Let us know what trade ideas you have for improving the Hurricanes for a chance to win prize.

Welcome to the 2014 Olympic break, two weeks with no NHL hockey and with that probably very limited NHL news. The Carolina Hurricanes entered the break in a very familiar position, currently outside the playoff picture. They find themselves 5 points behind the Philadelphia Flyers with 2 games in-hand for the Metropolitan's 3rd seed and 3 points behind the Detroit Red Wings with 1 game in-hand for the Eastern Conference's 8th seed. I believe the consensus is this team is still a few pieces short of being a true playoff contender. Even though the NHL trade deadline is still 3 weeks away, teams will only have about a week to make any moves once the Olympic break and the trade freeze is lifted. So I thought this would be a perfect time to have a little fun and have a Canes Country Trade Proposal Contest.

This contest allows the readers the opportunity to play armchair General Manager and propose trades they feel will improve the team now or down the road. No player is out of bounds, but try to be as realistic as possible. What I mean is proposing Sidney Crosby for Eric Staal& a 2014 1st round pick just doesn't have any chance of happening. You can propose as many trades as you want and feel free to leave feedback on other fans' ideas (but be respectful). If you can post some of your thought process behind the trade proposal, it would be even better. On Sunday, I will go through the proposals and pick out the 5 or 6 I feel are most plausible. Then next Tuesday, I will post another article with a blurb about each trade proposal and a poll to allow everyone to vote for their favorite one. The poll will close on Saturday, February 22nd and I will announce the winner on Sunday.

We might even have 2 different winners, because the Canes Country staff will also pick their favorite. The winner or winners will have their choice of a small prize. We have some Canes Country T-Shirts, a Cam Ward Puck, some other Hurricane Pucks, a 2008 Eric Staal Bobblehead, a 2014 Jeff Skinner Bobblehead or a 2014 Alex Semin Bobblehead; winner's choice. So have fun guys and gals and let's see who comes up with the best proposal to improve our Canes.

The Hurricanes picked up some steam with a hot January, but some brisk winds from Canada left the boys from Raleigh cold entering the Olympic break.

Even after a very good month of January, a cold start to February has the Canes in a similar, yet different position to where they started off the new year. On January 1st, the Hurricanes were 5 points behind 3rd place Philadelphia in the Metropolitan Division for the last playoff spot. But they were coming off an emotional comeback against the Montreal Canadians and they rode that feeling to a successful month. Now, the Canes are 3 points behind Detroit for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot, but this time they are coming off a disappointing loss to those same Montreal Canadians. Let's hope the guys take this 2 1/2 weeks off to recover and figure out what they need to do to put some wins together and get back in the playoff picture. Here are the stats from the short week of 2/5/14 though 2/9/14.

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

• Riley Nash - Nash has sure seen his fair share of criticism this year, but he had a very solid week. He tied for the team lead in goals and points, was tied for 2nd in takeaways and was tied for 5th in shots. He extended his point streak to 3 straight games and earned a 6 minute increase to his time on ice as compared to the previous week. His possession numbers also saw a huge increase as he tied for the team lead in All Situations Corsi. He also finished in the top 3 in all other possession categories with his lowest being All Situations Shots For at 59.4%. While he hasn't been this good the rest of the season, you have to wonder if the issue was where the coach was putting him? As a 3rd line center, he's simply overmatched and his weaknesses are exposed. As a 4th line center, his faceoffs still suck, but he has shown to be pretty darn good. Has he found his spot on this Hurricanes team or will he be wearing a different sweater in a month?
• Drayson Bowman - One of the Canes few 3rd Round or lower draft picks that have even made it to the NHL. Bowman too had a very solid week. He scored the lone goal against the Habs and tied the team high for goals this week. He also finished 4th on the team in shots and had good possession numbers. Bowman's possession numbers were particularly strong in 5 on 5 Close situations, where he was between 73.7% and 80%. Bowman is a very interesting case for Carolina's management. He was changed his game over the years to better fit the need of a bottom 6 player, but Carolina drafted him for his scoring ability. He shows that scoring ability from time to time, but it usually comes in small stretches and then disappears for a number of games. If he can put some consistency together, he could turn into one of Carolina's few draft success stories.
• Tuomo Ruutu - The "Hot List" concludes with the last member of the Canes 4th line. Ruutu had one of his better weeks of the season. He contributed an assist, finished a +1 and had a team high 7 hits. He also tied for 2nd in takeaways and was outstanding possession-wise. He finished 1st or tied for 1st in 5 of the 6 categories I measure and finished tied for 2nd in the final category, less than 1% behind Jeff Skinner. His ice time was still limited, but he did see an increase of almost 5 minutes. Maybe his game is coming around for the Olympics or maybe his hips are starting to feel better. I originally thought it would be better for him to rest during the Olympic break, but if he can continue playing well for Team Finland, it might be a perfect audition with the trade deadline approaching. He's a real good guy, but Jim Rutherford needs to do whatever he can to get out from under the porous contract he signed Ruutu to a couple of seasons ago.

Who's Not

• Jiri Tlusty/Eric Staal/Alexander Semin - They did account for 2 of the 6 goals Carolina scored this week and they were the only line with all members finishing on the plus side. But this team needs so much more than that from these guys. They were particularly poor in the Montreal game, getting no points and combining for 6 giveaways. This line was really good at the latter part of January, but Eric has been held off the scoresheet in 4 of his last 5 games and as Eric goes, so does this line. The Canes top really needs to step up it's game when play resumes later this month. It sets the tone for the team and without them going, the Hurricanes aren't going anywhere.
• Andrej Sekera/Justin Faulk - When this pairing has a bad game, Carolina is almost certain to lose. They had another bad one against the Habs and actually ended the week by being on the ice for every goal against. They made up for it slightly by contributing a goal & an assist, but the primary point of defensemen is preventing goals. Both players are heading to the Olympics with Sekera probably going to see a little more time than Faulk. I'm actually hoping that Faulk is used sparingly, so that he can get some rest. But I pray that this Olympic hockey coupled with their already high ice time doesn't lead to them being worn out for the stretch run. This is a good, young pairing that could really become better if used a little better by the coaching staff. But without a true #4 defenseman, these guys are pressed into so many duties, it wears them down mentally and physically from time to time.
• Nathan Gerbe/Manny Malhotra/Patrick Dwyer - Well, the whole "Not List" was groups rather than individuals and I'll wrap it up with a real disappointment. When this line was first put together a couple weeks ago, they came out on fire and we all thought we might actually have a 3rd line. But opponents have been stomping the line and the fire is dead. These guys contributed 0 points and were a combined -3 for the week. They also were dominated in every possession category, finishing in the bottom 5 in every one. It's really a difficult position Kirk Muller finds himself in. The Canes basically have 2 4th lines right now, 1 that's hot and 1 that's not. It appears that Nash can handle 4th line duties, but is overwhelmed on the 3rd line, same for Malhotra. Gerbe could probably play in 2nd or 3rd line situations, but he needs a good center to help him out. I don't know what the answers are, but I imagine we'll see some changes in the bottom 6 by March 5th.

