After a week of the NHL Network showing the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, they've got another bit of programming that features the Hurricanes. You've gotta set your DVRs, coz this isn't prime time.
As part of their ongoing "Classic Series" series, they're showing the 1999 Eastern Conference quarterfinals between the Bruins and the Hurricanes. It'll air Wednesday morning at 9:00 and again on Thursday at 3:00 am.
It was Carolina's second season in North Carolina, and they were still in their temporary "home" in Greensboro. Carolina was the Southeast division champs and the #3 seed in the east. Their mediocre 86 standings points would not have gotten them a wildcard berth, but thanks to a very weak division, they were in. Boston was the "road" team, but was favored to win. Carolina gave them more of a challenge than they expected.
Boston won the series 4-2, and the pivotal game was game five, in Greensboro. April 30, 1999. The series was tied 2-2, and after regulation, the game was tied 3-3. The crowd stood for the entire first overtime, which solved nothing. Again, the crowd stood for the entire second overtime. Anson Carter scored at 14:45 of the second overtime to win the game and, effectively, the series. Game six, up in Boston was a shutout, officially ending the Hurricanes playoff season on May 2.
While most teams would shrug it off as "just another playoff loss", this one was very hard to take for Canes fans. The team immediately returned home, and had a party at Gary Roberts' house in Raleigh. Defenseman Steve Chiasson had way too much to drink and made a very bad decision to attempt to drive himself home. Things didn't work out. Chiasson was in a single car accident in which he was killed instantly.
Bring up "1999 playoffs" to a longtime Hurricanes fan, and you'll probably get a very somber look.
I was at that epic game five. I walked up to the ticket booth and bought a lower level center ice ticket about an hour before puck drop. Officially, the attendance was just a hair over 11,000. Carolina's attendance woes during the "Greensboro years" are well documented, and this was one of the best ones. For the record, the Greensboro Coliseum is equipped to hold 20,000 for hockey, but seldomly had more than 5,000 for a Canes game. That's another story for another day.
Back to the epic game five. Steve Chiasson scored the game's first goal. Nobody had any way of knowing it, but it would be his last.
I've turned my pigsty of an apartment upside down looking for the ticket stub to that game. I'm a bit of a packrat, and I did dig up some other tickets to other hockey games before my season ticket days. Also, I found some NFL football tickets and some movie tickets and some airplane boarding passes and some ten year old gas station receipts and various and sundry garbage. I remembered why I kept most of them, but there were some real head-scratchers in there. Anyway, I had no luck finding the stub to that game. For that matter, I couldn't find any remnants of "the Greensboro years".
One very cool sidenote about the Chiasson saga is that he and Cory Stillman were teammates in Calgary from 1994 to 1997. They also both grew up in Peterborough, Ontario. The town of Peterborough erected a small statue of Chiasson in one of its parks. As a beautiful gesture, Stillman used his day with the Stanley Cup in 2006 to visit that statue of his friend and teammate.
It'll be interesting to watch that "Classic series", but very hard at the same time. It was very exciting, as new hockey fans in North Carolina were introduced to playoff hockey, but it culminated in tragedy. That series, and more specifically, the Chiasson tragedy, was one of the most defining moments for this franchise. Every team goes through the loss of a playoff series, and must learn to do so gracefully. That's the easy part. Dealing with the death of a player is the impossible part.
In the early game on Saturday, the Bruins did the Hurricanes a huge favor by beating the Capitals 2-1. Actually, the Bruins were really watching their own back, giving themselves a better chance to qualify for the playoffs.
Technically speaking, the Capitals did themselves in. They had a 1-0 lead with about 5:45 to play. Donald Brashear lost his mind. After committing a high-sticking double minor, he lost his cool and threw a punch at a Bruins player who got in his face. The result was a six minute triple minor.
