The Lightning visit Sunrise before the holidays... But today is Festivus, and an airing of grievances commences at BB&T Arena between these two clubs at 7 PM.

Where:  BB&T Arena, Sunrise, Florida
When: 7 PM EST | Tickets: Check availability
Media: Sun Sports (cable) | 970 AM WFLA (radio)
Opponent Coverage: Litter Box Cats

Happy holidays! This comes a few weeks removed from Hanukah, but other annual rites of the winter solstice are on tap for the next week or so. You likely don't need to be reminded of this if you were doing your Christmas shopping over the weekend (why did you wait until the last minute again anyway?!)  It's important to let things proceeding in their natural order, though, so while Christmas comes later in the week...  Today we celebrate another holiday: Festivus!

Ah, yes, the pop culture derived holiday born from the TV series Seinfeld with all its inanities like the Festivus Pole, the Airing of Grievances and the Feats of Strength!

The necessary feat of strength tonight is Tampa Bay going into the Christmas break with a positive showing against a divisional rival in the Florida Panthers. The Panthers are on the uptick in recent weeks - still near the bottom of the division, but their 33 points in the standings (14-18-5) is a damn sight better than cellar dwelling Buffalo.

As you may be aware, the Panthers waved the white flag on Kevin Dineen's tenure as head coach on November 8^th. The deposed Dineen, who will coach Canada's women's Olympic hockey team at Sochi in February, was replaced by San Antonio Rampage head coach Peter Horachek.  And the Cats are treading water again, so the switch is showing results; Florida is 7-3-0 in their last 10 and looking to usurp the Ottawa Senators in the division standings.

The Panthers offensive leaders aren't the young up-and-comers, though Jonathan Huberdeau and rookie Aleksander Barkov have 15 points apiece.  It's Tomas Fleischman who leads the team in scoring with 19 points (5 goals, 14 assists) and Scottie Upshall with 18 (6 goals and 12 assists) who lead the offense in Sunrise.

Last time around, Upshall found a way to get under the skin of Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas (spraying him with Gatorade from the bench) that resulted in a match penalty by way of a broken-stick.  Will Upshall once again taunt the Beard?  Or perhaps a more direct confrontation will play out between the two tonight?  We'll find out in time.

Oh, and injuries are still an issue for the Lightning.  Defenseman Eric Brewer did not participate in the morning skate today and that led to a shift of defensive pairings - Victor Hedman with Andrej Sustr, Mark Barberio with Sami Salo, Radko Gudas remained with Matt Carle. Nothing from Times beat writer Damian Cristodero or Tribune reporter indicated if the Bolts were looking at once again going 11-7... So there's a chance that Pierre Cedric Labrie or B.J. Crombeen may make their return to the lineup as the Bolts skate a full fourth line.

It'll be Ben Bishop in goal for the Lightning with his prevalent 19-5-2 record, 1.96 GAA and .934 save percentage.  He'll be directly against Panthers veteran netminder Scott Clemmensen.  Clemmer hasn't exactly been bad in his own right - though his save percentage is a mixed .902 and 2.60 GAA is fair enough.  He's 4-2-1 in nine games appearances with the Panthers.

If the Carolina HurricanesJustin Peters can hold off an onslaught by the Lightning (which he did for the majority of Saturday's game - 3 goals on 50 total shots is one hell of a defense by the netminder) then Clemmer has a chance against Tampa... Especially if the Lightning can't find the same mojo they had on Saturday that resulted in shot after shot after shot on net.

Other Game Coverage:

• Tampa Bay Lightning official team preview
• Full coverage on SB Nation

Scott Clemmensen returns to the net as the Cats try to post a win against their cross-state rivals.

The Florida Panthers open a five-game homestand tonight against the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 PM. The improving Cats are 7-3-0 in their last ten games, but only sport a .500 record at the BB&T Center. That needs to improve if the Panthers are going to make a serious bid for a playoff spot.

Tampa Bay arrives in Sunrise winners of four straight. Radko Gudas scored the overtime winner for the Bolts in their last tilt, a 3-2 win over Carolina, which saw them launch 50 shots at Hurricanes keeper Justin Peters.

The teams have already met twice this season. The Lightning routed the Panthers 7-2 in Tampa Bay on October 10th, and edged the Cast 4-3 in a shootout in Sunrise on October 27th when Steven Stamkos provided the skills competition winner in the fourth round. Jacob Markstrom took the loss in both of the games.

Scott Clemmensen will get the start tonight for the Cats and will looking for his fifth straight win. Markstrom spelled Clemmensen Friday night in Winnipeg and suffered a 5-2 to the Jets. The Lightning will counter with Ben Bishop, who will be looking for his 20th win of the season.

In roster news, defenseman Alex Petrovic has been recalled from the San Antonio Rampage.

Be sure to join us on the LBC GameThread at 7 PM. Check out Raw Charge for all things Lightning.

Carolina allows two goals late to blow lead in loss to Columbus at home

Carolina Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller summed it up after the game when he was asked what happened in the last five minutes of his team's latest home loss.

"We beat ourselves", the coach said.

The Canes were up 3-2 and were dominating in the third period, but a couple of errors later, and a couple of odd man rushes for the Blue Jackets, and the home team found themselves at the wrong end of a 4-3 loss to the visitors.

The game was pretty evenly played until the third period when the Jackets got off to a fast start, but then the Hurricanes took the lead on an Alexander Semin goal, drew a penalty call, and were setting up camp in the Columbus zone.

With 4:02 left in the game, the home team turned the puck over and Ryan Johansen made them pay with a pretty shot that beat Justin Peters.    Then, just 1:28 later, the Jackets came down with another odd man rush, this time after a slow Hurricanes line change, and Jack Skille made another open shot on Peters to give the visitors an unlikely lead.

The Hurricanes could not light the lamp on Mike McKenna again and the Jackets held on for the win.

Columbus jumped out to a 1-0 lead 9:45 into the opening period as Cam Atkinson fed Artem Anisimov in front of the net.  But the Hurricanes tied it up late in the period when Jeff Skinner jumped on a puck right after a faceoff win by Eric Staal.  It was a powerplay tally for Carolina.

After Corey Tropp gave the Jackets the lead again in the second period as he knocked in his first goal near the crease, Skinner would strike again as the Canes got a two man advantage.  Alexander Semin took a Jordan Staal faceoff win and fed it to Skinner, who was open in the slot area.

It was Skinner's 14th goal of the season and his 10th in his last 10 games.

After two periods, it was a dead even game as both teams had 17 shots on goal, missed the net eight times, and had 11 shots blocked.  But the Canes had the special teams advantage as they were 2-4 with the powerplay while the Jackets were 0-4.

Carolina was doubling up the visitors with shots on goal in the third, (16-8).  They took a 3-2 lead when Jordan Staal held the puck and fed an open Semin, who made no mistake with a snap shot.  The Canes did not hold back and continued to attack the net and even had another powerplay chance, but things backfired when Jiri Tlusty turned over the puck at his blueline.  Johansen made him pay.

After Skille made it 4-3, Skinner had another beauty of a chance to get his second hat trick of his career and season, but McKenna made the stop.

The team and coach were not happy about this loss, but will try to learn from it as they go into a three day shut down by the NHL.  They will next take on the Penguins on Friday night at the PNC.

Game Notes:

• The Canes got 33 shots and were led by Justin Faulk with five.  Skinner and Sekera had four each. 
  
• Justin Peters allowed four goals on 25 shots and probably wished he had a couple of those goals back, but the last two he allowed were on open shots and were not easy saves.
• The team was credited with 31 hits and were led by Tim Gleason and Brett Bellemore with five each.
• Andrej Sekera had a team high 25:39 of ice time.  Faulk was next with 22:58.
• The Carolina powerplay looked much better and went 2-6 while the penalty kill did not allow a goal, (0-5).
• The Jackets were without their big guns in this game, as Sergei Bobrovsky, Nathan Horton, and Marian Gaborik were all out with injuries.

As the NHL prepares to take a few days off for the holidays, the Blue Jackets went into PNC Arena to face the Carolina Hurricanes, and ended up stealing a game out from under them with a dramatic 4-3 come from behind victory.

To say this was an odd game for the Blue Jackets would be an understatement.

Thanks to Derek MacKenzie and Jack Skille returning to the lineup, the forwards would shuffle again, with the final arrangement putting Brandon Dubinsky on the wing with Artem Anisimov at center and Cam Atkinson on the right, a third line of Corey Tropp, Mark Letestu, and Boone Jenner, and DMac and Skille paired with Blake Comeau. Only the red hot Umby / Johan / Goaligno line would be untouched.

