Hit the literal snooze button.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were retreating down ice and retrieving another puck somewhere into the second shift of a listless power play late in the second period on Tuesday. It might have been the second period? Who remembers. Perturbed, the home crowd offered up a lazy round of boos and catcalls that their team may or may not have heard, and then they stopped.

It was the most impassioned thing anyone dressed in black and gold directed at the Carolina Hurricanes all evening.

Sidney Crosby assisted on Chris Kunitz's opening goal early in the first period and it was all downhill from there as the Hurricanes outplayed a hapless Penguins squad to the tune of a 4-1 final Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Eric Staal, Elias Lindholm and Justin Faulk scored for Carolina, who staved off mathematical postseason elimination and delayed Pittsburgh's clinching the Metropolitan Division title with the victory.

Pittsburgh started the game well enough, outshooting the Hurricanes by a double-digit margin through the first half of the first period while carrying a 1-0 lead on Kunitz's 35th goal of the year.

After that, the wheels fell right off.

Carolina finished the contest not outshooting the Penguins -- Pittsburgh still won that stat by a 31-28 mark -- but certainly by playing smarter when the puck was in their possession.

Giveaways (or, turnovers) are hardly ever reliable as far as the box score goes, and teams typically track the criminally underreported stat on their own. Even by the NHL's soft margins, the Penguins had 13 recorded giveaways to Carolina's 3, a fine barometer for the team's struggles Tuesday evening.

"We all felt like the first 10 minutes we were carrying the play ... for whatever reason we got away from that," Crosby said following the loss. "Maybe we thought that came easy or we could get away with cheating.

"And it didn't work."

Pittsburgh has seen a lot of what doesn't work since the Olympic break, having gone 8-8-2 over that stretch while relinquishing the Eastern Conference points lead to Boston.

Injuries, of course, are the likeliest culprit. Pittsburgh is nearing 500 man-games lost for the season, and might be the only NHL team to have lost as many as 400 all year. With names like Evgeni Malkin, Paul Martin and Kris Letang still on the shelf (not to mention Pascal Dupuis, Tomas Vokoun, Marcel Goc and Chris Conner), Pittsburgh has the most right of any NHL team to point to injuries as a reason, not an excuse, for poor play.

Even at that, something has to change.

Coming off two straight victories over Columbus and Chicago, one could begin to think the Pens had turned things around following a poor stretch of play in the wake of the Sochi Olympics. The four clean points clinched a postseason berth, but the Penguins squeaked by Columbus in one instance while earning a win despite being outplayed for long stretches by the Chicago Blackhawks.

If problems were still apparent in those wins, they came to the fore against Carolina. Pittsburgh played one of its worst games of the season Tuesday, allowing themselves to be handily outplayed by a lesser opponent that came into the contest missing one of its top offensive contributors in Alex Semin.

If it were possible to bench an entire roster, the Penguins would want to give it serious thought following the Carolina contest. And while it's always treacherous to extrapolate too great an assumption from one match, games like the one played Tuesday are becoming less anomaly than general rule.

It doesn't take much digging to see why the Pens are dragging. Fatigue has to be creeping in. Players thrust into roles to which they aren't accustomed can't be glossed over, and the total lineup chaos the team has experienced has done nothing to help team chemistry.

Whatever it takes, Pittsburgh will look to do something to get themselves sparked heading into the postseason.

This team has made a habit of entering the dance on a tear. It's been suggested that they feel too good about themselves as the postseason begins, and a letdown has always followed.

Even given this stretch, no one is going to give the Penguins underdog status. They'll have to find something from within the room to spark a run of postseason-quality play.

If they don't, another playoff flameout is likely to follow.

Audio courtesy Jason Seidling & Pittsburgh Penguins.

It certainly was a perfect week for the Carolina Hurricanes, but it was better than it has been in a while. Carolina played 4 games and got points in each of them. While it doesn't help them get into the playoffs, maybe it builds a little momentum heading into the offseason?

Too little, too late would be an accurate statement to describe the Hurricanes week.  But after going 6-12-0 between February 1st and March 25th, a 2-0-2 week looks quite nice.  It started out with a 3-0 home victory over the Panthers where Anton Khudobin picked up his well deserved first shutout of the season.  It was followed up with a hard fought, yet disappointing overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.  Then Canes fans witnessed the Cam Ward of old, stealing Carolina a point in a shootout loss in Ottawa.  The week was capped off with an impressive win over the Metropolitan Division leaders in Pittsburgh.  It was a week with both negatives and positives.  The Canes continued to generally get off to slow starts and the veteran forwards really weren't huge factors.  But the goaltending was superb and the younger generation led the way.  7 of the 10 Canes to register points this week were 26 years old or younger.  While the playoffs are out of the picture, if they can continue and generate a little momentum and good feelings heading into the offseason?  Here are the stats for the week of 3/26/14 through 4/1/14.

