Canes start out flat in Dallas and allow two shorties in third straight loss

The Carolina Hurricanes had a slow start in Dallas and ended up losing 4-1 to the Stars on Thursday night in the second game of their five game road trip.

Tyler Seguin made it 1-0 on a nice feed from rookie sensation Valeri Nichushkin just 3:18 into the game.

Less than three minutes later, Brenden Dillon blasted an open shot past Anton Khudobin to make it 2-0, and the Stars had all the scoring they needed for the night.   The goal was the first of two shorthanded scored against the Canes this game.

While the Hurricanes were able to generate shots on goal, the Stars more than doubled them up on scoring chances and certainly had many more quality scoring chances than the Hurricanes.

With just 1:25 left in the second period, Jamie Benn skated through the Canes defense like it was Swiss cheese and scored on a breakaway for another shorthanded goal.  It was his second breakaway chance of the period.

At 2:42 into the third period, Eric Staal scored on a shot from the side of the net which Kari Lehtonen misjudged, but that would be the only score for Carolina.

Things got a little crazy at 5:36 into the third when Antoine Roussel skated directly into Khudobin on a rush, taking the goalie out.  The skater was given a five minute charging penalty and a game misconduct, but that was the least of his problems.

Ron Hainsey took exception and skated right over to the Star, dropped his gloves, and continually pummeled him.  At the end of the altercation, it looked like Hainsey tried to give him a face plant into the ice when he took him down.  Roussel got right up, seemingly no worse for wear, but his face was bloodied badly.

Hainsey of course was given an instigator for his trouble, but will certainly live with it.

The teams battled back and forth the rest of the contest until the Stars scored an empty netter with less than a minute left, when John-Michael Liles backed off Cody Eakin, giving him an uncontested shot into the open net.

Next up for the Canes is a game against the Kings on Saturday starting at 4 p.m. Eastern.

Game Notes:

• Khudobin made several fine saves as the Stars generated plenty of top grade chances throughout the contest.  He finished the game making 30 saves on 33 shots.  The goalie has not allowed more than three goals in any game played yet this season.
• The second line had a tough night and Jordan Staal finished with a team worst -4.
• Alexander Semin got knocked around pretty good in the first period and left the game with a lower body injury.  No update was given on his status.
• The team was outshot 34-30 and were led by Eric Staal with seven shots.  Staal now has goals scored in each of the last two games and has 38 points in the last 38 games.
• Post game interviews can be found here: Canes PR.com.

A little goal scoring, a little chaos - what more could we ask for as the Stars continue to roll?

Welcome back to Dallas Stars hockey, the good, the bad and, unfortunately, a little bit of the ugly.

Let's start with the good from last night's 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, which includes the play of the first line and some pretty prolific penalty killing.

Jamie Benn reportedly wasn't feeling too well in his first game back from the Olympic break, but it wasn't noticeable at all in the game. His three point night - an above-average secondary assist on the opening goal, a great shorthanded assist on the game-winner and a beautiful shorthanded goal all on his own in the second - was one of the more memorable nights from a Stars forward this season.

He did fight the puck a bit at times like most of his teammates, but that first line with him, Tyler Seguin and Valeri Nichushkin continued to demonstrate why it is such a handful.

Benn/Seguin/Nichushkin is the scariest line in the league right now. I would not want to be the team that draws Dallas in round one.

— Fear The Fin (@fearthefin) February 28, 2014

I remember the first round. It's when the Stars used to struggle with anyone from the center of the continent but own northern Canada and California.

Also on the positive side of the ledger was the penalty killing, which won the special teams contest (and in this case, the game) all by itself. The Stars hadn't scored two shorthanded goals in a game since 2010, but Brenden Dillon and Jamie Benn combined to do so on Thursday night.

Here was Dillon's flirtation with the offensive moves of a forward:

And here was Benn's effort, complete with already legendary call from Daryl Reaugh.

I also quite like the bemused laughter from Ralph Strangis. It captures everything you need to know about that goal.

As for the bad, the power play probably has to slide into this category. On one level, it's kind of expected with so much time off. And it wasn't all forgettable - the attempts the Stars had in the first period looked good and created chances even though they failed to score. But as the game went on, the attempts got more and more problematic.

It's just one game, obviously, and the power play had come back to life before the Olympic break. But it's a development worth watching.

The ugly came in the third period when Antoine Roussel let his speed get the better of his decision making once again. While I respect that he was trying to make a hard move toward the net as he broke in on Anton Khudobin, he got his feet (and possibly his brain) on train tracks without considering the fact that at some point, he had to stop without steamrolling through the goalie.

Roussel received a five minute major for charging as well as a game misconduct for the play, and you can be pretty sure it will be looked at by the league as it's a charging major against a goalie.

So let's break this down a little bit. Was Roussel receiving pressure on his back from a defenseman? Yes, but that does not excuse this play at all. Roussel takes himself to the crease and into Khudobin by his own means and with his own speed. And he alone caused a very violent collision with a player who is the least able to protect himself on the ice.

For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure it's not intentional. I think Roussel wanted to cut in front (possibly to go backhand) but got bumped at the hip at about the bottom of the faceoff circle, taking that option away. At that point, with the speed he had gathered, he just continued to make a beeline for the net. He did not attempt to pull up at any point, though, and he certainly needed to.

This is not a totally parallel case for a variety of reasons, but it's about as good a one as I could find on short notice last night - Nazim Kadri was suspended three games for a goalie interference headshot earlier this season, though that play involved a collision after Kadri had tipped a point shot rather than a player driving to the net with possession.

Given the criteria used in that suspension (which is always a dangerous game to play with the league front office), the fact that it was not a glancing blow will absolutely hurt Roussel, but the pressure from behind will likely go in his favor, as it's the contact that may have altered his path from a legal one to a dangerous one.

While a puck carrier is granted a certain level of crease-crashing freedom, he is not allowed to run roughshod over a goalie for safety reasons. Watch how Khudobin's head bounces off the crossbar a bit - there's not much he can do to prevent that, so the attacker must be mindful of a goalie who is attempting to make the save. Roussel was, well, not.

All things considered, I wouldn't be surprised to see a fine out of this - especially because Roussel made no attempt to stop or bail out once it was clear he was on a collision course. If the NHL is feeling particularly statement-happy, I honestly wouldn't be shocked to see a one game suspension (though I think that's unlikely given the bump that happens to set him on the path to Khudobin). At the very least, he'll get a strong warning to avoid such gray areas in the future.

So some chaos, mayhem and two delicious points welcomed the Stars back from the Olympic break. What more could fans ask for?

"Like poop through a diarrhea infected goose"

In their first game after the Olympic break, the Ducks earned a well-deserved season sweep over their closest threat in the League standings.

Final Score:Ducks 1, Blues 0

First Period Summary: Expecting to ride the pine pony tonight, Brian Elliott got a bit of a surprise when he was told he was starting between the pipes after Jaroslav Halak began to pack his bags for Buffalo. Those last minute announcements don't give a goalie a ton of time to get mentally prepared, so it probably wasn't an ideal situation for him when he found himself under fire early in the game. The Ducks came charging out of the gate and immediately began putting pressure on the Blues' starting six, and it didn't take long for it to pay off. Andrew Cogliano was found sneaking behind the St. Louis defense by Saku Koivu, and on the breakaway, elected to go with a simple forehand-backhand move and tucked the puck under Elliott's pads for his 18th goal of the season. Ducks 1, Blues 0

The Ducks found themselves on another breakaway a couple minutes later when Corey Perry came in on Elliott, but shot wide of his glove. St. Louis was by no means backing down, and was collecting a fair amount of time in the Anaheim zone, but the momentum was clearly in the Ducks' favor.

After Perry's breakaway chance, St. Louis began to wake up and started possessing the puck a lot longer, as is customary to Blues hockey. Even though they were the team eating up more clock, they were struggling to find many solid scoring chances, settling for a lot of outside shots while the Anaheim defense cleaned up any rebounds that found their way to the top of Hiller's crease. Just over halfway through the period, a big scrum broke out behind Hiller's net, leading to some 4-on-4 hockey. The extra ice provided more of the same kind of hockey that the game was featuring between Cogliano's goal and this point; a lot of alternating possessions that weren't leading up to much of anything.