On top of that, the team had expected Curtis McElhinney to start all day, but Mike McKenna would get a last minute nod after C-Mac tweaked his back shortly before warmups.

Oh, and on top of that, a few guys apparently got lost inside the bowels of the building.

The team wouldn't get off to a confused start, though. After each goaltender was tested a few times in the first few minutes of play, the Jackets would draw first blood on Justin Peters thanks to Cam Atkinson driving deep into the Carolina zone, grabbing the puck below the goal line, and dropping a gorgeous pass to AA, who hit the wrist shot cleanly into the net.

Unfortunately, the Jackets would begin collecting the first of what would be many penalties not long after the opening goal. Despite the Hurricanes having one of the worst power plays in the NHL this season, Jeff Skinner made it look easy late in the first period. Taking the puck from Eric Staal off of the faceoff, he slid himself back in a pirouette before lining up a sneaky little shot that slipped right past McKenna to tie the game at ones heading into intermission.

The parade of penalties really picked up for both teams in the second, but the Jackets couldn't make anything work against the Carolina PK. Fortunately, they weren't as frustrated at even strength, pushing play firmly into the offensive zone, and that would pay off just past the 3/4 mark of the period when the Test Tube line would get on the board.

Letestu would carry the puck in down the left side, then rip a hard shot into Peters' chest, which rebounded out into the slot. Corey Tropp would...well, honestly, I'm not sure what he was trying to do, as he got his legs cut out from under him as he tried to play the puck, but somehow his flailing attempt to get a shot on net would squeak through a crush of bodies in front of the net and past Peters for his first NHL goal this season.

The lead wouldn't last long, though, as Jack Johnson would be sent to the box for a hooking call that I will politely call borderline, and Skinner would spark the Hurricane power play once again. Left totally unguarded in front of the net, he called for the puck from Alexander Semin, and put his shot bar down to tie the game once again.

That goal fired up the Hurricanes, and they blew into the third period with devastating force, pinning Columbus in their end again and again until they finally broke down the Blue Jackets' defenses. After James Wisniewski stood Nathan Gerbe up in the Columbus zone, Jordan Staal would take the puck away and drive to the net before faking his shot and passing over to a waiting Alexander Semin, who put his shot home in a very similar fashion to the second Skinner goal.

Unable to push back on the ice, frustration boiled over for Skille, who knocked Tuomo Ruutu halfway back to Turku with a thunderous hit. Unfortunately, his highlight reel hit was also textbook interference, so he'd be sent to the box.

In other games, that penalty might have lead to a fourth Carolina goal, and the end of Columbus' chances, but tonight that hit seemed to fire up the Jackets bench, and the PK finally figured out that maybe Jeff Skinner ought to be covered, rather than left to his own devices on the ice.

After the successful kill, the Jackets went on the attack, with Letestu figuring into the play once again. This time he'd launch the puck out of his own zone and over to Nick Foligno with a perfect stretch pass, and he'd break through on a rush with Ryan Johansen. A nice little dish over to the Johan put him behind the defense, one on one against Peters, and he showed off his wicked shot to bring the Jackets back into the game.

The Canes must have felt a bit shell shocked by the sudden reversal of momentum, and James Wisniewski would take advantage of that confusion in the next minute after the tying goal, sending Artem Anisimov up the ice on a very similar pass to the Letestu - Foligno connection, and this time Anisimov would be the one passing the puck off to a teammate, dropping it back to Jack Skille, who knew exactly what to do with it. Taking the puck and firing top corner, he picked up his fourth goal in nine games to give Columbus the lead with just over two minutes to play in regulation.

Carolina attempted to force their way back in, pulling Peters for an extra attacker, and as time died away Jeff Skinner would find time and space once again away from the Blue Jacket defenders, but this time McKenna was ready with a spectacular glove save, snapping the leather up and making a game saving stop to help the Jackets steal two huge points that they could put under the tree.

Final Score: Jackets 4 - Hurricanes 3

Standard Bearers:

• Mike McKenna - McMac stepped in on short notice and kept the Jackets in the game a couple times, particularly in the early part of the third period, and found one crucial save right when the team needed it.
• The Grinders - Between Tropp, Letestu, Jenner, Comeau, and Skille, the Jackets got some major plays from their bottom six.
• The Johan - That is one Grown Ass Man there. Johansen is now leading the team in goals and overall points.

Bottom of the Barrel:

• PK - No, really, you probably should consider putting some defensive pressure on the opponent's leading goal scorer. We made the NHL's worst home ice power play look like a well oiled machine tonight, and that's just embarrassing.
• Discipline - The Skille penalty was a big momentum changer in the Jackets' favor (for once!), but the Jackets got wrapped up and boxed like Christmas presents for most of this game. Quite a few of the calls looked borderline to me, but guys were sitting in the box one way or the other, and that could have easily given this game away.
• ...honestly, that's really about it. The Jackets came back for a big win with a huge third period effort. I'm feeling a good bit of holiday cheer right now, and I bet the guys on the flight home are too.

Good teams find ways to win, even on nights where things don't go according to plan. Based on what we saw tonight? The Blue Jackets may just be turning that corner. They picked up a win against a divisional opponent, moved one point back of New Jersey, and are two points back of both New York and Philly. With more Metro Matchups coming up after the holiday break, Columbus is in a position to take control of their own destiny...and did I mention that it's looking like Nathan Horton may be ready to play his first game in a Blue Jackets sweater on Friday?

Merry Christmas.

Carolina Hurricanes draft pick Brendan Collier could have a change of scenery for the second half.

The Youngstown Phantoms have added Boston University freshman forward Brendan Collier to their roster. The USHL franchise made the move in case Collier, a Charlestown, Mass. native who played high school hockey at Malden Catholic, decided to leave the Terriers due to a lack of playing time.

Collier, a seventh round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2012 NHL Draft, has played in 11 games for BU, but hasn't seen as big of a role as he might have expected. He has been a healthy scratch for six games and has only one assist, a helper in a 1-1 tie against Merrimack on Dec. 7.

Sophomore forward Sam Kurker was added to the Indiana Ice roster earlier in the month, but there has been no indication the Reading, Mass. native will leave Commonwealth Ave. The former St. John's Prep standout has played in just nine of the team's 17 games, registering a goal. Kurker is a second round selection of the St. Louis Blues.

The practice of a USHL team adding a highly regarded prospect who is seeing limited ice time isn't uncommon. The Sioux City Musketeers added Maine freshman Zach Glienke earlier in the year, but have since dropped him from their active roster.

Boston University, under the direction of first year head coach David Quinn, is off until Jan. 4 when the team travels to face Harvard in a nonconference matchup. The Terriers are coming off a disappointing 4-1 home loss against Bentley. BU will head into the second half with a 7-8-2 overall record and a 2-4-1 mark in conference action.

Jeff Cox covers college, junior and high school hockey, NCAA recruiting, NHL Draft prospects and the AHL for SBNation. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.

Three post-holiday games remain as the Carolina Hurricanes wrap up 2013. First up, the Eastern Conference leading Pittsburgh Penguins, tonight at PNC Arena.

Carolina Hurricanes vs Pittsburgh Penguins
December 27, 2013 - 7:00 pm EST
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Pensburgh (twitter @Pensburgh)

Hurricanes Record: 14-15-8 (36 pts.)
Penguins Record: 27-11-1 (55 pts.)

I hope all our loyal Canes Country readers had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed a bit of a hockey hiatus while the NHL was shut down for a few days. For me personally, I used Boxing Day as an opportunity to box up and ship out the frustrations from that third period Monday night.

So today starts a trio of games, a divisional matchup against the Penguins tonight followed by a trip to Toronto Sunday and back to celebrate New Years Eve at home against the Canadiens, to wrap up the year that was 2013.

Tonight marks the third of four on the schedule between the Canes and Pens, and the first two games played out like one would expect between a team that is ranked first in the Eastern Conference and a team that has now fallen to seventh in the Metro division (and 13th in the Conference). In Pittsburgh on October 8, the Canes lost 5-2 thanks in large part to a hat trick performance from former Hurricane Jussi Jokinen. That was followed by a 3-1 loss at home in Raleigh on October 28, with forward Jayson Megna scoring his first NHL goal.

With three days off for the NHL holiday break, both teams will lace up for the first time since Monday at their respective morning skates (which by the way both practices this morning are closed to the public for an exclusive season ticket holder event). The Penguins will arrive in Raleigh this morning. No doubt updates will be forthcoming throughout the day, but in the meantime, here's what we know.

