Canes get a point in frustrating OT loss to Philly

The Broad Street Bullies came into town tonight and walked away with two points to pad their lead in the Atlantic Division. They earned their 53rd point and widened their lead over the Rangers to five points. The single point earned by the Canes is their 50th point, and puts the Southeast division gap at nine points between Carolina and Tampa.

The first period left nothing to write home about. Some heavy action in Carolina's end, and some very nice stops by Cam Ward, getting his first start in a LONG time.

Brian Savage of the Flyers broke the scoreless tie at 5:44 of the second with a helper from RJ Umberger.

Five minutes later, while Chris Theiren was in the box serving a double minor for high-sticking, the Canes were able to score two power play goals. The first on was Cory Stillman, with helpers from Bret Hedican and Frank Kaberle. There were just four seconds remaining on the front end of the double minor, so the Canes stayed put on the power play. 58 seconds later, they connected again with a goal from Matt Cullen. Ray Whitney and Frank Kaberle had the helpers.

With the second period winding down, the visitors got a goal at 18:50 from Fred Meyer IV. It was his first NHL goal, and it was a beauty. A bomb from the top of the right face off circle through heavy traffic. Simon Gagne and Foppa assisted.

Early in the third, the Canes got the lead at 1:48 on Matt Cullen's second goal. Whitney and Mike Commodore got the assists on that one.

Philly tied it up at 9:26 on a goal from Gagne. I thought it was Kim Johnsson's goal, but they instead gave him the primary assist, and the second assist to Michal Handzus. That goal was Gagne's 27th of the season, putting him one ahead of the slumping Eric Staal.

The rest of the period was insane, with each goalkeeper making some tremendous stops. The Canes were running out of gas, and it was really showing in the defensemen. We had a really hard time keeping out of our own end, and the checking was almost non-existent.

The same applied to the overtime period, and at 1:27, Sami "The Flying Finn" got one past Ward for the game winner. Handzus and Mike Rathje got assists.

During the second period, there was a scary moment for Rathje. He took a Rod Brind'Amour slapshot in the throat. He immediately went down, and both teams medical staff lingered around for several minutes until Rathje was able to skate off on his own power. Late in the third, there was yet another scary moment. Eric Cole whiffed on a big check, and ended up going face-first into the boards. He suffered lacerations on his forehead, and had to skate off to the locker room. He never returned, and I don't know the status of his injury other than that.

After three consecutive HUGE games (Tampa, Ottawa, Philly) in a four night span, the Canes will rest tomorrow night. They got two out of a possible six points in those games, so it wasn't a total loss, but we'd like to see better performance against top teams. Then back at it on New Year's Eve against another top dog in the East, Les Habitants. They'll get a slight break from the tough games with the first three games of the new year (Atlanta, Islanders, Islanders), then consecutive home games against Detroit and Nashville.

All I'm saying is that it might be a while before the Canes are able to put together a winning streak of any kind. This schedule is a monster. Whatever happens, this'll be good practice for the playoffs.

The good from tonight is that Carolina went two of seven on power plays, and shut down Philly on their four power play chances. Cam Ward made some absolutely jaw-dropping stops, specifically in the second period. I think he did a superb job, facing 40 shots. Unfortunately, as the game wore on, the defense weakened, and he was pretty much out there on his own.

Chad LaRose (nickname forthcoming) continues to impress me. He's always going to be the smallest player out there, but he's also going to be the one who hustles the most. He gives it all every shift, and he is an excellent skater and puckhandler. He makes some really nifty moves through traffic. Some day in the not too distant future, he's going to be a very good player.

Up next, the New Year's Eve ball with the Montreal Canadiens.