Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils
November 29, 2013 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: In Lou We Trust (twitter @InLouWeTrust)

Hurricanes Record: 10-10-5 (25 pts.)
Devils Record: 9-11-5 (23 pts.)

I hope everyone in our Canes Country readership who celebrates such things had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I am thankful that this year I have a post-holiday game preview to write and not this.

There's an old adage that the reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more, and the Hurricanes will put that to the test tonight as they face the New Jersey Devils for the second time in 48 hours. The Hurricanes defeated the Devils 4-3 on Wednesday night in Newark. It was a hotly contested game that saw the visitors jump out to a commanding 4-1 lead before a third-period onslaught from the Devils challenged the Canes to respond with strong team defense and other-worldly goaltending (let's watch that save again) until the final buzzer.

The loss was the third straight for the Devils, and they can be expected to come out of the gates trying to change their course tonight. There are great post-game quotes about the Canes' game from the Devils players and coach Pete DeBoer in Tom Gulitti's Fire and Ice blog [link] in the New Jersey Record. Both DeBoer and Jaromir Jagr commented to the defensive effort they faced, from Cam Ward's ten-bell saves to shot blocking to shots taken by the defense.

"They were blocking all night long," said right wing Jaromir Jagr, who scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season and the 691st of his career, moving him ahead of Mario Lemieux into sole possession of ninth place all time. "We just have to find to put it through it, like they do. They shoot it quickly. They don't hold the puck. Their defense shoots right away. You don't shoot to score from the blue line. You shoot just to direct it and that's what they did.

"They scored three goals like that and we didn't. We had one. That was the difference."

Cory Schneider was vocally disappointed about not getting the start in net Wednesday, and with Martin Brodeur giving up four goals on 22 shots, Schneider will likely get the start tonight. The Devils held a limited practice yesterday before traveling to Raleigh, so there is no other information about possible line-up changes.

The Hurricanes took the day off as well, and will practice this morning at 10:30 am. Unless there are unknown circumstances (injuries, etc.) it is unlikely there will be significant changes to Wednesday's line-up, as the Hurricanes demonstrated a balanced performance between the offensive lines, defensive pairings, and netminding.

Eric Staal is on a seven-game points streak, Tuomo Ruutu has goals in two straight games, and on-fire Patrick Dwyer has goals in three straight games. Justin Faulk and Manny Malhotra have points in two straight. With two assists Wednesday night, Andrej Sekera leads the team in multi-point games with four, and has five points in his last two games.

Check out a great article from Mike Maniscalco on some of the unsung moves by the Hurricanes organization that have paid off in a big way so far this season.

WRAL SportsFan.com: The little things to be thankful for

It's Black Friday, and the Canes will be in their black alternate jerseys tonight. We'll have the game thread ready to roll at 6:30 pm. See you at the rink.

The Devils score four goals in third and dominate zone time to even series with Carolina

The Carolina Hurricanes entered the third period with a 2-1 lead and had 1:30 of powerplay time to begin the period, but ended up squandering the opportunity and then allowed four third period goals as they dropped the game to the New Jersey Devils, 5-2 in front of 15,034 at the PNC Arena on Friday night.

Two streaks came to an end, the Devils had lost three in a row and the Canes won two in a row, and both teams now have identical, 10-11-5 records.

It was another slow first period for the Hurricanes as they fell behind 1-0 while allowing 14 shots on goal as they only took five.  Mark Fayne lit the lamp late in the period when he found an opening.

The Hurricanes came back hard in the second period and scored twice, first on a Jeff Skinner shot just 1:53 into the period.  Ryan Murphy took a shot that bounced out to his former junior teammate and Skinner made no mistake.

Later in the period, Justin Faulk rifled a beautiful two line pass to Jordan Staal, who had found an opening during a Jersey line change.  Staal made a nice move on Cory Schneider to put the home team up 2-1 and everything was looking good.

The Hurricanes were previously 6-0-1 when leading after two periods, but this third period would be all New Jersey.  The Devils scored three of the goals in just five minutes and nine seconds as Cam Ward may have ended up getting a bit tired as the shots looked to be stoppable.

With just 3:29 left, Jaromir Jagr would make it 5-2 and many fans started making their way to the exits.

After being outshot 14-5 in the first period, the Canes were once again outshot, 11-5 in the third.  They were out-gunned 31-18 for the game.

After the game, Kirk Muller said that his team had too many passengers and they needed to be more consistent.  He did not seem happy with the effort.

Next up will be Vancouver at home on Sunday afternoon.

Game Notes:

• Justin Faulk had a team high 25:33 of ice time.  Low man was Riley Nash with 8:47.  The team missed injured Andrej Sekera as they had continual difficulty getting the puck out of their own end.
  
• The team only had 18 shots for the game and were led by Eric Staal with three.  The captain was pointless and his point streak ended at seven games.
  
• Carolina had 20 blocked shots and were led by Jay Harrison and Brett Bellemore with three each.
• Manny Malhotra had six hits. Tuomo Ruutu and Harrison were next with five.  The team had 33 for the game compared to 19 for Jersey.
• Carolina was 0-3 on the powerplay.  Jersey was 1-3.

The New Jersey Devils went up early, went down 1-2, and then beat Cam Ward four times to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2. The team played very well in snapping their three game losing streak, as explained in this recap.

Heading into the second intermission, the general feeling was "Not this again."  The New Jersey Devils were down 1-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes.  While the Devils scored first - a Ron Hainsey-deflected shot from Mark Fayne - the Canes responded quickly in the middle frame.  The equalizer came from Jeff Skinner off a fortunate bounce in the slot from a Ryan Murphy shot.  The second goal came from a breakaway by Jordan Staal, who had acres of space between Marek Zidlicky and Eric Gelinas.  The team was out-shot 6-8, they hit a post, Cam Ward got in front of everything else, Brett Bellemore denied an empty net for Dainius Zubrus, the power play was again a waste of time, and the Devils would have to kill the first 91 seconds to start the third.  The team wasn't in a deep hole like they were on Wednesday night. But a fourth loss loomed in the distance regardless of how much better the Devils played. Given how things were going plus the sad reality that the Devils have not scored many goals this season, it was understandable to feel pessimistic.

The last twenty minutes of the game did everything to erase such things.  Carolina only got five shots on net, with their most dangerous coming early off a turnaround shot by Eric Staal during a Canes power play.  The Devils hit back with a 2-on-1 that was never realized as Patrik Elias' obvious pass was blocked away.  But the Devils steeled their resolve and continued to attack.  They drove to the net, they fired from different angles, and eventually, the Devils broke through Cam Ward.   It came from Andrei Loktionov, a man who hasn't scored in over a month.  After covering Zidlicky on a pinch, he got the puck up to Michael Ryder.  He fed it to Damien Brunner after gaining the zone, who touched it off for the young pivot.  The shot itself was low and just slowly trickled through the goalie.  It was a fortunate break in that it got through Ward and led to a flood of offense.

The Devils never let up on the attack at 2-2.  Ryder drew a hook from Riley Nash in Carolina's end and the Devils would spend the next 1:04 in their end.  The Devils' power play couldn't break out of a paperbag so winning the faceoffs and controlling possession made them threaten.  They were rewarded when Gelinas blasted a shot that Bellemore got in the way of.  As he fell (and it must have stung), the puck bounced to Adam Henrique, who chipped the loose puck in.  Minutes later, during another Devils' attack, Jon Merrill wound up for a slap shot.  As it was sailing up a bit, Dainius Zubrus banked it down to make it wobble through Ward's legs to make it 4-2.  About three minutes later, Travis Zajac found Jaromir Jagr wide open through the zone and hit him with a perfect pass.  Jagr drove in, took a shot, and banged in his own rebound just off Ward's pad (and before rookie Ryan Murphy got there) to make it 5-2.   It was icing on a delicious cake made of chocolate, possession, shots, chocolate, offense, and chocolate.  Eleven shots on net, dominant play on the puck, a functioning power play, and four goals in the third period.   The team cruised to a 5-2 victory after the Jagr strike. Snapping a losing streak is always good but the Devils' third period made it look especially good tonight.

This isn't to say that it's foolish to be worried when losing while going into the third period.  It's not to say that the Devils didn't have flaws in this game.  It's not even to say that everything is going to be all right.  But what is true is that the Devils did play a very good game.  They out-shot the Canes 31-18, out-attempted them 68-38, and got contributions from nearly everyone.  With this in mind, it's not that much of a surprise that they got the win.  But it was a very pleasant surprise that they racked up a score against a good goalie in one period.  We saw it tonight and it was good.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The NHL.com Devils Time on Ice Report | The Extra Skater Game Stats

The Opposition Opinion: Bob Wage's teaser headline for his recap at Canes Country states that "Jersey Rules." Indeed it does, Bob.  That's where I'm from and where the Devils play.  Semper Jersey.

The Game Highlights: Tonight was a night where Fayne, Loktionov, and Henrique broke their goalless streaks, Merrill got his first NHL point, and Jagr scored his 692nd career goal.  If you don't want to see these highlights for those reasons, then I don't know what to tell you.

Everybody Helped: Only Anton Volchenkov didn't register an attempted shot tonight.  Only he and Damien Brunner didn't get a shot on net tonight (Brunner was blocked three times, missed once).  Everyone else had at least one attempt and one shot on Cam Ward tonight.  All four lines were even at possession or better.  Five out of six defenseman were even at possession or better (Gelinas was slightly under by being out attempted 13-14).  There were attempts from the points, attempts from the center, attempts at angles, attempts off rushes, and even some jam plays and rebounds.  It's rare for the Devils to put up over 30 shots on net this season but they did it with a diverse attack.  Very good job from the team in general.