• The Penguins lead the Eastern Conference, and are tied with Anaheim for the most wins with 27. They are one of five teams that is averaging over a three points per game pace. They have accomplished this feat while having no less than five players out of their lineup for each game over the past five weeks.
• Sidney Crosby leads the league with 54 points, and Marc-Andre Fleury leads the league with 21 goalie wins and three shutouts.
• Pittsburgh snapped a seven-game winning streak on Monday with a 5-0 loss to the Senators in Ottawa. In that game the Penguins went 0-for-7 on the power play, which dropped them out of the number one ranking in the NHL (they fell to second behind the Capitals, not necessary to mention how the Caps climbed to the top spot).
• Brooks Orpik has missed eight games due to a concussion suffered in the well-publicized altercation with the Bruins' Shawn Thornton on December 7th, but Orpik has been skating with the team and according to Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune, he'll be back in the lineup tonight.
• Also per Yohe, Tanner Glass is returning to the lineup tonight after missing games with a broken hand. Glass has two goals this season, both against the Canes.
• The Penguins continue to win despite being decimated by injuries. Even with the return of Glass and Orpik, the list of active injuries for the Penguins is a long one and includes Evgeni Malkin (lower body), Rob Scuderi (broken ankle), Jayson Megna (lower body), Andrew Ebbett (broken ankle), Beau Bennett (hand/wrist surgery), Kris Letang (IR, upper body), Paul Martin (IR, fractured tibia), and Tomas Vokoun (IR, blood clot). Additionally, Pascal Dupuis left Monday's game with a lower body concern and from reports this morning, he will indeed be out of the lineup as well.
• Deryk Engelland is eligible to return to the lineup tonight after serving a five-game suspension for a hit to the head of Detroit's Justin Abdelkader on December 14.
• In the category of slumps busted or breakout performances in tonight's game, a few suspects would be the aforementioned Tanner Glass, Jussi Jokinen, who has one goal in his last 22 games, and former Canes prospect Brian Dumoulin, part of the Jordan Staal trade, who has six NHL games under his belt without registering a goal.

Lineups based on Monday's game (from Penguins website):

Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis (likely out)

Chris Conner - Jussi Jokinen - James Neal

Harry Zolnierczyk - Brandon Sutter - Joe Vitale

Craig Adams - Zach Sill - Chuck Kobasew

(Tanner Glass, Brian Gibbons)

Matt Niskanen - Olli Maatta

Brian Dumoulin - Robert Bortuzzo

Philip Samuelsson - Simon Despres

(Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Deryk Engelland)

Marc-Andre Fleury
Jeff Zatkoff

The Canes were less than five minutes away from a merry Christmas when they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and allowed the Columbus Blue Jackets to take two points home for the holidays. Despite the stinging loss, the smallest glimmer of hope arose in that the Canes scored two power play goals in one game for the first time this season.

Jeff Skinner remains red hot with twelve points in his last ten games, including the two power play goals Monday night. Skinner leads the Canes in goals (14) and power play goals (5), and ranks second in points (23) behind Eric Staal despite missing eleven games due to injury.

With the roster freeze in effect until after midnight tonight, the expectation would be minimal changes outside of the normal consternation over who is in net. Until this happened around 10:30 last night:

@ZachBoychuk: Come on come on come on let's go... Do do da do do.. Let's Go Canes! Excited to be back in Raleigh @NHLCanes

No insight on that one, I guess we will see as the day plays out, but if Boychuk is indeed to join the lineup, it would have to be on an emergency basis which means there are undisclosed illnesses or injuries coming to light today.  As of this writing there has been no official news update from the team.

UPDATE: 10:30 am: The Hurricanes have announced that Jiri Tlusty underwent an emergency appendectomy on Tuesday and will be out of the lineup for 2-3 weeks, hence the Boychuk recall (news release).

Speaking of who's in net, Justin Peters opened the door ever so slightly for a change in net after giving up four goals Monday night, although the effort was more solid than the goals against would indicate. Since November 5th, Pete Dawg has a 1.89 GAA and .938 save percentage which is good enough for NHL top ten in both categories. He is 2-4-1 in 7 career games against the Penguins and was in net for the 3-1 loss on October 28. Cam Ward is 12-6-3 career against the Penguins with a 2.39 GAA and was in net for five goals against in the loss on October 8th.

Lineups based on Monday's game (depth chart):

Jeff Skinner - Eric Staal - Tuomo Ruutu
Nathan Gerbe - Jordan Staal - Alexander Semin
Jiri Tlusty - Riley Nash - Patrick Dwyer
Drayson Bowman - Manny Malhotra - Radek Dvorak
Kevin Westgarth (healthy scratch)

Andrej Sekera - Justin Faulk
Ron Hainsey - Brett Bellemore
Ryan Murphy - Tim Gleason
Jay Harrison (out Monday, day to day) - Mike Komisarek (healthy scratch)

Justin Peters
Cam Ward

Don't forget to set your DVRs tonight as Tripp Tracy features another rare interview with Alex Semin during the Hurricanes Live pregame show.

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

After suffering a lower body injury Monday in Ottawa, it was revealed Friday Dupuis will undergo ACL surgery.

UPDATE: It sounded like the outlook was grim for Dupuis, and Friday afternoon, the team announced the forward will undergo ACL surgery, and could miss the rest of the season.

Dupuis going to have ACL knee surgery. May be out for rest of the season. Timetable unknown #Pens

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 27, 2013

The Penguins have dealt with adversity quite well this season. Losing a number of key players like Evgeni Malkin, Tomas Vokoun, and just about all their defensemen, Pittsburgh is being dealt another tough blow, as Pascal Dupuis is the latest Penguin to go down with an injury.

On Monday, Dupuis was injured when teammate Sidney Crosby was checked into him. While Crosby returned to that game against the Senators, Dupuis did not, and if you watch a replay of the hit, you can see his knee buckle under Crosby when the two collide. And while there's been no official team update regarding Dupuis' lower body injury, the Penguins did announce they recalled Harry Zolnierczyk from the AHL, and this update was given from TSN's Bob McKenzie.

I imagine PIT will update specifics of Pascal Dupuis' LBI soon but I'm hearing it's not good at all. Pens plagued by injury this season.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 27, 2013

Pittsburgh is currently the top team in the Eastern Conference, and number three overall in the NHL. But if Dupuis misses extended time, which all indications point toward, it will be interesting to see if Pittsburgh can withstand yet another injury. The Penguins travel to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes Friday night.

More from SB Nation NHL:

• The Rink of Dreams: One Mich. family created an outdoor hockey paradise

• #Buttgoal| Did the officials get the call right?

• Shallow Pal: How smaller nets lead to more goals

• Avoiding a Shanaban: Both sides of the Tom Wilson hit

We're still not sure how this Chris Conner shot beat Justin Peters.

Consider this a lesson in puck luck and how it can change the course of a game.

With the Pittsburgh Penguins trailing the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, early the third period and being badly outplayed, Jussi Jokinen was guilty of a brutal turnover in his own zone that led to two prime scoring chances for Carolina. Both shows narrowly missed the net.

As the play continued, Penguins forward Chris Conner ended up with the puck in a one-on-one matchup with Hurricanes defenseman Ryan Murphy. After dancing around Murphy with a nice move, he then beat goaltender Justin Peters with one of the slowest backhanders you will ever see.

The puck just slowly side through his pads and somehow made its way across the line.

The Hurricanes were so close to taking a 3-1 lead and perhaps putting the game away at one end of the ice, but after a near miss and an unlucky break at the other end they found themselves in a tie game they were in complete control of.

Hockey can be a cruel sport sometimes.

More from SB Nation NHL:

• The Rink of Dreams: One Mich. family created an outdoor hockey paradise

• #Buttgoal| Did the officials get the call right?

• Shallow Pal: How smaller nets lead to more goals

• Avoiding a Shanaban: Both sides of the Tom Wilson hit

James Neal nets game-winner and Jussi Jokinen gets three assists to beat Carolina

After their three day holiday rest, the Carolina Hurricanes started out strong but did not quite finish that way as the Pittsburgh Penguins came from behind to defeat them at home, 4-3 in overtime in front of 18,124 at the PNC Arena on Friday night.

That makes four losses in a row for the Canes, who have now just won a single game in their last eight starts, (1-3-4).

Carolina came out flying in the opening period and created double the chances, (6-3) and shots, (16-7) than the Pens did, who had to travel to Raleigh earlier this same day.   It looked like the home team would have nothing to show for their efforts though until Andrej Sekera backhanded a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury with just two seconds left in the period.

Sidney Crosby would tie the game up just 16 seconds into the second period with a backhander of his own.

The Hurricanes looked like they would be resilient this game though as Nathan Gerbe knocked in an Alexander Semin pass just 14 seconds after the Crosby goal to give his team back the lead.

The Canes skated well again most of the second and held onto their lead going into the third, but the Pens would assert themselves in the final period and outshot the Canes 9-6.