Notable Weekly Team Stats

• Scoring league-wide was little down this week and as a result, the Canes finished tied for 6th at 3.00 goals per game. They also finished middle of the pack with 2.50 goals against per game, which was tied for 16th with 6 other teams.
• Carolina's PP had one of it's best percentages in a while, going 20.0%, tied for 8th. But they still were 1 of 5 and could have used one early on against the Habs.
• Here's something I generally can't say, the PK was perfect for the week. They stopped all 5 opportunities against and tied for 1st in the NHL with 12 other teams.
• The Hurricanes shot totals, for & against, were pretty solid this week. They averaged 32.0 shots per game, tied for 9th in the league. And they gave up 29.5 shots against per game, good for 13th.
• Carolina finished in the top 10 in takeaways with 26 (1st) and blocked shots with 34 (tied 7th). Takeaways have been a Hurricane specialty, but finishing that high in blocks after being 30th last week is a good sign. They were only average in hits with 40 (tied 16th) and turnover margin at -2 (tied 13th).
• Faceoffs continue to be another strong point for the Canes as they finished 2nd, winning 56.4% of their draws. Eric squeaked out the lead at 65.9%, Jordan was runner-up at 65.0%, Manny followed at 54.2% and Riley again was last at 36.4%.
• The Corsi For & Fenwick For are a little misleading this week. In the game the Canes won, their opponent won the possession battle. But in the game the Canes lost, they dominated possession. Funny how those things work out sometimes. Carolina's 5 on 5 Corsi For percentage for the week was 51.6% and their Fenwick For percentage was 53.4%.
• Team Stat of the Week - Giveaways - 28 - The Hurricanes tied for a league-worst 28 giveaways in their 2 games. Giveaways have been an ongoing problem for the Canes. They have finished in the top 10 in fewest giveaways every season since 07/08, yet this year they are 23rd. What has changed so much between the previous years and this one? Whatever it is, the coaches and players need to fix it. Giveaways often lead to prime scoring opportunities for the opponent and limit yours.

Former Canes Weekly Stats

Canes back to practice, Justin Peters gets "Reconditioning Stint", Tavares injured, and Olympic thoughts

The Carolina Hurricanes were back to practice today, although only nine skaters were on the ice.  According to reports on Twitter, Anton Khudobin and Cam Ward took plenty of shots on goal while brothers Eric and Jordan Staal were among the attendees.

It will be interesting to see the team's frame of mind when they come back for their first game.  Will they take things easy and try to work themselves back into a mentality where every period is important, or will they be that way from the drop of the puck in Buffalo?

It will be March before you know it, which means that it will be April very soon as well.  There is not much time to right the ship and get above the playoff line.  Coach Muller is wishing he had more practice time, but it is what it is.

See what coach had to say in Chip's article from earlier today.  Canes Now

----

Andrej Sekera and Alexander Semin should be returning back to Raleigh fairly soon, since both of their teams have been eliminated.  Sekera looked good in the games that I watched.  Semin could not get much offense going and was eventually moved off of Russia's top line with Ovechkin and Malkin.

The move didn't matter though as neither of the superstars could get much going even without Semin, as their team was eliminated by Team Finland.  Speaking of Team Finland, Tuomo Ruutu is getting plenty of playing time and is chipping in with offense.  Hopefully, he can bring that back with him and do the same for Carolina.

Justin Faulk has been scratched for Team USA and has yet to see action.

There was a report on Twitter after Team Russia was eliminated saying that Semin was playing through wrist and back injuries, although that has not been confirmed.

----

The team announced yesterday that Justin Peters was being assigned to the Checkers for a "reconditioning stint".  Apparently, the rules regarding such are very liberal, since it had never been reported that Peters had been injured this season.

The reconditioning stint could be more of a showcase for a trade.  The Checkers play Friday and Saturday night this weekend so look for "Pete Dawg" to see plenty of rubber, much like Khudobin and Ward did before him.

The trade deadline is less than two weeks from today and it seems unlikely the Canes will carry three goalies the rest of the season.

----

Speaking of injuries, John Tavares suffered a serious knee injury while playing for Team Canada and will miss the rest of the season for the Islanders.  New York GM, Garth Snow, was none too pleased.

Of course Eric Staal also had a knee injury while representing Canada during the summer, which is now being blamed for his slow start this past fall.

It's fun to watch NHL'rs in the Olympics, but it is easy to see the arguments against this when millions of dollars are at stake.  And the women's hockey match today certainly showed that there can be quality, exciting hockey in the Olympics without the NHL being involved.

In case you missed it, Team USA women lost to Canada in overtime, (with the help of a couple of questionable penalties in OT.)  It was truly a heart-breaker as the American girls were up 2-0 with less then four minutes to play, before Canada jumped on them.

Friday at noon, Team Canada and Team USA face off again, this time for a men's semifinal game.  It should be another good one.

----

The Canes will be practicing at Raleigh Center Ice on Friday, Sunday, and Monday at 11 a.m.  They have a special practice at Cleland Ice Rink at Fort Bragg on Saturday at 11:15.  ((UPDATE- team will practice at 10am Friday))

This Godforsaken tournament is finally over.

The two best hockey teams in the world just fought for the gold medal. The second best team was missing their top three centers so some of the luster of the game was gone before it started. Thus, Canada won.

Good for Canada, I guess. I checked out after Team USA lost to Canada. You know, at the same time they checked out.

Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby both predictably scored goals for Canada. The shots were pretty close for most of the game, but Canada had a significantly higher percentage of quality scoring chances than Sweden. They were clearly the alpha males from the get go. Even Chris Kunitz scored.

Jamie Benn continued to look good, and escaped the tournament healthy. He helped kill a late key penalty to keep the score 3-0. You would think Benn just entered the league with the way most of the announcing crews spoke of him. He was the breakout star of the tournament even though we already knew how good he is. It had to be a great two weeks for Jamie.

The Olympics are finally over. The closing ceremonies of the Sochi games are tonight. The tournament couldn't end soon enough for those of us that suffered through the last two American efforts. What started out as a promising tournament with three large American victories ended with a thud as Canada outplayed Sweden all game. These last two weeks made me long for some NHL hockey.

Thankfully, NHL business resumes tonight. The Olympic trade freeze will end at midnight. The Dallas Stars reconvene Thursday when they host the Carolina Hurricanes. The trade deadline is next Wednesday, March 5th, In case you forgot, the Stars sit in 8th place in the Western Conference.

Benn and Kari Lehtonen have a few days left to celebrate their medals, but the next time they play a real hockey game they will be wearing that sweet sweet victory green trying to push the Stars back to the playoffs. My body is ready.

The Bruins return to practice as they await the arrivals of their Olympians.