With five minutes remaining in the first, a kick save by Elliott led to a Blues breakout that culminated in their best scoring chance of the game to this point. Alexander Steen came flying into the zone, made his way into the slot, and put a hard wrist shot low on Hiller's glove, but the Olympic goaltender was equal to the task.

After that 'conference' behind Hiller, the game began to develop more of a physical presence, which was reinforced by Ryan Reaves getting called for roughing on Daniel Winnik. The Ducks power play ended up looking like what we've gotten accustomed to seeing lately: unorganized and subsequently ineffective. The best chance of the man advantage came from T.J. Oshie, who took a shorthanded chance from the top of the faceoff circle that he shot just over the net. The end of the period turned a 180, as St. Louis began taking more of the momentum that the Ducks began with. The Blues were less than an inch from getting on the board courtesy of Jaden Schwartz, who took a shot from the high slot that rang the pipe.

At the end of one, the Ducks held on to a 1-0 lead with the Blues possessing the shot advantage at 6-4.

Second Period Summary: The second period picked up where the first left off. St. Louis held on to the puck in Anaheim's zone for a little bit, Anaheim tried to clear the puck past center ice, St. Louis took the puck back. Lather, rinse, repeat. Like the Blues at the beginning of the game, the shots that the Ducks were taking were limited to the blue line vicinity. The sequence was broken when an Anaheim two-on-one materialized from what seemed like thin air. Teemu Selanne and Mathieu Perreault came bearing down on Elliott, and the veteran sent the anticipated pass over to Perreault that he fanned on. Easy come, easy go.

The Blues were getting a lot more shots off than the Ducks despite the relatively even count, but their aim was pretty shoddy. At about the seven minute mark of the period, the Blues had missed the net on 13 of their shots, especially Kevin Shattenkirk, who was almost exclusively aiming for Hiller's high glove. Matt Beleskey gave the Ducks PK unit their first taste of action on the night, and they had the task of dealing with a power play unit who played absolutely nothing like Anaheim's tonight. The amount of times that St. Louis allowed the Ducks penalty kill to clear the zone was comparable to the number of shots that they allowed Anaheim's power play to take. Needless to say at this point, but the Blues' special units were nothing short of dominant up till now, yet the scoreboard still didn't show any proof of it.

After Beleskey's penalty expired, the Ducks began to regain some of that steam that they began the night with, slowly but surely beginning to take more quality scoring chances. Ryan Getzlaf and Francois Beauchemin both had a decent chance to light the lamp as they were crashing the net, but neither could make contact with the puck on the rebound. With two minutes and some change remaining in the period, Alex Pietrangelo suffered a skate malfunction, giving the Ducks a man advantage of sorts that brought with it a lot of pressure from the men in black. The desired outcome of a two goal lead remained too elusive, however, and Elliott eventually stopped the game so his teammates could change out their corps.

Never a team to back down, St. Louis retaliated with another charge, but puck luck was not on their side. Shattenkirk found himself in the slot, wheeled around, and beat Hiller, who was already down in the butterfly. He didn't beat the post, though, or either of them for that matter, as he managed to hit both before his shot rebounded back out into play. The end of the second period saw the Blues' goalless streak reach 124:36, but it certainly wasn't for a lack of effort.

The Ducks returned to the locker room still holding on to a 1-0 lead, and managed to turn the shot count in their favor, 15-14.

Third Period Recap: The Blues broadcast that I was watching decided that the beginning of the final period would be a good time to mention that their team was 4-9-2 when trailing after 40 minutes. The Ducks, on the other hand, when they have the lead after two, were a very impressive 31-1-2. Vladimir Tarasenko continued to establish himself as one of the biggest white jersey-clad threats of the night with his deceptive release, but his trouble with finding the net continued. Mark Fistric gave the St. Louis power play another crack, but the next two minutes surprisingly resulted in a special teams role reversal. The Ducks penalty kill neutralized the league's sixth best power play with ease, allowing the game to take on the image it did in the first few minutes with the home team keeping Elliott on his toes.

The game's edginess began to show itself again when Fistric returned to the sin bin for cross checking. By a stroke of good luck, the refs decided to even the playing field by giving the victim, Maxim Lapierre, two for embellishment. Both teams played the ensuing 4-on-4 about evenly, and after the penalties were released, pleasantries were exchanged once again by the two teams, much to the approval of the Honda Center contingent.

When the clock dipped below five minutes, the Ducks began to play more passively and prioritize the defense of their one goal lead over the pursuit of an insurance tally. A lot of people believe that parking the bus is an ill-advised idea, myself included, but the pressure that the men in black put on the Notes was suffocating; they could consistently bring the puck into the Ducks' zone, but not much else as it would immediately be cleared out again. Elliott was pinned back in his goal until about 25 seconds left in the game, but that would not be enough time to solve the Anaheim netminder as he earned shutout number five on the season.

The Ducks win their first game back 1-0 in a defensive battle. Final shot count ended up at 19-18 in favor of the home team.

Ken Hitchcock's team is returning to St. Louis...

...feeling blue.

Yyyyyyeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!

(via media1.giphy.com)

*****

The Good: The Ducks prevented the visitors from getting any second chances tonight, which is obviously huge in tight games such as these. Part of this had to do with the Blues missing the net on a ton of their shots, part of it had to do with all the blocked shots, and the rest was Hiller's puck control and the defense perched in front of his crease clearing out all the trash. The defense didn't mind giving up a lot of shot attempts, but they played lockdown hockey tonight and took away most of the chances that posed any threat.

The Bad: If the special teams ever want to dig their way out of the middle of the pack, this game was not a good example of how to do it. Granted, both the St. Louis power play and penalty kill are excellent, but the kind of dominance they displayed on the Ducks' units for most of the game was pretty ridiculous. It's very fortunate that they weren't able to find the back of the net during any of their three power plays, and for that, I'll refer you back to 'The Good' above.

The Ugly: Finally an opportunity to address the elephant in the room, this spot is awarded to the blockbuster trade that occurred a couple hours before puck drop involving one Ryan Miller and Steve Ott. St. Louis was the team that I was more worried to see in the playoffs than anyone else, but now with Miller and Ott joining the squad, I'm borderline TERRIFIED at the thought of facing these guys in the postseason.  [Ed. Note:  Also there was a spectacular amount of diving in this game from both sides.  Beleskey and Perry each got away with one and David Bakes skated on three splashes ON THE SAME SHIFT! -CK]

*****

3rd MVD: Ryan Getzlaf. Although he didn't land on the scoresheet, the Captain was consistently a presence on the ice and set up a couple pretty plays that weren't converted on.

2nd MVD: Jonas Hiller. Team Switzerland's tendy brought his A+ game back from Russia with him, stopping all 18 shots he saw and making it look easy in the process.

1st MVD: Andrew Cogliano. Cogs scored the only goal of the game, and his speed allowed him to put a lot of pressure on St. Louis players all night, and even came close to generating a shorthanded chance by himself.

Honorable Mention: Bruce Boudreau. This game marked the 300th career win for the Anaheim coach, making him the fastest coach in NHL history to reach that milestone. Attaway Brucie!

Next Game: Sunday, March 2nd at 5:00 PM PST, vs. the Carolina Hurricanes

At least they are winning

Two games back into the season again and the Kings have, um, not looked great. But they won both their games, so that's good. But they also have been getting out possessed by teams they should control, and that's bad. But they have scored some goals (finally!), and that's good. The Kings also had to get bailed out by Martin Jones and Jonathan Quick to escape with wins, which is bad but good because that's what goalies are supposed to. Also, Dustin Brown is putting up some points (finally! Again!), and that's good. Even if only to piss off the rest of the league. Jordan Nolan is on the second line, which is bad. Alec Martinez is back in the lineup, and that's good. The Kings still took a lot of penalties, and that's bad. Jake Muzzin has looked better with less minutes, and that's good. He still looks like an eel, and that's bad. Lastly, Robyn Regehr's scoring streak has ended, and that is completely normal because shit was getting weird.