At 1:58 into the period, Chris Conner scored to tie things back up again and Deryk Engelland gave the Pens the lead with 6:45 left in the game.

Once again though, the Hurricanes would not go away.  After Ron Hainsey made a nice play keeping a bouncing puck in the zone, Drayson Bowman took a Patrick Dwyer shot around the back of the net and sent it toward Fleury.  The puck hit someone and went into the net, to tie things up with 2:29 left.

The game went into overtime, where the Hurricanes have not had much luck this season.  After a couple of shots on goal by the home team, James Neal and Jussi Jokinen worked a perfect give-and-go to score the game-winner.

The Canes are now 1-6 in overtime periods and 1-3 when the game goes to a shootout for a total record of 2-9 when the game ends up tied in regulation.

Former Cane, Jussi Jokinen, who is still on the Carolina payroll, earned three assists in the contest.

Next up for the Hurricanes is Toronto on Sunday night.

Game Notes:

• Justin Peters, who was a surprise start in this game, ended up with 22 saves on 26 shots, and seemed to have trouble with the 5-hole in this one.   Will he start again on Sunday?
• The Canes had 34 shots on goal and were led by Gerbe and Sekera who had five shots each.  They had 20 shots blocked and missed the net 16 times for a total of 70 shot attempts to 49 for the Pens, (26-8-15).
• Both teams were only called for one penalty and went 0-1 on the powerplay.
• Tim Gleason, Jordan Staal, Zach Boychuk, and Patrick Dwyer had four hits each, also team highs.
• The Canes had 25 takeaways.
• Ron Hainsey had a team high 23:27 of ice time.

In a game that the Blue Jackets dominated for long stretches of time, it came down to a shootout vs. Hall of Famer Martin Broudeur. Cam Atkinson was up to the challenge, and propelled Columbus to a SO victory and the .500 plateau.

Hockey is a funny game.  Sometimes, just when things appear hopeless, a club pulls a rabbit out of the hat and earns an improbable victory.  Such was the case for Columbus in Carolina just before Christmas, when two late goals earned a head-scratching win.   Other times, such as last night's game in Newark, New Jersey, the good guys dominate the play, but have to struggle mightily to earn two points.   The 2 - 1 shoot out victory over the New Jersey Devils was a testament to tenacity, as they had to overcome a vintage performance by one of the top two or three goalies in NHL history to do it.

Irresistible Force vs. Immovable Object

In the pre-game build-up, much was made of the Christmas break, and whether the Blue Jackets would come out flat, having lost the edge obtained by consecutive wins over the Flyers and Hurricanes.  There was no cause for concern.  Columbus came out of the gate flying, withstood a few early rushes by the Devils offense, and then turned up the pressure.

This game was all about the pressure of the Blue Jackets' offense and forecheck and the ageless Martin Brodeur, who -- on this night -- was as good as he could be.  But for Brodeur's heroics, this one would easily have been 3-0 or 4-0 after two, as the Blue Jackets created turnovers, consistently beat the Devils to the puck, found empty seams in the defense, and dominated the neutral zone.  Ultimately, however, they needed to find a way to beat Brodeur, which proved to be a daunting challenge.

The Blue Jackets hit pay dirt at the 7:34 mark of the first period, earning that all-important first goal, and -- at the time -- appeared to be the first of many goals to come.  Jack Johnson started the play with a stretch pass to Artem Anisimov at the far edge of the neutral zone.   Anisimov, in turn, nudged a deft pass to Cam Atkinson on his right, who beat his defender and approached Brodeur unmolested from the right wing.  Nobody would have criticized Atkinson for taking that shot, but he waited for Brodeur to commit, and saw Brandon Dubinsky filling the middle.  He placed the puck squarely on Dubinsky's stick, and it appeared that all was needed was the goal celebration.  However, Brodeur had other ideas.  He managed to get back in position, and caught Dubinsky's shot with his right pad, sending the rebound in front.  With Brodeur down, Anisimov joined the fray, found the puck and roofed a backhand for his 11th goal of the season and the early 1- 0  lead.

Anisimov is finally being rewarded with points for the effort he has been expending in all three zones.  While he'll surrender the odd turnover, he creates far more opportunities than he surrenders, and has that mix of skill, discipline and strength that can prove essential down the stretch -- as he showed last year.

Unrewarded Domination

If it had been suggested that Anisimov's goal would be the only Blue Jackets tally in regulation and overtime, you probably would have been willing to make a rather sizable contrary bet.  Columbus out-shot the Devils 8-5 in the first, 10-4 in the second, 9-8 in the third and 3-0 in OT.  The Columbus forwards -- particularly Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner --  were creating havoc in the offensive zone, forcing New Jersey to take penalties and creating prime scoring opportunities.  They decisively won the face-off battle, and time of possession would not have been close.  In the end, however, all roads ended at Brodeur, who consistently made remarkable save after remarkable save.  Particularly memorable was his denial of a point blank chance from Fedor Tyutin, off a nice feed from behind the net by R.J. Umberger.

If a flaw was to be found, it was on the power play, where the Blue Jackets went scoreless in five opportunities, including a 57 second 5-on-3 advantage early in the third.   Again, much of this was due to Brodeur being in the right place at the right time.  Still, the Columbus entries were inconsistent, and they found themselves bunched up too frequently, making the defense's job easier and limiting passing opportunities.

At the other end of the ice, the Blue Jackets were consistently good.  They found ways to neutralize Jaromir Jagr's line, skated hard to the puck, and made quick and accurate exit passes.  The Blue Jackets met the Devils at the blue line, and provided little room to operate in the neutral zone.   Curtis McElhinney surrendered a couple of worrisome rebounds, but these were pounced on and cleared with alacrity by an attentive defense.   The penalty kill was solid, successfully neutralizing all three New Jersey power plays.

Despite Brodeur's best efforts, all signs pointed to a 1-0 New Jersey loss.  While they managed more shots in the third, there was no massive shift of momentum.  Instead, a single flurry evened the score, and was the result of a sequence of small mistakes.   Blake Comeau overcommitted on the fore-check, and was beaten badly as the Devils came through the neutral zone with a four man rush.  Derek MacKenzie similarly got caught flat-footed in the neutral zone, and ended up trailing the play. The puck worked quickly to Marek Zidlicky at the right point, who fired a shot on goal.  Patrik Elias deflected the puck down low, but McElhinney made the save.  However, there was no chance to control the rebound, which careened to McElhinney's right.  Adam Henrique, storming the crease, barely beat Jack Skille to the puck, and parked it in the net before crashing into McElhinney.  Tie game, and the domination was now irrelevant.

To the Blue Jackets' credit, they were only briefly daunted by this turn of events.  They surrendered a slightly scary chance on the ensuing shift, but quickly regained their poise, and pressure, and had control of the contest for the remainder of regulation and overtime.

Shootout Showdown

If you had conducted a straw poll of Blue Jackets fans at the end of OT, there would likely have not been abounding confidence in the prospects for a shootout victory. In case you missed it, Brodeur was stopping everything that came his way, while McElhinney was decent, but largely untested for the night.  The Devils would undoubtedly trot out guys like Jagr and Elias, who know a thing or two about scoring goals.  The stars did not appear to be aligning in the Blue Jackets' favor.  Then again, the stars could be wrong . . .

New Jersey trotted out Jagr, Ryan Clowe and Elias, in that order. The only surprises were the inclusion of Clowe, who was playing in his first game since early October, and their election to go first.  The Blue Jackets sent Mark Letestu, Johansen and Atkinson on the ice.  Again, largely predictable, with the exception of Letestu, who has struggled to find his scoring touch in his parade up and down the line ladder this season.

Jagr came in slowly, then accelerated with a left-right move intended to catch McElhinney going the wrong way, but McElhinney stayed home, saving the shot on his left pad.  Letestu put a nice shot on Brodeur, who just managed to deflect it with his stick.  Clowe caught McElhinney squarely in the chest, and Johansen missed wide right.  After McElhinney made the save on Elias look easy, it all came down to Atkinson.  Displaying the certitude of youth, Atkinson wasted little time in bringing the puck squarely on net, make a quick deke to the right, then parked the puck through the five hole. Game, set, match to Columbus, with Atkinson notching his second game-winning shootout goal of the season. The irony of the brash youngster beating the Hall of Famer for the win was merely icing on the cake.

Deriving Meaning

While it's easy to over-state the importance of wins such as this one, it does have significance.   It brings the Blue Jackets back to the .500 mark, and gives them three wins out of four attempts in an important stretch of games with Metropolitan Division opponents.  They now sit in fourth place in the Metro, tied in points (38) with Philadelphia, who has a game in hand. Columbus holds a game in hand on both New Jersey and Carolina, who are also at the 38 point logjam.  Additionally, the Blue Jackets are now edging into the conference-wide discussion for a wild card slot, pulling within five points of both Toronto and Detroit, while holding games in hand on both of those teams.