A short while later, John Erskine was called for hooking. It was a marginal call, but it gave the Bruins two solid minutes of five-on-three. Zdeno Chara scored, and the Bruins stayed put on the five-on-three. The first of Brashear's penalties came off, and he still had four minutes. Erskine's penalty elapsed, but right after, Tom Poti was called for slashing. Marco Sturm put the Bs ahead to stay.
This is huge for the Hurricanes. It means that they can really widen their lead with a win, or even an overtime loss tonight.
On Tuesday night, the Hurricanes were on the brink of being shut out by the visiting Bruins, but managed to earn a standings point.
For the entire game, Boston had just a little more jump than the Canes and carried a 2-0 lead into the final 70 seconds of play. Zdeno Chara scored at 4:51 of the first on a power play goal assisted by Marco Sturm and Marc Savard. From below the right circle, Sturm centered a pass that Chara got the re-direction on. A moment later, Thomas made a dazzling save on a Ray Whitney breakaway, and the tone was set. The tone was also set by some fighting and other rough stuff in the early going.
Tensions eased in the second period, but the Bruins made it 2-0 on a Savard power play goal from the top of the right circle at 14:28. Dennis Wideman and Andrew Ference assisted.
In the third period, Andrew Ference and Scott Walker took back-to-back matching penalties after exchanging recipes with each other. While they were in the adjacent penalty boxes, they probably discussed everything from Russian literature to deep sea fishing.
In a scene that was reminiscent of the December 18 game against Toronto, the Hurricanes scored two very quick goals with the goalie pulled.
Ray Whitney got the first at 18:57 of the third when he took a pass from Andrew Ladd in the left circle. Eric Staal got the secondary assist.
Erik Cole electrified the crowd just 20 seconds later with a goal from the same spot Eric Staal had a nice wrap chance that was denied by Thomas at the right post, but Cole tucked in the rebound.
Cole had a wonderful chance to win in the overtime period, but couldn't make it happen.
In the shootout, two Bruins scored while the first two Canes came up empty. In the first round, Sturm missed wide left and Matt Cullen hit the left post. In the second round, Phil Kessel scored five hole and Sergei Samsonov's backhand shot was saved by Thomas. David Krejci scored glove side, and the bottom of the third wasn't necessary.
Carolina can be happy that they persevered and got a point out of nothing. For the second time in the last three games, they have rallied from two goals down in the third. This should be a confidence builder for a team that seriously needs any boost they can get.
Ryan Bayda, Bret Hedican and Erik Cole were all "questionable", but all played. Jeff Hamilton did not play. Defenseman Tim Conboy played on the fourth forward line in his stead, but only got four shifts.
Peter Laviolette has apparently told the team not to come to the rink at all tomorrow. The locker room will be closed. They need to stay home, rest up and be ready to play Atlanta on Thursday night.
By getting the one standings point, Carolina widened their lead in the SE to three points over Atlanta and Washington. Atlanta will be idle on Wednesday while the Capitals will be at home against the Islanders.
The "official" three stars went to Ray Whitney (third), Tim Thomas (second) and Marc Savard (first). I have it a little differently. The RBH three stars: THIRD STAR Anrew Ference, BOS --- 1 assist, 4 blocked shots SECOND STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 2 assists, 3 takeaways, 3 hits FIRST STAR Tim Thomas, BOS --- 45 saves, win
Staal was very impressive in taking control of the game in the clutch situation, assisting both goals. This is exactly what the Hurricanes need from him now that Rod Brind'Amour is out for the season. This is his dress rehearsal for the day when the C becomes his.
Carolina Hurricanes third line left winger Ryan Bayda was sent home from practice today because he was sick. Here's the list of players already out of the lineup for tonight's game against the Bruins:
C Rod Brind'Amour (out for the season -- ACL) LW Justin Williams (out for the season -- ACL, MCL) C Chad LaRose (out for the season -- broken leg) D Dennis Seidenberg (ankle) W Patrick Eaves (shoulder) D Bret Hedican (lower body) D David Tanabe (concussion)
From the sounds of the reports this morning, LW Bayda will be unable to go, making the count eight.