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

• Jeff Skinner - This might have been one of Jeff's best stretches in his career.  He's scored more goals, had game winners, made some dynamic plays before, but this week Jeff displayed a little more complete game in my opinion.  He was looking to pass, rather than just shoot and was fighting for the puck along the boards.  He led the team in goals, points and total goals for.  He also tied for the team lead in shots, tied 2nd in assists and tied for 4th in +/-.  His possession numbers were only above average, but you could tell the difference he made when he was on the ice.  But the number that really stood out to me was his 5 hits.  That represents more than 1/4 of his season totals in this week alone!  Maybe Skinner is taking the next step or maybe this is just one of his little streaks, but he deserves much credit for his play this week.
• Andrei Loktionov - Loktionov has been teetering on my Hot List for the past couple of weeks and finally makes it.  Since coming over in the Tuomo Ruutu trade, Loktionov has seen his minutes and game pick up.  He was getting close early on, but now it seems things are starting to break his way.  He had a team high 3 assists, was 2nd in points, tied for 4th in +/- and tied 4th in shots on goal.  Loktionov was in the top 4 in every possession category, leading 3 of them.  His lowest number was 52.8%, which is even more impressive considering where the team as a whole ranked this week.  This guy is proving to be a quality player that can pass and helps the PP.  He's also seems to be pretty reliable in his own zone while contributing offensively, given he was on the ice for 5 Canes goals and only 1 against.  Got to give some props to Jim Rutherford here, doing what he does best, finding a diamond in the rough.
• Anton Khudobin/Cam Ward - What a week for the goaltending duo for the Canes?  4 games played, 3 against teams in the top 14 in goal scoring and you average a 0.961 save percentage & 1.21 goals against average.  You really can't ask for much more than that and both guys were excellent this week.  As mentioned earlier, Khudobin got his first shutout of the season.  And in Ottawa, Cam looked like the guy from 2010/2011, stealing a point in a game the Canes didn't deserve to be in.  Given the team's scoring issues this season, this is what was needed on a more consistent basis this year.  And there's still the issue with what to do with Ward this summer.  But for a week at least, the Canes had an outstanding show put on by both of their goalies and it was great to see.

Who's Not

• Alexander Semin - When he falls, I guess he falls pretty hard.  Semin has been one of the Canes best players for a while now, but when pointless in 3 straight for the first time since early January.  And to wrap things up, he caught the flu and missed the 4th game.  But it wasn't just a lack of scoring, Semin's whole game was off this week.  He only had 5 shots on goal and was not on the ice for any Carolina goal.  But the biggest thing was his possession numbers.  Alex was in the high 40s this week, with his highest being the All Situation Corsi For at 50.5%.  This is a guy that leads the Canes in almost every possession stat this season, averaging over 60% in All Situations Corsi and over 59% in All Situations Fenwick.  Hopefully this was just an off week or maybe he was fighting the flu a little longer than expected.  Either way, I hope this was an aberration and not what we'll see the rest of the season.
• Jordan Staal - The same thing that happened to Alex also happened to Jordan.  The well went dry and quickly.  Jordan didn't have any points for the week, wasn't on the ice for any Canes goal and saw his possession numbers dip into the 40s.  But at least Jordan did some of the little things to help the team out, like delivering a team high 10 hits.  It is starting to seem to me that Jordan feeds off his linemates, but isn't the type of guy that really drives the bus.  That's not meant to say he isn't a good player, but it appears that his linemates are the ones that are going to determine Jordan's point production for the Canes.  If their going, Jordan produces, if not, he's almost strictly a defensive center.  Another thing to point out is that Jordan has been struggling in the faceoff circle the past couple of weeks.  He's still at 54% for the season, but the last 2 weeks have been in the mid 40% range and that needs to rebound.  Let's just hope that some rain fills that well up again and Jordan finishes the season strong, producing some points.
• Eric Staal - This is a week were the stats the don't the whole story.  Eric lead the team with 6 takeaways, tied for the team lead in shots with 12, tied 3rd in hits with 8, tied 4th with a +2 rating and tied 4th with 2 points.  That really doesn't sound too bad, but watching him has been a different story.  His play has been lackluster and his effort level disappointing.  Maybe his brother can't drive a line, but we all know that Eric sure the hell can and he isn't.  Use to, when this team needed him, he could put them on his back and score a critical goal or at least fend off defenders with the puck, eventually creating a scoring chance for a teammate.  This year's version (particularly lately) of Eric Staal isn't the same guy.  I wish I knew what was going on with him, but I don't.  All I can say is that I believe the old Eric is still there, but someone or something needs to draw it out of this shell.  I'm not 100% sure if he'll be back with Carolina next season, but I hope so and I hope it's not the 13/14 version.  If he is here, this team needs Eric Staal to be the player he can be if they have any hopes at being a playoff team.