Ryder Was Actually Good Tonight: I'd never thought I would say this, but I was really impressed by the line of Mattias Tedenby, Jacob Josefson, and Michael Ryder. Were they kept mostly against Carolina's lower lines? You bet. Did they constantly get into Carolina's end and make things happen? Absolutely. Josefson won draws, Tedenby continued to hustle, and they were together for many more attempts for than against. That's big from a fourth line.   It was to a point where I was wondering why Peter DeBoer broke them up in the third period.  He moved Ryder with Andrei Loktionov and Damien Brunner.

But it worked!  That unit had some strong shifts of their own before Loktionov powered a shot through Ward.  Ryder continued to impress.  Sure, he only had the two shots on net, but he was moving the puck well.  It wasn't just lamely coming off his stick.  He even showed some snarl when he threw a check at Riley Nash after a whistle. OK, he was pushed by another Cane but still, that's way more contact that what he usually does.  He even drew a hooking penalty from Nash that the Devils later converted on.  I really liked what I saw out of Ryder.  I hope I see more like this from him because the points will come from performances like that, and I don't just mean secondary assists.

Brunner's Redemption: He didn't register a shot on net, but Brunner looked a million times better than he has in recent games.  He was actually involved in plays. He used his speed to help win some pucks. He didn't take a needless penalty.  While his pass to Loktionov was a close touch pass, he's not just dealing with his frustration by being a black hole.  He was distributing the puck well from what I saw.  He'll get his chances at shots in time. Now that he's got a point, he can at least feel a little better.  I still don't like him on power play breakouts (or anyone on them based on tonight's game) but I think tonight's a big step in the right direction from him.

Volchenkov's Return: Anton Volchenkov returned to the lineup tonight and had himself a nice game. He didn't get beaten badly. He wasn't picked on.  He was calm and collected in his own end.  For a defensive defenseman, a quiet night is a good one.  There was a scare when he got hit along the boards by Tuomo Ruutu and he went right down.  It appeared to be his shoulder that took the brunt of that hit; but he got up, skated to the bench, and continued to take shifts.  He played 19:11 and it was a successful return.

DROP A BOMB ON IT: Goodness, Eric Gelinas' shot should be called Paul Pierce because it's the truth.  It's hard, it's threatening, and it was on full display in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Three shots on net, four blocked, two missed, and one post.  It created Henrique's goal at the expense of Bellemore's leg.  In addition to the post, he came close to bombing one in during the first delayed call that led to the power play.  Canes forwards kept giving #22 space and he took advantage.  I enjoyed it greatly, and I'm sure you did too.  I hope to see more of this as the Devils don't have many players who can just take that many attempts without it feeling like a waste of energy.

Of course, he looked like a fool when he was caught wide (possibly heading to the bench?) when Jordan Staal got sprung for a breakaway.  But at least he made up for that error.  There were times where Zidlicky and Gelinas seemed to make life more difficult than it had to be, but the offense the two had helped the play go forward.  Gelinas' firing away was more comforting than seeing Zidlicky pinch and then pass up a shooting opportunity, but, hey, all's well that end's well I suppose.

Merrill's First: Jon Merrill had a nice game of his own.  He was good in his own end, I think he possibly denied a killer pass as the lone man back in the neutral zone after the first Devils power play, and he got his first point in the NHL.  Merrill was solid on the puck and his shot that led to the deflection was quite good.  Smooth motion, fairly low, and it was going to be on target even if Zubrus didn't get it.   I liked his game tonight and so did DeBoer since he even got some PK work.

Schneider's Start: Cory Schneider had an OK night.  He didn't have a ton of work to do, though he made some good stops here and there.  He did over-commit in response to Skinner getting the puck, which is why he went far post to score.  That didn't look so good, but I understood why it happened.  I don't want to fault him on the breakaway as I think Zidlicky trying to "chip" Staal failed (Staal rolled away from the contact into the middle) and Gelinas getting caught out wide just hung him out to dry when Justin Faulk hit him with that long pass.  But he had a good enough night and I suspect we'll see more of him soon enough.

Murphy Schooled: Ryan Murphy is a rookie defenseman.  As a rookie, you try to learn new things in the league whenever possible. Tonight, he learned that one has to skate like mad towards the lone skater breaking on in to his goalie and clean up any loose pucks.  Especially when that lone skater is Jagr.  The 41-year old legend got a shot and then potted in his own rebound, which wasn't a big one from Ward.  Murphy was there in body, but didn't make a move to deny Jagr's stick, go after the puck, or do anything.  One day, you'll learn.

But let's write a bit more about Jagr.  I honestly think we're going to see him score his 700th goal as a Devil. I don't think anyone can convince me right now that Jagr's not going to score eight more goals with the way he's playing. He has an outside chance of doing it before 2014, actually.   That line of Jagr, Zubrus, and Travis Zajac didn't dominate in possession but when they got going, they gave the Canes all they could handle.  Keep it up, men.  Keep putting up multiple-point nights, Jagr.  Keep being yourself.

The Power Play Mostly Sucked: The first two for the Devils were exercises in banging your head at a wall and hoping it would turn into a pillow.  They couldn't make a single pass going forward, much less two or three to gain the zone.  The two shots they across both were almost accidents in retrospect.  The team's play during the delayed whistle before each were more productive and efficient (the first one, especially since it went on for at least a half-minute). The third power play looked very good - and successful - precisely because the Devils won their offensive zone faceoffs and controlled the puck smartly so they didn't have to break back into the zone.

At least, the Canes' own power plays weren't much better. They generated only three shots on net, conceded a two-on-one that left begging because Elias telegraphed a pass that the defense stopped, and had to skate back to their end of the rink quite a bit.   Andy Greene and Volchenkov were bosses on the PK and .

Canes Miscellany: Carolina's fourth line made some noise on Wednesday.  The noise they made tonight was minimal.  While he scored, Jordan Staal had one other shot on net and then spent the rest of his night mostly in his own end.  Mike Komisarek was on the ice tonight as Andrej Sekera picked up an injury.  He was, well, not at all good.  Ron Hainsey got a deflection of his own past his own goalie and also got pinned a lot.  Eric Staal remains the true shining player for Carolina not named Ward.   Ward himself, I think, was unfortunate as he got beaten by a two deflections, a bounce in front, and a small rebound.  The goal he allowed to Loktionov was ugly as Mike Ricci (the former player, not the MMA guy), though.

Who I Didn't Miss: Stephen Gionta, Peter Harrold, and Cam Janssen.  And I don't think I'm alone.

Not to step on Karen's toes, but I want to see this lineup (with Martin Brodeur in net) stays together for the Buffalo game and smashes them in possession, shots, and hopefully goals.

Reminder: Bring a new or gently used coat to the Rock tomorrow. It's the annual coat drive so help someone out when you go to the game on Saturday night.

Your Take: How did you feel when the Devils finished the second down 1-2?   How did you feel when they not only tied it up but took and extended a lead to finish it 5-2? Who on the Devils impressed you the most? Who frustrated you the most from the Devils tonight?  Will the Devils carry over this good play into Saturday's game?  Please leave your answers and other thoughts about this win in the comments. Thanks to those who commented in the Gamethread and followed @InLouWeTrust along on Twitter. Thank you for reading.

The Devils face the Buffalo Sabres, currently sitting in last place in the NHL. Can they get their second win in as many nights against the struggling Sabres?

The Time: 7:00 PM

The Broadcast: TV - MSG; Radio - WCBS 880 AM

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (10-11-5) vs. the Buffalo Sabres (6-20-1); SBN Blog: Die By The Blade

The Last Devils Game:The Devils took down the Carolina Hurricanes last night 5-2 breaking their three game losing streak. Cory Schneider was in net and stopped 16 of 18 shots while the Devils took 31 shots on Cam Ward. Five different Devils scored the goals. Mark Fayne opened the scoring late in the first period, but the Hurricanes had the 2-1 lead by the end of the second with goals by Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal. New Jersey took over in the third with goals from Andrei Loktionov, Adam Henrique on the power play, Dainius Zubrus, and Jaromir Jagr. It was an exciting third period after a first and second period of groans and frustration. You can read John's full recap here.

The Last Sabres Game: The Sabres defeated the Maple Leafs last night 3-2 in overtime. Ryan Miller was in net and made 24 of 22 saves while Matt Moulson scored on the powerplay and Luke Adams tied the game up for Buffalo with just over a minute left in the second period. Christian Ehrhoff scored the overtime winner for the Sabres. You can look for that recap over at Die By The Blade.

The Goal: This is always the case with the second half of a back-to-back, but the Devils will need to come out with a lot of energy. The Sabres are coming off of a game last night, as well. Both teams got big wins, so it will be vital to take advantage of a tired team travelling from Toronto after an overtime win.

Let's All Score Goals: Last night saw goals from five different Devils and points from eleven different players. Goalless streaks from Fayne, Henrique, and Loktionov were broken. It was great to see some new players find the back of the net. There are a few other Devils who have goalless streaks to end. It would be great to get Damien Brunner and Michael Ryder going again. Both looked much stronger last night than they have in recent games, so hopefully a breakout is coming.

Power Play: New Jersey had three power plays last night and scored on one of them. The other two were just no good. I don't think much will be fixed over night seeing as not much on the power play has been fixed throughout the first quarter of the season, but the third time with the man advantage was the charm. If they work the power play like they did the third when Henrique scored, they could find success against the 25^th ranked penalty kill in Buffalo.

The Lineup: Hopefully the lineup from last night sticks. Damien Brunner should play. Cam Janssen should not play. Anton Volchenkov was solid in his first game back from injury. I don't think any defenseman deserves to be taken out so Peter Harrold can play. John wrote a bit about this in the recap, and I completely agree that this lineup should stay intact against Buffalo. I would be content with either goalie in net, but I would expect to see Brodeur since every other back-to-back this season has been split.