In addition, the following players are sick with flu-like symptoms, but will probably play anyway, but will be unable to give 100%: RW Erik Cole LW Ray Whitney
There's a reasonable chance that Carolina could only have nine forwards available tonight, and that's counting Wade Brookbank.
Center Joe Jensen was called up from Albany on Monday, only to be hospitalized by illness during the game. He was reassigned to Albany, but sent home to bed.
This will be the first of six straight home games for the Canes, who have won four home games in a row.
Washington and Atlanta, who both trail the Hurricanes by two standings points, are idle tonight. Florida, who is four points back, is at Pittsburgh.
In a rare lunchtime game, the Devils trounced the Hurricanes 5-1 on Monday. This is the second time in as many visits to the Devils' new arena that the Canes have been thoroughly beaten.
With Erik Cole feeling the effects of the flu, Carolina had to make an emergency callup. Two weeks ago, they acquired forward Joe Jensen in a prospect trade with the Penguins. The Canes had no choice but to call him up, but things did not go well for him. Jensen became ill during the game, and by the time the game was over, he was so violently ill that he required hospitalization.
After receiving IV fluids and other treatment, Jensen was released and will fly to Raleigh to join the rest of the team.
Carolina will play host to the Bruins on Tuesday. No word yet on whether Cole will be back or if someone else will be called up to take Jensen's spot.
This is getting ridiculous.
The Bruins last played on Saturday, a 4-3 overtime loss at Toronto. In their last seven games, they are 2-4-1 and have been outscored 23-15.
Carolina is 4-3 in their last seven games, and have been outscored 22-16.
The two teams met last Tuesday in Boston. In a 3-2 Hurricanes victory, Sergei Samsonov had the game-winning goal against his former team.
Cam Ward returned to the nets after playing backup to Michael Leighton for the last two games. He hadn't seen any action since last Wednesday. If he developed any rust, he didn't show it. In the end, he earned a 1-0 shutout of the Bruins.
Earlier in the day, Carolina claimed Sergei Samsonov off waivers, and he was supposed to play on the third line. However, the Canes were forced to make a last second scratch of Ray Whitney. This elevated the newcomer to the top line with Rod Brind'Amour and Cory Stillman.
Whitney has the flu. So, too, does Glen Wesley. He was also a last-second scratch. The list of wounded and sick Hurricanes is getting kind of ridiculous. If not for the fact that Andrew Ladd and Nic Wallin both returned to the lineup tonight, they would have been short by a couple of guys.
Anyway...
Eric Staal nearly gave the Canes the lead with about four minutes to play in the opening stanza. However, Tim Thomas made a dazzling save. After making a stick save, he flashed his stick through the goal mouth to catch a fluttering puck just as it crossed the line. There was a brief video review, but even without it, it was easy to tell that the puck had not completely crossed the line.
The only other action in the first period was an early fight. Wade Brookbank keeps throwing down the mitts. I can't say that I like it, but he's letting other teams know that he's there.
Despite being outshot 8-4 in the first period, Carolina looked good. This was only the beginning.
In the second period, they looked fantastic. This is three or four games in a row where they've looked very good in the middle stanza. This is refreshing, because throughout November and December, they played horribly in the second period of every game. Carolina dominated play. They outshot the Bruins 17-6 and kept the puck in the Boston zone for the majority of the period.
Eric Staal had the game's only goal at 18:20 of the second. He and Nic Wallin ran a reverse behind the net, and Staalsy ended up firing a wrister from the right faceoff dot. Thomas was cheating on the short side, and the shot beat him low on the blocker side. Wallin and Chad LaRose had the assists.
Sergei Samsonov looked pretty damn good out there. He was unfamiliar with the plays that Carolina runs, and he was obviously unfamiliar with his new teammates. I don't think he even had a chance to practice with them. In the second period, he was flying. He had a few quality shots and had some great shifts. I think he'll be fine.
Both goaltenders had to make some fine stops down the stretch, but Cam Ward's save with about 30 seconds to go was the best. He had to explode from his left to right across the crease to make a nifty kick save, preserving the lead.