More importantly, with the halfway mark looming, the Blue Jackets have managed to insert themselves into the thick of the playoff picture, playing without Nathan Horton and with injuries to multiple key players, including Sergei Bobrovsky. With Horton, Bobrovsky and  Matt Calvert all slated to travel with the club on their trip to Colorado, Phoenix, St. Louis and New York, it is fair to say that Columbus has withstood the storm fairly well, and are poised to do some damage in the second half.  Intriguingly, they are also demonstrating that they can win in different ways -- capable of putting serious numbers on the board, or prevailing in a defensive battle.  That's the kind of versatility that pays dividends in a playoff race.

For now, the focus remains one game at a time, as the club embarks on a busy stretch between the Christmas and Olympic breaks.  It promises to be fun.

The Penguins and Capitals enjoy post-Christmas leads at first and second in the division. As for everyone else, four teams in the middle of the standings all have 38 points, while the Hurricanes and Islanders occupy the bottom two spots. Which division teams experienced a holiday hangover?

1. Pittsburgh Penguins (28-11-1)

After a 4-3 win over the Flames at home, the Penguins opened up a four-game road trip to close out December.

Their first stop in Ottawa ended in a 5-0 loss. Craig Anderson stopped all 27 of Pittsburgh's shots in the win.

The next game, however, went better for PIttsburgh. James Neal's 11th goal of the season sunk the Hurricanes, who rallied to tie the game at three with under three minutes left in regulation, in overtime.

Jussi Jokinen added three assists in Friday's game.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves on 34 Hurricanes shots en route to his 500th career regular season victory.

With four points in the three games this week for Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby has an NHL-high 55 points. His 21 goals rank him fifth in the league.

Despite two wins this week, the Penguins were subject to some unfortunate news when they learned Pascal Dupuis, who has been a vital part of the Crosby line's success this season, will miss the remainder of the season as he will require knee surgery.

Dupuis appeared in 39 games this season tallying seven goals and adding 13 assists. He was a plus six player.

Chris Kunitz and James Neal saw increased ice time in Dupuis' absence on Friday. The forwards were two of three who played more than 20 minutes, Crosby was the other.

Evgeni Malkin is also still injured.

Deryk Engelland rejoined the Penguins following a five-game suspension. He made an immediate impact, ripping a slapshot past Justin Peters for his third goal of the season, giving the Penguins a 3-2 third period lead.

Pittsburgh wraps up their four-game road trip, next traveling to Columbus for a 6:00 p.m. showdown.

New Years Eve wraps up the road swing. The Penguins will travel to New Jersey for a 1:00 p.m. affair with the Devils.

2. Washington Capitals (20-14-4)

The Capitals wrapped up a three-game home stand with a 3-2 win over the Rangers on Friday, their final mark for the stand was 1-1-1.

Andy Greene's sixth goal of the season for the Devils sunk the Capitals in overtime during the first home game.

The second game was another one goal loss, this time coming in regulation to the Ducks.

Despite jumping out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period, the Capitals surrendered three-straight Ducks goals and managed only 19 shots- eight of which came in the second and third period combined.

On Friday, Eric Fehr notched his sixth of the season in the third period of a 2-2 game against the Rangers.

His goal would prove to be the winner, giving the Capitals their first regulation win of the homestand.

The Capitals are 11-5-4 in one-goal games.

Philipp Grubauer made 38 saves on 40 New York shots on Friday, improving his season record to 5-1-1. Against the Rangers, he is 2-0-0.

Washington will close out 2013 with a back-to-back on the road, traveling to Buffalo and Ottawa on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

3. Philadelphia Flyers (17-16-4)

The Flyers saw the Blue Jackets twice in three days, and after topping them 5-4 at home, they fell 6-3 to them in Columbus, squandering five powerplay opportunities.

Philadelphia then knocked off the Wild 4-1 at home on Monday.

The Flyers will now begin a six-game road trip that begins at 10:00 p.m. Saturday in Edmonton.

In their last six games, Philadelphia is 4-1-1. They will look to continue that success in their Western Conference trip that pits them against the Canucks, Flames, Avalanche and Coyotes after Saturday.

They will have to improve their play on the road, however. In their past five road games, the Flyers are 0-3-2.

"For me, you've gotta play a simple game, can't force things on the road," Coach Craig Berube said in an interview with the Flyers website.

Captain Claude Giroux is riding a seven-game point streak. During that stretch, he has five goals and eight assists.

Forward Adam Hall did not practice on Friday, he was sidelined with the flu.

Eric Gustafsson is sidelined with a knee injury.

Steve Downie, who has been nursing an upper-body injury, is ready to return.

4. Columbus Blue Jackets (17-17-4)

The Blue Jackets have won three straight games, most recently winning in New Jersey in a shootout on Friday night 2-1.

Cam Atkinson scored the lone shootout goal. It was his second shootout winner this season for the Blue Jackets.

Prior to that game, Columbus edged Carolina 4-3 on the road and handled the Flyers at home 6-3.

Three-straight wins is a season high for the Blue Jackets and it is the longest active streak in the division.

Before embarking on a four-game road trip, the Blue Jackets will host the Penguins on Sunday. Start time for that game is 6:00 p.m.

Sergei Bobrovsky, Dalton Prout, Nathan Horton, Cody Bass, Jared Boll, Matt Calvert and Marian Gaborik are on injured reserve for the Blue Jackets.

5. New York Rangers (18-19-2)

After a nine-game homestand, the Rangers were edged 3-2 by the Capitals on the road.

Their final mark for the homestand was 3-4-2.

Despite outshooting the Maple Leafs 43-26, it took a shootout for the Rangers to win.

Cam Talbot started in goal for the third-straight game on Friday against the Capitals, losing for the third time in 11 decisions. He also surrendered more than two goals for only the second time in 13 appearances.

Eric Fehr finished off the Rangers on Friday night with a third period goal that would hold up as the game winner.

Benoit Pouliot, who tipped in a shot for his sixth goal of the season, extended his point scoring streak to a career-high six games.

Anton Stralman suffered an undisclosed injury against the Capitals and did not return.

There may be blueline reinforcements coming for New York, however. Marc Staal, who has been sidelined with a concussion, took the morning skate on Friday and said afterwards that he was ready to participate in full practice on Saturday.

The Rangers will continue their five-game road trip that started in Washington with a trip to Tampa Bay on Sunday.

The road trip will also take New York to Florida, Pittsburgh and Toronto.

Puck drop for the Rangers and Lightning is set for 7:00 p.m.

6. New Jersey Devils (15-16-8)

The Devils couldn't find a way to steal an extra point from the Blue Jackets at home on Friday night, falling 2-1 in a shootout.

New Jersey has left a few extra points at the door this season. going 0-6 in games decided in a shootout.

The shootout loss spoils a solid performance by Martin Brodeur, who finished the night with a .967 save percentage.

Ryane Clowe returned for the Devils after sitting out since Oct. 13 with a concussion.

Clowe had four hits and blocked a shot in 10:38 of ice time.

New Jersey next plays on Saturday night, facing the Islanders at 7:00 p.m.

After that, another division game looms as the Devils host the Penguins at 1:00 p.m. on New Years Eve.

Patrik Elias has two goals and nine assists in his past 11 games.

Bryce Salvador, who has not played since Oct. 22 after suffering a foot injury, could be activated off of injured reserve soon.

Adam Larsson, Peter Harrold and Ryan Carter are on injured reserve for New Jersey.

Damien Brunner is also banged up with a knee injury.

The Devils' Saturday night affair in New York will not feature John Tavares, who is day-to-day with a lower body injury for the Islanders.

7. Carolina Hurricanes (14-15-9)

The Hurricanes have not won in regulation since a 3-1 win over the Coyotes on Dec. 14, most recently dropping an overtime decision to the Penguins on Friday night after James Neal scored his 11th of the season in the extra frame.

Carolina's next four games all will be against Eastern Conference foes, starting with a trip to Toronto on Sunday.

The Hurricanes are wishing they had a few extra points in the log-jammed division- they are 2-9 in games decided after regulation.

Despite their recent struggles, the Hurricanes are just a point out of playoff position.

Drayson Bowman scored his first goal since Nov. 15 on Friday night- a tally that tied the game late and sent it to overtime.

Jiri Tlusty, who required an emergency appendectomy, is expected to miss 2-3 weeks. Zach Boychuk has been recalled from Charlotte to fill the void.

Boychuk was leading the AHL in powerplay goals at the time of his callup.