It's been a rather small sample size, yes, but they Kings have been...very un-Kings like. You know, with scoring and everything. And with bad Corsi, too! That could probably be written off as rust, and then the second portion of a back-to-back though. It's been nice to see for a change that even when not playing dominating hockey the Kings can break off a few wins. Especially after looking like shitballs leading into the Olympics. Since the eleven games starting with the net debacle in Detroit then going into the break, the Kings out attempted teams eight times, tied once, and lost twice. Of course the games they didn't win in possession they picked up five points out of a possible six. The games where the Kings won possession, well, you can probably remember how those went. Then in the two games back since the break the Kings have lost possession both times. And won. Go figure.

Hell, maybe they can keep it up when they return to controlling possession again. You can only win so many Maple Leaf-esque games after all. Or maybe not, seeing how the Kings are 9-5 when getting out attempted (8-3 disregarding shootouts) and are 22-23 when they lead in attempts (17-21 without shootouts). Obviously, the recent bumblefuck had a large part in that.

Things they should do though:

1. Put Nolan back on the fourth line.
2. Try Brown or Dwight King on the second line.
3. Keep Martinez and Muzzin in the lineup.
4. Don't add Andrew MacDonald, please for fuck's sake.
5. Don't play Quick in back-to-back situations again.
6. Hire me.
7. Go back to purple and gold.
8. Pay me $70,000 to go away.
9. Do not allow bench interviews with Darryl Sutter without a translator.
10. Allow more shots? Take less shots? Play worse? I don't know.

Jerk-Off 2014

No surprises regarding the Flames, as Brian Burke won easily. Carolina is up now, and this is a team that I personally don't know too much about, nor have any real strong opinions about. Thanks for Justin Williams. Glad you ditched Erik Cole. Good luck with Toronto castoffs for your defense. North Carolina is an okay state (as I have mentioned a few thousand times before), and the Hurricanes just don't come around to often. Here's four players I have heard of that may get votes. I really don't know.

Tuomo Ruutu

An abuser of vowels.

Eric Staal

The Staal who scores.

Jordan Staal

The Staal with a really long head.

Cam Ward

He sorta sucks.

Seriously though, if anyone has better ideas, please let me know. I know nothing about this team besides that their logo looks like a butthole.

Prediction: The Kings ignore my advice and lose 5 billion to 1.

The Hurricanes kick off the month of March by playing three games in four days against the state of California, starting with the Kings this afternoon. Will it be wildfire or mudslide for their playoff chances?

Carolina Hurricanes at Los Angeles Kings
March 1, 2014 - 4:00 pm ET
STAPLES Center - Los Angeles, CA
TV - Sports South (Broadcast Guide)
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Jewels From The Crown

Hurricanes Record: 26-24-9 | 61 pts | 7th Metro | 13th EC
Kings Record: 33-22-6 | 72 pts | 3rd Pacific | 7th WC

Post-Season Picture:

Games Remaining: 23
Minimum Points Needed: 91
Points Back: 30 (1.30 points/game)
Playoff Chances (Sports Club Stats): 11.3%

The Hurricanes resume their five game road trip today against the L.A. Kings. This is the second game of the season between the two teams and completes their regular season series. The Kings won 2-1 in a shootout in Raleigh on October 11th.

The Canes will continue with a game tomorrow against the Ducks and will wrap up against the Sharks on Tuesday.

Kings News

The Kings have been solid in their playoff quest all season, suffering through a small skid after the clock turned to 2014 but winning their last three games, one before the Olympic break and two more since their return. They played back-to-back games on the road against the Avalanche and Flames on Wednesday and Thursday before returning to L.A. Today with the early start they will be playing their third game in less than four days.

The narrative on the Kings is that they can't score. They are ranked 27th in the league in goals per game, and 27th on the power play. They play an offensively conservative game and rely on strong goaltending and dominating possession to be successful, and lead the league with the least goals allowed per game, rank 3rd in shots allowed per game, and 6th in five-on-five goal differential. And despite their challenges generating offense, they've scored eight goals goals in their last two games.

The Kings' Olympians have been on a roll since their return from Sochi. Anze Kopitar, the team's leading scorer, had a three-point night against the Avalanche. Right behind him, Jeff Carter had two points in the same game. Carter is a point-per-game player against the Canes with 25 goals in 25 career games. Dustin Brown had a goal and assist in the win against Calgary.

Martin Jones and Jonathan Quick split the back-to-back games in net, and Quick will likely get the start again today. Quick was the winning goaltender for the shootout win in October, his only career start against the Canes.

Canes News

The Hurricanes begin the month of March five points out of the playoff picture, with at least four teams to leap to get there. They are five points behind Philadelphia for the final Metro Division spot and seven points behind Detroit for the last Eastern Conference wild card spot. They limped out of Dallas after a lackluster performance resulted in a 4-1 loss to the Stars. Since the return from the Olympic break, they've scored three goals, given up seven, and are minus -2 for 10 on the power play (giving up two shorthanded goals to Dallas on Thursday).

On a positive note, the Canes are actually 2-0-1 against their next three opponents season-to-date.  And, in their last six back-to-back games, the Canes are 6-0-0 in their first game.

Alexander Semin left Thursday's game early after taking a hit along the boards, tried to return but could not due to a lower body concern, and will continue to be evaluated over the next several days.

With Semin's absence, and with an attempt to spark some offense, Kirk Muller shuffled the lines yesterday at practice. Rookie Elias Lindholm took Semin's place on Eric Staal's line with Jiri Tlusty, and Jeff Skinner and Tuomo Ruutu were moved to Jordan Staal's line. If the lines from yesterday stay intact (there's no morning skate today with the early start), the lineup should look as follows:

Jiri Tlusty - Eric Staal - Elias Lindholm
Jeff Skinner - Jordan Staal - Tuomo Ruutu
Drayson Bowman - Riley Nash - Radek Dvorak
Nathan Gerbe - Manny Malhotra - Patrick Dwyer

Andrej Sekera - Justin Faulk
Ron Hainsey - John-Michael Liles
Jay Harrison - Brett Bellemore
Mike Komisarek

Anton Khudobin
Cam Ward

It's expected that Anton Khudobin and Cam Ward will split duties during the back-to-back, although the assignments aren't confirmed and likely won't be known until team warmups. Khudobin has not previously faced the Kings. Cam Ward is 2-0-2 with a 1.69 GAA in four career games.

Michael Smith recapped the short month of February and set the stage for March in the Canes' February 2014 Monthly report [CH.com].

Team USA Olympic figure skater Ashley Wagner will drop the puck today. Note the early start time and broadcast stations. We'll have the game thread open and ready to roll by 3:30 pm. See you there.

Canes lose fourth in a row and now have dropped six of last eight

The Carolina Hurricanes continue to put more and more distance between themselves and playoff hockey as they lost a 3-1 game to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon at the Staples Center.

The team was looking for a better effort than they got in Dallas the other night and got it, but it still was not good enough for a win.

Suddenly the Hurricanes, who were formerly the least penalized team in the league, cannot stay out of the penalty box.

They were called for seven minors in Dallas and were called for another seven against the Kings in this game.  After six successful kills, the seventh powerplay was the charm for the Kings, as Alec Martinez rifled in the game-winner during their final man advantage.  Jiri Tlusty was called for hooking beforehand.

The first period was a pretty even affair and remained scoreless until Mike Richards wristed in a shot, short side past Anton Khudobin, who might have been off the post a bit more than he wanted. The score came with 56 seconds left.

The Hurricanes wasted no time in tying things up.  Andrej Sekera sent a high shot toward the net which was deflected in past Jonathan Quick with just 15 clicks left in the period.  It was Sekera's 10th goal of the season, extending his career high.

Patrick Dwyer and Drayson Bowman were battling in front of the net and contributed to that goal.

The second period was scoreless as both teams were able to kill off penalties and both goalies made fine saves.

But at 8:15 into the third period, the Canes pushed their luck one time too many on the kill and got burned.  Martinez jumped on a loose puck and put it in the net for the game winner.

Justin Williams, (who else) would make an empty netter with less than a minute left to seal the deal for the Kings.

The Canes will jump right back into action against the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow night with a start time of 8 p.m. Eastern.

Game Notes:

• Khudobin did not play his best but still made 28 saves on 30 shots and was good enough to keep his team close.
• The powerplay was officially 0-3 and has yet to score since before the Olympics.
• The Canes were outshot 31-25 and were led by Nathan Gerbe with five and Jeff Skinner with four.
• Justin Faulk and Andrej Sekera led the way with 24:52 and 24:33 of time on the ice, respectively.
• Post game interviews at Canes PR.com.