The Sabres: They are the worst team in the NHL (by a five point margin), but they still have scoring threats and a solid goaltender. Cody Hodgson is leading the Sabres with eight goals and seventeen points on the season. Matt Moulson, a familiar face to Devils due to his time with the Islanders, has eleven points in his 14 games with the Sabres. Ryan Miller played last night, so the Devils may see backup Jhonas Enroth who has just one win in eight games played this season, but he does have a .908 save percentage with a 2.88 goals against average. Miller, who has just five wins in twenty starts has a .918 save percentage and a 3.05 goals against average. The Sabres are a struggling team, but the Devils can't sit back and expect to win.

Side Note: If you are going to the game tonight, bring a gently used coat if possible. Everyone who brings two or more coats will receive a voucher for four tickets to a future game. Not only will it help those in need, but you'll get to see the Devils twice for the price of one game with friends!

Your Take: Do you think the Devils can bring it in the second half of the back-to-back and beat the Sabres? What goalies would you like to see on each side of the ice? What will New Jersey need to do to get a win to bring them back to .500? Share your thoughts on the game tonight in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!

The logjam in the standings continues at the end of the month. Pittsburgh has a comfortable 7 point lead, but positions 2-8 are all separated by 4 points at most.

1. Pittsburgh Penguins (17-9-1)

After a 4-3 overtime loss to the Bruins on the road, Pittsburgh came home where they beat the Leafs 6-5.

The Penguins opened up a three-game road trip with a 3-0 win over Tampa on Friday night.

The rest of their trip features matchups against the Panthers on Saturday and the Islanders on Tuesday.

The win in Tampa was Dan Bylsma's 100th road victory.

Evgeni Malkin's point streak has improved to seven games. During that stretch, he has three goals and 10 assists.

Sidney Crosby has four goals and seven assists in his last seven.

Chris Kunitz remains hot, as well. He has four goals and five assists in his last six.

The Penguins are without the services of Paul Martin long term after a leg injury.

Rob Scuderi, Tanner Glass and Beau Bennett are also injured.

After the three-game road trip, Pittsburgh will host the Sharks.

2. Washington Capitals (13-11-2)

For the Capitals, Friday's 3-2 win over the Canadiens at home snapped a four-game losing streak.

They snapped out of the funk in style, too.

Mikhail Grabovski tied the game to force overtime, and the Capitals went 3-3 in the shootout, including the deciding tally scored by Grabovski.

Eric Fehr, who returned from an injury recently, has two goals and an assist in his last three games.

The Capitals have a light week. After visiting the slumping Islanders, they host the Hurricanes and Predators on Tues. and Sat., respectively.

John Erskine and Jack Hillen remain injured on a long-term scale.

Brooks Laich and Michael Neuvirth both have lower-body injuries, as well.

3. New York Rangers (13-13-0)

During the Thanksgiving time, drama is usually reserved for when Uncle Bob has one too many pieces of pie to himself.

For the Rangers, it comes Saturday as they host the Canucks, which means the return of John Tortorella to Madison Square Garden.

It will be Tortorella's first trip to MSG since being fired on May 29.

Tortorella isn't letting the hype get to him or his team, however.

"Quite honestly, we've beaten this thing up," Tortorella said Friday in an interview with NHL.com. "It's another game on the schedule. It's a very important game for us to try to gain some traction. We need to continue trying to gain traction. That's what all this is about. We have enough things to worry about with our hockey club."

New York closed out a five game road trip witha  3-2-0 mark after dropping a decision 3-2 to the Bruins on Friday.

The Rangers have seven wins in their last nine road games.

Since returning from a concussion, Rick Nash has three goals in six games and goals in his last two.

Forward Derek Dorsett did not play Friday against the Bruins nursing a sprained wrist.

After the matinee against the Canucks on Sat., the Rangers will host the Jets, travel to Buffalo and come back home to host the Devils this week.

4. New Jersey Devils (10-11-5)

A 5-2 victory over the Hurricanes on Friday snapped a three-game skid for the Devils.

The Devils exploded for four third period goals to sink the Canes on the road.

"I liked our game right from the drop of the puck,'' Devils coach Peter DeBoer said in an interview with NHL.com. ''I thought we had good energy, good legs. We created a lot of things. ... We found our game again in the third.''

Anton Volchenkov returned to the lineup Friday after missing seven games.

His presence was felt immediately. He finished with five blocked shots, five hits and almost 20 minutes of ice time while being a +2 on the night.

Jaromir Jagr roofed a goal over Cam Ward in the third period of Friday's game. It was career goal 692 for him- which ties him with Steve Yzerman for eighth in NHL history.

Jagr is two goals behind Messier for seventh place.

Jagr has been a big contributor for New Jersey this season. He leads the team in goals (11), points (22) and game winning goals (3).

Defenseman Andy Greene quietly has a four-game point streak.

Stephen Gionta is on the injured reserve with an ankle injury.

Adam Larsson is questionable for Saturday night's matchup with the Sabres. Ryan Clowe and Bryce Salvador are both doubtful.

After hosting the Sabres on Saturday, the Devils will have a home-and-home with the Canadiens before hosting the Red Wings and taking on the Rangers on the road in a back-to-back scenario next weekend.

5. Carolina Hurricanes (10-11-5)

Friday night's matchup against the Devils presented a big chance for Carolina to leapfrog in the division standings.

It was a chance.

A 5-2 loss fueled by a gigantic third period for the Devils sunk the Hurricanes and left them in fifth place.

After a first period defensive lapse from Jeff Skinner, the young forward came back in the second period and tallied his first goal since returning from injury.

Jordan Staal had a confidence building breakaway goal after a homerun pass from Justin Faulk.

Carolina has outscored opponents 28-21 in second periods.

The Devils handed Carolina their first loss when leading after two periods on Friday. Carolina is now 6-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes.

A Sunday matinee against the Canucks will be the beginning of a stretch of seven of their next eight games against Western Conference opponents for the Hurricanes.

"We didn't respond enough. We didn't fight back," defenseman Jay Harrison told Hurricanes.com. "I don't think we're going to let five minutes in the third period deter us from continuing to build something here."

Alex Semin remains out with a concussion. Defenseman Andrej Sekera is nursing an upper body injury and did not play against the Devils.

After playing the Canucks, Carolina will take on the Capitals and Predators on the road before welcoming the Sharks to Raleigh on Friday night.

6. Philadelphia Flyers (11-12-2)

The Flyers are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and Steve Mason has been a big part of that.

Mason has allowed two goals or fewer in seven of his last eight starts.

Over that span, he is 5-1-2.

After a 2-1 win over the Jets on Friday, the Flyers begin a six-game road trip that starts in Nashville on Saturday night.

The rest of the road trip leads the Flyers into Minnesota, Detroit, Dallas, Ottawa and Chicago.

"This is a huge stretch for us," Hartnell said  of the Flyers' upcoming road trip in an interview with NHL.com. "We're going to look back at this season and say that December was a huge month for us."

Claude Giroux has three goals and seven assists in his last 10.

7. Columbus Blue Jackets (10-13-3)

Columbus has been hovering around .500, as they have gone 4-3 over their last seven.

That's not enough to climb the ladder very far in the Metro division, however.

Over that seven game span, the Blue Jackets have been outscored 17-2 in losses.

Ryan Johansen has three goals in his past two games.

Nathan Horton ,Derek MacKenzie, Marian Gaborik and Jared Boll are all on injured reserve.

Brandon Dubinsky is doubtful for the Blue Jacket's Saturday matchup in Boston with a foot injury.

After playing the Bruins on Sat., Columbus hosts the Lightning and Wild on Tues. and Fri., respectively.

8. New York Islanders (8-15-3)

The Islanders have lost five-straight games and are stuck in the bottom of the division.

A 5-0 loss at home to the Red Wings is the latest installment in mediocrity for New York.

The Islanders have lost 10 of their last 12 and haven't won since a 5-4 win over the Red Wings at home on Nov. 16.

New York has scored nine goals in their last five games.

"You keep your head up and you keep playing hard but this isn't good enough in any way," captain John Tavares said in an interview with NHL.com. "As a team, all we can think about is playing a better game next time out."

Tavares has points in eight of his last 10 games.

The Islanders are without the services of the injured Evgeni Nabokov, Lubomir Visnovsky and Brian Strait.

After a home game against the Capitals on Sat. night, the Islanders host the Penguins before embarking on a West Coast swing that pits them against the Blues, Kings, Ducks, Sharks and Coyotes before returning to New York.

The Admirals' Equipment Managers have been busy this past week trying to keep up with the roster changes forced by injuries and returns by players in Anaheim.

1Kevin Gagne ranks first among rookies with 8 Power Play Assists.

2 Norfolk managed to put up only 2 shots on goal in the third period last Saturday, surrendering a three goal first period lead to the Portland Pirates (Phoenix Coyotes) and eventually losing in the shoot-out.

3Max Friberg ranks third among rookies with two Short-handed goals including one against the Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes) Wednesday night, his third goal of the season.

4Alex Grant is third among defensemen with four Power Play Goals.  Grant was the Admirals' leading scorer before being recalled after Wednesday's game against Charlotte.

5Rickard Rakell is ranked fifth in the AHL with three shoot out goals.

6 The Admirals currently sit sixth in the Eastern Conference after 21 games.  Their record is 10-7-0-4, good for 24 points.