Jay Harrison is week-to-week with a concussion.

Anton Khudobin, who has missed 32 games with an ankle injury for Carolina, has been assigned to AHL Charlotte for purposes of a rehab stint.

After their trip to Toronto, the Hurricanes will close out 2013 with a home game against the Canadiens.

Both games are set to begin at 7:00 p.m.

8. New York Islanders (11-20-7)

Only the Sabres have fewer points in the Eastern Conference than the Islanders, who followed up a 5-3 home loss to the Ducks with a 3-0 win on the road against the Red Wings.

The Islanders will have a weekend back-to-back starting with a home game against the Devils and wrapping up with a trip to Minnesota on Sunday.

Captain John Tavares is day-to-day with a lower body injury and will not play against the Devils.

Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen both have four-game point streaks.

Michael Grabner and Thomas Vanek have scored three goals in as many games.

Radek Martinek and Lubomir Visnovsky are on injured reserve.

The Islanders and Devils will begin play at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Defenseman will play in Sochi Games

Justin Faulk was named as part of Team USA's Olympic roster today.  It is of little surprise as the defenseman has been mentioned in many conversations regarding this, but all the talk was confirmed today.

Faulk will join John Carlson, Cam Fowler, Paul Martin, Ryan McDonagh, Brooks Orpik, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Ryan Suter on the squad's blueline.

We will have more on this as we approach the Olympics. Congratulations to Justin!

The team's press release follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Jan. 1, 2014

JUSTIN FAULK NAMED TO U.S. OLYMPIC ROSTER

Minnesota native will represent his country in Sochi

RALEIGH, NC – USA Hockey today announced that Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk will represent the United States during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Faulk, 21, is second among Hurricanes defensemen in scoring this season with 16 points (3g, 13a) in 40 games. The South St. Paul, MN, native was Carolina’s second-round selection (37^th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, and has totaled 16 goals, 37 assists (53 points) and 68 penalty minutes in 144 career games with the Hurricanes. Faulk (6’0", 215 lbs.) has been involved in international competition for the United States since he was 16 years old, and is a product of the United States National Team Development Program. He scored the game-winning goal in the gold medal game of the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) U-18 World Junior Championship, and also represented the U.S. at the 2011 World Junior Championship and the 2012 and 2013 IIHF World Championships.

The Hurricanes travel to Washington today, and will take on the Capitals at 7 p.m. on Thursday (FOX Sports Carolinas, Hurricanes Radio Network). Carolina’s next home game is on Sunday, when the Hurricanes host the Nashville Predators at PNC Arena at 7 p.m. Individual-game tickets for all Hurricanes regular-season games are on sale at the PNC Arena Box Office and via Ticketmaster. For information on Hurricanes ticket packages, please call 1-866-NHL-CANES, or visit www.CarolinaHurricanes.com.

The winds were blowing in all different directions this week for the Hurricanes. They were quite dominant in the puck possession battle, yet only came away with 3 points in 3 games.

First off, I hope everyone had a safe and happy holidays.  The week started out with a home game against the Penguins.  The wind blew back and forth with each team having the upper hand at some point.  In the end, Pittsburgh came away with the victory in OT.  Then the Canes headed north to Toronto, where the wind knocked them down and wouldn't let them back up.  While controlling possession, the couldn't control keeping the puck out of the back of their net.  That followed with the trade winds sweeping in, picking up Kevin Westgarth and depositing him in Calgary.  A prospect and some salary savings came back Carolina's way.  The week ended with a strong 3rd period gust that helped propel the Canes past the Canadiens.  While things were definitely gloomy, that 4 goal 3rd period was a small ray of sunshine or glimmer of hope heading into the new year.  Here are the stats for the week of 12/25/13 through 12/31/13.

Canes Weekly Stats

Weekly Advanced Stats

Here is a little key to some of my abbreviations. F - For, A - Against, CF% - Corsi For Percentage, FF% - Fenwick For Percentage, SF% - Shots For Percentage, OZst% - Offensive Zone Start Percentage, NZst% - Neutral Zone Start Percentage and DZst% - Defensive Zone Start Percentage. If you would like more advanced statistics, this information was collected from www.extraskater.com.

Who's Hot

• Alexander Semin - Semin was the hero with the game winner on Tuesday, but he really put together a solid week.  His 3 points were tied for 3rd on the team and led the team with 16 shots.  His +3 was a team high and he was on the ice for 7 goals for and only 2 against.  And while the Canes possession numbers were excellent, Semin topped every category.  He was over 70% in 4 of the 6 categories I account for and was somewhat even in his zone starts.  The only stat that really looks bad is his 7 giveaways.  Let's just hope Semin has turned the corner and these type of weeks become more common for him.
• Zach Boychuk - Boychuk might or might not deserve to be on this list, but I thought I should recognize his solid play this week.  He averaged less than 10 minutes a game and only accounted for 1 point, but he was the only Cane that was not on the ice for any goals against.  And that says something when 13 goals are scored against you.  Half of his possession numbers were above the team average and all were 50% or better.  He was 1 of 4 Canes that finished with a plus rating and he did register 7 shots on goal.  But the stat that really got me was the 7 hits he delivered.  That tied for 2nd for the week and really speaks to Boychuk taking direction and trying to play a more complete game.
• Jeff Skinner - Skinner was a home run hitter this week.  He was either hitting a home run or striking out.  He really carried the team to victory against Montreal, but he was pretty ineffective against Pittsburgh and Toronto.  His 2 goals, 4 points and 6 takeaways all tied for the team lead.  He was also in the top 5 in shots on goal and 4 of the 6 possession categories.  He did have the highest offensive zone start percentage and tied with Eric Staal for a team worse -6 rating.  It was quite a month for Jeff, 12 goals, 16 points, but was also a -10.  We see what he can do, now we need to see if he can be more consistent doing it.

Who's Not

• Cam Ward/Justin Peters - Generally when goalies have poor stats, it has a lot to do with the team around them, not just them.  But when your goalies combine for only a 0.844 save percentage and a 3.93 goals against average, you need them to be better than that.  Carolina did limit the number of shots on goal against them this week and did control possession a high percentage of the time.  It's actually funny, it always seems as if the Canes goaltenders do better when they see a lot of rubber instead of having limited shots against.  With Anton Khudobin now back, the Canes have 3 goalies (even though Cam does have a minor injury) and none are particularly hot right now.  If the Hurricanes are going to have any chance of clawing their way back into the playoff picture, they need someone to step up and keep the puck from going into the net.
• Eric Staal - Eric has been on this list far too often this season.  As seen in the 3rd period of the Habs game, when he is skating, this team becomes more dangerous.  The captain is the straw that stirs the drink here in Carolina and the drink needs to be stirred!  Statistically, his week was good and bad, but the eye test certainly put him in the negative column.  The good - he had 3 points (all in 1 game), was 65.5% in the dot and was in the top 5 in 4 of the 6 possession categories.  The bad - he tied for a team worse -6 rating, was on the ice for a team high 8 goals against and he had a team high 8 penalty minutes.  He showed some passion at the end of regulation against Montreal, but he has to be smarter and learn how to direct the energy to benefit the team.  And he needs to tell himself before every game; skate, drive the net and play with fire!  This team's results depend heavily on Eric Staal.
• Ryan Murphy - Other players had worse statistics, but Murphy's defensive inability had a hand in 2 Pittsburgh goals and where was he on the scoresheet?  I understand he's a rookie, but he is also the Canes only pure offensive defenseman.  It is the hand Jim Rutherford has dealt the team, so it's what he/we have to live with.  Murphy only has 1 point this month and the team needs more than that from him.  This kid has a ton of potential, but right now his best asset is his skating.  Carolina needs him to improve on his passing, his shot and his defensive play.  I wouldn't be surprised if Murphy is given a little time in Charlotte to round out his game.  It just seems that he's sort of hit a wall and his next challenge is figure out a way to get over it.