Some games are just easy to get up for.

It's been a weird start to the Kings' post-Olympic break season. That Colorado game was just weird (I mean, the Kings scored six goals, how does that even happen?!) and then in Calgary the Kings did to the Flames what every other team in the National Hockey League has been doing to the Kings for the better part of 3 seasons. Yes, they got woefully outplayed by Calgary, of all teams, and yet won in regulation anyway. Shrug.

You would be forgiven under these circumstances- a weird past couple games, the 3rd game in 4 days, and the Kings' near-legendary struggles in 1 pm Pacific time games- if you thought they might struggle in this one. But the Kings actually looked pretty good right out of the gate, playing with more energy than I was frankly expecting out of them. Not that Carolina really played particularly badly, either; really it was just a fun, kind of up-and-down-the-ice type of hockey game, with both teams having some rushes and quality chances.

But let's start out with some comedy. Not that I want to turn this into a "let's complain about the reffing" blog, but one call against the Kings was too funny to ignore. Just 2:10 into the first, Tyler Toffoli got called for tripping Carolina defenseman Andrej Sekera. There was nothing wrong with that call as Toffoli absolutely did trip him. Only problem? He tripped the Carolina defenseman as he was going down from being tripped first. Somehow the referee saw Toffoli tripping Sekera but missed Tyler getting tripped literally fractions of a second beforehand. So that was special. Tyler's comedic moments in the first didn't end there, however. At one point he was handed the puck by Carolina goalie Anton Khudobin, essentially granting him a wide open net to put the puck in.....only to shoot it well wide. That's So Kings™

Still in the first period, Dwight King somehow split his way through two defenders- yes, DWIGHT KING- and got in alone on a breakaway, but was bothered from behind and couldn't really get a shot away. Sadly, the world was inexplicably deprived of a Dwight King penalty shot, which would have likely caused Twitter to explode. Oh well. The Kings didn't score on the resulting power play, of course. In more Fun With Wacky Penalties, two hooking penalties were called a few minutes later on the same shift, one on each time! That 4-on-4 action lead to the Kings drawing another power play 50 seconds later, as Ron Hainsey went off for high sticking. That gave the Kings one of those deadly 4-on-3 advantages for over a minute, but say it with me kids: they failed to cash in. Again. Yep.

But have no fear, Mike Richards is here! Richards was all over the ice throughout the game, and got rewarded for his quality play very late in the first period. He fired a bad-angle shot from almost in the corner with under a minute to go, and the puck luckily deflected off of Hainsey's stick and right past Khudobin to give the Kings a 1-0 lead! Yeah! Unfortunately, that lead would only last for 41 seconds, as Robyn Regehr (who assisted on Richards' goal, continuing his totally inexplicable offensive hot streak) had the puck deflect off his glove and right past Quick after Sekera fired it from the blue line. Sigh. Still, it was a good first period for the Kings- Nick had the chances as 6-2 LA overall (3-2 at evens)- and being tied after a first you largely controlled is better than losing after the same, I guess.

The second period opened up with a great rush from the Mike Richards line right off of puck drop. It lead to Tanner Pearson- who had a fantastic game, maybe his best as a King- trying to fire a drop pass back to Mike Richards in front of the net, but unfortunately it couldn't quite connect. It did lead to another power play that featured some grade-A chances for Anze Kopitar&Jeff Carter, both directly in front of the net, but somehow both fired it wide (That's So Kings™). A few more power plays followed for each team, but neither seemed particularly dangerous on it. In fact, you could argue that both looked more dangerous killing off their penalties than actually on their own power plays. Oh well.

Hey, it was Bailey's birthday! And he was surrounded by a bunch of other SoCal mascots! That was awesome! Yay Bailey!

So uh, back to the game. Hey, remember that Alec Martinez guy? He was back in the lineup for the second straight game! And he made an amazing diving play in the neutral zone to knock a pass away that almost surely would have lead to a Jeff Skinner (who I almost just called "Springer") for a breakaway! Yay Alec! (Also, remember his name for later.)

The second period didn't go quite as well as the first- chances were 5-5 overall, and 3-1 at evens for Carolina- but still, it was not bad hockey out of the Kings or anything.

The third opened up with another great early chance for the Kings. This time around it was a brilliant cross-ice feed from Willie Mitchell, of all people, to a waiting Anze Kopitar at the side of the net, but Anze.....hit the post (That's So Kings™). Oops. So how do we follow up a Dwight King breakaway and a Willie Mitchell brilliant cross-ice feed? How about with a pretty backhand pass from Kyle f'n Clifford to spring his linemates Linden Vey&Trevor Lewis out of the zone, directly leading to them drawing another penalty? The resulting power play was the Kings' sixth of the game, and I guess three is a factor of six so it makes sense that the sixth try would be the charm, kinda. But first, Jarret Stoll had to get stopped on an all alone opportunity, because- say it with me- That's So Kings™. Thankfully, Alec Martinez, hero to millions, was here to pick up the slack, getting a feed from Dustin Brown (continuing his own nice little bounce-back run since returning from the Olympics) right in the slot and firing home a slap shot to give the Kings a 2-1 lead!

The Hurricanes had some chances in the third- Nick had the period scored as 4-3 Carolina overall and 3-1 at evens (making the three period total as 14-10 LA overall, but 8-6 Carolina at evens, assuming my basic addition hasn't failed me)- but ultimately could never beat Jonathan Quick (24 saves on 25 shots in his second straight strong game since the Olympics) for the equalizer. The Kings would even score an empty-netter, which is NOT So Kings, as Kopitar fed Justin Williams with just over a minute left in the game to seal it up and bring it on home, as the Kings celebrated their third straight win since the end of the break and fourth straight overall. The possession numbers were good, if not quite up to their usual high standard (59% of all shot attempts and 57.3% of unblocked attempts overall, 53.6% of all attempts and 53.1% of unblocked attempts at 5v5), but it was still a nice bounce-back following that putrid showing in Calgary.

Overall, it was a fun afternoon of hockey and a Kings victory to boot, giving one little to complain about. The Kings are back at it Monday night when they host the Montreal Canadiens, another Eastern team but one with, uh, a little bit more history with us. The Habs will surely be looking to avenge the 6-0 beatdown that the Kings put on them in their rink way back on December 10th. Or maybe they've forgotten all about it, who knows. Guess we'll just have to see.

I thought people liked butts. Hurricanes @ Ducks.

Apparently some people were a little off-put by my butt-themed game preview for Friday's game. This is very strange to me, but I assure you my intention was not to offend anyone.

If y'all don't like butts, that's understandable.

In order to make it up to you, perhaps you will enjoy today's game preview:

Gameday

The SB Nation preview widget thing still isn't working for BoC. But here are some details about the Anaheim Ducks game tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes over an image you might like more than a butt:

Prediction

Everyone just loves the above image, and SB Nation doesn't fire me.

More from Battle of California

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• Ducks Gameday: Battle of California Negotiation Tips
• Sharks Gameday: Dishonored
• Kings Gameday: World Wide Wardrobe
• 2014 NHL must-not-follow Twitter accounts
• Kings Gameday: Aaaaand We're Back

The Hurricanes make their way down the i-5 today to play their second game in a row and third in four days against the team with the best record in hockey, the Anaheim Ducks.

Carolina Hurricanes at Anaheim Ducks
March 2, 2014 - 8:00 pm ET
Honda Center - Anaheim CA
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Anaheim Calling

Hurricanes Record: 26-25-9 | 61 pts | 7th Metro | 13th EC
Ducks Record: 39-14-6 | 84 pts | 1st Pacific | 1st WC

Post-Season Picture:

Games Remaining: 22
Minimum Points Needed: 92
Points Back: 31 (1.41 points/game)
Playoff Chances (Sports Club Stats): 5.6%
Fantasyland photo courtesy of © Tom Simpson, flickr

The Canes and Ducks will square off for the second and final time this season. The Canes defeated the Ducks in Raleigh on November 15th in a rare shootout win.