7 Norfolk has gone to more shootouts (seven) than any other team in the AHL, winning three and losing four.

8 Norfolk sits Eighth in the AHL in Short-Handed Goals For with four in 21 games.

9 When scoring the first goal of the game, Norfolk has won seven of nine games and has not lost in regulation.

10 The Admirals seem to like playing on the road a little better than at home.  In ten games played at Scope, their record is 4-4-0-2 = 10 points, while on the road playing eleven games going 6-3-0-2 = 14 points.

--Head Coach Trent Yawney believes that every game is a "race to three," meaning the first team to score three goals should win.  It would help if the Admirals could manage to average at least three goals per game, but after a quarter of the season gone they are still managing only 2.62 goals.  The team is doing its part to keep opponents from winning the race however, limiting opponents to just 2.52 goals per game.  It's no wonder Norfolk has the most shoot-outs of any team when the odds really are 50/50 every night to win.

Emerson Etem and Devante Smith-Pelly have been in town for two games, and already both have contributed significantly to the score sheet.  In a 5-2 win Wednesday night against Charlotte, both Etem and Smith-Pelly had three points (1G + 2A).  Etem, who has been with Anaheim since the start of the season, has four points in just two games played in Norfolk (1G + 3A), while Smith-Pelly, called up to fill in for injuries, has back-to-back multi-point games since returning Wednesday.

They've also helped feed and pad Rickard Rakell's stats over the past two games, chipping in for 3 of his own points (1G  + 2A).  They were broken up at even strength Friday night because, quite frankly, they were horrible in the defensive zone, but continued to fly on the power play and clearly have demonstrated immediate chemistry.  With leading scorer Alex Grant recalled, their arrival has been timely and they will surely be relied upon to help Norfolk navigate through an unstable roster while the Ducks figure out who's healthy and who's not.

In what appears to be a sign that the injury to Ducks' goalie Viktor Fasth is much more severe than has been talked about, the Admirals signed veteran netminder Brad Thiessen this week to a Standard Player's Contract to be the long-term replacement for Frederik Andersen.

Thiessen, who played four seasons with the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins), appeared in 149 AHL games and posting a record of 88-49-6 with a 2.44 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage and 17 shutouts.  Thiessen won the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Award as the AHL's outstanding goaltender in 2010-11 when he went 35-8-1 with a 1.94 GAA, a .922 save percentage and seven shutouts.

Last year Thiessen went 16-12-2 (2.68, .902) in 32 regular-season contests before leading the AHL with a 1.38 GAA and a .952 save percentage in 12 Calder Cup Playoff appearances (6-4).  That playoff performance helped the Penguins to a historic conference semifinal series victory over Providence after trailing the series three games to none. He has an 18-17 record in 37 career AHL playoff contests, with a 1.81 GAA and a .932 save percentage.

The signing is, pardon me for saying so, one hell of a deal for Norfolk, as they once again have arguably the best goaltending tandem in the AHL.  Thiessen is regarded by many as the best goalie Wilkes Barre has ever had, and he'll certainly push and provide relief for John Gibson who had no clear back-up before the signing .

Follow me on Twitter: @VAPuckhead

OK, Canucks, let's try this again. Here is another Eastern Conference team with a losing record and lousy in so many of the main statistical categories.

It baffles me to see an effort like the Canucks put up against the Rangers, especially when they are sitting 3 points out of a playoff spot. This team looks completely confident one game and then fragile the next. The problems on the ice are at every position really. Not everyone is on the same page, leading to defensive breakdowns and a real lack of goal-scoring. Is it so hard to roof the puck? Or just shoot it 16" off the ice away from the goalie's belly? The puck movement looked shaky again. The shots were predictable and even delayed. It allows the goalie to get in position as well as the shot blockers to get in the lanes. Get it up and hurry it up!

Maybe it was a November thing. The Canucks finished No(!)vember with a 4-5-4 record. Good thing they got some loser points out of it. I blame Pavel Bure and his wife. When they raised his #10 to the rafters in game 1 of November the Canucks blew up the Leafs 4-0. It's been up and down like a whore's shorts ever since. The curse of the "russian rockets", I say!

All I know is that it's another morning game and I don't want another downer on a weekend morning. Not 2 in a row. Figure it out, Canucks. This is about MY feelings, dammit.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

The Hurricanes are going to be another team playing desperate hockey as they are 3 points out of a playoff spot. They have been playing up and down hockey all season so far, it seems. They have not won more than 2 games in a row all season. They played the Devils twice this past week, winning one and losing the other 5-2 on Friday.

PROJECTED HURRICANES ROSTER

Gerbe - E. Staal - Ruutu

Tlusty - J. Staal - Dwyer

Skinner - Riley Nash - Elias Lindholm

Bowman - MALHOTRA - Dvorak

Hainsey - Faulk

Harrison - Ryan Murphy

Brett Bellemore - Komisarek

Ward

Injuries: Joni Pitkanen, Alexander Semin, Tim Gleason (questionable vs Van) , Andrej Sekera (questionable vs Van), Anton Khudobin.

Also starring:

We're cheering on the #Canes from Raleigh today as they take on the shitty Canucks. Let's go Canes!#StormSquadpic.twitter.com/3rhXTPVAI4 Daniel and Henrik are so HAWT! Show us your abs, Higgy! Can we touch your hair, Lou? Squeeeeee! #Italiansausage #swedishballs

— Storm Squad (@CanesStormSquad) December 1, 2013

Yes, I altered their tweet.

TOP 5 SCORERS

1. E. Staal: 6-12-18

2. Sekera: 5-8-13

3. Skinner: 4-7-11

4. Gerbe: 5-5-10

5. Faulk: 1-9-10

CANUCKS MISC

Just win, dammit. Enough of this BS.

HE SAID IT

"I just know he (Edler) was playing really well prior to that ridiculous suspension," Tortorella said. "It shouldn’t have been.

"So I’m going to blame Shanahan on this one. For his crappy play, I’ll blame Brendan for it.

"No, not (really). I just thought he was playing really well and assertive and we just seemed to lose some of that after his suspension."

Which was a lot nicer than what he was saying here:

One thing both this gif and the Hansen one show is Torts pointing down, which means the player's ass is stapled to the bench.

YOU MADE MY SHITLIST

Anybody not named David Booth or Jannik Hansen. Burrows, for pete's sakes snap out of it. We need goals.

TRENDS

• Canucks are 4-0 in their last 4 vs. Metropolitan.
• Canucks are 4-1 in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a losing home record.
• Canucks are 6-2 in their last 8 vs. Eastern Conference.
• Canucks are 20-8 in their last 28 vs. a team with a losing record.
• Canucks are 3-14 in their last 17 Sunday games. AIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
• Hurricanes are 6-1 in their last 7 Sunday games.
• Hurricanes are 8-19 in their last 27 home games.
• Hurricanes are 2-9 in their last 11 vs. Western Conference.

SCORE-PREDICTING WIZARDS UPDATE

Passive Voice: 10

gmonk33: 8

marcness52: 8

Bobby Canuck: 7

FormerHab: 7

Geordie Nuck: 7

Nathaniel Perlow: 7

Zanstorm: 7

Azzy Mahmood: 6

Coach Ryan: 6

nucksandpucks: 6

Tengeresz: 6

Twitchy2010: 5

jwolf0: 4

Tim Burke: 4

itsahardknocklife: 3

Nathan k: 3

Nose_Face: 3

westy99: 3

AK_nuk: 2

Brock: 2

ChuckinNux: 2 (Called Nash to score the winner)

John Carroll: 2

kiwinuck: 2

prairienucker: 2

Smoboy41: 2

vancitydan: 2

Vancouverguy: 2

canuck89: 1

Kent Basky: 1

patrik e: 1

seedvt: 1

thesporteditor: 1

VIDEO

The last meeting was a crazy affair. Check out the goaltending of Cam Ward:

At least the end of the Canucks-Rangers game was amusing:

Earlier in November, the tossed-aside Manny Malhotra did this with his new team:

The title of this preview post has been brought to you by Tori Amos:

HEY CANUCKS...

I don't know you anymore...

The Hurricanes kick off December with a matinee today against the Vancouver Canucks.

Carolina Hurricanes vs Vancouver Canucks
December 1, 2013 - 1:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Nucks Misconduct (twitter @nucksmisconduct)

Hurricanes Record: 10-11-5 (25 pts.)
Canucks Record: 13-10-5 (31 pts.)

The Hurricanes and Canucks square off today for the first of two meetings this month. They'll play here in Raleigh this afternoon and meet again in Vancouver on December 9th. The teams haven't faced each other since December 15, 2011, a 4-3 home win for the Hurricanes.

Both teams are coming off 5-2 losses. The Rangers foiled yesterday's return of head coach John Tortorella to face his former team by rattling off four unanswered goals in the first two periods and the final outcome was never in question. Contrast that with Friday night's game where the Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead and a power play into the third period on Friday only to give up four unanswered goals in the third period to the Devils.

Hurricanes Notes

The Penguins, Rangers, Capitals, Devils, and Flyers all won last night, which means that the Hurricanes enter December in sixth place in the Metro Division.

Head coach Kirk Muller reiterated in Friday's post-game comments and in yesterday's post-practice comments that his team played solid for 50 minutes but did not play a complete game, several players didn't play the whole rink, and the Devils were stronger on the puck and won more battles. Practice Saturday was short but intense, with much dialogue along with the drills.

Manny Malhotra did not practice yesterday but skated briefly beforehand and should be in the line-up today. Malhotra played three seasons for the Canucks, where he suffered the eye injury that eventually led to parting ways with the Canucks and the circuitous route that brought him to the valuable role he now occupies on the Hurricanes fourth line.

With Malhotra's absence yesterday the third and fourth lines shifted at practice. Elias Lindholm centered a line with Jeff Skinner and Radek Dvorak, and Riley Nash centered Kevin Westgarth (who is now eligible to return after serving a two-game suspension) and Drayson Bowman.