Soon, soon... in Bruins news, as the Olympians return to Boston:

• A quick review of each Bruin's Olympic games, gold, silver, and bronze. [NESN]
• In praise of perfect Patrice Bergeron, Mr. Everything. [NewEnglandHockeyJournal]
• Team USA is swallowing disappointment, and Ryan Miller flies out of the frying pan into the fire as the Sabres host the Hurricanes Tuesday, followed by the Bruins on Wednesday. [CausewayCrowd]
• Loui Eriksson is returning to Boston on the heels of a strong Olympic performance. [NESN]
• Watch this GIF of Eriksson's goal on former Stars teammate Kari Lehtonen. [Bostinno]
• Torey Krug has been the gift that keeps giving on the Bruins' power play, and it took a lot of scouting to find him. [TheBostonGlobe]
• Whose swaggy goalie wore the best outfit to Team Finland's party? [Bostinno]
• Matt Lindblad and Justin Florek were returned to the Providence Bruins, and Adam McQuaid is trying to be patient as he continues to be out with injury. [TheBostonGlobe]
• Ryan Spooner led the PBruins to a shootout win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. [ProvidenceJournal]

Elsewhere around the rink:

• Ten thoughts on the Canada vs. Sweden gold medal game. [BackhandShelf]
• Eight thoughts from the Finland vs. USA bronze medal game. [BackhandShelf]
• He ain't heavy...at the closing ceremonies, Martin St. Louis rode on the shoulders of teammate Mike Smith. [imgur]
• Those bicycles you saw Team Finland riding around the Olympic village are to be auctioned for charity. [AtlanticCities]
• Here's as sweet a Sochi wrapup as you could wish for. [Grantland]

The Sabres and Hurricanes kick off the second half of the NHL season by trying their snowed-out game one more time.

Thanks to a snowstorm back in January, the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes will have the honor of kicking off the post-Olympic return of NHL hockey tonight in Buffalo.

So after two weeks of watching the best in the world go at it for Olympic supremacy, we get to once again watch an historically bad NHL team fight for the first overall pick. You'll forgive us if we need an extra cup of coffee to get psyched for this one.

But hey, it's not all bad, as the return of the NHL from the Olympic break means the home stretch leading up to the trade deadline, which should be one of the biggest in franchise history. The way certain players perform over the next nine days could mean the difference between staying or going, or between a first or second round pick coming back in a big deal.

For their part as a team, the Sabres should have befitted from two weeks of rest, seeing as most of their players didn't make the trip to Sochi, and of those who did, only Zemgus Girgensons had a consistent starting role. However, will a team that's historically had trouble coming out of the gate with some jump be able to rev things right back up to fifth gear? Or will we once again see a team that takes a few periods to get going?

With a win tonight, Carolina would move to within one point of the eighth playoff spot, while the Sabres enter the second part of the season nine points behind second-worst Edmonton with three games in hand.

Game #58

Buffalo Sabres (15-34-8) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (26-22-9)

Puck Drop - 7:00pm EST - First Niagara Center - Buffalo, NY
TV - NHLN-US, SPSO, MSG-B, Bell TV | Radio - WGR 550-AM
SBNation Hurricanes Blog - Canes Country

Three Questions

1. What effect will the long layoff have on the two teams?
No NHL team has played a game together in over two weeks, so will we see a sloppy game, or will these teams pick up right where they left off?

2. How will Miller play having just come back from Sochi at noon yesterday?
The Sabres two goalies and Henrik Tallinder will likely be suffering some serious jet lag, feeling like it's 4am for their game versus Carolina. Ted Nolan has said that the team won't call up another goalie, so it looks like it'll be a tired Miller in net.

3. Has the long break killed off Drew Stafford's hot streak?
Stafford had six goals and nine points in the seven games before the break, and with the trade deadline looming, now would be a great time to pick up where you left off, Drew.

Projected BUF Lines

Moulson - Ennis - Stafford
Ott - Hodgson - D'Agostini
Girgensons - Leino - Flynn
Ellis - Konopka - McCormick

Ehrhoff– Sulzer
Tallinder - Myers
Weber - McBain

Goal:Ryan Miller

Scratches/Injuries: Foligno, Scott

The Hurricanes start their sprint toward the playoffs with a five-game, ten-day road trip that kicks off tonight with a rescheduled game against the Sabres.

Carolina Hurricanes at Buffalo Sabres
February 25, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
First Niagara Center - Buffalo, NY
TV - Sports South, NHL Network
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Die by the Blade

Hurricanes Record: 26-22-9 | 61 pts | 6th Metro | 12th EC
Sabres Record: 15-34-8 | 38 pts | 8th Atlantic | 16th EC

Post-Season Picture*
Games Remaining: 25
Minimum Points Needed: 91
Points Needed: 30 (1.20 pts/game)
Playoff Chances (Sports Club Stats): 26.7%

*Note: As we head down the season stretch I'm adding a playoff countdown snapshot to the game preview. 'Minimum points needed' are calculated based on adding one point to the projected points pace (points/games played x 82) for the last opponent in either the division or wild card spot.

Welcome back to the second act of the 2013-14 Carolina Hurricanes season. I hope all the Canes Country readers had a chance to grab some popcorn and a beverage during the intermission, because the action is getting ready to heat up. With 25 games remaining and 47 days left in the regular season schedule, the Canes are going to be playing at a pace greater than a game every other day.

The Canes and Sabres have the fortune of starting their post-Olympic schedule a day earlier than the rest of the NHL, owing to tonight's make-up game which was postponed after a polar vortex hit Buffalo on January 7th. This will be the second game of a three-game series. The Canes won the first game, 5-3 in Buffalo on January 23rd, with Alexander Semin tallying two goals, and Andrej Sekera logging his first career three-point night with a goal and two assists in his first return to face his former team.

Sabres Updates

The Sabres had lost four straight games heading into the Olympic break and were 2-7-1 over their last ten games.

The Sabres were represented in Sochi by goaltenders Ryan Miller (USA) and Jhonas Enroth (Sweden), defenseman Henrik Tallinder (Sweden), forward Zemgus Girgensons (Latvia), and interim head coach Ted Nolan (Latvia). Nolan and Girgensons arrived back several days ago, the other players were on the last charter from Sochi and did not practice yesterday.

Barring complication from jet lag, Miller is expected to start in net tonight. He is 12-9-4 with a 2.69 GAA in 25 career games against the Canes. Enroth is 2-2-0 with a 2.49 GAA and one shutout in four games.

John Scott, who skated as a defenseman in practice while Tallinder was in Sochi, is not expected to be in tonight's lineup. Scott was a subject of high drama at yesterday's practice when he snapped his stick and stormed off the ice after being dismissed by Nolan for fumbling the puck during practice [Buffalo Hockey Beat].

Practice lines (missing the Olympians) are in yesterday's practice report from [Sabres.com].

The practice report also includes comments from Matt Moulson, who goes into the trade deadline a pending UFA and therefore uncertain future. By the way, Moulson is a point-per-game player against the Canes with 20 points in 18 games.

The [Buffalo News] reports on the possibility of trading away captain Steve Ott, also a UFA at the end of the season.

Canes Updates

The Hurricanes entered the Olympic break with a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in their last game but having won seven games out of their last eleven.

Today's game against the Sabres begins a five-game, ten-day road trip. From Buffalo, the Canes stop off in Dallas Thursday night to take on the Stars before kicking off March with three games agains the state of California (Kings, Ducks, Sharks in that order). This just may be a pivotal road trip [CH.com].

Olympians Andrej Sekera and Alex Semin returned a few days ago and have a few practices under their belts already [CH.com]. Tuomo Ruutu did not practice Monday but joined the team in Raleigh for the flight to Buffalo. Justin Faulk flew directly to Buffalo and met the team there.