What to know about the Ducks:

• They have the best record in the NHL.
• They lead the league in even strength play and are top five in most other categories (special teams being the one exception where the rank in the middle of the league).
• They have two players (Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry) in the NHL's top ten for points and goals.
• They are playing in only their second game since the Olympic break. In their other game (Friday night), they defeated the St. Louis Blues 1-0 for Jonas Hiller's fifth shutout of the season.
• At today's game they will be honoring seven Olympians who brought home five medals from Sochi.
• They have Teemu Selanne, who is kind of great.
• They should have a healthy lineup with the exception of Mathieu Perreault, who left Friday's game with an upper body injury and is questionable for today.

What to know about the Canes:

• The Canes played a man's game but couldn't stay out of the penalty box and couldn't capitalize on their chances and came out on the wrong end of a 3-1 decision against the Kings for their fourth straight loss.
• Since the Olympic break, in three games they have scored four goals, been short-handed 16 times, and are -2 for 13 on the power play.
• They now have a 5.6% chance of making the playoffs with over a quarter of the season left to play.
• Andrej Sekera has points in all three games since the break after logging a career-best 10th goal in yesterday's loss.
• The Canes are on the schedule to practice at 2:30 pm ET, and practice may be limited, so we won't know until later today who will be in net, or whether there are any changes to yesterday's lines or whether Alexander Semin (lower body) will have his stick stolen again by Corey Perry.
• In yesterday's post game coverage it was mentioned that Jim Rutherford and Ron Francis will remain with the team through today's game, then fly back to Raleigh to begin deliberating on roster decisions.

We'll have the game thread open and ready to roll by 7:30 pm.

Norfolk has been in the thick of it all season, and recent wins over two of the top AHL teams are proving that the Admirals have what it takes to go the distance.

[Ed. Note:All stats and notes current as of Saturday morning. Apologies for the delay in publishing. -CK]

1 Enforcer Zack Stortini scored his fourth goal of the season against the Springfield Falcons (Columbus Blue Jackets) last Sunday. Not normally known for his scoring, Stortini currently leads the league in Penalty Minutes (245) and Major Penalties (27), and is first among active skaters in Minor Penalties (35).

2 Goaltender Viktor Fasth, assigned to Norfolk on a conditioning stint, won two consecutive games against the Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes) Wednesday and the Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings) Friday, giving up just two goals in both games. Fasth is 2-1-0-0 in February with a 2.34 Goals Against Average and a .917 Save Percentage.

3 Rookie forward Max Friberg has three points in three straight games (3A) since being moved to play with Rickard Rakell and Emerson Etem. He has 11 goals and 17 assists on the season.

4 Defenseman Alex Grant is fourth among defensemen in shots with 137 and is averaging almost three shots per game this season. [Ed. Note: as opposed to his two shots, two goals in two games with the Ducks. -CK]

5 Sami Vatanen, playing in his first game since bringing home a Bronze Medal in the Olympics, scored his second goal of season Friday night against Manchester. Vatanen has two goals and five assists in seven games this season.

6 Rickard Rakell scored a goal and added two assists Friday night against the Monarchs. Rakell has an interesting streak going--three goals in three games, and all three have been the game-winners! Rickard Rakell leads the league in Game Winning Goals with six and is currently fifth among active rookies in points with 37 (14G, 23A).

7 Antoine Laganiere scored his seventh goal of season versus the Checkers on Wednesday. It was his only goal and only point since January 19 but Laganiere finished February at an even plus/minus.

8 Gritty forward Chris Wagner scored his eighth goal of season against Springfield last Sunday and has put up a goal in three consecutive weekends.

9 Emerson Etem went four games between goals before notching his 13th last night against the Monarchs. Etem had only goals the entire month of February but managed to pick up eight points in nine games.

10 The Admirals are currently ranked tenth in the AHL in Penalty Minutes, finally slipping under the 20 minute average per game they've been at almost all season. In 55 games played they have amassed 1081 penalty minutes, 278 majors, 79 minors, nine 10- minute misconducts, and four Game misconducts.

--Jessie Blacker hasn't been back in the line-up yet since taking a vicious hit back on February 14th. No timeline yet on his return, though he is still around the rink on game nights and is in good spirits.

--The Admirals currently have three goaltenders on their roster--Viktor Fasth, John Gibson, and Brad Thiessen. Fasth should be making his way back out to Anaheim very soon, which in turn would mean the demotion of Frederik Andersen, and again the Admirals would be back to three goalies. I've said it before--if the Ducks are going to make a trade to clear room between the pipes, Andersen is the guy who goes. Hiller, contract or no, will be ridden as far as he will take the Ducks in to the post season. Fasth hasn't stayed healthy enough this season for a team to take a chance. Gibson, unless there's some blockbuster talent coming back the other way, is off the table. Just one week left to decide...

--I have to say I was disappointed in the readers (jokingly) as the Admirals did not get a lot of social media "love" during last night's game against the Manchester Monarchs. For all the hatred I see from Ducks' fans towards LA Kings' fans, I thought for sure there would be at least some trash talk going on! No matter though, as the "baby" Ducks stayed true to form with their parent club and handed the AHL's number one team a loss Saturday. The Admirals also gave the AHL's number four team a loss last Sunday and between the game in Springfield, a win Wed against Charlotte, and last night against Manchester, the Admirals picked up six huge standings points, bumping them up to second in the East Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference after being out of playoff contention a little over a week ago. Six points separate Second and Ninth Place. No room for errors.

--Veteran Nolan Yonkman said last night post-game that everyone needed to "Do your job, do what you do well" when asked about the highs (and lows) that come after games against big teams. It's a pretty simple concept, but coming from a veteran like him who contributes so little in the offensive scheme but logs a lot of minutes every night, it's the kind of message that can and should be embraced by everyone on the team. It's the kind of message that doesn't need to be verbalized but is expected to be listened to every game. It becomes even more important during these last few months of the season as nine teams are battling hard for just eight playoff spots. Don't do too much, don't play it safe or be tentative. The Norfolk Admirals have shown that their game is just as good as the best teams in the league when they play it. At this point in the season, Coach Yawney's pre-game talk should simply be the words of of the great Herb Brooks. He should walk in to the locker room and simply say, "Play your game."

Follow me on Twitter: @VAPuckhead

Carolina gets 52 shots but lose fifth straight.

The Carolina Hurricanes continued their losing ways as they dropped a game to the Anaheim Ducks, 5-3 on Sunday night at the Honda Center.

The loss is the fifth straight for the team and the seventh in their last nine games.

The Canes fell behind early as the Ducks scored three goals in the first period to take control of the game.  They scored two more goals to make it 5-0, before the second period was half over.

Carolina turned it on in the third period and put 26 shots on goal in that period alone, while scoring twice to make the score respectable at the end, but for all intents and purposes, the game was over in the second.

The Hurricanes powerplay continues to struggle and officially went 0-6 for the game, while allowing another shorthanded goal.  The team allowed two shorties in Dallas.

With the score 5-0, Andrej Sekera made a very nice play on his own as he fought through the Anaheim defense, skated around the zone, and battled his was to the front of the net to beat Frederik Andersen in close for Carolina's first goal.

In the third period, Patrick Dwyer and Alexander Semin scored the goals for the visitors.  Semin's goal was on a breakaway with just 65 seconds left.

Andersen, a former draft pick of the Hurricanes who could not get signed and re-entered the draft, made 49 saves on a total of 52 shots.  His counter-part, Cam Ward, made 29 saves on 34 shots.

The Canes will take tomorrow off and will finish this disaster of a road trip in San Jose on Tuesday night.

Game Notes:

• The Canes outshot the Ducks 52-34, but the Ducks had the better chances in the first two periods.  Andersen played very well.  Jeff Skinner, Eric Staal, and Nathan Gerbe led the way with seven shots each.
• The Canes had another slow start in the first period and how many times have we seen that this season?  The team is 29th in the league with just 30 goals scored in the first period this season.
• The team's powerplay is rated 29th in the league.
• Justin Faulk left the game early in the first period after being boarded.  There was no update except that he left with an upper body injury.
• With five defensemen sharing extra time, Ron Hainsey led the way with 25:18 of ice time.  Sekera played 24:53.
• Post game interviews here: Canes PR.com

The Ducks got out to a 5-0 lead then gave up three as they coasted to an easy win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Final Score:Ducks 5, Hurricanes 3

Before the game the Ducks honored the Olympians for both teams by announcing each by name and having them skate to center ice to a young hockey player holding their nation's flag.  The best part was Andrej Sekera not being able to tell the difference between the Slovakian and Russian flag as they have the same red, white and blue stripes and the Slovakian shield was hidden in the wrinkles of the flag.  Also Teemu got a huge ovation, which is always nice, if entirely expected.