Notable Weekly Team Stats

• The Hurricanes certainly weren't scoring in bunches this week, averaging exactly at their season average of 2.50 goals per game.  That ranks 21st on the season and tied for 17th for the week.
• The PP continued it's recent hot streak, going 2 for 8 or 25%.  That ranked tied for 6th in the league and is 9 percentage points higher than their season average.  It appears the coaching staff has finally figured out that the "Kid Unit + Old Man Harrison" might be something that works.
• The PK dropped some this week, clocking in at 85.7%.  That puts them dead middle in the NHL, tied for 15th.  Of course the 1 PP goal they gave up was a 4-on-3 in OT against Columbus, those are always difficult.
• Sort of an unusual week for the Canes.  They finished top 10 in hits with 103 (6th) and blocked shots with 55 (8th).  They were middle of the pack in takeaways with 24 (12th), giveaways with 28 (18th) and turnover margin at -4 (tied 16th).  Typically the Canes are near the top in takeaways and turnover margin and generally closer the bottom in giveaways and hits.
• Carolina again gave up more shots than they took.  They averaged 29.5 shots per game, tied for 16th in the league.  They gave up 31.8 shots against per game, which was 21st in the NHL.  Luckily, the had the highest save percentage for the week.
• Faceoffs stepped off a cliff this week, dropping to 22nd in the NHL at 48.3%.  Manny was the only regular in the positive at 53.8%, Riley was next at 48.0%, and Eric & Jordan both tied at 47.7% to finish it off.
• The Hurricanes go 1-2-0 and finished with 51% Corsi & Fenwick the previous week.  Yet the drop this week and go 2-0-2, really puzzling?  Carolina finished with a 46.8% 5 on 5 Corsi For percentage for the week.  They finished with a 45.9% 5 on 5 Fenwick For percentage.  So they drop 5 to 6 points and end up getting better results.
• Team Stat of the Week - Goals Against - 1.25 GA/G - The Canes tied for giving up a league low 5 goals, but did it in more games than the others.  So their 1.25 goals against per game was the league leader.  And while the defense played a part, most of the credit needs to go to Dobby and Cam.  The team gave up the 2nd most shots on goal with 127.  As mentioned above, the goaltending duo stopped a combined 96.1% of those and ended up with a 1.21 goals against average with overtime factored in.

Former Canes Weekly Stats

Fan Appreciation Week kicks off for the Hurricanes as they host the Dallas Stars tonight. Get there early to claim your Justin Faulk bobblehead.

Carolina Hurricanes vs Dallas Stars
April 3, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Defending Big D

Hurricanes Record: 33-32-11 | 77 pts | 7th Metro | 13th EC
Stars Record: 37-27-11 | 85 pts | 5th Central | 8th WC

Post-Season Picture:
Games Remaining: 6
Estimated Points Needed: 92
Points Back: 15 (unpossible)
Playoff Chances (Sports Club Stats): 0.6%
Tragic Number: 7

The Hurricanes haven't defeated the Dallas Stars since December 16, 2009. They had a chance on February 27th in Dallas for all of about three minutes before the Stars put on a show, and two shorthanded goals and a three-point night from Jamie Benn sealed a 4-1 win that was really never a contest.

The Stars are in a tight battle with Phoenix for the last Western Conference wild card spot, having pulled themselves into eighth place with three straight wins and a 5-1-0 record in their last six games. They shut out the Capitals 5-0 in Washington on Tuesday night before heading to Raleigh.

The Stars are getting contributions throughout their lineup [Stars.com]. In their last six games they have scored 23 goals from twelve different players. Tyler Seguin (33g, 44a) and Jamie Benn (30g, 41a) lead the team in scoring with 77 and 71 points respectively, but Ryan Garbutt has four goals in his last four games, and Cody Eakin and Colton Sceviour both have three goals.

Kari Lehtonen will likely get the start in net tonight. Lehtonen has allowed 10 goals in his last six starts and is 30-18-10 for the season with four shutouts and a .919 save percentage. Tim Thomas now backs up Lehtonen in Dallas and faced the Canes twice earlier this season with the Panthers, both losing efforts.

