When you net out the Canes weekend, it was actually positive. The team earned in a split in a road back-to-back against 2 playoff teams. Break even is actually fine. But it comes with a negative vibe of needing more to make up ground after an 0-3 start and also without the baggage of another game where the Canes never got going and never had a chance.
It was a tale of 2 very different games:
Against Detroit, the Canes were dominant pretty much throughout the game. A Wings push late in the 2nd period to turn 3-0 into 3-2 made things a bit tense, but the Canes returned to playing dominant hockey in the 3rd period and never even gave the Wings a chance to climb back into it. The end result was a much-deserved 5-3 win. The team in total played well in terms of compete level and intensity, but the offense was not a group effort. The McGinn/EStaal/Versteeg line (most of it anyway) was on the ice for 4 of the 5 goals, and the 5th was a fluky shot from behind the net by Chris Terry on the 4th line. Eric Staal was the best player on the ice Friday night, but the story of the game was Brock McGinn's NHL debut. McGinn scored 55 seconds into the game on his 1st NHL shift and notched an assist later in stepping straight from the AHL onto an NHL 1st line.
Saturday night in Washington was the complete opposite. Cam Ward actually had a strong game in net despite giving up 4 goals. He just never received any help and also had a couple tough ones get behind him. He held the game to 1-0 for a long time, but no one else in a Canes uniform ever really showed up. In the end, the 4-1 loss was a reasonably fair measure of what happened on the ice. Looking for positives is like grasping for straws after this game, but in addition to Ward's effort, Jeff Skinner notched his 1st goal of the season. Hopefully that gets him going.
I know Canes fans want more, but if the Canes can keep playing at a break even pace on the long NC State Fair road trip that is a positive that gets them farther into the NHL season than last year still with hope intact. Next up is 3 days off before heading out West with a 1st game in Colorado.
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