Hockey Night in Carolina -- Canes v Cats

Tonight, the Canes will host the Panthers in the back end of a home-and-home that started on Friday in Fort Lauderdale. The Canes will attempt to win their fifth game in a row while the Cats will attempt to rebound from a disappointing loss on Saturday.

Heading into the game Saturday night, both teams had a three game winning streak, and the host team was resting, waiting for the Canes who played on Friday night in Raleigh. The Panthers got out to a very early lead, scoring just 24 seconds into the first period. Olli Jokinen ripped one from high in the slot, beating Johnny Crackers cleanly. Nathan Horton and Jay Bouwmeester got the assists.

Before the 6:00 mark, the Canes were already down 2-0, and things didn't look good. Gary Roberts knocked one in with assists from Jokinen and Horton at the 5:36.

Ray Whitney cut the lead in half at 10:19. Rod Brind'Amour and Mike Commodore got helpers. Brind'Amour coralled a loose puck below the goal line and drew a double team. He found Whitney all alone in the right faceoff circle, where he slapped it past Ed "Billion Dollar" Belfour.

At 16:13 of the second, the red hot Viva tied it up. Ray Whitney forced a turnover right at the Florida blue line and made a perfect pass to Viva who was creeping through the left circle into the low slot. A flick of the wrist later, the score was knotted at two. Whitney got the only assist.

There would be no more scoring in the second, or the third.

Thirty seconds into the extra frame, Bouwmeester was whistled for tripping. Most reporters called it "questionable", but that's being generous. It was a bad call. It benefited the Canes, so I can't complain, but it was a bad call. The resulting power play paid off for the Canes when Erik Cole had his stick in the right place at the right time to put a rebound in at 1:59 of overtime. Belfour made a stick save on Scott Walker's shot from the left circle, and Cole was in the low slot to grab the rebound. On the radio, he said that he intended to settle the puck, then shoot it, but it was such a hard rebound that it pinballed in off his stick. Right place right time.

Carolina only managed to put 17 shots on goal, and for the first part of the first period, they didn't look good. They rebounded well enough to force overtime and got a lucky bounce for what seems like the first time all season. And of course, I 'll mention again that they were on the receiving end of a gift power play.

Last season, Carolina strung together two separate nine-game winning streaks in the regular season and a seven-game winning streak in the playoffs. This season, the four game streak they are currently on is the longest.

Puck drop tonight is 7:00 eastern, and it isn't televised.

Viva has a seven game point streak. Erik Cole has a five game streak and Ray Whitney has a four game streak. Personally, I'll be expecting a big game out of Viva tonight.