A few of the Stars players were apparently enjoying the spring weather playing touch football outside Raleigh Center Ice yesterday as part of an optional practice [Defending Big D]. Former Hurricane Erik Cole skated (and spoke with the N&O), but remains day-to-day with an upper body injury and will be a game-day decision. Aaron Rome (undisclosed) remains day-to-day as well, and Rich Peverley is out for the season with what is officially reported as an irregular heartbeat.

For a terrific perspective on the Stars' philosophy as prescribed by head coach Lindy Ruff, read all about how "Everybody Ropes, Everybody Rides" [Stars.com].

The Hurricanes return home after a big 4-1 victory against the Penguins Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. Youth was served as the line of Riley Nash, Jeff Skinner, and Elias Lindholm carried the tempo. Lindholm scored two goals and Skinner had two assists. Skinner now has points in six straight games, including four goals. Andrei Loktionov also registered two assists in Tuesday's game, and has six points in his last five games.

Anton Khudobin is likely in net though not confirmed. His .930 save percentage is good for third best in the NHL.

The team didn't practice yesterday, and the status of Alexander Semin (illness) and Jiri Tlusty (upper body) won't be known, along with any other potential lineup changes, until the morning skate, scheduled for 10:30 am.

It's time for more Tweetmail, and hey, this batch even features a question from yours truly [ch.com].

The Hurricanes are hosting their third annual Alumni Fantasy Game on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm. Admission is free with donations supporting the Kids 'n Community Foundation. It's an outstanding and entertaining event in all aspects.

Fan Appreciation Week begins with many upcoming events in the arena to recognize the fans in the building. Tonight, be one of the first 10,000 in the arena to pick up your Justin Faulk bobblehead. You know you want one.

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

How will the Stars deal with success after winning five of six to re-enter the playoff conversation?

After their big 5-0 win over the Washington Capitals Tuesday night the Dallas Stars had an optional practice Wednesday that resulted in a reportedly light-hearted session outside the rink with baseballs, footballs and soccer balls.

A well earned day of fun for a team that's won five of their last six to climb back into contention for that last wild card spot.

And yet, if you pay attention to these things long enough, and you've been a fan of this team for the long haul, you're trained to look for the banana peel.

You might recall, for example, the last time the Stars won a HUGE game in Washinton. It was a 5-2 decision in early November of 2011. Afterward practice the next day was cancelled and the 11-3-0 Dallas Stars were treated to a day of riding Go-Karts by Glen Gulutzan. Everything was right with the world. Then they lost five straight.

The streaky nature of this year's group, and it comes out of nowhere both ways, makes you wonder how they'll respond to their success. Success was all there really was in DC Tuesday night.

Capital's forward Eric Fehr described the Stars after the game-

"They are a really fast team, and they got a lot of pressure on us," he conceded. "We didn't react well to it. We turned over too many pucks, we didn't make the easy plays - the 10 foot plays - we were looking for long passes and they hemmed us in our zone pretty good."

To perceive a thing is nice. To hear the enemy say it is another. Pressure. Hemming them in. It's what the Stars can do when they receive the netminding they need while executing their speed-game intelligently, rather than the occasional dud they'll throw out there that included all of the expeditiousness and none of the cerebral support to make it count.

Erik Cole is progressing for Dallas and could be a player this weekend, but not tonight. D Patrik Nemeth made his NHL debut Tuesday and played a hair under 12 minutes, but it's not yet clear when his next chance will come.

There's little reason to think anyone but Kari Lehtonen will be in net tonight for Ruff.

The Hurricanes have not had the best of luck against the Western Conference this season, but the same could be said of most Eastern Conference teams not named Boston or Pittsburgh. They're 9-13-5 overall against the stronger conference, but have earned points in 8 of 12 home games at 5-4-3, so the Stars could be in store for a bit of a staring contest if it's tight in the third period.

Giving a point to the Hurricanes matters not, of course. Getting that extra point in such a scenario matters a great deal, and with four more ROWs than Phoenix, it doesn't matter how they do it.

Everything about the Hurricanes on paper screams .500- Their 33-32-11 record overall, their 17-5-6 home record, their 16-17-5 road record, their 4-4-2 record in their last ten games- All of it. 13th place in the East and out of the playoff race with just 77 points screams "should win", but the other side of that .500 coin is that they (Carolina) could easily rise up and strike.

With Tampa Bay and St. Louis left on the schedule the Stars need this one. Pretty badly.

