Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Carolina Hurricanes have won three games in a row only one time this season. Those games were won during a five day period between October 9th through October 13th when the Canes won three games on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and the Montreal Canadiens. The Hurricanes outscored the opposition in those games by a combined total of 15 to 5, and they have not won both ends of back-to-back games this season. Carolina is 7-4-1 on the front end of these games and they are 4-6-1 on the back end of these games for a combined record of 11-10-2. After coming to win in overtime yesterday afternoon in New York, the Canes were hoping to break that pattern and finally win both ends of this series.

The Hurricanes came out in the first period and played solid for the most of the period. New York Islander’s Goaltender Wade Dubielewicz made some solid saves to keep the Canes off the scoreboard early. While Carolina was on the power play, the Islanders were able to get the puck down the ice into the Cane’s zone. The Hurricane’s defense followed the puck behind the net leaving Islander Mike Sillinger parked out front in the slot. Of course, the puck came out to Sillinger who scored in front of Hurricane’s Goaltender Cam Ward in between the circles. Ward was caught looking behind the net as he never saw Sillinger until he put the puck in the net at 8:11 in the period. This was the first of three shorthanded goals Carolina would give up in this game. The Canes came back 1:21 later and scored on the same power play as Eric Staal parked in front of the Islander’s net and put one past Dubielewicz on a redirection on the heal of his (Staal’s) stick at the 9:32 mark to tie the score 1-1. The Islanders received three penalties in the period with Carolina only getting one. The Canes outshot the Islanders 10-6 in the period.

The Hurricanes came out in the second and Mike Commodore immediately took a hooking penalty at the :32 mark. The Canes were able to kill that one off and the Islanders were called at 3:58 for having too many men on the ice. This power play sequence would end up being a major embarrassment for the home team. While on the power play, Erik Cole attempted to get the puck deep in the zone from the blue line. An Islander player was able to shoot the puck out to Richard Park in the neutral zone who was able to outskate Frank Kaberle to put one top shelf past Ward on a 22 foot wristshot from between the circles at 4:53 in the period. Next, while on the same power play, the Canes were attempting to keep the puck in their zone when the Islanders were able to pass it out to Mike Sillinger in the neutral for a breakaway. Of course, Sillinger was able to score another shorthanded goal on a breakaway with a 12 foot wristshot at 5:38. The Canes gave up two shorthanded goals in 45 seconds. This disaster would continue a few minutes later as the Canes headed down the ice into the Islander’s zone. Eric Staal attempted to pass the puck to Ray Whitney. The puck was deflected out to Sean Bergenheim who was tripped as he went to the net. Bergenheim was able to slide the puck around Cam Ward at 7:52. While on the Canes were on the power play again, the Islanders took the puck into the Cane’s zone around the 8:36 mark. Luckily, Cam Ward was able to make several saves to stop another shorthanded goal. Mike Commodore was able to score on a 58 foot slapshot from just inside the blue line at 15:27. At 16:50, Mike Commodore took a hooking penalty and eventually took another two minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Canes remained on the penalty kill for the rest of the period and into the third. The Canes were outshot 17-18 in the period even though the Islanders took the first ten shots in the period.

The Canes entered the third period down 4-2. Matt Cullen was able to score on a 40 foot wristshot from the right circle at 6:20 to pull the Canes within one at 4-3. Carolina would also get two more power plays in the period with no success before the Islanders would score again. While in the Islanders zone, the Canes again turn the puck over to the Islanders giving them a 3-on-1. As they approached the net, they passed the puck back out to Islander Brendan Witt who was able to score at 17:25 on a 47 foot wristshot from beyond the left circle. The Canes pulled Cam Ward out of the net with approximately 2 minutes to go. While attempting to keep the puck in the Islander’s zone, the luck popped out to Islander Blake Comeau who outskated everyone down the ice to score an open net goal at 18:45. The Canes outshot the Islanders 20-7 in the period for a disappointing loss of 6-2.

The second period collapse killed the Canes again. They gave up four goals to the Islanders at the RBC Center on New Year’s Eve and eventually loss the game 4-1. The turnovers and breakdowns seem to never stop particularly in games in the second period at home. Carolina Coach Peter Laviolette stated after the game on the Hurricane’s website, “Our second periods have been terrible – especially here. We’ve given up too much at the start. This one was no different. We came and took a penalty right away and then gave up goals.” To further punctuate their shorthanded goal problem in this game, Mike Commodore stated, “You can’t give up three shorthanded goals and expect to win a game. The odd one once in a while is going to happen, but three in a game is unacceptable. Those are supposed to be opportunities for us to score.” The Islanders scored three goals in 2:59 in the second period two of which were shorthanded goals scored in 45 seconds. That’s really bad. Even though most of the health problems for this team have been clear up, the breakdowns and lapses leading to goals for the opposition still continue. In the two games with Islanders at the RBC Center, the Canes have given up seven goals in the second period. This team is definitely at a crossroads. With only thirty games left, time is getting short and they will probably have to watch the scoreboard more and let their fate be decided by other teams as far as post season play. Of course, a few more games like tonight and it won’t make a difference either way. The Canes are off for a week for the All-Star break. Hopefully, they can get some rest and find a way to consistently win games down the stretch. 

GAME STATS

Shots on Goal: Canes 47 Islanders 31

Hits: Canes 15 Islanders 17

Face-Offs Won: Canes 41 Islanders 28

Power Play: Canes 1-8 Islanders 0-5

Venue: RBC Center A-15,675

HURRICANES INJURIES:

Dennis Seidenberg: Ankle injury, day-to-day

David Tanabe: Concussion, injured reserve

Justin Williams: ACL/MCL, injured reserve, 4 to 6 months