First Period Summary: For the second game in a row I was a bit surprised as to the starting goaltender Bruce Boudreau decided to go with, but even after a shutout by Jonas Hiller this was one of the last opportunities for Frederik Andersen to get some time in with the Ducks before Viktor Fasth comes back from his AHL conditioning stint.  So Freddy it was, and he looked a little shaky in the early going but Luca Sbisa and Cam Fowler allowing Eric Staal to the top of the crease didn't help much on Carolina's first two chances of the game.

Fowler took a hooking penalty leading up to the latter of those chances.  The Ducks killed it and just as it expired, Corey Perry was left all alone in front of Cam Ward, but missed the net when Ryan Getzlaf found him from behind the goal line.  Perry made up for it later in the shift, Dustin Penner faked a shot from the high slot and passed it to Perry parked at the side of the net for a slam dunk goal to get things started at 6:39 of the first.

The period as a whole was played pretty evenly with Carolina getting some solid zone time, but the Ducks doing better off of the rush.  Perry made a nifty little move about halfway through the period dangling between two D-men who were about two feet apart, trying to cover him.  Nothing really came of it, but it seemed like an indication of the Carolina D not being at its sharpest and just generally allowing the Ducks to do what they wanted offensively.

By the middle of the period the puck wouldn't sit down for anyone but didn't stop Francois Beauchemin from bombing one through traffic and through Ward to make it 2-0.

The line of Andrew Cogliano, Saku Koivu and Daniel Winnik was right up there with the PPG line in terms of offensive chances in the first.  Led mostly by the speed of Cogliano they were able to establish zone time on a number of occasions and if it weren't for Eric Staal making a couple of really nice stick checks they could have had four or five Grade A scoring chances.  But the fact that they were forcing Staal to play so much defense, regardless of how well, was a very good sign.

Just as I was making a note that the Cogliano and Getzlaf lines were the only ones creating offensively, the newly assembled combo of Teemu Selanne and Matt Beleskey with Jacob Sifverberg at center (for an injured Mathieu Perreault) spent over a full minute in the Carolina zone.

Once the Canes finally got a hold of the puck and that line changed, the PPG line came out and Perry put the Ducks up 3-0.  Ron Hinsey's outlet pass missed Eric Staal and Fowler intercepted right at center ice, making a beautiful backhand pass to send Perry and Getzlaff on a two on one.  Perry looked Getzy off and shot high glove for his second of the night.

Right at the end if the period Eric Staal showed some of his frustration by boarding Cogs.  His brother Jordan Staal had the best chance during the first part of the Ducks' PP, driving the net and had Nathan Gerbe behind Andersen but the Danish goalie had settled down since the early part of the period and absorbed the puck with no rebound.  So the period ended 3-0 to the Ducks with shots favoring Anaheim 13-12 and a carry over penalty of 1:19.

Second Period Summary: The remainder of the power play was much better for the Ducks, as Teemu had a shot from right in the slot and a redirection on net from the middle of the ice which Perry nearly jammed the rebound under Ward's pad for the hat trick, but no dice.

Just under three minutes into the period, Nick Bonino was called for hooking Jeff Skinner, but no worries, as Winnik hit the crossbar and then on the next rush up  ice Cogliano scored shorthanded to make it 4-0.  Koivu made a brilliant stick play at the Ducks' blue line to knock the puck off of Jiri Tlusty's stick right to Cogs who went in one on one against Jay Harrison.  Harrison gave him the shot and he took it, five hole goal.  At this point I was somewhat surprised Kirk Muller didn't pull Cam Ward, but he stuck with his starter.

Tuomo Ruutu and Jeff Skinner played a really slick game of give and go for a point blank shot by Ruutu, that Anderson saved.  Koivu then went the other way and drove right into Ward's crease, and took a goalie interference penalty.  The Ducks had another great shorthanded chance with Bonino and Cogs on a 2-on-1, but this time Ward closed the five hole in time.

Carolina then was called for too many men on the ice to negate the rest of their power play.  Twelve seconds later the puck bounced onto the back of the net and Silf calmly plucked it off and beat Ward to the post on the backhand for a 5-0 Ducks lead.

The 'Canes got one back before the end of the period on an incredible individual effort by Sekera.  He was being hounded all over the zone by Patrick Maroon, but guarded the puck with his life and eventually worked his way to the front of the net before shoveling it through Andersen.  Originally the goal was announced as unassisted, but later two assists were added but in my book that was about as unassested as it gets.

After the goal Carolina showed some more life as the Ducks eased off the gas a bit.  The Canes started passing right through the Ducks all over the place leading to eventually leading to a Silfverberg hooking penalty.

There were a couple of scary passes across the crease on the power play (one by Beauch) but Carolina was actually more dangerous between the end of the PP and the end if the period, scrambling around the crease.  Andersen had to check behind himself but nothing got through.  Even though the shots were even at 26 the Ducks could put it in cruise control the rest of the way with a 5-1 lead, and so they did.

Third Period Recap: This entire period can be filed under S for Score Effect.  Not only were the Ducks content to sit back on their lead, Corey Perry was not even going to try for the hat trick unless he could do some fancy schmancy dangling first.

About seven and a half minutes in, Maroon and Brett Bellemore dropped the mitts.  Bellemore got a few good shots in early, but Maroon fought back and ended up on top, so I'd give it a draw, and minus points to each of them for sizing each other up for about 16 minutes before actually getting to it.

A few minutes after the fight, Andersen stopped a point blank chance from Gerbe which gave Carolina a real spark for an extended shift of possession in the Ducks' zone, culminating in Patrick Dwyer scoring off of a rebound from a John Michael Liles post shot.

The rest of the period was just more of the Ducks sitting back and waiting for the game to end, except for an Alexander Semin breakaway goal with just over a minute left in the game.  Perry had the puck to the right of Ward for what felt like 45 minutes before he had a shot blocked out to Hampus Lindholm.  Semin accidentally (I assume since he's Russian, kidding of course) blocked Hampus' shot and went in alone on Andersen for the high glove side snipe.

Despite 26 third period shots from Carolina, the outcome was never in doubt during the last 20 minutes.

*****

The Good: It was one of those nights were everything went the Ducks' way for the first two periods.  Three of the four lines had spells of absolute dominance and contributed on the score sheet.  Just a nice comfortable win over a non conference foe. Here's to more of that with the next three visitors to Honda Center being Eastern Conference teams that the Ducks have already lost to this season (Montreal, Pittsburgh and Toronto).

The Bad: This wasn't as dominant a performance as the 5-0 lead the Ducks jumped out to would suggest. In fact within the first five minutes or so, it could have just as easily been 2-0 Carolina.  I guess we'll just say Puck Luck is a two sided coin.

The Ugly: It doesn't matter if you're up 5-1 or 10-1, sitting back enough to give up 26 shots in a period is never a good thing.  The rest of this regular season is supposed to be an exercise in staying hungry and in form for the playoffs, and the third period of this game was a giant middle finger in the face of that concept.

*****

3rd MVD: Frederik Andersen - I don't really want to put him up here, because it wasn't the prettiest performance, and he did give up three goals, but it's hard not to when you look at the box score and see 49 saves.  For the record, Cam and Beauch were the official number two and three stars.

2nd MVD: Andrew Cogliano - He was dangerous all night with his speed and set up his linemates for some impressive shifts in the first 40 minutes.  Also scored a goal, his 19th of the season, to set a new career high, besting the 18 he tallied in his first two NHL seasons, it happened to be shorthanded as well.

1st MVD: Corey Perry - With two goals and an assist, Perry had this honor locked up before the first period was over, even if he put his fancy pants on for the rest of the game and couldn't complete the hat trick.