Notable Weekly Team Stats

• Carolina didn't really have much problem scoring this week, averaging 3.33 goals per game, good for a tie for 7th in the NHL.  The bigger issue was keeping the puck out of the net.  Their 4.33 goals against per game was ranked tied for 28th in the league.
• While the Canes did fail on 10 PP attempts, they were successful 3 times.  The 23.1% was considerably better than their season average and put the Canes in a tie for 11th for the week.
• The PK was right around average for Carolina on the season at 77.8%.  That is still too low and ranked tied for 19th in the league with St. Louis and Anaheim.  All 3 teams the Canes faced this week ranked in the top 10 for the season on the PP.
• In the shots for and shots against categories, the Canes had a pretty good week.  The averaged 39.7 shots per game (tied 1st) and gave up 26.0 shots against per game (5th).  While the results might not have been there, if this can continue, the Canes should give themselves a shot at winning most games.
• The Hurricanes finished in the top 10 in 3 categories and bottom 10 in 2 others.  They finished tied for 1st in takeaways (44), 3rd in turnover margin (+12) and 8th in hits (78).  They finished tied for 25th in giveaways (31) and tied for 26th in blocked shots (28).
• The Canes were pretty good in the faceoff circle, ranking 3rd for the week at 55.7%.  Eric led the way at 65.5%, Manny was next at 55.9%, Jordan was at 53.9% and Nash came in at 34.8%.
• Team Stat of the Week - Corsi For % & Fenwick For % - 62.3% & 60.4% - these are pretty spectacular numbers.  These 5 on 5 possession numbers would be #1 in the league in both categories and are 10% higher than the Canes season average.  Normally possession stats like these would mean the Canes had a pretty successful week, but the team is still struggling "finishing" the job.  But if they can keep this up, results should be just around the corner.

Former Canes Weekly Stats

The Carolina Hurricanes closed out 2013 in style, erasing a 3-0 deficit entering the third period and leaving PNC Arena with a 5-4 overtime win.

There wasn't much to like about the first 40 minutes of Carolina’s New Year’s Eve tilt against the Montreal Canadiens, but the Hurricanes made sure the rest of the night was memorable. The Canes had four unanswered goals in the third period, then overcame Montreal’s tying goal in the third to win on an Alexander Semin tally in overtime.

Three Observations

1. For all the warm, fuzzy feelings the team and fans will have about this game, it still featured a squad that was unable to put together a 60-minute effort. Granted this time it was the Hurricanes, not the opposition, finding their legs in the final frame, but that doesn't change the fact that Carolina spent two periods being outplayed, out-efforted and outscored.

2. The Canes pummeled the Habs in the faceoff circle, winning a staggering 58 of 87 draws (67 percent). That included 20-plus wins for Eric Staal (29 wins, 11 losses) and Jordan Staal (20 wins, 7 losses).

3. With Tim Gleason en route to Toronto for John-Michael Liles, it's hard to not endorse Manny Malhotra as the new second alternate captain in his place. Malhotra is a feel-good story laced with determination and hard work. But more importantly, Malhotra is a clear leader. It's not always about scoring big goals — though Malhotra’s goals-to-big-goals ratio as a Hurricane is a franchise-best 2:2 — but the addition of Malhotra (and Radek Dvorak, for that matter) has clearly added a different kind of leadership on the ice and along the bench. Sure, Justin Faulk is an option — and it's nice to have one guy on defense wearing a letter — but his time will come. For the here and now, Malhotra deserves the permanent "A."

Number To Know

0.923 — Goals per game Jeff Skinner is averaging in his last 13 games, having scored 12 of his 16 goals in that stretch.

Plus

Jeff Skinner — Skinner’s two goals early in the third period opened the floodgates for the Hurricanes, who rallied to score two more goals then eventually win the game in overtime. He also added the primary assist on Eric Staal’s game-tying goal, giving him two three-point games this season.

Minus

Riley Nash— If you're the No. 3/4 center and the team you play for is rumored to be looking for a third-line center, the last thing you can afford to do is get hurt for a week or two. Nash has had a good season, registering 10 points in 36 games despite averaging less than a dozen minutes a night. Malhotra continues to be a faceoff ace, so Nash could be the odd-man out if the Canes make a move down the middle.

Red Wings News

‘Nothing broken’ for Eaves following Lupul crosscheck | ProHockeyTalk
While that is good news, he may still have suffered a concussion.

Jimmy Howard’s body of work gave him edge in Team USA goaltending battle | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports
He has been struggling at times this season, but when Jimmy is in the zone, there are few better netminders.

Bettman calls 2014 Winter Classic ‘everything we hoped for’ | ProHockeyTalk
I don't think that you could have asked for much better.

Nice hat, Mike Babcock - SBNation.com
Babcock was looking classy at the game. Loved the hat.

Winter Classic: A photo tour of the 2014 game at the Big House - CBSSports.com
Here are some photographs from today's game.

NHL News

Yzerman: Outdoor games ‘killing golden goose’? - Sportsnet.ca
Yzerman nailed it. Here's what he said: "I’m a little concerned that were killing the golden goose a little bit here with all these outdoor games and ruining the uniqueness and specialness of these games".

Here is your 2014 United States men’s Olympic roster | ProHockeyTalk
Here is the complete roster for you.

Leafs acquire D Gleason from Hurricanes for Liles, prospect | TSN
The Leafs and Hurricanes swap defenseman.

Meet U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team for Sochi 2014; who got snubbed? | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports
Bobby Ryan, Dustin Byfuglien, Jack Johnson, and Keith Yandle are some of the notable snubs.

Stamkos’ rehab continues to go well | ProHockeyTalk
There is a fair chance that he recovers in time to play in the Olympics.

Winter Classic 2014: Paul Ranger needs some help with his eye black - SBNation.com
I don't think that is how it's supposed to be applied.

Bernier strengthens grip on Leafs' net with strong performance in Winter Classic - The Hockey News
James Reimer has fallen out of favor with the Leafs.

Luongo's imminent return indicates he'll be ready for Sochi | TSN
Luongo will be competing with Carey Price for the #1 spot in goal on Team Canada.

USA Hockey announces women's Olympic team for 2014 Sochi Games - 2014 Olympics
Here's the complete women's roster.

Why Jack Johnson was snubbed by Team USA | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports

This was particularly interesting to me. I thought for sure that Johnson would get the nod over players such as Cam Fowler, Justin Faulk, and John Carlson.

Mike Yeo on Thin Ice in Minnesota After Devastating December Collapse | The Hockey Writers
Could Yeo be shown the pink slip in the near future?

Poile on U.S. Olympic team: ‘We expect to win’ | ProHockeyTalk
That's pretty bold. Heja Sverige!

PHOTO: Miami TV station botches Florida Panthers' logo - CBSSports.com
Only in Florida.

Let's Go Red Wings!

More from Winging It In Motown

Follow @wingingitmotownFollow @SBNationNHL

Winter Classic Game Recap: Leafs 3 at Red Wings 2 (SO)

Jimmy Howard Named To US Olympic Team

Griffins End 2013 On Sour Note With 3-1 Loss

Welcome to the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®

Quick Hits: Winter Classic Edition

The Hurricanes are 2-0 at Verizon Center this season; can they complete the road sweep against the Capitals tonight?

Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals
January 2, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
Verizon Center - Washington, DC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

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

Hurricanes Record: 15-16-9 (39 pts.)
Capitals Record: 20-15-5 (45 pts.)

After a barn-burner finish Tuesday night to close out 2013, the Hurricanes hope to build momentum as they move into a January schedule that could be more favorable than the last few months have been. Out of 18 games leading up to the Olympic break in early February, eleven are against opponents that are not currently in playoff contention, and eleven are at home including the last four games before the break.

What better way to kick off 2014 than against a familiar division foe, the Washington Capitals. The Canes and Capitals wrap up their regular season series at the Verizon Center tonight, and the Canes have been victorious in both previous meetings there: a 3-2 win on October 10th and a 4-1 win on December 3rd. But their most recent matchup took place just two weeks ago here in Raleigh, and the Capitals held the advantage that evening with three power play goals and an empty netter for Alex Ovechkin's 400th NHL career goal as the Capitals won 4-2 on December 20th.

At 45 points, Washington ranks second in the Metro division and seventh in the Eastern Conference. They had previously opened distance between themselves and the teams trailing, but now find themselves only one point ahead of the Flyers. The Canes trail them by six points and in the sixth spot (12th in conference), with several teams to jump to get back into playoff contention. Since the game on the 20th, both teams are 1-2-2. The Capitals last played on Monday night and were defeated 3-1 by the Senators, while the Canes played a game for the ages on New Years Eve with a wild come-from-behind 5-4 overtime win against the Canadiens.

Mortal enemies tonight, Justin Faulk and John Carlson will unite in February as both were selected to Team USA yesterday to participate in the Sochi Olympics.

Hurricanes Notes

The Canes will have a new face in the lineup, as defenseman John-Michael Liles joins the team after yesterday's trade that sent Tim Gleason to Toronto. JML took warmups at the Winter Classic but did not play, and left after the game to meet up with his new teammates in DC, and will wait for word after today's practice as to where he might fit in tonight's lineup.

Riley Nash, who left Tuesday's game early with a lower-body injury, is expected to miss seven to ten days and did not travel with the team to DC. His absence leaves the team short a forward which would hint a call-up (unless another trade is in the works) or dressing seven defensemen.