Regarding Ruutu, who was the only Hurricane to return with a medal, his Sochi stats were impressive: tied for second among all Olympic skaters with a (+6) rating and tied for third in assists (4). He was one of only three players to score a goal against Team Canada during the tournament, and averaged 15:47 in TOI.

The Canes have been practicing since Thursday and are ready to get back to playing, according to head coach Kirk Muller [Sunday and Monday audio]. There are no major changes to the lines from the last several games, other than the missing players returning from Sochi [depth chart]. Muller hasn't declared a starting goaltender, but Cam Ward commanded most of the work in the traditional starter spot at RCI yesterday.

Ward is 9-6-3 with a 2.84 GAA and two shutouts in 18 career games against the Sabres; Anton Khudobin is 3-1-1 with a 1.98 GAA and a shutout in five appearances.

A few more click-worthy items:

On Saturday the Canes players spent the day team building as the guest of the U.S. Special Forces at Fort Bragg. The day featured a youth hockey clinic, practice at Cleland Ice Rink, an autograph session for military families, and a team-building session with the Special Forces group featuring some heavy artillery. [Recap] [Photo-Lindholm and Nash] [Video-Khudobin] [Photo-Gerbe] [Photo-Autographs]

Down on the farm, Paul Branecky recalls the Albany River Rats bus crash, five years later, via chilling firsthand accounts from several who where there [GoCheckers.com].

Finally, before you leave the Olympics behind, take the time to watch an outstanding feature that aired on Saturday recounting the tragic Lokomotiv plane crash and the rebuilding of a hockey team. Note: this is an hour documentary, and you'll need to authenticate with your TV provider to watch. Also, tissues are advised. [NBC Sports].

We'll have the open game thread ready to go by 6:30 pm. See you there.

Stray dogs. Olympic report cards. Obscene Alex. What We Learned. Milan Hejduk officially retires. Hockey hugs. Fuck your hypothetical. RIP, Harold Ramis. Fuck Dominica's skiers. Tattoo yo' dick. And classic clips. Time to get back to work.

Sorry I couldn't do links yesterday. The fiance' and I took a two-day trip to northwestern Montana, went snowshoeing through a small bit of Glacier National Park (which is fucking beautiful and if you've ever thought of going there, do it), ventured over to Whitefish for food and drink (and took this sweet picture from the second floor of Great Northern Brewing Company) and spent Sunday night in (what ended up being) a wi-fi-less (but warm, and very nice!) cabin. It was good therapy. And it's a great thing J-Mill is better at this links thing than I am (and that's no bullshit).

But anyway . . . the National Hockey League returns today. Technically.

BLUES NEWS:

• Go over to the Blues website and check out a bunch of interviews from the Blues' Olympians. Go now!
• Or, go here and check out what David Backes and company did to get some of Sochi's stray dogs home. I WANT ONE (but can't have one, thanks to this stupid apartment lease agreement). [Y! Sports Video]
• Hildy takes what each Blues player did in the Olympics and wraps it up one-by-one. [SLGT]
• Grease the tires and light the fires. [In The Slot / Lou Korac]

HOCKEY NEWS:

• First NHL game since February 8th is . . . Sabres at Hurricanes? Well that's adorable. Also, that's THE ONLY GAME. Eeek. [NHL.com 02/25/14]
• Obscene Alex recaps the Olympics in the way only Obscene Alex can. [III Communication]
• The Olympics proved that Canada won the gold medal, but not much else, as Ryan Lambert pretty much says without saying in his What We Learned. [Puck Daddy]
• Remember Milan Hejduk? Remember how he hadn't played a game since unofficially retiring? Well, he officially retired yesterday. [Avalanche(s)]
• Hockey hugs! No Americans. Wonder why. [Puck Daddy]
• "I know you hate hypotheticals . . . " " . . . not only that, I don't answer them." My respect for Donald Fehr jumped about a thousand percent with that exchange. Oh, there was a full interview too. [ESPN]
• 10 things we'll take away from the 2014 Olympics, hockey-wise. Yes, T.J. Oshie shows up. As he should. [Puck Daddy]

OTHER SHIT:

• Harold Ramis was part of a lot of the movies I found to be great and hilarious during my formative years. And while he was a Chicago guy, he spent a few of his formative years on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. Yesterday, he passed at the age of 69. RIP, sir. And thank you. [CNN]
• These two people are dicks. [Deadspin]
• So if you get tattoos on your dick and send them to someone unsuspectingly, you're cool. [Y! / Reuters]

VIDEOS:

A couple Harold Ramis videos. First, from what might have been his own personal crowning achievement . . . Stripes. A classic:

And who can forget this scene from Ghostbusters?

Don't cross the streams.

I'm back at it tomorrow. And so are the Blues! Links and videos, por favor:

• gtdonutking AT gmail DOT com
• @KingDonutI

Injuries to Olympians Barkov and Kopecky necessitates some roster shuffling as Cats ready for 24 games in 45 days.

With the Florida Panthers getting back at it Thursday night when the Washington Capitals visit the BB&T Center, the club has made a few moves to set their roster going forward, or at least until the March 5th trade deadline, when the lineup could look quite different.

Aleksander Barkov and Tomas Kopecky have been placed on injured reserve, with both expected to be out indefinitely.

With Barkov out mending his knee, Nick Bjugstad will move up a line and center wingers Brad Boyes and Sean Bergenheim, keeping the line's Killer B's nickname intact.

Drew Shore and Dylan Olsen are back up from San Antonio. Shore's most recent stint with the Rampage saw him score five goals and add one assist in nine games. Olsen suited up for one game with the Silver and Black during the Olympic break, scoring a goal and finishing with a +2 rating against the Hamilton Bulldogs on February 17th.

I am glad to see that these two players have returned to the Cats lineup. I think both have proven they need to be plying their trade full-time in the NHL.

Veteran defenseman Mike Mottau is finally off injured reserved. He cleared waivers and was sent down to San Antonio. Mottau played in seven games for the Panthers this season with no points.

The Olympics were interesting, but I am stoked that the NHL returns tonight when the Sabres and Hurricanes tangle in Buffalo.

Feel free to chime in below with any thoughts. The floor is yours...

As we expected, plenty of Ducks played late into the Olympic tournament and brought home some hardware. What does that mean for the first games back in the NHL season?

1. The Finns wanted it more than the Americans did, plain and simple. Both teams were disappointed with their semi-final losses to neighboring countries, but rather than admit failure in the tournament, Team Finland regrouped and fought hard for their Bronze Medal. Team USA, it appears, adopted a Gold or bust mentality and in doing so let any chance at a medal slip away. Congratulations to Teemu Selanne, Sami Vatanen, and the rest of the Finnish team. They deserved their Olympic medal. The Americans did not.

2. Speaking of Selanne, the Ducks website has a pretty good list of his Olympic accolades dating back to 1992. Take a look. Perhaps his performance in Sochi will convince Bruce Boudreau to give him a little more power play time, something I wouldn't mind seeing.