Next Game: Wednesday, March 5 at 7:00 PM PST, vs. the Montreal Canadiens

Those French sure are crazy

Quebec is rather strange by Canada's standards. Whereas the rest of Canada labels themselves as polite, apologetic, and hard working they tend to bash their frenchy cousins to the east. Instead they get the labels of aloof, arrogant, and enigmatic. You know, like France. There are a fair amount of French-Canadians in the NHL, though the Kings don't have any ever since they traded away Simon Gagne and Jonathan Bernier. Really, the Kings could be known as the "Anze Kopitar and English Speakers" team (okay and Slava Voynovalso). Unfortunately because of this, Kings fans don't know too much regarding Quebec and French-Canadians. Luckily, I am here to help.

This is France. The Eiffel Tower is really fucking big. It is also a sexual maneuver involving two males and one female. But France has also given us much more than that. They have a bike tour where a bunch of white guys ride around and site see. That Lance Armstrong guy was really good at that, though it turns out he was full of more drugs than an American steak. Anyways, France was involved in the North America European invasion during the 1700s but lost out to England and Spain for the most part. Some French stuck around in Canada trapping beavers because they reminded them of their women. Others hung around in Louisiana to coach college football.

So like all Canadians, the French hosers took up the game of hockey also. Long story short, Don Cherry hates them because they are French-Canadians, which means they are European pinko commies that also cry a lot. But that's stereotyping again! Here are some real French-Canadian, and Montreal, facts:

• They were the original Canada! Or, as France referred to it, "New France"!
• French-Canadians don't enjoy being called french, which is pretty odd given the fact above.
• French-Canada was given to Britain by France after Britain kicked their butts, along with the natives, in the French and Indian War.
  
• The French actually fought alongside the indigenous people of North America, which was totally counter intuitive to European behavior at the time.
• Well, the French didn't love the native peoples too much, as Montreal was the main site of fighting between French colonists and Iroquois Indians in what was called, and I swear I am not making this up, the Beaver Wars.
• Montreal was founded by a guy who was most renown for playing a lute.

*Visual approximation

• Montreal's oldest hero is a French dude named Adam Dollard des Ormeaux.
• Ol' Dollard went with 16 or so other guys and picked a fight with about 700 Iroquois. Some say it was to show what a badass he was and stop the Iroquois before they reached Montreal, but others say he was trying to runaway from the impending invasion of Montreal
  
• That fight didn't go well, as you could predict, and they all got killed by the Iroquois. It's referred to as the Battle of Long Sault, where the french guys holed up, then got smoked. They are seen as heroes for whatever reason (sort of like Texas and the Alamo).
• Quebec nowadays still debates seceding from the rest of Canada (alsosort of like Texas).
• The rest of Canada doesn't really care what the hell Quebec does and finds them rather annoying (again, much like Texas).
• Montreal was called Canada's cultural capital by Monocle magazine, which isn't ridiculous and pretentious sounding at all.
• Montreal is the international capital of steak seasoning.

Jerk-Off 2014

The Hurricanes had NO ONE win. They are that unmemorable. That's it. Enough about them though, today we have the Montreal Canadiens. Let's get right to it.

George Parros

Super Mario > Burt Reynolds > Tom Selleck > Ned Flanders > Mike Piazza > Cops > Gallagher > George Parros.

Max Pacioretty

Everyone seems to just feel bad for Pacioretty after Zdeno Chara nearly killed him, but they kind of gloss over the fact he hit a man who has a hole in his heart.

Douglas Murray

I know, I know. Including a large boulder on this list was a rather odd decision. Oh well.

P.K. Subban

All these people hate him, and I have no idea why! They must have a good reason. I mean, that many people wouldn't hate P.K. Subban just because he is a black man playing extraordinarily well in a predominantly white sport. That would be crazy!

Prediction: Everyone actually loves P.K. Subban from here on out because Twelve Years a Slave won best picture. Alright, alright, alright.

More from Battle of California

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• Kings Gameday: Not Very Kinglike
• Ducks Gameday: Apology
• Sharks Gameday: Surprise Tweets of the Week!
• Kings Gameday: World Wide Wardrobe
• Ducks Gameday: Battle of California Negotiation Tips

On the heels of a five-game losing streak and with an impending trade deadline, the Hurricanes wrap up their west coast road trip late tonight against the San Jose Sharks.

Carolina Hurricanes at San Jose Sharks
March 4, 2014 - 10:30 pm ET
SAP Center - San Jose CA
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Fear The Fin

Hurricanes Record: 26-26-9 | 61 pts | 7th Metro | 13th EC
Sharks Record: 39-17-6 | 84 pts | 2nd Pacific | 4th WC

Post-Season Picture:

Games Remaining: 21
Minimum Points Needed: 92
Points Back: 31 (1.41 points/game)
Playoff Chances (Sports Club Stats): 3.8%

It feels like a long time since the Carolina Hurricanes played a complete team game against a top NHL opponent, but that's just what they did in Raleigh on December 6, 2013, when a four-goal third period capped off by a three-point night from Elias Lindholm led to a 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Tonight they have an opportunity to close out a disappointing road trip on a positive note if they can muster a similar effort at the Shark Tank.

What to know about the Sharks:

• The Sharks are back home for the first time after the Olympic break, having started with a three-game road trip that featured a loss to the Sabres sandwiched between wins against the Flyers and Devils.
• The Sharks are one of the strongest teams in the league for controlling five-on-five play. They lead the league in shot attempts per game and are top-five in limiting shots against. While their power play is middle-of-the-pack, they draw a lot of penalties, and their PP-PK differential is the best in the league.
• Joe Pavelski leads the team in goals (32) and is tied with Joe Thornton for the lead in points (59). He followed up a strong Olympic performance with a hat trick in the Sharks' return against the Flyers, and has 5 points in the last three games.
• The Sharks are also getting a boost from the return of Logan Couture (hand surgery) and Raffi Torres (knee surgery), both of whom gathered three points on the road trip.
• Antti Niemi was in net for the loss against the Sabres on Friday. Alex Stalock was in net for wins against the Flyers and Devils. The Sharks didn't practice yesterday, and no decision has been made as to tonight's starting netminder. Both Niemi and Stalock have one career game against the Canes, both losses, Stalock's loss coming in the December game. Niemi is 29-13-6 season to date with a 2.41 GAA and .911 save percentage; Stalock is 10-4-0 with a 1.78 GAA and .933 save percentage.

What to know about the Canes:

• The Hurricanes are looking to salvage anything positive out of this road trip. Prior to the Buffalo game the Canes had a 26.7% chance of squeaking into the playoffs with 25 games remaining. Four games and four losses later and those chances are now down to a depressing 3.8%. While not mathematically eliminated, the writing is on the wall that the Canes are likely missing the playoffs for the fifth straight year, and with the trade deadline looming, changes will certainly be on the horizon.
• Slow starts have plagued the team on the road trip. They have not led at any time in the last five games. Their power play woes continue as well, now minus -3 for 19 (3 shorthanded goals against) since the Olympic break, next to last in the league.
• Justin Faulk will be out of tonight's line-up. He suffered an undisclosed upper body injury in the first period of the Ducks game, among reports that he may have already been questionable to play that night, and per team sources he could miss up to 10 days. The injury is not concussion-related. Mike Komisarek will draw back into the lineup to fill the roster spot.
• Andrej Sekera and Alexander Semin have kept decent scoring runs going. Both scored in Sunday's game. Sekera now has 12 points in his last 13 games and is tied for sixth among NHL defensemen with eleven goals. Semin has 10 goals in his last 14 games; only Phil Kessel (TOR) has more goals in that time span.
• No decision has been made with regard to starting goaltender. Cam Ward is 3-1-0 in four career games against the Sharks and was in net for the win in December. Anton Khudobin has not previously faced the Sharks.
• Jim Rutherford and Ron Francis were originally scheduled to fly back to Raleigh yesterday, but weather issues postponed their trip home. The team will stick around in San Jose until after tomorrow's trade deadline has passed (3 pm ET, noon PT) and will fly back afterwards, which depending on what transpires Wednesday could make for an interesting flight home.

We'll have the game thread open and ready to roll later this evening.

Line juggling, trade rumors, and a look ahead to the playoffs.

1. Two games since the Olympics, and two wins. The first one, against the St. Louis Blues, was a tight defensive game, which isn't the kind of game the Ducks have built their lead atop the NHL upon. That's okay, and even a bit encouraging, because it shows that this team can hold down a one-goal lead for a long time against an elite Cup contender. The game against the Carolina Hurricanes was a little more typical for this high-flying Ducks team, and that includes the ugly third period.