Otherwise there were no changes to the line-up from the game Friday night. Cam Ward will likely start in net. Ward and Justin Peters took a majority of the formal practice drills, and Peters stayed for extended practice along with Anton Khudobin, who was worked into practice with limited reps and appears to be a few days away from a full team practice.

Andrej Sekera, who missed Friday's game with an upper body injury, did not practice and is doubtful for today's game. Alexander Semin (concussion) did not skate yesterday and is still day-to-day with his return. Tim Gleason (lower body) is also still day-to-day.

Depth Chart
Injury Report
Hurricanes November Report [CH.com]

Canucks Notes

Vancouver is playing their third game of a four-game road trip that started with a 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators Thursday before the loss to the Rangers Saturday. After today's game they will wrap up their road trip against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

The Canucks have 31 points (versus the Canes with 25) but that is only good enough for fifth place in a strong Pacific Division. They are going through a bit of a slump with a 2-5-3 record in their last 10 games, but they've been strong against the Metro Division, posting a 6-2-1 record.

Even though the Canes and Canucks reside on opposite coasts and have met infrequently over the last few seasons, there are certainly spots of familiarity. As previously mentioned, Manny Malhotra spent three seasons with the Canucks. Head coach John Tortorella is very familiar having coached against the Canes for thirteen years between his tenure with then-division rival Tampa Bay Lightning along with the Rangers. Roberto Luongo has faced the Canes 27 times in his career. The Canucks roster features three former Hurricanes players: Andrew Alberts, Zac Dalpe, and Jeremy Welsh (coincidentally, all three were healthy scratches yesterday and unknown if they'll play today).

Perhaps the most provocative story line is the return of Eric Staal and Alexander Edler to face each other for the first time since Edler's hit knocked Staal out of the 2013 IIHF World Championships with an MCL injury. Edler was suspended for the hit during the tournament (and will miss two games in Sochi as well) and received further discipline this season for a hit on Tomas Hertl in a game against the San Jose Sharks on October 10th. Meanwhile, Staal was able to rehab his knee injury without missing any NHL games, but admitted his speed was off to start the season. Don't expect ill will from Staal, but the story will make for high drama regardless.

Canucks captain Henrik Sedin leads the team with 27 points (7 goals, 20 assists) and brother Daniel Sedin is riding a five-game point streak.

Roberto Luongo got the hook early Saturday after giving up three goals in 10 shots, but replacement Eddie Lack didn't fare much better, giving up two goals on 14 shots. Luongo is 11-8-5 with a 2.41 GAA and .911 save percentage; Lack is 2-2-0 for the season with a 2.49 GAA and .906 save percentage.

The Canucks have the number one rated penalty kill in the NHL, which should pair nicely with the Canes 27th rated power play.

Canucks Depth Chart
John Tortorella 11-30-13 post-game comments [Video]

Canes promos for today feature special family night ticket packages, a South Plaza party before the game, and Slap Shot Sunday afterwards. We'll have the game thread ready to roll at 12:30 pm. See you at the rink.

"You want 3 points from me tonight? You got it." The New Jersey Devils put on a passing clinic against the Carolina Hurricanes. Their zone exits weren't so bad either. The final score accurately reflects how efficient the Devils were in this game. How many times have we been able to say that this season?

Passing Stats

Forwards:

Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson had efficient passing games, only missing one passes between them and generating 4 shot attempts combined. It was a rare night with no SAG for Dainius Zubrus. He was the only forward not to generate a shot attempt, which was bizarre, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Damien Brunner was very active in all 3 zones against Carolina. He exceeded his season average for each zone and managed to generate 2 shot attempts. Andrei Loktionov completed all 14 of his passes and generated 3 shot attempts. Michael Ryder went 9/11 in the offensive zone and generated 2 shot attempts as well.

The highest SAG for the night? Ryan Carter. He completed 5/6 in the Canes end of the ice, generating 4 shot attempts. Needless to say, the bottom 6 played, collectively, one of their best games of the season and they look vastly improved without Cam Janssen or Stephen Gionta in the lineup.

Patrik Elias looks to be back into form, completing all 16 passes he attempted and setting up 3 shot attempts. Jaromir Jagr’s accuracy was a little off, but he matched Elias in terms of SAG production. Travis Zajac attempted the most passes in the offensive zone with 14, completing 12. Adam Henrique and Steve Bernier had similar games as they both attempted 15 passes spread quite evenly in all 3 zones.

Defensemen:

The defensemen nearly doubled their season average in terms of pass attempts in the offensive zone. Andy Greene missed only one pass all game and generated 4 shot attempts. Eric Gelinas and Marek Zidlicky each generated 2 shot attempts, as these 3 defensemen accounted the all the SAG production from the blue line. Zid and Gelinas attempted 8 passes in the ‘Canes zone, completing 6 each. Aside from Zid misfiring on 4 passes in the defensive zone, it really was a solid performance passing-wise.

Passing Data Explained:

Pass: A reasonable and deliberate attempt to get the puck to a teammate which maintains possession or results in a shot attempt. This excludes zone clears, dump-ins, and anything that is akin to a desperate swipe at a loose puck. If a player passes a puck into space or off the boards, it finds a teammate, and it appears it was done deliberately, that shall be a pass. When in doubt, common sense will prevail.

What you see above is a chart illustrating pass completions, pass attempts, and pass percentages for each player in all three zones. A pass that goes across a zone or two will be marked as occurring in the zone it originates from.

Each completed pass that results in a shot taken by a teammate counts as one “shot attempt generated” or “SAG” in the chart below. This is tracked to attempt to determine which teammates are better at generating opportunities to shoot.

Zone Exit Stats:

Forwards:

Adam Henrique led the forwards with 8 exit successes on 8 attempts, finishing with a 75 PE%. Jacob Josefson had a solid night in the zone exit department, finishing with 83 PE% on his 6 attempts. Steve Bernier had good overall success game, but only 3 of his 8 attempts maintained possession. Ryan Carter had a solid zone exit game in addition to his passing stats: 6/6 with 66 PE%. Collectively, the forwards finished at 68.6 PE%, nearly 20% above their season average. Defensemen:

Continuing from the passing praise for the blue line, there were only 2 failed passes (Zid and Greene) and no pass turnovers. Zid, Greene, and Gelinas each committed 2 turnovers as the PE% was full of highs and lows for the defensemen. Jon Merrill had 3 attempts that were all successful possession exits. Mark Fayne had the best night, with a 70 PE% on his 10 attempts. Anton Volchenkov did his usual great OS%, but low PE%. Eric Gelinas had a lousy game by zone exit standards.

Zone Exits Explained: Any attempt made by a player to advance the puck from their defensive zone. These actions fall into the below categories (as illustrated on the below chart).

Possession Exits:

(P) Pass: When a player passes the puck out of the zone and it successfully finds a teammate.

(C) Carry: When a player skates with the puck out of the zone, maintaining possession.

Successful Zone Exits without Possession:

(FP) Failed Pass: When a player passes the puck out of the zone, but it fails to find its target.

(FC) Failed Carry: When a player skates with the puck out of the zone, but loses possession shortly thereafter.

(CH) Chip: When the player lifts the puck out of the zone or throws it off the boards and out.

(X) Other: Any action that results in a successful zone exit not already covered.

Unsuccessful Zone Exit:

(PT) Pass Turnover: When a player fails to clear the zone with a pass and it results in a turnover to the opposition.

(CT) Carry Turnover: When a player fails to skate out of the zone with the puck and loses possession.

(I) Icing: An attempt to clear results in icing the puck.

(T) Turnover: Any action that results in a turnover not already covered.

This was a surprisingly decent game. Lot's of hitting from both teams, tons of desperate attitude, and a little bit of "OH NOESSS" overcome when the home teams got two goals in 10 seconds.

And Alexandre Burrows is still snake bit, even though he did a ton of the little things in this one to help the team win.

We take our puck pretty seriously here in Vancouver.  Often the locals will pore over the results for portents of what might happen, or how in the hell they keep losing more than winning, when they are playing a pretty similar game as they were before.

Whether it is Alexander Edler struggling again, whose in the lineup from day to day, or how has a team that only a couple years ago was smoking teams with an offense varied and glorious struggling to score now, where did the power play go man, or the everlasting question of how the goalie is doing, there is never not something to be positive, or negative about, as is your wont.

We make no apologies for how much we care about the team and how it is doing. That is all part of fandom, and the yin of the winning has to be balanced at times with the yang of losing.  Yes, it's a bit more manic because there has been no Cup yet.  But the canucks are still one of the best teams over the last five years or so when you check the records. So, expectations SHOULD be high.

Fans will remember that it was a game against the Carolina Hurricanes that broke another streak even uglier than the current malaise, when Alexandre Burrows snapped a streak and turned a corner for the entire thing. Perhaps this was the team to give them the impetus to get back on track?  It always helps when your top two way centre ( Kesler ) outplays their top two way centre ( E Staal ).  Staal got him, and Kes' got him back.  This was THE battle of this game, and the KesLord emerged the better.

The goaltending question was answered by Torts with Eddie Lack, getting his scheduled start after the good fill in performance. The other queries?  Well, another was answered when Zack Kassian drew the "did not play, coach's decision" straw, with Zac Dalpe replacing him.

ESPN

ExtraSkater.com

ShiftChart.com

Opening Stanza

A good one.  Playing angry seemed to be a theme. Guess who got THAT thing going? ( We all know Torts probably had something to do with that as well ! )

-  Kevin Bieksa was at the start of it, drawing a penalty while STILL getting to fight!  His only contribution on the stat sheet after 20 minutes in his 1st period 5:34 TOI. The whole team took the "screw this ####" attitude to this one.