Carolina has played well of late- Beating Pittsburgh 4-1 in their last outing, winning in Winnipeg, in Columbus, losing a close one in Chicago. They have the stomach for a fight, so it will be interesting to see how the Stars come out focus-wise after what sounded like a pretty recreational day in Raleigh Wednesday.

Looking at the forward talent they have, it's not hard to see why they can rise up on any given night.

Staal-Loktionov-Tlusty
Gerbe-Staal-Semin
Skinner-Nash-Lindholm
Bowman-Malhotra-Dwyer

Faulk-Sekera
Hainsey-Michael Liles
Harrison-Bellemore

Cam Ward
Anton Khudobin

Khudobin made 30 saves for the win in Pittsburgh and should be in net. Rookie Elias Lindholm scored twice in that one- Watch for that "third" line with Skinner on it as well. The Stars depth has been tested (successfully) lately- This is yet another.

The Stars average 31.7 shots per game to the Hurricane's 31.3, and both teams give up very nearly 31 per game, so this one could have some pace to it with like-minded squads getting up and down the ice.

It's another early start- 6:00pm CST on Fox Sports Southwest locally.

Ottawa's March to the Playoffs 2014™ continued with a hard-fought shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Ottawa Senators faced off against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night in the enviable position of being able to truly make up ground on teams they're chasing in the playoff race, as few other teams were in action. If the Sens were to keep their microscopic post-season chances alive, a win was a virtual necessity. Thanks to some solid play from veterans Ales Hemsky and Craig Anderson, newly-minted assistant captain Kyle Turris, and youngsters Patrick Wiercioch and Mika Zibanejad, they managed to secure a 2-1 shootout win and put two more points in the bank.

Things got off to a great start for Ottawa when Ales Hemsky corralled a loose puck to set up Patrick Wiercioch at the point, and Wiercioch's laserbeam was tipped past Cam Ward by Mika Zibanejad in front. But a brutal giveaway by Erik Karlsson gave Jeff Skinner the opportunity to bank the puck into the net off of none other than Erik Karlsson, which tied the game after just a few minutes. Although Ottawa controlled most of the play and generated oodles of chances, it would end up knotted at aces.

More chances were had in the second frame, and Ottawa doubled up the 'Canes in shots despite taking two penalties--but the Sens couldn't get anything in, and the tied score carried forward.

The goaltending battle continued through the third period and overtime, but... still, no goals. The teams were off to the shootout.

... in which Craig Anderson just took over, stopping all three shots faced convincingly and propelling the Senators to their third straight win.

The victory was Ottawa's third straight, and they've now got nine points in their last five games. Although SportsClubStats still rates their odds of making the playoffs at under three per cent, it looks like the Senators are going to do everything they can to make it an exciting finish.

Sens Hero: Ales Hemsky
Hemsky was like magic tonight... he and Mika Zibanejad worked very well off one another, with each others' speed and slick hands complementing nicely. (Milan Michalek was kind of along for the ride.) Hemsky had an assist and scored the shootout winner, too. Right now, he looks like one of the Senators best deadline-day acquisitions ever--perhaps second only to the next guy...

Sens Hero: Craig Anderson
Although he wasn't asked to make many ridiculous saves in this one, there were plenty of good scoring chances for the Hurricanes, and Anderson was there to stop nearly all of them. His only imperfection was a total fluke he could have done nothing on. The shootout dominance more than made up for it.

Sens Hero: Patrick Wiercioch
Ottawa's best defenceman on the night (weird to think), Wiercioch had a great game in all scenarios--even strength, powerplay, and even short-handed. Although he wasn't technically credited with a shot on net, his shot got Ottawa their love regulation goal, and he led the Sens defence with a +8 corsi. Maybe he was helped by the fact that Carolina isn't really a big team so they didn't challenge him physically, but Wiercioch made a statement nonetheless--we'll see if it was one that convinced MacLean.

Sens Heroes: MacArthur-Turris-Stone
Hot on the heels of Turris' first-star-of-the-week honours, this line had yet another dominant performance--especially in the first half of the game. They slowed down a bit towards the end, but still generated the lion's share of Ottawa's scoring chances and zone time. Mark Stone continues to look impressive on this trio; it's going to be interesting to see where he'll fit on the roster next season, because he's proving himself an NHL player.

Sens Zero: Erik Karlsson
On top of the giveaway that resulted in Carolina's goal, Karlsson also had a few other bad giveaways and was soft on the puck for most of the game. He also nearly killed Clarke MacArthur with a random knucklepuck-pass-attempt in the third period. While he may not have been a zero by normal standards, Karlsson was a zero by Karlssonian standards--the Sens need him to do more than he did in this one.