2. Jakob Silfverberg can play center, and he didn't look half bad doing it between Teemu Selanne and Matt Beleskey. Thus the season-long rotation of moveable parts in the forward lines continues. This is a good thing. It takes some time to establish familiarity with new linemates, but once players know each others' tendencies, they don't forget them. The more players each forward is familiar with, the easier it will be for Bruce Boudreau to shuffle lines and get results in the playoffs, especially when he needs some instant offense.

3. As Brian Burke once put it, the trade deadline is one of two times of year when everybody loses their minds, the other being the beginning of the free agency period in July. If you've been looking around the internet recently, you might have seen Sami Vatanen's name here and there. I don't think anyone around here is too keen on trading the young offensive defenseman, and I shudder to imagine what an offer for him looks like. My guess is that he stays put, because he's simply too good and too cheap to give away for anything that's out on the market right now. Except maybe Thomas Vanek. Ooooh, Thomas Vanek. That is tantalizing, isn't it?

4. The playoff picture is beginning to come into focus, and more so in the West than in the East. The top three teams in both the Pacific and Central Divisions are all but certain, even if their ranking within the top three isn't, and the Minnesota Wild have a relatively firm hold on the first Wild Card spot. That leaves one playoff position remaining for Dallas, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Phoenix, and Nashville. If the Ducks can manage to hold down their conference lead, they will probably play one of those five teams. If either St. Louis or Chicago (or both) pass the Ducks, they will probably play Minnesota. If San Jose passes the Ducks, they will almost certainly play the Los Angeles Kings. The Sharks, by the way, are only seven points behind the Ducks as of this writing, each with 20 games remaining (including two head-to-head). That's a difference of three wins and an overtime loss. Need any more motivation to keep winning?

Goalie will make $2 million next year and $2.5 million the following

The Carolina Hurricanes just announced that they signed goalie Anton Khudobin to a two-year contract extension for $2 million next season and $2.5 million the following.  The team was trying to sign Khudobin before the trade deadline and have now succeeded.

We will see if anything happens with Cam Ward now.

The team's release follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 4, 2014

‘CANES AGREE TO TERMS WITH ANTON KHUDOBIN

Goaltender agrees to two-year contract with Carolina

RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with goaltender Anton Khudobin (HOO-doh-bihn) on a two-year contract. The deal will pay Khudobin $2 million for the 2014-15 season and $2.5 million in 2015-16.

"We are pleased to be able to keep Anton with the Hurricanes," Rutherford said. "He has played well this season and signing him helps solidify our team’s goaltending situation."

Khudobin, 27, is 13-8-0 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 22 games with the Hurricanes this season. He was named the NHL’s First Star for the month of January after matching a Hurricanes franchise record for wins in a month with 10, registering a goals-against average of 2.19 and save percentage of .927 in 14 games.

A native of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, Khudobin was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round of the 2004 Draft, and has a career NHL record of 27-13-1 with a 2.11 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in 43 games with Minnesota, Boston and Carolina. The Hurricanes acquired Khudobin as a free agent on July 5, 2013. He has represented Russia at several international competitions, earning a goal medal at the 2004 U18 World Championship and silver medals at the 2005 and 2006 World Junior Championships (U20).

The Hurricanes take on the San Jose Sharks tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET (FOX Sports Carolinas, Hurricanes Radio Network). Carolina returns home on Wednesday and will host the New York Rangerson Friday 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.

Carolina ends losing streak with hard earned win in San Jose

Elias Lindholm scored a goal and set up the game-winning goal as the Carolina Hurricanes won the final game of their road trip, 3-2 over the San Jose Sharks in overtime late Tuesday night.  This was definitely the best overall effort since the Olympic break for the Canes.

The Sharks have one of the best home records in the NHL and were previously 22-4-3 in the Shark Tank.

The Canes had some jump in the first period and Jiri Tlusty opened the scoring when Alexander Semin sent him a perfect pass, blueline to blueline.  Tlusty broke in alone and backhanded the puck past Alex Stalock to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the road trip.

Unfortunately, it was a short-lived lead as Marty Havlat knocked in a juicy rebound less than a minute later to tie the game.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead late in the period when Anton Khudobin seemed to have another communication problem with the defense as he skated behind his net to play a puck.  Raffi Torres took the puck away from the goalie and before he was able to get set, Brent Burns scored to make it, 2-1.

The Canes were not done this night though.  Early in the second period, Eric Staal set up shop behind the San Jose net and found Lindholm skating to an open spot in front.  After receiving the pass from the captain, the rookie made no mistake and scored his fifth goal of the season to tie the game, 2-2.

Andrej Sekera set up the play with some nice puck handling along the boards.

Sekera had another excellent game and played a team high, 26:12 of ice time.  Semin led all forwards with 25:08 of time on the ice.

The Sharks turned up the pressure in the third period and outshot the Canes 16-7 but Khudobin and the defense held the fort and did what they needed to, to keep the home team off the scoreboard.

In overtime, both teams skated end to end for some exciting sequences until Sekera and Eric Staal teamed up again.  They got  the puck to Lindholm, who then backhanded the puck toward the net.  The puck squirted out right to Jay Harrison, who was there to knock in the game-winner.

Officially it was an unassisted goal,but Lindholm set it up with his nifty shot (or pass), toward the net and was credited with the assist on the play.

The Canes will fly home after the trade deadline has passed on Wednesday and will play their next game at home on Friday night against the New York Rangers.

Game Notes:

• Khudobin made 35 saves on 37 shots and really looked calm when things got crazy in the third period.  He was named the game's first star.
• The Canes put 35 shots on goal and were led by Semin and Tlusty with four shots each.
• Jordan Staal led the way in the faceoff circle by winning 67%.  The team won 58% for the game.  Staal also was credited with a game high seven hits.
• The team had 17 blocked shots, led by Ron Hainsey and John-Michael Liles with three each.

Talk about all the days events, as well as what could have been and should have been

Justin Peters has been recalled today from his "reconditioning stint" in Charlotte.  This is not necessarily trade day related, but does give the Hurricanes three goalies on their roster.  For those counting, that is one more than they need.

Peters played well for the Checkers and finished with a 3-1-1 record during his most recent stay.  His total AHL record this season was 4-1-1 with a 2.14 GAA and .932 save percentage.

If you can believe local rumors, the Canes will be looking to cut salary today, (or "liquidate" according to Mark Armstrong.)  We will see how successful they can be.

The Carolina Hurricanes, coming off of a five-game road trip that yielded just two points in the standings, became sellers during Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline, dealing Tuomo Ruutu to New Jersey in exchange for center Andrei Loktionov and a conditional third round pick, according to reports.

Tuomo Ruutu still had value on the ice for the Carolina Hurricanes— just not for the $4.75 million cap hit for the balance of 2013-14 and the next two years.

So with that, the Canes dealt Ruutu to the Devils, acquiring center Andrei Loktionov and a conditional third-round pick in exchange, according to several sources. Ruutu came to Carolina in 2007-08 in exchange for former first-rounder Andrew Ladd. Ruutu became an immediate fan favorite, known for his big hits and ability to put up points.

But injuries and lack of production made Ruutu expendable, especially when he is set to earn $10 million over the next two seasons.

Here is the release from the Hurricanes:

‘CANES ACQUIRE LOKTIONOV FROM DEVILS
Ruutu dealt to New Jersey for young center, conditional pick

RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has acquired center Andrei Loktionov (ahn-DRAY lawk-too-OH-nawf) and a conditional draft pick from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Tuomo Ruutu.

"Andrei is a young, skilled forward who will play on our power play," Rutherford said. "Tuomo was a good player for the Hurricanes and we thank him for his contributions to our organization over the past seven years."

Loktionov, 23, has totaled four goals and eight assists (12 points) in 48 games with New Jersey during his first full NHL season. The Voskresensk, Russia, native made his NHL debut for Los Angeles during the 2009-10 season before suffering a shoulder injury. He returned to action the following year, and was a member of the Kings’ Stanley Cup Championship team in 2011-12. Los Angeles’ seventh pick, 123rd overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Loktionov (5’10", 180 lbs.) has totaled 38 points (19g, 19a) and 20 penalty minutes in 135 career games with Los Angeles and New Jersey.