn't been decided, at least publicly, if Karlsson will travel with the team following Sunday's practice for the second half of the home and home set on Monday night in Raleigh. Whether he does or doesn't, it was great to see him in the lineup and escape from the nightmare of real life for a few hours and only have to deal with the nightmare of a hockey game (and season) instead. And it also puts things in perspective that despite the cliches used in sports, it is really just a game.