B_T doughnut:

Shot chart:

Game highlights:

Jeff Skinner notches 30th goal but Carolina loses in shootout.

The Carolina Hurricanes fell behind early but fought back to tie, then played to a draw before losing in a 2-1 shootout  to the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre, on Monday night.

Jeff Skinner scored his 30th goal of the season, a team high, while Cam Ward was solid in net with 28 saves.

The Canes failed to score in the skills competition as Riley Nash, Elias Lindholm, and Skinner were all stopped by  Craig Anderson.  Ward stopped Mika Zibanejad and Kyle Turris, but Ales Hemsky scored the game winner for the home team.

The Sens had a lot of jump to start the game and looked no worse for wear for a team which had played the night before.

Just a minute and change into the game, Hemsky faked out Justin Faulk and skated in the Carolina zone alone, but Ward stopped the shot.  The puck came out to the point and Patrick Wiercioch put a shot on goal which hit off Zibanejad's skate and into the net to make it, 1-0.

The Canes tied things up when Skinner put a shot in from behind the net off of Anderson's skate.  The goal was unassisted, but Lindholm helped set that one up.

The Senators would get the better of the chances the rest of the game, but the Hurricanes did pretty much match them shot-for-shot as the game went on.

The Canes ended up with 31 shots for the game while the Sens had 29.

Ottawa was playing without Bobby Ryan and star center Jason Spezza, but the Canes lost Jiri Tlusty after he was boarded late in the second period.  Andrei Loktionov also left the game after taking a puck to the jaw.

There was no post game status report for either player.

The Canes will be the tired team next game as they travel and will face the Penguins on Tuesday night.

Game Notes:

• Cam Ward is now 11-25 lifetime in shootouts.
• Justin Faulk led the way with five shots on goal.  Eric Staal had a team high 25:37 of ice time.
• The Canes had 18 blocked shots led by Ron Hainsey with four.
• Carolina was credited with 39 hits in this game, Jordan Staal had six.
• Post game interviews at Canes PR.com.

Chris Terry has been recalled from Charlotte after Jiri Tlusty and Andrei Loktionov left last night's game with injuries.

Carolina Hurricanes at Pittsburgh Penguins
April 1, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
CONSOL Energy Center - Pittsburgh, PA
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Pensburgh

Hurricanes Record: 32-32-11 | 75 pts | 7th Metro | 13th EC
Penguins Record: 48-22-5 | 101 pts | 1st Metro | 2nd EC

Post-Season Picture:
Games Remaining: 7
Estimated Points Needed: 92
Points Back: 17 (unpossible)
Playoff Chances (Sports Club Stats): 0.2%
Tragic Number: 8

Between ex-teammates, playoff history, and a division rivalry, one really doesn't have to manufacture drama when the Hurricanes play the Penguins. That said, this game in particular doesn't carry much significance in the standings, as the Penguins have a solid hold on first place in the Metro division, and the Hurricanes are all but officially eliminated from playoff contention. Welcome to April.

Tonight marks the last of four matchups between the two teams this season, and the Penguins are looking to sweep after having won the last three. They enter tonight's game coming off a big 4-1 win over Chicago on Sunday. The Hurricanes are playing their second game of a back-to-back on the road, losing 2-1 in overtime to Ottawa last night.

The Penguins depth of talent has allowed them to remain successful despite having the dubious honor of leading the league most nights this season in man games lost to injury. Currently out of the lineup are Evgeni Malkin (foot), Marcel Goc (foot), Kris Letang (stroke), Joe Vitale (mid-body injury), Tomas Vokoun (blood clot), and Chris Conner (hand). Paul Martin (broken hand) has begun practicing but is unlikely to be back in the lineup. Amazingly, Letang has already returned to the ice after suffering a stroke just a few weeks ago, and this morning it was announced that he is Pittsburgh's PWHA nominee for the Masterton trophy.

Of the healthy players remaining, Sidney Crosby, James Neal, Olli Maatta, Jayson Megna, and Jussi Jokinen are all point-per-game players when they face the Canes, and today is Jussi's birthday (31). He has three goals and six points against his former team this season (just sayin).

Tentative Penguins lineups from this morning's skate: [Offense] [Defense]. Confirmed is Marc-Andre Fleury in goal, his career record is 12-6-3 versus the Canes and he is 36-17-4 with five shutouts and a .917 save percentage this season.

With Jeff Skinner's unassisted goal being the lone tally in last night's game, he is now the only Hurricanes player with an active point streak, but it's a good streak, with goals in each of the last four games and points in the last five. Eric Staal averages over a point-per-game when he faces the Penguins.