3. Nick Bonino and Mark Fistric, while both still on IR, could return as early as Friday's game against the St. Louis Blues. That game kicks off a four-game homestand that will also see the Ducks host the Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens, and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Blues will obviously present a challenge, but I'm more concerned about seeing how the Ducks perform, particularly those that competed in Sochi. Jonas Hiller and Cam Fowler should be plenty motivated after their teams disappointing losses, but will that translate into good play? And how will the Ducks' two best players perform in their return to regular season games, which figure to be something of an emotional letdown after the triumph of winning Gold? They didn't respond so well in 2010. Let's hope for better this time around.

This Sabres fan was not pleased with Eric Staal's game-tying goal on Tuesday night.

In some ways, this person sitting in the front in Buffalo on Tuesday night was just expressing all of our feelings for the NHL's return game from the Olympic break involving the Hurricanes and Sabres.

Or maybe she was just livid that Eric Staal had the nerve to score a game-tying goal late in the second period.

Either way, she made sure to let the oldest of the Staal brothers know exactly where he and his Hurricanes teammates stand in her eyes.

And as the video shows, she was very committed to the effort.

Ryan Miller stones Carolina - powerplay disappoints again

The Carolina Hurricanes faced the worst team in the league on Tuesday night and came up short as they were defeated by the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2.  The Canes outshot the home team 38-18 but Ryan Miller made 36 saves as the Sabres earned just their 40th point of the season.

Cam Ward was in net for the first time since December 31st, but did not improve his .895 save percentage as he allowed three goals on 18 shots.

Carolina jumped on the Sabres fast and outshot them 21-9 in the first two periods, then 17-9 in the third, but Miller was the difference.

The Hurricanes also had five chances with the man advantage but they were not successful in that department, while Buffalo was 1-3 on their powerplay.

After a scoreless first period, Christian Ehrhoff shot a puck from the blueline that Ward got a glove on, but could not stop as the home team took a 1-0 lead on their first powerplay chance, early in the second.

Eric Staal tied up the game later in the period when he beat Miller five-hole on a rush.  The goal came just seconds after a Carolina penalty expired and was close to being a shortie, but officially was even strength.

The Sabres took the lead again with 7:47 left in the game as Ward thought he had the puck stopped, but it was laying in the crease behind him.  Tyler Ennis tipped it in.

Alexander Semin tied the game one more time with four minutes left as he skated the puck in the zone and zipped a beautiful shot past Miller.

It looked like it might end up a tie game, but with less than a minute left, Ehrhoff skated around the back of the Carolina net then rifled a shot toward the goal.  The puck took a bad bounce for the Canes and went in the net off of Justin Faulk's stick for the game-winner.

The Canes will next travel to Dallas for a game against the Stars on Thursday night.

Game Notes:

• Jeff Skinner had a team high seven shots on goal but could not solve Miller.
• John-Michael Liles had a team high 22:40 of ice time.  Faulk was right behind with 22:33.
• The team won 57% of their faceoffs led by Jordan Staal with 67%.
• The Sabres had 24 hits to eight for Carolina and for the most part kept the crease clear for their goalie.

A fantasized look at NHL action from Tuesday night

Carolina Hurricanes 2 vs Buffalo Sabres 3

Let's continue with Ryan Miller as he continued to show he can still get it done with a weak team in front of him after stopping 36-38 for the win. He also picked up 2 assists becoming the first Sabres goaltender to register 2 assists in a game since Daren Puppa did it back in 1991 against Toronto. The rumours continue to swirl that he will be on the move ahead of the deadline and as a Miller owner in a couple of leagues, I am saying bring it on! Depending on where he ends up, his owners that stuck with him may finally get rewarded. But if he doesn't get moved, they may have a spot for him on the 2nd PP unit after this performance.

Christian Ehrhoff (2G, -1, 2SOG, 1Hit, 3BS) found the scoresheet twice here after being paired with new linemate Ryan Miller. He also finished with the most TOI with just over 24 minutes and the most PP time at 2:38.

Drew Stafford tallied 2A playing on the top line. For a regular update of line combos, you can check out www.nicholsonhockey.com/blog-nhl-line-combos/

Cam Ward did not have the best game out of the gate only stopping 15-18 shots for the loss. This is just me but Ward is one guy I think could use a change of scenery. And with Anton Khudobin showing he can handle the workload, I wouldn't be surprised if the Hurricanes were shopping him around. Something worth watching over the next little while.

Eric Staal (1G, +2, 4SOG, 1 Hit) continues his late season surge. You will not be buying low on him now as that door has closed. Jordan Staal however received the second most PP time at 5:08 but was held pointless. For me it has been a down year for Jordan but next season he will still only be 26yrs old. Hard to imagine there isn't more there and I think he is someone worth keeping an eye on during the summer as a cheap pickup. He is currently on pace for 15G, 22A, 171SOG and 180 Hits for those that count them.

Alexander Semin (1G, +2, 4SOG) now has 15G and 15A in 46GP on the year. As mentioned by @FantasyHockeyDK he had 18 shots in 5 games prior to the Oly break and is a point per game threat. Worth taking a shot on if you can snag him at a decent cost.

That's it for me this week but as always, feel free to mention any notables I did not discuss below. And don't forget to follow @TheScouts for regular updates or myself @Pope604 for the random well spaced out thoughts.

A tale of two recaps.

I was gonna write a different recap tonight. In fact, I did, but deleted it an hour after the game.

The other was full of anger and frustration over the 50 minutes of god-awful hockey that Sabres and Hurricanes fans were subjected to before we got 10 minutes of quality, and it ranted about how such a poor effort could be rewarded with a win, but I scrapped that. If you follow us on Twitter (and if not, why wouldn't you?) or were in tonight's Game Thread, then you probably saw a fan who was at times bored, fed up, apathetic, and frustrated, but I decided to rewrite everything, and here's why:

Ryan Miller will soon be gone. We've known, or suspected this, for a long time, but the comments tonight from GM Tim Murray, coach Ted Nolan, and Miller's own post-game comments, in which he admitted that he won't re-sign in Buffalo and wants to play for a contender at age 34, really drove that point home.

Coincidentally, Ryan Miller was also the first star tonight. Not only did he assist on two of the three Sabres goals (becoming the first Sabres goalie since Daren Puppa to do so!) but he single-handedly kept his team in the game, as he's done so many times before, until they decided to wake from their unending slumber and actually give a damn. They won the game because of him, but with the trade deadline looming and Enroth to start tomorrow, Miller might have done it for the last time, and although we've had 18 months to prepare for it, that still seems incredible for me to say.

Ryan Miller has been the best thing about Buffalo hockey over the past five years, from his Vezina Trophy season and Olympic heroism, to his simple consistency and professionalism in the face of seemingly never-ending incompetence, he's been a very good goalie for a very long time in Buffalo. Buffalo, a city which has been blessed with goaltending talent from Barrasso to Hasek to Shields to Biron to Miller to, uh...who's next, exactly? Ted Nolan was asked a question tonight that many of us have been mulling over - what will this team look like without Ryan Miller? Nolan took a long, hard, pause before dancing around the question, but the unstated answer was obvious - I don't want to think about it.