- Ryan Kesler.  It took the Canes getting the "automatic penalty", scoring on the 2 man advantage that resulted from it with the most basic of power play goals. There for the rebound.  Took a shot up high in the neck area, and still led the team with 8:00 TOI in 12 1st period shifts.

- S#it. Jannik Hansen was responding OK as well.  His stumble into the boards looked like it hurt a lot, and was a re-injury of the same shoulder that had him sidelined.  Let's hope he rehabs quick... he aready had 2 shot attempts ( 1 on net ) and a hit in his 3 shifts and 2:12 TOI before he hurt himself. And guess what? Playing a "####" this" game means you just pop that shoulder back in! In and out of the game trying to still play is a Honey Badger thing to do Jannik.)

- Hey look, a Tom Sestito goal again?  Big guy goes to net, get's a tip.  Tough to move the big fellas.  Glove tip to Ryan Kesler for the 4th line fill in shift that got it going too.

- Honorable mentions to Jason Garrison ( 2 assists in 1st period ), Alexandre Burrows with the 2 blocks in his 6:02 TOI, Zac Dalpe for a point in his return to Carolina, and even Eddie Lack, who handled only 4 shots (a 9-4 advantage in the first for the Canucks ) like a champ.

Middling Middle

Two goals in HOW long?

- When there is 2 quick goals, it's never good, but FTR, that looked a little fishy on the first one.  The second one shouldn't have happened though. Eddie Lack moved awkwardly on the rebound, but Dan Hamhuis should have played that a bit better from the blue line in.  Two goals in 10 seconds will get Mt Torts going too.

- Will you look at that. Here I was hoping for Alexandre Burrows to break the stick over his knee, and here comes KesLord getting a greasy one.  Good, he could have handled Eric Staal better on the tying goal anyhow.

- Zac Dalpe. Still only averaging 2 minutes a period or so, he was noticeable.  Mostly for good things.

- The PK.  Daniel Sedin getting a 4 minute call, then having Burrows get a puck in the head ( ear ) off of a clear, and shrugging off the loss of one of your best PK guys is definitely "Screw this".  Brad Richardson got punked by Komisarek, with some sleazy stick work and then declining the retribution ( come on Komisarek, you play your style and refuse! ? ) The PK took your insult and threw it right back atcha.  I can't really remember more than the Ruutu shot and the bit at the end where Eddie Lack made his best save to that point on another Ruutu shot and the rebound. In almost 6 minutes of PK time that included a bit of 5 on 3.

- Eddie Lack was busier this period, with the Hurricanes outshooting the Nucks 17-10 in this period. The two goals in 10 seconds thing aside, he did his job well.

- Alright Alexandre Burrows, you're just screwing with us now, right? Three chances in one shift late in the second ( given 2 shots on it though ) without results. Snake bite still smarting, I suppose.

- David Booth. Led the team with 4 hits after 40 minutes, had 2 shots, and was still keeping the good vibe going through two periods, with mostly good things in his 12 shifts and 9:35 TOI.

Bring It Home

Yes, please do bring it home. Please?

- You really shouldn't take an early penalty in a game you're trying to get home successfully, even when the guy ( Ruutu ) does the same thing you would have Mr Kesler.  Good thing you have the best PK in the NHL !

- Cam Ward has been getting some pub' for a possible Olympic spot.  While that is one I'll leave to the "experts", he does make some nice saves behind that defense.  He made a couple on the Santorelli line 5 minutes in that were almost casual in execution.  The Canes came right back with a shift against the Canuck 4th line where Ryan Stanton and Eddie Lack both made nice plays to keep the score where it was.

- That questioning look on Ryan Stanton's face when he took his penalty was funny.  It probably would have been interference anyhow. Maybe.  There was just no doubt after the Dwyer fell like a house of cards.  It was weak Stats, I agree. But you were still probably getting called for interference anyhow. 6th straight PK though?  Best PP for the home team. After Richardson looked like his attempt to clear checked Burrows, Eddie Lack got lucky with the post saving a tip, and Burrows gets the glove tap for the help. After that chance, the PK got back to it's almost arrogant dismissal of what should be a pretty good power play.  The last 30 seconds of Twins vs Brothers was fun for broadcasters everywhere as well.

- Finally a chance for the Canuck power play. You had to know that was coming Radek Dvorak. Cheap grab man... too bad the power play was all zone time and no goal.  Get that boomer on net Eddie!

- How about that stick lift on Tlusty by Kevin Bieksa?  Picture perfect. Keep that on the video and flag it for all the kids to see exactly how that is done.

- It's fun when the OTHER team doesn't execute. Jordan Staal going offsides on a stretch pass made Ward go back into the empty net again, and a Hansen play at centre sprung Kesler for a good chance that kept him there.  The Sedins made a couple smart board plays instead of going for that empty net, the Canes made another stretch pass offsides to seal it, and Eddie Lack did a little victory dance in the crease just for fun.

Three stars

Kesler. Two Goals.

Eddie Lack. Except for 10 seconds there, he had a wonderful game.

Jason Garrison. Two assists, a hit, a block, a solid game,

OK boys, let's keep this "screw this" attitude going in Smashville.  No going out to the clubs until AFTER a second win in a row!

( how's THAT guys?  Under 1500 words AGAIN!  ;-)

Vancouver jumps out to lead and holds on as Carolina powerplay goes 0-6 in loss.

It seemed like "deja vu" all over again as the Carolina Hurricanes fell behind in the opening period, made a run in the second, and could not break through in the third as they lost to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday afternoon, 3-2 at the PNC Arena.

Head coach Kirk Muller was unhappy in his post game press conference.  When asked about the slow first period, he admitted his team was not good enough.

"The pushed us out of the first period.  They won all the battles.  They were more competitive.  They owned around our net.  We had one shot from our forwards in the first period and all that stuff adds up.

When asked why his team had yet another slow start, he said he had "no idea".  After 27 games so far this season, the team has only led after the first period seven times.

Muller also had no answers when asked why his team's powerplay continues to have problems scoring.

Everyone runs the same plays, no different from one team to the other.  It's a matter of getting the job done, doing it at a higher tempo, out-working the PK, and making your plays.  I don't know, maybe some of our guys can't make the plays.

The Canes fell behind 2-0 in the first and were outshot 9-4 by a team who had played the night before and had traveled.  Carolina last played Friday night at home against the Devils.

Cam Ward complained about the second Vancouver goal as he was jostled a bit by one of the Canucks, but the refs did not feel it warranted a call.

While the first period was sluggish, the opening minute of the second period was electric.

The Canes attacked the Vancouver net almost immediately and Jordan Staal saw a loose puck in the crease and poked it in to make it 2-1, just 39 seconds into the period.

On the ensuing faceoff, Eric Staal skated the puck in on goalie, Eddie Lack, who made the save but slipped into his net.  Nathan Gerbe fired Staal's rebound in with him and the score was tied before the first minute was over.

The two goals were scored in 10 seconds and the crowd was going nuts, but the Canucks did not rest on their laurels.

Ryan Kesler knocked in a loose puck along the side of the goal which turned out to be the game-winner, just 27 seconds after the Canes tied it up.

The score remained 3-2 the rest of the way as both teams battled hard, but the difference was the ineffectiveness of the Carolina powerplay, which had trouble just getting the puck into the Vancouver zone with sustained possession time.

The powerplay went 0-6, including 27 seconds of a two-man advantage, which did not help their 27th best NHL ranking.

Carolina will travel to Washington on Monday for a game on Tuesday night against the Capitals.

Game Notes:

• After the slow start, the Canes outshot the Nucks 31-30.  Justin Faulk had a team high 5.  Jordan Staal and Ryan Murphy had four each.  Defensemen had 17 of those and just 14 for the forwards.   
  
• Muller said that he shortened his bench with the players who were not pulling their weight.  Drayson Bowman took Jiri Tlusty's spot.  Tlusty only had 10:21 of ice time.  Elias Lindholm had 8:21.  Kevin Westgarth had 1:43 and stood idly by in the opening period as Jay Harrison fought Tom Sestito after Drayson Bowman knocked Kevin Bieksa into the boards. 
  
• Tuomo Ruutu was credited with nine hits.  Brett Bellemore had six. 
  
• Bowman had a team high three blocked shots.

26% of OTF readers correctly guessed that the Nashville Predators would earn 5 out of a possible 8 points last week. How will they fare this week against the Canucks, Hurricanes & Capitals, however?

Recently the Nashville Predators have managed to climb past Winnipeg and Dallas into 5th place in the Central Division, with Minnesota cruising along in 4th, six points ahead. Can the Preds continue to make headway while continuing to work through serious injury issues? Let's take a look at this week's opponents...

Shopping for a new Nashville Predators jersey this holiday season? Use my Price Comparison Tool at HockeyGearHQ and find the best deal available!

Tuesday vs Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks are still adapting to life under new head coach John Tortorella, and a recent 3-5-3 stretch has them limping along, falling behind the leaders of a very competitive Pacific Division. They'll visit Bridgestone Arena Tuesday in the finale of a four-game road trip, so hopefully they'll be dreaming of getting on the plane quickly and getting home rather than putting forth an all-out effort against the Preds.

As well as the shorthanded defense corps did against Philadelphia Saturday night, I can't help but break out in sweats over what the Sedin twins might do to Nashville's baby blueline. As usual, Henrik the Playmaker is leading the way for Vancouver:

Henrik Sedin

#33 / Center / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 188

Born: Sep 26, 1980

Thursday vs Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes are toiling away with an unimpressive 10-12-5 record, but thanks to the other disappointing teams in the Metropolitan Division, they're only 3 points out of 3rd place, and a playoff spot (the second wild card is actually 5 points ahead of them). The Canes are in the middle of a 2-5-1 slide which has come while the team has missed one of its most dangerous offensive weapons in Alexander Semin, who is out of the lineup with a concussion.