The Hurricanes have been healthy of late, but lost Jiri Tlusty and Andrei Loktionov during last night's game after both sustained hits and were unable to return. The status of both players is unknown at this time. Radek Dvorak was a healthy scratch and should be able to draw into the lineup, and the Hurricanes have also recalled Chris Terry from the Checkers this morning, and he is on his way to Pittsburgh [news release].

With Cam Ward getting the workout in last night's game, Anton Khudobin is likely back in net tonight. Dobby has one career loss against the Penguins from his days with the Bruins but has not faced them as a member of the Hurricanes.

The Canes are not holding a morning skate, so any other news will be forthcoming around game time.

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

Spies say the former Islanders 1st overall pick has been spotted working out at the Islanders practice facility, Iceworks.

Flying below the radar since his short stint with the Charlotte Checkers (the Hurricanes AHL affiliate) earlier this season, former New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro has been seen getting his reps in around Iceworks, the Islanders practice facility.

The practice rink is where former players are sometimes spotted -- and on occasion, re-signed -- as agents seek to create buzz for a deal.

Although DiPietro had a somewhat disappointing .846 save percentage and modestly unsightly 5.18 GAA in five games for the Checkers, it appears he still hasn't given up on his eventual return to the NHL. DiPietro did have a much better stint last year for the Sound Tigers, going 9-9 with a 2.93 GAA and eclipsing the .893 save percentage threshold, marked by his first professional shutout since 2010-11.

Much like Radek Martinek (who rejoined the team) and Alexei Yashin (who was always one rumor short) of seasons past, DiPietro lives in the area and has a close relationship with the Isles front office.

But would the Islanders, with the league's worst save percentage at .891, really bring their former All-Star goalie back? As Garth Snow has stated multiple times in the past, he is "more then willing to kick the tires on anyone," and will leave "no stone unturned" in his search for talent.

One would imagine with Kevin Poulin, Anders Nilsson, Parker Milner and Evgeni Nabokov under contract that there wouldn't be much room on the team as the season winds down. But Nilsson and Poulin are pending RFAs, while Nabokov will be a UFA following this season. Depending on how everything falls, there could at the very least be a need for a veteran backup for Bridgeport and a candidate to win an NHL job next season.

Or maybe we are a player agent. And maybe it's just April 1st.

(If you haven't looked at your calendar yet...it's April 1, April Fools' Day in some circles.)

Avoiding players is hard enough, but when you have to worry about referees smacking you in the face hockey gets a lot more difficult.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have had to deal with more than their fair share of injuries this season, so the last thing they want to see is their captain and best player, Sidney Crosby, getting slapped across the face by a linesman.

So, naturally, that's exactly what happened in the first period Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The good news for Pittsburgh: Crosby seemed to be OK and recorded an assist on Chris Kunitz's first-period goal, Crosby's 100th point of the season. Crosby is the first (and likely will be the only) player to reach the century mark this season.

(GIF via Mike Darnay of PensBurgh)

Elias Lindholm scores twice and Anton Khudobin makes 30 saves in Carolina win

The Pittsburgh Penguins could have clinched the Metropolitan Division crown with a win, but instead will have to wait as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated them, 4-1 on Tuesday night, at the CONSOL Energy Center.

The win broke up a five game winning streak by the Pens over Carolina as well as a six game streak in Pittsburgh.

Elias Lindholm scored twice, his first multi-goal game in the NHL, Jeff Skinner and Andrei Loktionov each had two assists, and Anton Khudobin made 30 saves to lead the Canes.

The Hurricanes started off slowly again and they were being out-shot by an 11-1 margin at the 10 minute mark of the first period, but they turned things around from that point on and had the better of the play.

The Penguins had a penalty shot just 2:26 into the game but Khudobin did not bite on the fake and took up most of the net as Brian Gibbons shot wide on his attempt.

About midway through the opening period, the home team jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Chris Kunitz scored his 35th of the season.

The Canes were able to tie the game on a long, wicked shot by Justin Faulk with 5:21 left in the period.

In the second period, hard work by Skinner, Lindholm, and the rest of Carolina's youth finally started to pay off.

Skinner took the puck behind the net and fed Lindholm out front during a powerplay chance and the rookie made no mistake.  Loktionov picked up the second assist as the "young guns" group of Skinner, Lindholm, Nash, Loktionov, and in this case Jay Harrison, continue to out-perform the older player's grouping during the man advantage.

Later in the period, Skinner helped create a turnover and Lindholm gathered the loose puck before beating Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 3-1.

