Coming into tonight's game, it was clear that this would be a battle of determination among the players on the ice for both teams. The Hurricanes were still recovering from a tough game on Wednesday night against the New York Rangers where Matt Cullen was injured on a hit from Colton Orr that left Cullen temporarily unconscious with a broken noise and needing stitches. Andrew Ladd was injured in a fight with Sean Avery where Avery punched Ladd in the head twice while the referees held Ladd back. J.P. Giglio from the News and Observer wrote this afternoon that Hurricanes Trainer Pete Friesen stated Ladd had suffered a tripod fracture of his zygoma, which is the bone structure under his left eye. He will have to have surgery at some point in the future to correct the damage. With Tanabe (concussion), and Williams (ACL and MCL in his left leg) out, the Canes would have a different look for this game.

One of the best teams for them to meet at this point with similar problems would be the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have quite a few injuries themselves that include Patrice Bergeron, who is out for possibly the rest of the season with a severe concussion; Glen Murray is out with a strained hip flexor; Andrew Alberts is out with a concussion; former Hurricane Aaron Ward is out with a broken foot that was sustained in practice on December 21st; and Bobby Allen with a bad back. Boston goaltender Tim Thomas is also 0-1-1 since he returned from a groin injury earlier this month even though he still leads the league with a save percentage of .932. Boston has lost five of their last six, and the Canes and Bruins are ranked ninth and tenth on the power play, and 30th and 29th on the penalty kill. The Canes were 3-0-1 against the Bruins last season so the first game against Boston would prove to be interesting. Of course, we all know that nothing comes easy for the Canes this season and this game would be no different.

Seeing Andrew Ladd on the ice with the cage helmet on set the tone for this game, which was a hard fought affair for both teams. The Canes were able to score early in this game when Nic Wallin fired a shot just inside the blue line that ricocheted off of Boston Goaltender Tim Thomas and to Rod Brind'Amour who was on the left side of the net and put a wrist shot into the net at 5:56 into the game. The problem came when the Canes went on the power play at 7:54 in the first period. Marc Sevard got the puck and came down the ice guarded by Scott Walker. Sevard turned the puck over in front of the Canes' net when Chuck Kobasew scored a shorthanded goal on a wrist shot in the slot at 8:07. Mike Commodore scored on a slapshot from the blue line in front of the Bruins' bench at 10:51 into the period. Even though the Canes were a little sluggish at times in this period, they held tight and were able to come out with a 2-1 lead. The Canes outshot Boston 11-7 in the period.

In the second period, the Canes were outplayed at different times and were stranded in their own end particularly during the middle of the period. Rod Brind'Amour got a hooking penalty at 14:50 putting the Bruins on the power play. Chad LaRose was able to take the puck into the Boston defensive zone. As he got into the slot he was hooked by Dennis Wideman and given a penalty shot. To his surprise, he was able to score on a backhanded shot top shelf at 15:28 into the second period. The Canes had not scored a shorthanded goal all season until the New York game on Wednesday and then they are credited with another one since the Bruins were on the power play when the Canes scored the goal on the penalty shot. The Canes again outshot the Bruins 14-6 in the second and finished the period up 3-1.

The Hurricanes came out in the third period and played the first half of the third period as flat as ever. The Bruins scored only :56 into the period when P.J. Axelsson scored on a pass from Marc Savard who picked up the puck on the Canes failure to clear the zone. The Canes came back and scored on the power play when Ray Whitney shot from the blue line and Andrew Ladd, who was in front of goalie Tim Thomas, gave Staal a slap pass allowing Staal to score. The Bruins came back :11 later and scored after the Canes turned the puck over in the defensive zone. Milan Lucic picked up the puck and passed it across to Phil Kessel who was coming through the slot. The Canes picked up their play and showed some toughness throughout the rest of the period. The Canes outshot the Bruins 12-8 in the third and held on to win 4-3. The sellout crowd of 18,630 at the RBC Center was more than happy with this win since it was the Canes first back-to-back home wins since November.

The Canes had some problems in this game. There were times they were outplayed and did not get to the puck first when they had the chance. Nic Wallin still appears to be in pain when he's trying to pick up speed to get to the puck. Bret Hedican seemed a little slow and was injured at 11:23 in the second period when his leg got caught under him when he went into the boards as he and Chuck Kobasew got tangled together. He was helped from the ice by Mike Commodore and Eric Staal. The Canes have already called up Wade Brookbank from Albany (AHL) who will join them for tomorrow night's game in Columbus since Hedican appears to have a sprained knee. The Canes had a goal scored against them due to their failure to clear the puck. There were numerous defensive zone breakdowns that gave the Bruins scoring chances repeatedly. The good part was that Eric Staal appears to have finally come alive. He has a six game point streak with 4 goals and 3 assists. Ray Whitney now has points in five consecutive games by adding an assist tonight (4 goals, 4 assists). The Canes played tougher tonight such as when Mike Commodore knocked P.J. Axelsson into the boards and down in third period. Commodore was attacked by Mark Stuart. Commodore got a 5 minute major for fighting and Stuart got a 5 minute major for fighting, 2 minutes for Instigating, and a 10 Major Misconduct penalty. The Canes play the Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow night. Let's hope this winning streak continues.

GAME STATS

Shots on Goal: Canes 37 Bruins 21

Hits: Canes 26 Bruins 27

Face-Offs Won: Canes 40 Bruins 33

Power Play: Canes 1-7 Bruins 0-3