The Ryan Miller Farewell Tour is giving its final few performances over the next week, and just like a roadie who's been following the same band for years, now that we're nearing the end, I don't want to see the music stop. Whether he's traded or not, Miller won't be coming back to Buffalo, and if what we saw tonight is any indication, this team without him will be absolutely horrifying to watch - yes, as sad as it is to say, there's still new depths of incompetence for the Sabres to mine. So tonight, I decided to put my anger aside (there will certainly be time for that later) and simply enjoy the last few moments with one of Buffalo's all-time greats.

Three Questions

1. What effect will the long layoff have on the two teams?
Well it certainly didn't give them any extra energy. The first two periods were snoozers that saw the Sabres total just nine shots. Aside from a few Buffalo breakaways and a couple nice hits, I found myself glancing at Twitter far more than the ice tonight, until the last ten minutes, that is.

2. How will Miller play having just come back from Sochi at noon yesterday?
See above. He said after the game that he felt a little loopy, but naps and keeping his mindset simple helped him stay sharp.

3. Has the long break killed off Drew Stafford's hot streak?
Nope, Stafford assisted on Ehrhoff's goal to earn his tenth point in his last eight games. Oh, and did we mention there were 28 scouts in the building?

Three Stars

1. Ryan Miller - Two assists and he gets the first star? Oh, also 38 saves.
2. Christian Ehrhoff - Two goals
3. Tyler Ennis - A mere one goal

Comment of the Game

best defense pairing

Scott steps up and botches a check taking a tripping penalty and then the canes blow right past McBain.
/tank

by Ubiquitous

Just imagine the tanking without Miller.

Highlights

The Carolina Hurricanes might be forced to stay the course as the trade deadline comes to pass.

The Carolina Hurricanes are in a difficult position. The club is in the playoff hunt but is stuck in the middle of several teams vying for a limited number of spots.

General manager Jim Rutherford has publicly addressed his desire to upgrade his roster through trade, but has been met with obstacles that complicate the process. With several teams squeezed by the salary cap, most deals require an equal exchange of money to make the trades work for both sides. This is slowing things down, Rutherford says.

So, the result is a club looking to improve with no way to do so. With several rental options available on the market, it seems unlikely that a fringe playoff team would expend assets, only to lose the rental come July. This means the Hurricanes — despite their desires to make moves — might be inactive in the days leading up to the deadline.

Forward help wouldn't hurt

The Hurricanes are at the bottom of the league in most offensive categories and are one of the league's lowest scoring teams. While the team's four highest paid forwards — Alexander Semin, Jeff Skinner, Eric and Jordan Staal— all rank in the top-five in team scoring, Eric Staal and Skinner are the only two players remotely close to producing at point-per-game clips.

Carolina could certainly use added firepower, but the massive contracts of those four players makes the financials difficult. It becomes a question of whether the Hurricanes are willing to levy future assets for rental players that might walk.

More Hurricanes coverage

Carolina Hurricanes

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In a perfect world

The Hurricanes would probably like to upgrade their defense, because they've been trying to do so for a while. The only problem is several teams are looking for defense, and the teams that have it want to keep it. NHL-ready defensemen are difficult to come by, which is why it's such a common demand.

Carolina has made several moves over the last several months to help sure up their defense, which includes the acquisition of Andrej Sekera, John-Michael Liles and Ron Hainsey. The Hurricanes probably have interest in adding to that list.

Selling?

The Hurricanes have pieces that other clubs might find appealing. Hainsey is an unrestricted free agent this summer and Rutherford might be able to leverage him to improve other areas. Given how hungry the market is for capable defenders, this might be a viable route for improvement.

Tuomo Ruutu's name has been floated several times. Rutherford would probably love to get his $4.75 million contract off the books so that he could have more flexibility, but finding someone to take on that hit likely isn't easy, especially with his performance this season.

Carolina has a strength in goal, as the club has three capable NHL goaltenders in Cam Ward, Anton Khudobin and Justin Peters. Ward likely isn't going anywhere by March 5, but Khudobin and Peters are pending unrestricted free agents, which might inspire Rutherford to trade one. Of course, that's the most saturated portion of the trade market, so finding a deal there will be tough.

How much are the Hurricanes willing to spend on goaltending?

Anton Khudobin is looking like the real deal.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed the free agent goalie to a one-year contract over the offseason for a reasonable, $800,000 and the player has more than earned his keep.

His stats have placed him well above the other goalies in the organization and he has earned the right to be Carolina's number one, at least for now.  In the same number of games that Cam Ward has played in, (20), he has allowed 18 fewer goals while facing 11 more shots.

But not only is he making a name for himself in Carolina, the rest of the league is taking notice as well.  Khudobin was recognized as the NHL's first star for the month of January.

Some fans are thinking it might be time for Jim Rutherford to extend the goalie's contract, to keep him with the Hurricanes longer than this season.  But there are some issues that are probably holding this up.

The biggest problem to re-signing Khudobin might be Cam Ward's contract.

Currently, Ward is the fourth highest paid goalie in the NHL as he earns $6.6 million this year.  (Cap Geek).  While this season is not a problem because we are almost done with it, the goalie is also on the books for the next two years, which does pose a problem.

Khudobin is due a raise, there is no arguing that.  Perhaps he has earned a contract worth $2 million a year, or $3 million, or maybe even a little more.  But regardless of the raise, the question is, how much can Carolina afford to put into that position?  It does not seem reasonable that they can continue to pay Ward his $6.6 million and give Khudobin much of a raise.  Something has to give.

Of course, Khudobin might want to test the waters to see what he is worth on market this summer.  When asked about his future with the franchise in a recent interview, he did say that he liked the team, liked the area, and would like to stay.

But it seems like the Hurricanes need to find some kind of resolution regarding Ward before they start negotiating with Khudobin.  Can they trade him?  Would they buy him out?  Are they willing to continue to pay superstar-like money for a lesser performance or gamble on the future regarding that?

If management does think they will hang on to Ward and look for a cheap backup option for next season, (cheaper than Khudobin's future contract), they may want to consider trading the Russian goalie before the deadline, so they can get something for him before he tests the market.

Of course, no one knows what Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford is thinking regarding this, but the days ahead will not be easy ones.

The Hurricanes and Sabres kicked off the post-Olympic schedule Tuesday by making up the previously snowed out game in Buffalo. The Sabres topped the Hurricanes, 3-2, on a late goal by Christian Ehrhoff.

The Carolina Hurricanes kicked off their five-game road trip and the remainder of their season with a 3-2 loss in Buffalo, putting the team in a precarious position with the trade deadline approaching and four playoff-bound teams remaining before they return to PNC Arena.

Three Observations

1. Carolina’s power play continues to be an embarassment. The Canes went 0-for-6 in a game when they desperately needed production with the man-advantage. When Kirk Muller was hired, he was considered the cure for Carolina’s power play woes. At 13.9 percent, the power play is the worst it's been since Carolina finished last in the NHL in 2003-04 at 10.6 percent.

2. Cam Ward played well enough in his first game in nearly two months, but he is a long way removed from being Ryan Miller’s equal. Miller proved that Wednesday, standing on his head to send Carolina to a loss in a game they desperately needed. As for Ward, the first goal he allowed is on him — a puck that hit his glove and trickled into the Canes net — but beyond that he played OK despite not seeing much action and allowing three goals on just 18 shots.