With 17 seconds to go, Wallin took a lazy tripping penalty, and the final few seconds were played six-on-four. Good stuff. Good stuff.
I like that Cam Ward responded to having the week off by pitching a shutout. I also like that for the third straight game, the Hurricanes killed all of their penalties. In this game, there were three, so they've now killed the last ten penalties in a row.
The three game road trip is done, and Carolina took four of six points. Not bad. Meanwhile, the Thrashers and Kitties both lost Tuesday night. Carolina's lead is now back up to five points over the Thrash and seven over the Cats.
Another bit of good news is that Eric Staal is continuing to play like he can. He looks like he's having fun again. He looks like he wants to take control of games again. I like it.
The "official" three stars went to Thomas (third), Ward (second) and Staal (first). Not a lot happened in this game, so I can't really argue with those. The RBH three stars: THIRD STAR Tim Thomas, BOS -- 27 saves SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR -- 19 saves, shutout FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- GWG
Carolina will return home for a two game stand. Thursday, they'll take on the Devils and Saturday they'll host the Avalanche
A few days ago, The Score presented its list of players who will be in "the hot seat" for their respective team. Not necessarily that their job is on the line, but the suggestion is that the success or failure of the team would be predicated upon the success or failure of a single player. Unfortunately, their list puts too much pressure on the goaltender to be the guy. I don't really buy that. Too often, goalies become the fall guy he's not getting any goal support. I like to look elsewhere.
The rest of the crew over at SESO have been kicking this around for a few days, everyone putting their own two cents in. I thought it would be fun to take it team-by-team and give my own unqualified opinion. I'm in no way qualified to comment on Western Conference teams, and in many cases, I have no business commenting on Eastern, but I'll take a shot at all 15 teams in the East. Here, at least is part one of this project. Please excuse the length.
Boston Bruins. The Score says Manny Fernandez is in the hot seat. They traded to get him, and the idea is that he's going to right the goaltending ship. I'm not looking that way at all. Tim Thomas is by no means Ken Dryden, but I just don't think that the Bruins main problem was between the pipes. Their goaltending was suspect, but even more suspect was their offensive production. The Bs scored just 210 goals last season, putting them in 25th place league-wide. This is clearly an area that needs improvement. I'll pick on the youngster Phil Kessel. He's gonna have to step it up in this, his sophomore season. The Teddy Bears have been all about Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron, but that's going to have to change. He is going to have to show everyone why the Bs took him with the #5 overall pick in 2006 and why they sent him straight to the big club. Take a quick look at his rookie numbers. 29 (11/18) points in 70 games. Look at Eric Staal's rookie season, when he was also sent directly to the big club. 31 (11/20) points in 81 games. If Kessel can have a Staal-esque sophomore season, I think the natives in Boston will be quite happy with how the rest of the squad responds. It's unfair to pin it on the kid, but I really think that if they want to be any good, it's going to take a breakout season by Kessel.
Montréal Canadiens. The Score picks on Alexei Kovalev. He's grossly overpaid, and he needs to prove his worth, but that 95-point season was a freak combination of playing over one's head and playing alongside Jagr and Lemieux. It was a perfect storm, and it'll never happen again. I'll pick on Michael Ryder. He's been good, but there's probably more in the tank. He needs to find it. With Sheldon Souray gone, someone will have to pick up the slack in point production. Koivu can't do it all, and I don't see the need to demand more of Kovalev in that department. Ryder was the Habs' leading goal-scorer last season, but he needs to pick it up even more. If he should have a letdown of a season, they're done.
Washington Capitals. The Score put Ovechkin in the hot seat. Not me. I put Michael Nylander there. He was an uber-expensive free agent acquisition, and it is up to him to bolster that one man show up there. Okay, so with Alexander Semin there, it's a two man show. But anyway, it's all on him to make it a three-man show. He has to stay healthy and motivated. He has to have the kinds of numbers that he had the last two seasons (83 points, 79 points). Elsewise, the Caps will have wasted their money and they will finish out of the playoffs again. I think they'll finish out of the playoffs either way, but Nylander can help them to be competitive.
