From the outset, this game had many of the common signs of the offense-stifling kind of loss that the Canes have seen frequently the past couple years. Montreal was not giving up much. Carey Price looked solid in net. And the Canes were a little bit loose early. But that part actually ended okay. Anton Khudobin made some tough saves early, and the Canes got better defensively as the 1st period wore on. The Canes did not generate much offensively in the 1st period, but except for a few mistakes early, they did not give up a ton either. In my book, the 1st period ended with an edge to Montreal, but only a slight 1, and things were knotted at 0-0 where it mattered on the score board.
The 2nd period was even better. The Canes found some momentum, started winning more than their share of the battles and tilted the ice in their favor through most of the 2nd period. Sure enough, the 1st goal was finally scored not because someone beat Carey Price but because he either did not see it, or saw it very late when Drayson Bowman labeled a shot for the upper corner of the net with Tuomo Ruutu planted right in Price's line of sight. It was a well-deserved goal at a point when the Canes were completely dominating the game. Shots on goal were 6-1 Carolina in the 2nd period when Bowman's shot went in, and 4-1 in the stretch right after that. Carolina then earned a power play and then more chances.
But ironically, I think it might ultimately have been the Canes' growing offensive momentum that did them in. Largely due to Carey Price's stellar play in net, Montreal managed to just keep hanging around until finally the Canes leaned too far forward offensively, simultaneously got a little loose defensively and gave the Canadiens an opening. And they ran right through it. First, with line mates JStaal and Lindholm losing a battle for the puck behind the offensive zone end line, Skinner chose a quick "let me try to steal this and score" stick swipe in front of the net for his defensive effort. When he missed, all 3 Canes forwards were left behind and it was a jail break the other way. Sekera and Faulk were in a bad spot obviously, but at some point 1 of them needed to challenge the puck, force a shot or at least take away a passing lane. Instead, Khudobin was left with the impossible trying to defend a shooting angle that changed 3 times. Sekera and Faulk seemingly both just kept backing up to lean on a post each. And while the 4-on-2 passing demonstration was making Khudobin dizzy, Skinner actually made it back into the play only to do nothing specific and fail to sort things out and go to the trailer and eventual goal scorer. The 2nd goal which came roughly a minute later saw both Eric Staal and Justin Faulk fail at weak clearing attempts and then Ryan White finish from right in front of Khudobin with Faulk and Sekera surrounding him but not close enough to do anything. The final goal off the rush featured Manny Malhotra as the high forward getting caught flat-footed in the neutral zone and in Skinner goal #1 fashion having the puck fly by him for another jail break goal off the rush that saw Sekera and Faulk have no answer. In Sekera and Faulk's defense, they were hung out to dry by the forwards on both the 1st and 3rd goals, but when you have your top 2 defenseman back in position on a 3-on-2 or even a 4-on-2 rush, you hope for better than just backing up and backing up until the other team gets a point blank shot.
When I net it out, after a little bit of a slow start, the Canes settled into exactly the sound, detailed kind of game they needed to play to beat Montreal. At the point when they started to find a groove offensively, they tried to go Florida at the expense of maintaining the defensive acumen. It cost them dearly.
A few notes:
--1 good line. Bowman/Nash/Ruutu were lights out again. Bowman obviously had the only goal and could have had a hat trick with some luck. He was robbed by Price late and had another point blank shot stopped only by a defenseman's skate. While Bowman was the deserving beneficiary (because he played well too), Tuomo Ruutu was the catalyst. He played 3 parts in the goal, winning the puck in the defensive zone, keeping possession of it in the offensive zone (would have had 3rd assist) and going straight to the front of the net to screen Price. He was a puck-winning and puck-keeping force all night. As a hard-working player who has struggled much of this year, hopefully he gets a verbal pat on the back from Muller to take with him to Sochi and returns to do more of the same down the stretch.
--2 disappointments. Neither Staal line was abysmal, but they were nothing close to being difference-makers in a big game. As has been the case lately, they did not get on the score board which has been part of the recipe for most of the recent losses. If I had to break it down simply. I think Eric's line just needs to desperately want the puck more and protect possession of it harder in all 3 zones. Both Semin and EStaal were lackadaisical with the puck instead of strong and decisive on multiple occasions. I think the higher intensity level/determination is the path to scoring even in the games in which it does not come easy. I do not think Jordan's line works with a strange mix of a still-learning rookie and a non-textbook offensive prodigy who is still also learning in the other parts of his game. The biggest thing for me is that JStaal's strong puck possession game this season gets shut down before the game starts when he is announced to be paired minus anyone else who can play the boards and cycle the puck. For as undersized as Gerbe is, he is actually capable of playing that game using a combination of quickness, determination and willingness to do it despite his size disadvantage.
--Sekera/Faulk. 2 of the 3 goals against that they were on the ice for were very clearly caused by forwards hanging them out to dry off the rush. So were those goals ultimately their faults? Less so than the forwards. But I still want better from the 1st pairing when the team needs it. At a minimum with 2 back off the rush, you can push the puck to a side and then close down passing lanes which at least gives the goalie a chance. They did that on neither of the 2 rushes.
--Carey Price. He was really good. If he saw it, he stopped it which will have a high success rate against a team like the Canes that gets a higher than average percent of its offense from skilled scoring plays than ugly goals in/around the crease.
This loss was obviously a 2nd blow this week to the Canes playoff hopes. The Canes are now a big 5 and 6 points out of 3rd and 2nd place in the Metro Division. They do have 2 games in hand on both teams, so with wins in the 2 extra games (1 is the Buffalo game right after the break), they could close to only 1 and 2 points. But math aside, the bigger thing continues to be the elusiveness of any sustained Canes run that is not followed immediately by giving most progress back.
I guess the positive spin is that just maybe this loss and a couple weeks of staring at the standings that see only a tiebreaker keeping the Canes from 7th place in the division will bring a heightened level of desperation post-Olympic break that is needed to start winning more of the games that do not come easy and finding a level of play just 1 notch higher. With a small deficit in the playoff chase right now and a gauntlet of a schedule down the stretch that is what it will take.
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