In Semin's absence, more of Carolina's offensive burden falls on the steady shoulders of Eric Staal:

Eric Staal

#12 / Center / Carolina Hurricanes

Height: 6-4

Weight: 205

Born: Oct 29, 1984

That burden is far too great to be carried on one guy's shoulders, however, as Carolina ranks 29th in scoring this season. If there's one team this week that the Predators should be able to take advantage of, the Hurricanes are it.

Saturday @ Washington Capitals

The 14-11-2 Washington Capitals are a team loaded with interesting angles for us to follow. Seeing our old pal Joel Ward (who is on pace for career-best offensive numbers) is always a treat, but it's questionable whether former Predator Martin Erat will still be with the Caps by the end of the week, given his recent move to take his trade demands public. One of the league's best stories is Alexander Ovechkin's bid to be the first player in 20 years to pot 70 goals in a season, but let's be honest - when the Capitals and the Predators meet, many Nashville fans will wonder just how this team might look if they had claimed Mikhail Grabovski off the waiver wire last summer.

Mikhail Grabovski

#84 / Center / Washington Capitals

Height: 5-11

Weight: 183

Born: Jan 31, 1984

So when you look at this trio of games, what do you make of the Preds' chances?

More from On the Forecheck

Follow @ForecheckerFollow @SBNationNHL

• Sunday's Dump & Chase: We Got a Point Last Night!
• Philadelphia Flyers 3, Nashville Predators 2: Epic Power Play Fail Costs Preds in Shootout Loss
• Shea Weber Leaves Game Against Edmonton After Taking a Puck to the Face
• Jon Garcia on The Lowdown with Lowetide
• Saturday's Dump & Chase: The Flyers Come to Town!

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 12/2/13

We're back! Your links for today:

Devils Links

The Devils had a good weekend by winning two, the first of which was against the Hurricanes. [Fire and Ice] [Star-Ledger]

Then the Devils defeated the Sabres, 1-0, in overtime. [Fire and Ice] [Star-Ledger]

In that game Ryan Carter got in a dumb fight and got hurt.

[via Puck Daddy]

The Devils needed someone to fill his spot and bring a little ENERGY to the lineup, so who did they call up? TIM "THE HUMAN EMBODIMENT OF ENERGY" SESTITO! [Star-Ledger]

Tonight Marty will start against the Canadiens, but playing in Montreal just won't be the same after the death of his father. [Fire and Ice]

Don't look now, but Jagr has already equaled Kovalchuk's 2012-13 goal total. [Fire and Ice]

Can we just stop a moment and appreciate how awesome Jagr is? Seriously. He consistently provides the best quotes. Here's just a sample: [Star-Ledger]

Hockey Links

Daniel Alfredsson made his return to Ottawa last night:

[via Puck Daddy]

A lawsuit involving the NHL, players and concussions made its way to light last week. It'll be interesting to see how this one develops. [Puck Daddy]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

The Carolina Hurricanes’ power play failed again, leading to a 3-2 home loss to Vancouver Sunday that dropped them to 10-12-5 on the season and sixth in the Metropolitan Division.

Jordan Staal and Nathan Gerbe scored just 10 seconds part in the first minute of the second period Sunday at PNC Arena, but that was all the offense Carolina could muster in a 3-2 loss to Vancouver.

Three Observations

1. Carolina's power play is dreadful. The team's inability to carry the puck into the zone leads to too many plays where they lose possession, and the curious decision to add Mike Komisarek to the point with the already-limited Jay Harrison on one side didn't solve any problems. When Kirk Muller was hired, he was touted as a power play genius, and when he replaced Paul Maurice on Nov. 28, 2011, one of the reasons mentioned for Maurice’s downfall was the woeful power play. At that time the Canes ranked 28th in the NHL at 12.2 percent. After Sunday’s game, the Muller-led power play is 27th at 12.0 percent.

2. While it's not the Hurricanes’ M.O. to get chippy, I figured someone — anyone — would at least let Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler know that the team did not appreciate him injuring Eric Staal on a dirty knee-on-knee hit at last summer's World Championships. Instead, Kevin Westgarth played a scant 1:43 and Edler left Raleigh without a scratch and a 3-2 win.

3. With six of the next seven games on the road, the Hurricanes are at a crossroads in the 2013-14 season. The struggles of the Metropolitan Division as a whole have kept Carolina in the hunt for a playoff spot, but anything less than eight points in the next seven games could very well sink the Canes’ season. Jim Rutherford could look for a spark for his power play — could creative-but-struggling forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard be the kind of bargain acquisition the Carolina GM has acquired in the past with hit-and-miss success? — or ride out the month with what he has. Either way, the team needs to find its way or face another spring and summer without postseason play.

Number To Know

0 — power play points for Komisarek in his 527-game career. Komisarek still played a befuddling four minutes with the man advantage, which is more than he played in any of the past three entire seasons (none in four games in 2012-13; 2:31 in 45 games in 2011-12; 2:55 in 75 games played in 2010-11). The most time Komisarek ever logged on the power play in a season was 25:17, which came in 75 games in 2007-08.

Plus

Jordan Staal — The younger Staal is playing like the way a team leader should. Jordan Staal was Carolina’s best forward Sunday, scoring his fifth goal of the season and leading all Hurricanes forwards in shots with four. Staal has now scored in consecutive games and has points in four of his last six games.

Minus

Mike Komisarek — Outside of drawing a penalty by goading Brad Richardson into dropping his gloves, Komisarek struggled to contain the Canucks. Despite seeing most of his starts in the offensive zone, Komisarek managed to be on the ice for nearly twice as many shot attempts allowed (12) as generated (seven). He can't be faulted for his aforementioned power play time, but was slow getting back to the shooting lane on Vancouver's second goal.

After two straight home losses, can the Hurricanes capitalize on the road in Washington?

Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals
December 3, 2013 - 7:00 pm EST
Verizon Center - Washington DC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Japers Rink (twitter @JapersRink)

Hurricanes Record: 10-12-5 (25 pts.)
Capitals Record: 14-11-2 (30 pts.)

Tonight marks the second of five games this season and the second of three at Verizon Center between the Canes and the Capitals. The Hurricanes won the first matchup by a 3-2 margin on October 10th. In that game rookie Elias Lindholm (who celebrated his 19th birthday yesterday) notched his first career NHL goal, Alexander Semin added a power play goal, and Nathan Gerbe scored the game winner.

The Capitals are coming off back-to-back 3-2 wins over the weekend, but it took a shootout to decide Friday's win over the Montreal Canadiens, and overtime against the New York Islanders on Saturday.

The Hurricanes' fate was not so kind as they lost both weekend home games in regulation to the New Jersey Devils Friday (5-2) and the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday (3-2). Tonight's game is the start of a two-game road trip; the Canes will then travel from DC to Nashville to take on the Predators, and wrap up the week at home against the San Jose Sharks on Friday.  Next week the Canes will leave on a four-game road trip swing through the Western Conference, so establishing road game success will be critical over the next two weeks in order to stay anywhere near the playoff race.

Hurricanes Notes

Carolina remains in the sixth spot in the Metro Division, only three points out of third place but with three teams to jump to get there. Fortunately for the Canes, all three teams (Rangers, Devils, Flyers) lost in regulation last night, so the gap didn't widen overnight.

The Canes continue to look for solutions to generate offense to boost their anemic scoring, both 5-on-5 and on the power play which is currently ranked a woeful 27th in the NHL. Head coach Kirk Muller shifted the forward lines in yesterday's practice, moving Jeff Skinner to a line with Eric Staal and Tuomo Ruutu, and moving Nathan Gerbe to a line with Riley Nash and Elias Lindholm.

Alex Semin remains on injured reserve with a concussion, has not practiced since Friday, and did not travel with the team on the road trip to face his former team.

On defense, the Canes hope to get a lift with the return of Andrej Sekera, who missed two games with an upper body injury but practiced yesterday and should return tonight. Sekera is second on the team in points (13) behind Eric Staal and second in TOI/game (22:58) behind Justin Faulk.

Tim Gleason has been out with a lower body injury and has not practiced, but is traveling with the team this week.

Cam Ward will get the start tonight with Justin Peters backing up in net. UPDATE 12:20 PM: Per Chip Alexander via twitter, Justin Peters is getting the start tonight. Anton Khudobin, who was in net for the earlier season win against the Caps, continues to practice and traveled with the team on the road trip, but he has not completed a full team practice and is still listed as day-to-day.

The team will not practice today in Washington.

Projected line-ups based on yesterday's practice:

News links:

From yesterday's practice: Sekera returns [N&O], Anton Khudobin discusses his progress [CanesVision video], and Kirk Muller addresses the media. [audio]

Canes start their road trip at a critical point in their season. [N&O]

Manny Malhotra takes you inside a faceoff. [CH.com]

Peter Karmanos, Jr., is inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame. [N&O] [CH.com]

Depth Chart

Injury Report

Capitals Notes

Alex Ovechkin (of course) is the scoring leader for the Caps with a league-leading 21 goals in 25 games (29 points). He is followed by Nicklas Backstrom with 19 assists (25 points), and Mikhail Grabovski with 22 points (8 goals, 14 assists). All three players have more points than Canes' points leader Eric Staal with 19.

There's no question Ovechkin is the face of the Capitals franchise, but goaltender Braden Holtby is rising in importance as the season progresses. Holtby is shouldering a heavy workload in net, starting 22 of 27 games so far this season, and won't likely get a rest in the short term with backup Michal Neuvirth on injured reserve. He backstops a team that has allowed the second most shots per game in the NHL (35.1), and faced over 30 shots in 10 games through the month of November. So is Holtby as important to the Caps' success as Ovi? Ted Starkey ponders the question for SBNation NHL.