New Jersey Devils. The Score chose Dainius Zubrus. That pick is too obvious. The Devils need a Scott Gomez replacement. Zubrus ain't it. He put up good numbers in 2005-06 when he played on a very very crappy Capitals team, but whenever he's surrounded by talent, those numbers won't be as high. After he was acquired by Buffalo at the trade deadline last season, he did virtually nothing for them in the regular or post season. at $3.4M, he's way overpaid, and he needs to have a 70+ point season to justify the big contract. He won't, but the Devs will be just fine. Unless.... My hot seat selection for them is Zach Parise. The youngster had a semi-breakout season last year with 62(31/31) points. He'll need to have another career best season this year This season, he won't have the beautiful playmaking of Scott Gomez to help him out, and who knows whether Hepatitis Boy will stay healthy all season. In any case, Parise should step up his game, and my opinion is that as he goes, so too will go the Devils.
Philadelphia Flyers. The Score said Marty Biron was the guy. The Bullies went all apey in the free agent market, and really you could pick any of those new guys with the huge price tags. I'll take the easy way out and pick the former Sabres captain Danny Briere. He's making $10M this year, and if he doesn't score over 150 goals and add 150 assists while leading the Flyers to their third Stanley Cup, it will have been a waste. Who wants to bet that it won't happen? Unfair to pin it all on Briere? I don't think so. This dude's salary has been skyrocketing at a rate non-commensurate with his production. In 2003-04, Briere made $1.6M while putting up 65 (28/37) points. Before the lockout, an arbitrator "awarded" him a $2.55M contract for the season that never happened. In 2005-06, he made $2M and put up 58 (25/33) points in just 48 games (1.21 ppg). Last seson, he was awarded a "huge" $5M contract via arbitration and he scored 95 (32/63) points (1.17 ppg). This season, his pay will literally double. Even when you average out the "cap hit" to $6.5M, this is a hefty raise. I don't think he deserves it, and unless he accomplishes the aforementioned impossible tasks, it won't have been worth it. Can Briere handle the pressure of living up to this huge contract? With all these "sexy" acquisitions, the Flyers should be competitive, but I think it all depends on the little Quebeccer.
Speaking of the Buffalo Sabres, The Score puts Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek sitting in each other's laps in the "hot seat". Those two were among the Sabres' top five scorers, and they'll certainly need to put up the same kinds of numbers if the Sabres want to be good. They'll be good, but if Maxim Afinogenov can crank it up a couple of notches, they'll be great. He's been a frustrating player for Sabres fans. With such flashes of brilliance interspersed with sloppiness and a trademark inability to finish scoring chances, I think there's a phenom trapped in the body of a near-phenom. If he busts out, the Sabres will be (to borrow from Rick Jeanneret) "Scary Good" despite losing their two co-captains to ridiculous free agent poaching. In the 2004 season, Afinogenov scored one of the most incredible goals I've ever seen. Enjoy the YouTube clip and Jeaneret's call.
As a special treat for Sabres fans, that's Carolina's current #2 goaltender "Johnny Crackers" getting abused by Maxi in the clip.
The Score puts Cam Ward in Carolina's "hot seat". This is purely based on the way Cam came down to earth last season after playing way over his head on the way to winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe trophy in 2006. Will Cam have to be good? Sure. However, I pick Matt Cullen. When Carolina struggled last season, everyone had a million excuses for why they weren't the same as the Cup-winning team. Almost everyone agreed that the absence of Cully was a huge factor. A lot of people rated it as the #1 factor. Carolina spent a lot of money to re-acquire Cullen via trade with the Rangers. Now that Carolina has replaced Cullen with Cullen himself, they should be able to return to 2006 form. Cullen will have to put up at 50 or more points and push the Canes back into a deep playoff run to justify going over the self-imposed budget. If he can't produce, the Canes will be on the links in April. He's the "hot seat" guy.