3. Carolina’s loss sets them up to be sellers at the deadline. While there are still needs — another center is the biggest — the Canes are now behind several teams for a playoff spot and, frankly, it's unlikely that one player is going change their fortunes. That's not to say Carolina couldn't make a push for the postseason, but they need to explore what they could get back in a trade for players like Ron Hainsey, Nathan Gerbe, Justin Peters and perhaps a few others. Unless Carolina really stumbles during this road trip, I doubt GM Jim Rutherford will go into full sell mode. But don't rule out a good-for-both trade like the one that sent Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore to Ottawa in exchange for Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves in 2008.

Number To Know

7 — Shots on goal for Jeff Skinner in just 15:49 of ice time, including just 10:49 at even strength.

Plus

Eric Staal— The captain scored the goal the Canes needed, tying the game right as a Buffalo power play expired and snapping Staal’s five-game goalless streak. Staal also won 13 of 22 faceoffs, improving his winning percentage to 52.1 percent on the season.

Minus

Manny Malhotra— Malhotra is on the Carolina roster to do two things: win faceoffs and shut down opposing scorers. Tuesday he lost six of 11 faceoffs and was a part of a group that watched Christian Ehrhoff cruise around the ice to score the game-winning goal in the final minute.

They're baaaaack.

The Dallas Stars spent three weeks occupying a Western Conference playoff spot over the break, but the Vancouver Canucks needed just a couple of hours to take it back Wednesday night, snapping a seven-game losing streak with an impressive 1-0 statement win against the St. Louis Blues.

And the see-saw, or at least Stars fans hope, begins anew. It's their turn to seize it back tonight as the Carolina Hurricanes come to the American Airlines Center at 7:30pm CST on Fox Sports Southwest.

Dallas recovered from a January tail-spin with a 6-1-2 stretch to close things out ahead of the break, during which they out-scored opponents 27-12 and beat the Phoenix Coyotes twice to secure eighth place for much of February.

The question is if that momentum still exists after such a lengthy break.

The Stars find themselves at perhaps a slight disadvantage, trying to relocate their game from a cold start tonight while the Hurricanes have already played on Tuesday and been traveling. Lindy Ruff knows the Stars need to start quick.

"Carolina will have a little bit of an advantage because they've had a game to get the rust off," Ruff told media this week. "For us, it's creating enough urgency in our play to overcome not playing in two-and-a-half weeks."

The lineup in practice on Wednesday tasked with generating said urgency was this, subject to change:

Benn-Seguin-Nichushkin
Cole-Eakin-Peverley
Roussel-Fiddler-Garbutt
Whitney-Horcoff-Chiasson

Goligoski-Daley
Benn-Dillon
Rome-Gonchar

Dallas opens play with a stretch of things that have been difficult for them at times this season: Eastern Conference opponents in Carolina, Tampa Bay and Buffalo (recall six straight losses to Eastern foes to start what was supposed to be a manageable stretch of January), and home games. Only eight teams in the entire league have fewer home wins than do the Stars.

On the other hand the Stars are 4-1-1 in their last four home games. On the other the Stars beat the Maple Leafs, Penguins and Devils at home in the span of a week. How things are going to take off out of the break are anyone's guess.

The Stars can hang with the tough teams. Wins against Los Angeles, Anaheim, Chicago, Minnesota and Pittsburgh have shown that. Losses to Nashville, the Islanders, New Jersey and Edmonton have shown the opposite. How quickly they re-find their team game and the defense they were committed to three weeks ago will tell fans what they need to know about finding consistencies against all levels of competition.

The Hurricanes are a very respectable 4-2-2 against the Central Division this season including points earned against the Blackhawks and Blues, so they can hold their own in these inter-conference battles.

They carry with them a respectable 50% Corsi rating at 5-on-5 with the score close, meaning they give as good as they get where shot attempts are concerned. They probably deserved better in their action Tuesday night in Buffalo, out-shooting the Sabres 38-18 while earning five power play opportunities, but ultimately losing 3-2 to Ryan Miller in the opposing goal.

Carolina owns the league's third worst power play at 13.9% (Dallas is up to 15.1%) and a well below average kill, but they don't need it. The Hurricanes have surrendered just 22 power play opportunities in their last 11 games. Two per. That's a very disciplined bench, and the Stars will have to be the team that dictates pace if they want to earn some calls.

The Hurricanes are a top-10 team in terms of shots on goal, however, and might be right at home if the Stars want to get out and run a little bit.

Their lineup:

Tlusty-Staal-Semin
Gerbe-Staal-Dwyer
Skinner-Nash-Ruutu
Bowman-Malhotra-Dvorak

Faulk-Sekera
Michael Liles-Hainsey
Bellemore-Harrison

Cam Ward
Anton Khudobin

Yes, that's former Dallas Star Radek Dvorak, now on a two-way contract with Carolina after a camp invite in September.

Dallas has not seen Carolina since November 6th, 2011 in a 5-2 win.

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The Hurricanes face an Olympic hero, as well as a few old friends, as they take on the Stars tonight in Dallas.

Carolina Hurricanes at Dallas Stars
February 27, 2014 - 8:30 pm ET
American Airlines Center - Dallas TX
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Defending Big D

Hurricanes Record: 26-23-9 | 61 pts | 6th Metro | 12th EC
Stars Record: 27-21-10 | 64 pts | 5th Central | 9th WC

Post-Season Picture
Games Remaining: 24
Minimum Points Needed: 93
Points Back: 32 (1.33 points/game)
Playoff Chances (Sports Club Stats): 17.4%

Tonight the Canes and Stars face off for the first time since 2011. This will be the first game for the Stars since the Olympic break. The Canes are coming off a 3-2 loss in Buffalo on Tuesday night, and are on the second game of a five-game road trip. After this game they will head further west for games against the three California teams to wrap up a west coast swing.

The city of Dallas has not been kind to the Hurricanes, who haven't won there in regulation since they were the Hartford Whalers. In the last ten years, Dallas has a 9-0-1 record and a five-game home winning streak. The Stars are 5-1-0 in their last six games against the Canes, with the last Canes win coming in Raleigh on December 16, 2009.

Stars News

Heading into the Olympic break, the Stars were one of the NHL's hottest teams with points in eight out of their last nine games, a push that enabled them to claim the last wild card spot in the Western Conference (note, they've been knocked down to 9th after a win by the Canucks last night). They are fighting for their first playoff appearance in five years.

The Stars' young captain Jamie Benn returned home from Sochi with both a gold medal and with the honor of scoring the only goal in Team Canada's 1-0 win over Team USA in the semi-finals. Kari Lehtonen earned a bronze medal for Team Finland, Valeri Nichushkin scored in his debut with Team Russia, and head coach Lindy Ruff added his second gold medal with Team Canada.

The Stars rank near the middle of the NHL pack in most statistical categories, slightly lower on the power play, and lower in shots allowed per game, which has been an area of recent focus and improvement. In the first 47 games of the season, the Stars averaged over 32 shots per game, but over the last 11 games before the break, they reduced that average to just over 23 shots allowed.

Tyler Seguin leads the Stars in scoring with 56 points (24g, 32a). Benn is second with 51 points and has an eight-game home point streak (6g, 7a). He also has five points in five career games against the Canes.