The Capitals' 30 points are good enough for second place in the Metro division, but despite their success, all is not happy in the nation's capital, as consistency has not been the team's strong point through the first quarter of the season. Dare they be called... enigmatic? [Washington Post]

Both Martin Erat and Dmitry Orlov have been vocal with their displeasure in the way they've been used (or not) throughout the season, and Adam Oates has the challenge of handling "unhappy campers." [CSN Washington]

The World Junior Championships will be held in Sweden over the holidays, but rookie eligible Tom Wilson won't be in the line-up, as GM George McPhee has determined that Wilson is too valuable to loan to Team Canada. [WaPo]

Defenseman Jack Hillen speaks to the media for the first time after suffering a serious fractured tibia on October 3rd. [NBC] [CSN]

Brooks Laich continues to miss games with a lingering groin injury that kept him out of the lineup and eventually required surgery last season.

Practice Notes and projected lines based on yesterday's practice [WaPo]:

We'll have the game thread ready to roll at 6:30 pm. See you there.

It appears Chris Tanev will owe Alexandre Burrows a lot of dinners and booze after his zone-clearing attempt caught Burrows in the jaw / neck area at about the 12:46 mark of the second period of the Canucks - Hurricanes game on Sunday.

Hockey players hey? Burr did play in the third period of that game and as the Province notes, even chatted with reporters afterwards, with a broken jaw.

He had it operated on on Monday and is now out indefinitely. So his first goal of the season is going to have to wait....for a fair bit longer. This is a lousy loss for the Canucks, because Burrows was excelling at all other aspects of the game and is their bonafide top 6 forward, goal drought or not.

So, who plays with the Sedins now?

A look at a struggling Carolina squad that comes calling tonight

3.45 - Goals per game allowed by the Hurricanes on the road this season, third-worst in the NHL (ahead of only the Flames and Islanders). Carolina visits Verizon Center tonight ranked 20th in the League or lower in goals per game, goals against per game, five-on-five goal ratio, power-play and penalty kill efficiency and shots for and against per game.

Of course, the punchline here is that in their only visit to Verizon Center so far this year, the 'Canes beat the Caps 3-2, won the special teams battle and out-shot their hosts... so don't chalk up those two points quite yet.

More from Japers' Rink

Follow @JapersRinkFollow @SBNationNHL

• Tuesday Caps Clips: Hurricanes @ Capitals Game Day
• Capitals Ups and Downs: Week 9
• Martin Erat, Michael Nylander and What It All Means

Washington gets spanked at home by an inferior opponent. Not good times.

Tonight's probable netminders:

Keep up with the latest Caps-related Tweets right here:

Tweets from @JapersRink/tweet-tweeters

Look for updates in this story stream throughout the evening, including tonight's lines, new open threads for each period, and more.

And of course... have at it, people.

Washington gets spanked at home by an inferior opponent. Not good times.

[GameCenter - Ice Tracker - Game Summary - Event Summary - Shot Summary - Faceoff Summary - Play-by-Play - Home TOI - Visitor TOI - Advanced Stats at Extra Skater]

There are no gimmes in the NHL.

If "easy" games do exist, they aren't typically made readily available for teams like the Washington Capitals, who entered the night with just six regulation wins in 27 games, and they tend not to come against division rivals, no matter how down they might appear.

As we noted earlier in the day, the Carolina Hurricanes came into Tuesday night's visit to Verizon Center ranked 20th in the League or lower in goals per game, goals against per game, five-on-five goal ratio, power-play and penalty kill efficiency and shots for and against per game. For a Caps team trying to establish some consistently solid play, this would seem like a terrific opportunity to convincingly win a very winnable game.

Alas, these Caps hardly do anything convincingly (that eight of their last 14 games have gone to overtime speaks to that), but they did on Tuesday night - they lost convincingly, to the tune of 4-1.

Nine more notes on the game:

• The Caps applied some early pressure (notably from the third line, and most notably when Jason Chimera failed to lift a puck in the crease all of two inches off the ice to beat Justin Peters), but it was the 'Canes who would get on the board first when Jeff Skinner beat Braden Holtby from an awful angle. Holtby, plain and simple, didn't have the post sealed off and the puck leaked through. If there's a "most common softy" for Holtby, that's the type.
  
• That would be the game's only first-period tally, which had to have been a big boost for Carolina, which had been outscored 20-10 in first periods coming into the night, with that ten being the second-lowest total in the League.
  
• The 'Canes killed off an early Caps power-play to start the second and doubled their lead just past the half-way point when Skinner beat Holtby with another one that the Washington netminder would want back, a wrister over the right shoulder off of a rush that was in no way whatsoever impeded by whatever Tyson Strachan was trying to do to defend the speedy winger. Brutal, utterly deflating goal.
  
• But wait! There's more! Not two minutes later, a failed Mikhail Grabovski clear led to a failed Mikhail Grabovski attempt to defend without committing a penalty, which in turn led to a failed Caps penalty kill (thanks, in part, to John Carlson providing a text book screen on Holtby). Three-zippy.
  
• And then there was four - Jiri Tlusty deposited some trash behind Holtby on the backhand and the Caps we down four, at home, for the third time this season (actually four, if you want to count the two different four-goal leads in that Colorado debacle). On the one hand, it felt like rock bottom. On the other, we've all seen how this team likes to keep digging.
  
• Philipp Grubauer got the cage for the third period (Holtby exited, having given up four goals on 23 shots) and looked sharp, stopping all nine shots he faced.
  
• If there's a silver lining at the individual level, it was Mike Green getting his first goal of the season (on the power play). With that simian off his back, perhaps the two-time Norris finalist can regain some of his former form. Yeah, we're grasping.
• And if there's a silver lining at the team level (yeah, a little more grasping), it was that the Caps weren't really that bad when the game was still in question. In fact, in "close" five-on-five situations, the Caps were above 55% in Corsi and Fenwick percentages, which will push their FF% to the season's high-water mark. But, man, those first two goals...
• "Alex Ovechkin: solved" update - not much went right for The Captain on this night. Solved. Clearly.
  

Where do the Caps go from here? They're two improbable comebacks away from owning a seven-game intra-Conference losing streak, they have five power-play goals in their last ten games and their goaltending is suddenly unreliable. We've said for a while that when the power-play dries up and the goaltending regresses, the Caps could be in a world of trouble. Well, they have. And they might well be.

Game highlights:

More from Japers' Rink

Follow @JapersRinkFollow @SBNationNHL

• The Noon Number: Hurricane Threat Downgraded?
• Tuesday Caps Clips: Hurricanes @ Capitals Game Day

Jeff Skinner has two goals and an assist and Justin Peters makes 26 saves to lead Carolina at Verizon Center

Kirk Muller made some changes before this game and they all turned out well for him as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-1 at the Verizon Center on Tuesday night.

Muller decided to go with Justin Peters in net which was a bit of a surprise and Peters did not disappoint as he made 26 saves, a couple of them top notch.  Peters has a 4-3 career record against the Caps and has a GAA of under two goals a game, which was improved upon in this game.

The head coach also decided to move Jeff Skinner up on the first line with Tuomo Ruutu and Eric Staal and the former Calder winner came through with a three point night, as the line looked good together throughout the game.

Jiri Tlusty had been struggling of late and Muller had a long chat with the winger after Monday's practice.  Tlusty responded with a pretty goal and played an active overall game.

The Hurricanes took the lead first, something they have only done eight times this season, when Skinner squeaked a puck by Braden Holtby at a bad angle 10:20 into the first period.

The win gives the team a 6-0-2 record when they score first.

The Canes erupted for three more goals in the second period within a span of 3:44.

Skinner would beat Holtby again at 11:18 into the second, this time short side on a perfect shot as he skated the puck in the Washington zone.

Shortly afterward, Andrej Sekera scored a powerplay goal from the point to make the score 3-0.  Then Tlusty lit the lamp on a wicked backhander less than a minute after Sekera's goal to close out the Carolina scoring at 15:02.

Mike Green scored his first goal of the season with a blast from the point during a Washington powerplay midway through the third to break up the shutout, but the Caps could not get another one past Peters.

This was the best, consistent 60 minute effort that Carolina has put forth in awhile and they will try to build on this when they go to Nashville to take on the Predators Thursday night.

Game Notes:

• Peters really looked solid in this game.  Gone is the scrambling goalie who appeared nervous while allowing rebounds galore last season.  This latest version of "Pete Dawg" was under control throughout the game and was able to control his rebounds.  This performance  and his other recent ones do not make for an easy decision for Jim Rutherford when Anton Khudobin is ready to play, which should be soon.
• Skinner looked like a new player on this night, compared to his recent games in Raleigh.  If you noticed his interview after the game on Sunday, his hair was dry, looking like he barely worked up a sweat during the game.  He was dripping wet in this game during an interview with Chantel between the second and third periods.
• The Canes finished 1-4 on the powerplay while the Caps went 1-5.
• Brett Bellemore left the game midway through the second after getting clobbered by Tom Wilson.  There was no update on his status.
• Sekera proved his worth to the team in this game and was second on the club with 24:21 of ice time.  He is tied for second on the team in scoring with 6G and 8A, the same as Skinner.  Justin Faulk had a team high 26:43.
• The team outshot the Caps 32-27.  Skinner led the way with seven while Ruutu had five.
• Ruutu was credited with a team high five hits.  Bellemore was next with four, before leaving the game.
• Eric Staal and Jay Harrison each had two assists and Peters earned an assist on Skinner's second goal.
• Post game interviews are at Canes PR.