New York Islanders. In keeping with their "pick on the new guy or the goalie" theme, The Score put Billy Guerin in the Isles' "hot seat". The Isles are going to stink this year. They've made some acquisitions, but they're all old guys, except Mike Comrie, and they overpaid like hell for him. Charles Wang is running a clown factory over there, and the Isles' new sweaters are going to make a lot of eyes sore. Defenseman Emma Bergeron had a great season last year, and he'll probably be the Isles leading point-getter this season. Just for giggles, I'll put Jeff Tambellini in the "hot seat". In what was a pretty strong draft class in 2003, Tambellini was taken with the 27th overall pick. He put up point-a-night numbers in two AHL seasons, but has yet to make an impact on the NHL level. The Isles will have a bunch of 10-goal scorers, and a small handful of old dudes scoring 20. I don't see anyone scoring 30, unless this guy has a breakout season. If he does, the Isles might be competitive. I don't think old man Billy Guerin will be able to carry the weight of the team. One of the young guys will have to step to the front. I nominate Tambellini.
This is taking way longer than I anticipated. Look for part two by Friday evening. Lemme know what you think.
On Saturday night, the Canes stopped the hot Bruins for the second time in eight days. Last Friday, the Canes won 5-1, and on Saturday, they won 5-2.
After the game, Bruins goalie Tim Thomas complained that the Canes skaters were trying to pad their stats.
"They're a point-hungry team," Thomas said. "I'm not talking about points for the win. The end of the game there, they were all doing a little bit of cheating to get their point totals up, so they can get a bigger contract next time."
So many things wrong with this. Not the least of which is that none of the Canes "big dogs" are in contract years. They're all locked up for at least two more seasons. And it wasn't 50-2. It was 5-2. There's no stat padding in a game that close. It wasn't actually close, but those "stat padding" allegations are way out of line. But if it helps him sleep better to say "pad stats" when the rest of the world says "outplay", then so be it.
Eric Staal scored an early marker at 2:43. Kevyn Adams stole the puck from defenseman Milan Jurcina behind the Bruins net. He passed to Anton Babchuk, who fired one of his heavy shots from the right point that was stopped by Thomas, but Staal had two chances to stuff it in from the left side of the net. The second time, Thomas had his back to the play and was about five feet out of the net. It was easy. Too easy. Babchuk and K-Ads got the assists.
Shean Donovan, who got absolutely crushed in a fight with Andrew Ladd, scored for the Bs at 14:15. After a Canes turnover in neutral ice, he rushed in the zone against THREE Canes skaters, and beat them all to put one past Cam Ward. Wayne Primeau and Mark Mowers got the assists.
Brad Stuart gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead just 62 seconds later. The Bruins rushed into the Carolina zone on a mini-break. Patrice Bergeron made a really nice centering pass to Marco Sturm in the goal mouth area. Ward was able to make the point-blank save, but the rebound kicked out to the left circle, and Stuart was able to lift it over Ward from there. Sturm and Bergeron got the helpers.
At 5:56 of the second, Erik Cole scored an absolutely jaw-dropping goal. Down in their own end, Cole laid down to block a Brad Stuart shot, got up, corralled the puck, outskated and fought off Stuart -- who was draped all over Cole-- and the diving Jason York. He did all this one-handed, then pulled the puck to his forehand to beat Thomas. There aren't many players in the league who could have made all that happen. Only someone with the same combination of speed, strength, and skill as Cole. The unassisted goal knotted it at two.
At 18:56 of the second, while Anton Babchuk was gone for delaying the game, the Canes got a shorthanded goal from Viva. Zdeno Chara was having a really difficult time running the point on power play. All night long, he was letting the puck out and/or making bad passes, which made the Bruins PP suffer. With Viva applying some mild pressure up high, Chara let another really bad pass go. Rod Brind'Amour intercepted the pass in the slot area, then hit Viva with a nice outlet pass for the shorthanded breakaway goal.