UPDATE 10:00 am: Brett Sutter has been recalled from Charlotte on an emergency basis to cover Nash's absence (link).

Cam Ward also did not make the trip, owing to a lower-body injury that was said not to be related to previous injuries. Anton Khudobin and Justin Peters skated with the team yesterday, Khudobin in the starter's crease, but Kirk Muller has not made an official decision as to who will be in net tonight. Khudobin has two prior games versus the Capitals and is 2-0-0, including the win on October 10th, with a 1.50 GAA. Peters is 4-3-0 with a 1.67 GAA and two shutouts, and was in net for the win on December 3rd.

On hot streaks are Jeff Skinner, who led the league (tied with Chicago's Patrick Sharp) with twelve goals in December including two on Tuesday, and Alexander Semin, who has points in four straight games including Tuesday's game-winner. Andrej Sekera has points in three straight games.

Here's an interesting statistic: in the last five games, the Hurricanes are 5-for-21 on the power play, which is a 23.8% success rate.

Projected line-ups based on yesterday's practice (and the addition of Liles):

Jeff Skinner - Eric Staal - Alexander Semin
Nathan Gerbe - Jordan Staal - Patrick Dwyer
Zach Boychuk - Manny Malhotra - Tuomo Ruutu
Drayson Bowman - Brett Sutter - Radek Dvorak

Andrej Sekera - Justin Faulk
Ron Hainsey - Brett Bellemore
Mike Komiarek - Ryan Murphy
John-Michael Liles

Anton Khudobin
Justin Peters

Jiri Tlusty (IR, appendectomy, missed 3 games) and Jay Harrison (IR, concussion, missed 4 games) remain out of the line-up, along with Elias Lindholm who is on loan to Sweden for the World Junior Championships.

Capitals Notes

Alex Ovechkin is in a slump. Yes, he leads the NHL with 30 goals (and by six over his closest competitor), but that's beside the point. He has gone without points in the last four games straight, putting his 50-in-50 campaign at risk, and with only two goals scored with 85 shots taken in the last two games, it's time to shake up the lines. Head coach Adam Oates did just that yesterday at practice, moving Ovechkin to a line with Eric Fehr and Mikhail Grabovski and moving Troy Brouwer to a line with Marcus Johansson and Nicklas Backstrom.

Brooks Laich is reported to be back in tonight's lineup after missing 14 out of the last 15 games with a lingering groin injury. Laich was optimistic about his return but Oates has been more guarded, and if Laich plays he will likely be eased in on the fourth line to start.

Defenseman Jack Hillen continues to recover from a broken tibia, but has begun skating with the team at practice. Forward Michael Latta is also practicing with the team but remains on long-term IR, so he won't return until January 10th at the earliest.

The Caps continue to shuffle goalies as well, with three on the roster. Philipp Grubauer has taken a majority of the recent starts and was in net for the Caps win on December 20th, but Braden Holtby is expected to be back in net tonight although a final decision has not been made. After a stellar start to the season, Holtby was 1-2-1 with a 4.92 GAA and .863 save percentage in December.

Projected lineups from yesterday's practice:

Marcus Johansson - Nicklas Backstrom - Troy Brouwer

Eric Fehr - Mikhail Grabovski -
 Alex Ovechkin
Jason Chimera - Martin Erat - Joel Ward

Aaron Volpatti - Jay Beagle - Tom Wilson
Brooks Laich

Karl Alzner - John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov - Mike Green

John Erskine - Steve Oleksy
Alexander Urbom

Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Michal Neuvirth

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

It's win or you're out time, all the margin for error Canada has had up until this moment is gone, and they face a surprisingly strong Swiss team.

Here we go folks, the games that actually matter are upon us. After their inspiring win against Team USA, Team Canada won their division, and will face Team Switzerland in the first knockout game of the tournament for a Canadian squad that has been all over the place.

There is a tendency to be overconfident about games against teams like the Swiss, but I would advise not to count your chickens before they hatch. The return of Griffin Reinhart added much needed stability to the Canadian blueline, and Zachary Fucale's superb performance put an exclamation point on the victory, but the Swiss are a team that just upset a strong Finnish squad.

Then again, the Finns are missing Artturi Lehkonen, who's been out with an ankle injury for the previous two games.

The game against the Americans was also a bit of a coming out party for Connor McDavid, with the Jonathan Drouin having his worst game of the tournament.

Canada will need to put in another strong performance, and hopefully improve their powerplay in order to take the Swiss down. The game begins at 11am EST on TSN, with pregame at 10:30.

More from Eyes On The Prize

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• Team USA announces their roster for the Olympic games in Sochi
• Happy New Year from Eyes on the Prize, what do you want to see in 2014?
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• Complete coverage of the Habs' loss to the Hurricanes
• Who makes Team Canada for the Sochi Winter Olympics? EOTP debates

John-Michael Liles is the new guy in Carolina. Literally.

The Carolina Hurricanes traded for John-Michael Liles on Wednesday, and his new locker stall is ready to go.

Please welcome to the team, "new guy."

Excellent.

The Hurricanes acquired Liles from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday in exchange for defenseman Tim Gleason.

(Picture via Carolina Hurricanes PR guy Mike Sundheim)

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• Winter Classic : Leafs win in shootout | Old lady dancing

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Following an epic third period collapse against the lowly Hurricanes, can the Canadiens earn a win in Dallas to close out their road trip?

Check out True Rivalry

Before the Canadiens clashed with the 'Canes on New Year's Eve, the question posed here on EOTP was, "which Canadiens team will show up?"

We've all seen the good Habs, the ones who outworked the Islanders and Lightning, or took two points from the Bruins. We've all seen too much of the bad Habs, the ones who can't handle the Panthers or get blown out by the Blues and Kings. On Tuesday, we got a good glimpse of both.

The good Habs showed up to start the game, opening up a three goal lead while outshooting the Hurricanes for a spell. The good Habs persisted, weathering a storm of penalties, including four straight infractions during the second period, and a number of instances during which the Canadiens were left with two men off the ice simultaneously.

Then, the bad Habs showed up and undid all of the good work that characterized the early portion of the match. The bad Habs allowed a powerplay goal, and then made things worse by suffering an undisciplined bench minor before the next faceoff. The hemorrhage of goals continued, as the Hurricanes would score three more to take the lead. Things would even out, somewhat, from there, but the damage was done - Carolina's best player, Alexander Semin, was left one-on-one with the struggling Alexei Emelin, where he would spin the game-winner through the legs of Carey Price.

This story is not unfamiliar to Habs fans. Whether it's game to game, period to period, or even shift to shift, the Canadiens appear incapable of the consistency requisite to success. Excellent goaltending, and the bonus of solid special teams, have allowed the Habs to build a cushion in the Eastern Conference's playoff race. Lately, however, Montreal has been getting the bounces less and less often, leading to ugly outcomes like the one last night. There is a great deal of work to be done to turn things around, and as the Habs embark on 2014, their first chance to improve comes tonight in Texas.

The Dallas Stars are a dangerous team. A top 10 squad in possession across the NHL, they have been almost exclusively possession positive when not playing the Kings or Blackhawks. Against teams like Canadiens, they feast.

The top line in Dallas is young and strong, featuring two Team Canada candidates in Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, as well as young Russian phenom Valeri Nicushkin. The back-end features some quality young talent as well, where Brenden Dillon has quickly blossomed into a top pair defenceman. Dillon teams with Alex Goligoski, and the two tend to play the big minutes on the Dallas blue line.

In the middle of the Dallas forward lineup is former Hab Erik Cole, now in his second season in Texas after he was traded for Michael Ryder last year. Cole isn't dominating possession like he was when playing alongside Max Pacioretty in 2011-12, but he is still a reliable secondary scorer, as he plugs along at about a half point per game. Alongside former Oiler captain Shawn Horcoff, and journeyman Ray Whitney, Cole is one member of Dallas' veritable stable of veterans backing up the youthful first line.

In net, the Stars will lean on Kari Lehtonen to keep the Habs' from changing their low-scoring ways. Lehtonen has been workhorse for Dallas, where he's stayed sharp despite facing one of the larger shot totals among NHL goalies. Of course, Carey Price should have no trouble empathizing with his Finnish colleague's workload, as only three NHL goalies have made more saves than CP31 has so far. As noted above, the advantage at even strength that Dallas brings into tonight's game is chasmic. If Montreal is to earn a victory, Price will have to forget the Carolina collapse as quickly as it came on.

For gameday coverage from the deep south, and a look at how Jim Nill has quickly modelled the Stars into a model franchise (plus, what a certain other Texas-based franchise could stand to learn from it), head down to Defending Big D.

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Follow @HabsEOTPFollow @iancmy1

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