Erik Cole played nine seasons for the Hurricanes and Ray Whitney spent five years here, both with big contributions in the 2006 Stanley Cup championship and the run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2009 (Cole as well with the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002). They continue to contribute to the Stars' offense with 25 and 22 points respectively, and no doubt will enter tonight's game with extra incentive to put up points against their former team.

Kari Lehtonen will likely be tonight's starter. His statistics against the Hurricanes aren't impressive (6-11-1 with a 3.39 GAA), but for the season he is 22-15-10 with three shutouts and a 2.48 GAA and .916 save percentage. Another ex-Cane, Dan Ellis, is backup in net, with a 5-5-0 record and 2.94 GAA and .906 save percentage. Ellis has only faced the Canes twice in his career, but both were wins.

The Stars have a healthy roster for tonight's game. Defenseman Stephane Robidas is on injured reserve with a broken leg, but has started practicing with the team although there is no timetable for his return.

Projected line-up and other Stars notes can be found in their game preview over at [DefendingBigD].

Canes News

Tuesday night's loss to the Sabres dug the hole just a wee bit deeper for the Canes' playoff picture, now five points behind both Detroit for the last wild card spot and the Flyers for the last Metro division spot.

The Canes flew out Tuesday night and held a practice in Dallas yesterday. Justin Faulk, Tuomo Ruutu, and Andrej Sekera were given a rest day. None of the forward lines changed from Tuesday's game with the exception of Elias Lindholm taking Ruutu's spot on the line with Jeff Skinner and Riley Nash.

Kirk Muller hasn't tipped his hand as to a starting goaltender. Anton Khudobin has never faced the Stars, although he certainly has familiarity with their leading scorer having been his teammate in Boston. The aforementioned former Canes have just a little knowledge of Cam Ward as well.

With another tally in Tuesday's game, Alexander Semin remains on a roll for 2014, with points in nine out of his last twelve games (9g, 3a). Per Canes stats master Brian Verdi, Sasha leads the NHL in plus/minus rating since December 31 (+14) and ranks tied for third in the league in goals (11) during that same span. He's also a point-per-game player against the Stars, as are Eric and Jordan Staal.

Michael Smith interviewed general manager Jim Rutherford to get some early perspective on the Canes' plans for the trade deadline in this week's [Tweetmail].

We'll have the game thread open and ready to roll by 8:00 pm. See you there.

It was time for a "Jamie Benn power play" Thursday as the Stars resumed play.

It was hard to know what kind of a game we were going to see coming out of a nearly three-week Olympic layoff for the Dallas Stars as the Carolina Hurricanes came a'calling.

Anything was possible. Like two shorthanded goals?

On a night when the notoriously stingy Hurricanes handed the Stars seven power play chances to the tune of nearly 13 minutes of clock, it was the exploits of Jamie Benn while killing penalties than proved the difference. Benn assisted on Brenden Dillon's first-period shorty and then added one of his own in spectacular fashion late in the second period to propel the Stars to victory.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 29 of 30 in a solid outing opposite an impressive Anton Khudobin, who was tasked with 34 Dallas shots in the loss. The win puts the Stars back in eighth place over the Phoenix Coyotes, who, in very Coyote-like fashion, earned themselves a point in a shootout loss this evening.

Sloppy at times, but entertaining to say the least. Welcome back, Dallas Stars hockey.

First Period:

Would there be rust? Yes. But there were also goals. Valeri Nichushkin wafted into the Carolina zone on his backhand and sent a beauty of a pass across to Tyler Seguin, who made no mistake in giving the Stars a 1-0 lead just three minutes in.

Three minutes after that, thanks to a Cody Eakin delay-of-game, Jamie Benn charged into the Carolina zone with the puck on his stick and lost it, affording a trailing Brenden Dillon an opportunity with speed which he deftly negotiated through the slot before beating Khudobin for the shorthanded goal and a 2-0 lead.

Each team would end the frame with 11 shots

Second Period:

Carolina's less-than-charitable habits where affording opponents power plays are concerned continued to be disproved with an Eric Staal cross-check to start things off, but Dallas could not generate, and the game fell into a bit of a sloppy back and forth.

A Jamie Benn "interference penalty" gave the Hurricanes life midway through the second period but the Stars killed the penalty and the return to a general malaise (Brandon and I watched a guy "vaping" in section 312, as if to underscore this point) continued.

The Stars looked in danger of being lulled to sleep with the always perilous two-goal lead but Kari Lehtonen was there on occasion when they needed him, and an Carolina's fourth minor penalty of the game tipped possession pack in Dallas' favor late in the frame until Ray Whitney gave them another chance.

That's when Jamie Benn took one for himself, slicing through the Hurricane's defense like, to quote Razor, "poop through a [] goose", to beat Khudobin shorthanded once more and extend the lead to three.

That livened things up quite a bit.

Third Period:

Jordie Benn attempted to set his brother up on another "Jamie Benn power play" in the opening seconds of the third period, but things took a turn. Eric Staal scored from a severe angle through a leaky Kari Lehtonen as the Hurricanes surged past the Stars in shot count.

And Jamie Benn went to the locker room just before that.

Still, all the Stars had to do was hang and not make any mistakes. Then Antoine Roussel happened, steamrolling the Carolina netminder and starting quite a scene in the process, not to mention bloodying his face quite spectacularly. The result would be a three minute power play for Carolina.

But the Stars didn't corner the market on stupid in the sequence, and Tuomu Ruutu took a minor, giving the Stars a mini-power play before the Carolina advantage. Not wanting to be left out, Ryan Garbutt then took a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. And it was hard to keep track of anything at that point.

Killing the penalty settled the Stars, and they dominated scoring chances the rest of the way while Carolina continued their uncharacteristic conga line to the box, surging back ahead in the shots on goal department, and many more misses as the clock wound down.

Cody Eakin sealed it with the empty-netter "Taco" goal.

Briefly:

*Two shorthanded breakaways for Jamie Benn, one goal. He was used on the penalty kill sparingly to start the season, albeit with Tyler Seguin, and that experiment did not last long. Benn killed penalties with Team Canada and Lindy Ruff was there to orchestrate it. He came right back to it tonight, pairing Benn with Peverley and it paid dividends throughout. We'll see if they can keep that going.

*Things got a little testy when Jamie Benn and Tuomu Ruutu were going after a puck in the corner, evenly and simultaneously, and the officials overreacted at a clean hockey play when Benn wouldn't get out of Ruutu's way and send him off with a kind word. What was Benn supposed to do? Just step aside? Ridiculous call.

*Antoine Roussel can't do that. We've said it before. He can't do that. He left himself no out with so much speed, even if the Hurricane player did contact him. It was a reckless play and the league wants to get that out of the game. A fine is not out of the question, in this fan's opinion, but I could be way off base.

*Tough to say with just 14 minutes of ice time, but Alex Chiasson did look refreshed and engaged with six shot attempts and a couple of pretty close ones. That allowed Ruff to spread his minutes out pretty evenly throughout the forward group, and it was the Fiddler line that actually saw the least burn when it was all said and done.

*The Hurricanes are not very good. The Stars will have to be better on Saturday, and in an early afternoon contest, no less. But good win to get back into 8th.

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