Eric Staal got his second goal at 6:10 of the third. Erik Cole fired a long dump-in from the Carolina side of the red line. Jason York lost the footrace to Scott Walker, so the icing was negated. From the goal line, Walker hit Staal with a perfect centering pass. Staal easily beat Thomas, who was camped out on the left post and had no chance on the play. It all happened so quickly, and it wasn't on Canes TV, but the replays that I've seen make it look like a set play to exploit York, who made no effort whatsoever on the play. Assists went to Walker and Cole.
At 11:24, Ray Whitney scored a really nifty goal. Viva carried the puck in, then dropped a pass to Brind'Amour above the slot. Jason York followed Viva into the right corner, leaving Ray Whitney all alone on the left side, nobody within 15 feet of him. Brindy hit Whitney at the left dot for a really easy one-timer. Assists to Brind'Amour and Viva
This is where the +/- stat is often misleading. Jason York finished the game -1. He was terrible, but if all you saw was the boxscore, you wouldn't think that. Meanwhile, Nic Wallin wasn't very good for the Canes, but he finished even in the +/-.
I'm still trying to figure out where the stat padding came in.
The "official" three stars went to Brind'Amour (third), Cole (second) and Staal (first). I couldn't quite do it that way.
The RBH Three Stars of the game: Third Star Erik Cole, CAR. Goal, assist Second Star Justin Williams, CAR. Assist, shorthanded GWG First Star Eric Staal, CAR. 2 goals.
Up next is the annual West Coast road swing. This time, its the Nortwest Division starting on Tuesday in Calgary.
On December 15, the Leafs come to town. Chairman Mo and Bates Battaglia return to the RBC Center for the first time in a long time.
On Saturday night, the Canes played about 50 minutes of good hockey, and fortunately 50 was all it took to defeat the visiting Bruins 5-2. Bruins netminder Tim Thomas would complain after the game that the Canes were running up the score. More on that later.
Throughout the game, we were shown out-of-town scores, just like usual. Because of the busy day in college football, with all of the conference championship games, there was a lot of that, too. A roar came out when we saw that UCLA had stunned #2 USC. A big roar came up when we saw that Wake Forest had won the ACC championship game and will be going to the Rose Bowl. The biggest roar of approval, though, came when the NHL scores were posted, and we saw that the Caps were busy beating the Sabres. Even though it's in our interest to see the Caps (a divisional opponent) lose, we're always happy to see the Sabres lose. Personally, I don't have much against the Sabres. I have a few friends who are Sabres fans, and I've been known to pull for the Crossed Swords Sabres on their behalf. Still, part of me hates them. And I think it's safe to say that a vast majority of the Caniac Nation would root for Al-Qaeda sooner than they'd do the same for the Sabres.
With that, the perfect opportunity to link to my favorite Onion article ever. Every time I read this, it makes me cry with laughter.
After the Canes took a nap in the latter portion of the first period, they looked much sharper in the second and third. They ended up winning 5-2, putting an end to the Bruins three-game winning streak. Before that little streak, the Bruins lost to the Canes on the day after Thanksgiving 5-1. In that game, Tim Thomas was chased from the nets after three goals. He would get no relief this time, picking up his second loss to the Canes in eight days. On Saturday, he stopped 25 of 30 Canes shots (.833) and was out of position all night long. While it's true that he didn't get a lot of blue line assistance, he was giving up big rebounds and got out of position a lot.
After the game, Thomas complained about the Canes padding their stats.
"They're a point-hungry team," Thomas said. "I'm not talking about points for the win. The end of the game there, they were all doing a little bit of cheating to get their point totals up, so they can get a bigger contract next time."
What?? Seriously? I don't see how in the world there can be any stats padding in a 5-2 game. At 4-2, the game is still in question, and the fifth goal was scored at 11:24. The TOI stats are pretty evenly balanced up and down the forward lines, so it wasn't a matter of keeping the big dogs out there longer. This isn't some high school football game where one team is up 74-0 and still using their star running back. The last time I checked, this is the NHL, and a 4-2 lead isn't safe in the new NHL. Padding stats? Yeah, they really poured it on by scoring an insurance marker with 9 minutes to play.
