The Canes got just what the doctor ordered Friday night with a relatively easy win and 2 points in the standings and a game that was too taxing heading into another game Saturday night.
The script went about how a Canes fan would have hoped. The team jumped out to an early lead, eventually added to it and then coasted to a win. The 3rd period was real sloppy defensively, but when you are up by 3-4 goals, and your goalie is playing well, you can look past that a bit. I was a little bit surprised to see Justin Faulk and Ron Hainsey up at 23 minutes in a game that was in hand early, but the minutes were not incredibly taxing. The forward minutes were spread more evenly and light for the top 2 lines which should help a little bit on Saturday.
The story of the game was depth scoring. Riley Nash notched his 2nd huge goal of the week getting the Canes on the board 1st. (Remember that he scored the 3rd period game-tying goal versus Winnipeg that was ultimately wasted but was a big goal when it happened.) The 4th line was good in general especially when the outcome was still being decided.
A few quick player notes:
--Anton Khudobin. He actually made a rare mistake of sorts letting a shot go through him and into the net and also was fortunate (2 posts I think, and also 2 pucks swept out of the crease by Bellemore and Liles I believe), but he was good overall again. It was sort of glossed over by the lead and march toward victory, but the Canes were loose defensively in the 2nd half of the game. As has been the case, Khudobin had the answers when required to keep Florida from ever climbing back into the game.
--Riley Nash. Mostly said it above already, but 1st goals especially early are critical to taking the pressure off. Good for him.
--Brett Bellemore. He came up only an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick in a strong game.
--Jeff Skinner. He also played well especially early when the game was still being decided. He was a 1-man puck retrieving machine before the Bellemore goal getting the puck, trying to shoot it, losing it, getting ready to shoot it again, etc. Ultimately all of the attention shifted to that side of the ice just in time for the puck to find Bellemore on the other side with room to step into a shot.
The win Friday only pushes the team forward if it can couple it with another win Saturday versus Montreal. The relative ease of Friday's win and the balance of ice time is a positive, but the Canes need to be careful that they do not let the style of play turn into a negative. Friday's game was loose especially early. There were scoring chances aplenty, a free pass through the neutral zone and a generally open style of play. If the Canes show up against Montreal expecting to just skate freely and trade scoring chances, they will quickly find themselves down a goal or 2 at which point the Canadiens will put the death grip on the flow and offense of the game just like the Canes recent 3-0 loss in Montreal. Saturday the Canes need to show up with a willingness to play more of a patient, grinding game of hockey.
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