On Friday morning, the Canes had a lunch date with the Bruins. Not only did Carolina eat well, but they made Boston pick up the tab. The end result was a 5-1 victory for Carolina. The two teams will meet again for a dinner date in Raleigh on December 2.
The Canes played a terrible game on Wednesday, but it could have been much worse if Johnny Crackers hadn't stepped up to the plate big time. He was rewarded with an opportunity to make his second consecutive start between the pipes. This time, he got some support in front of him and he picked up his second win of the season.
Eric Staal, who had been playing poorly and had been effectively benched in the Islanders game, got the scoring started at 18:36 of the first. The Canes were moving the puck well on a power play chance, and Staalsy had the puck down low beneath the left circle. From there, he fired a centering pass to Eric Belanger at the top of the crease. Initially, it looked like Belanger got his stick down to deflect the pass in the net. Replays showed, however, that it bounced in off a Bruins' skate. Credit Staal with the power play goal, Trevor Letowski with one assist and Scott Walker with the second.
At 10:35 of the second, Viva scored what would prove to be the game winner. The Canes were really having their way in the Bruins zone, controlling the puck posession for a very long time. After a few failed clearing attempts by the Bruins, the Canes were able to set up a play against some exhausted Bs players. While the Bruins players looked on, Scott Walker skated literal circles around the tired defenders and found Viva on the left side of the net. Williams took the pass, and easily tucked it in. The whole play, though, was started when David Tanabe made -- I'm not making this up -- a good defensive play in center ice, which allowed the continuation of "offensive" posession. He passed to Walker, who put on the aforementioned skating clinic, then the goal. Credit Viva with the goal, Scott Walker with the first helper and David Tanabe with the second assist.
Just nine seconds later, before the Caniacs could settle back into their seats, Erik Cole made it 3-0. Rod Brind'Amour won the faceoff to Mike Commodore, who fed Colesy on the right wing. He exploded to the net and somehow slipped one past Tim Thomas. Thomas never saw the puck until it was already in. The play was briefly reviewed, presumably to see if it had been kicked in. It was allowed to stand. It was just the 8th goal of the season for Cole. Credit Brind'Amour (23rd) and Commodore (10th) with the assists. Thomas was replaced by Phillipe Sauve, who had just been called up from AHL Providence Bruins.
After John Grahame was penalized for playing the puck outside the trapezoid, Patrice Bergeron scored on the power play with a slapper from the right circle. Marc Savard had he only assist.
Eric Belanger scored at 8:20 of the third on a nice wrap-around chance. He went behind the net, then reversed his direction to go around the left post and beat Sauve in the five hole. Mike Commodore and Chad LaRose got the assists.
The final goal was a really nice one. Craig Adams hit Andrew Ladd with a really nice long diagonal cross-ice pass from blue line to blue line. Ladd stayed on side, streaked in alone on the left side and ripped a snap shot off the far post and in. CrAdams got the only assist.
The "official" three stars went to Erik Cole (third), Scott Walker (second) and Eric Staal (first).
I saw it a little differently.
The RBH stars of the game: Third Star Mike Commodore, CAR. 2 assists, 21:41 TOI, +3 Second Star Eric Belanger, CAR. 1 goal, 2 takeaways First Star Scott Walker, CAR. 2 assists
Next up, the Canes will take on the Senators at home on Tuesday. It'll be the first game of a three game homestand.
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One very cool sidenote about the Chiasson saga is that he and Cory Stillman were teammates in Calgary from 1994 to 1997. They also both grew up in Peterborough, Ontario. The town of Peterborough erected a small statue of Chiasson in one of its parks. As a beautiful gesture, Stillman used his day with the Stanley Cup in 2006 to visit that statue of his friend and teammate.
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