In the third period, Loktionov kept his hot production going as he sent a puck toward the net that Eric Staal was able to chip in to make it 4-1, Canes.

The team held on the rest of the way as the Penguins attacked but could not score again.

Things do not get any easier for Carolina as they return home to take on the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

Game Notes:

• Officially, the Canes went 1-1 on the powerplay and killed off the chance the Pens had.
• Khudobin was very good early on and kept the team in the game until they "found their legs".  He ended up making 30 saves on 31 shots for the night while his counterpart Fleury had 24 saves on 28 shots.
• Everyone saw good playing time in this game as low man was Drayson Bowman with 10:28 of TOI.   High man was Faulk with 24:59.
• Lindholm led the team with five shots on goal and no doubt the coaches will be wanting him to shoot more often.  While Skinner did not score, he looked very good in this game setting up his friend.
• Skinner now has a six game point streak.
• Carolina had 17 blocked shots and were led by John-Michael Liles with four.
• Check out post-game interviews at Canes PR.com.

Hit the literal snooze button.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were retreating down ice and retrieving another puck somewhere into the second shift of a listless power play late in the second period on Tuesday. It might have been the second period? Who remembers. Perturbed, the home crowd offered up a lazy round of boos and catcalls that their team may or may not have heard, and then they stopped.

It was the most impassioned thing anyone dressed in black and gold directed at the Carolina Hurricanes all evening.

Sidney Crosby assisted on Chris Kunitz's opening goal early in the first period and it was all downhill from there as the Hurricanes outplayed a hapless Penguins squad to the tune of a 4-1 final Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Eric Staal, Elias Lindholm and Justin Faulk scored for Carolina, who staved off mathematical postseason elimination and delayed Pittsburgh's clinching the Metropolitan Division title with the victory.

Pittsburgh started the game well enough, outshooting the Hurricanes by a double-digit margin through the first half of the first period while carrying a 1-0 lead on Kunitz's 35th goal of the year.

After that, the wheels fell right off.

Carolina finished the contest not outshooting the Penguins -- Pittsburgh still won that stat by a 31-28 mark -- but certainly by playing smarter when the puck was in their possession.

Giveaways (or, turnovers) are hardly ever reliable as far as the box score goes, and teams typically track the criminally underreported stat on their own. Even by the NHL's soft margins, the Penguins had 13 recorded giveaways to Carolina's 3, a fine barometer for the team's struggles Tuesday evening.

"We all felt like the first 10 minutes we were carrying the play ... for whatever reason we got away from that," Crosby said following the loss. "Maybe we thought that came easy or we could get away with cheating.

"And it didn't work."

Pittsburgh has seen a lot of what doesn't work since the Olympic break, having gone 8-8-2 over that stretch while relinquishing the Eastern Conference points lead to Boston.

Injuries, of course, are the likeliest culprit. Pittsburgh is nearing 500 man-games lost for the season, and might be the only NHL team to have lost as many as 400 all year. With names like Evgeni Malkin, Paul Martin and Kris Letang still on the shelf (not to mention Pascal Dupuis, Tomas Vokoun, Marcel Goc and Chris Conner), Pittsburgh has the most right of any NHL team to point to injuries as a reason, not an excuse, for poor play.

Even at that, something has to change.

Coming off two straight victories over Columbus and Chicago, one could begin to think the Pens had turned things around following a poor stretch of play in the wake of the Sochi Olympics. The four clean points clinched a postseason berth, but the Penguins squeaked by Columbus in one instance while earning a win despite being outplayed for long stretches by the Chicago Blackhawks.

If problems were still apparent in those wins, they came to the fore against Carolina. Pittsburgh played one of its worst games of the season Tuesday, allowing themselves to be handily outplayed by a lesser opponent that came into the contest missing one of its top offensive contributors in Alex Semin.

If it were possible to bench an entire roster, the Penguins would want to give it serious thought following the Carolina contest. And while it's always treacherous to extrapolate too great an assumption from one match, games like the one played Tuesday are becoming less anomaly than general rule.

It doesn't take much digging to see why the Pens are dragging. Fatigue has to be creeping in. Players thrust into roles to which they aren't accustomed can't be glossed over, and the total lineup chaos the team has experienced has done nothing to help team chemistry.

Whatever it takes, Pittsburgh will look to do something to get themselves sparked heading into the postseason.

This team has made a habit of entering the dance on a tear. It's been suggested that they feel too good about themselves as the postseason begins, and a letdown has always followed.

Even given this stretch, no one is going to give the Penguins underdog status. They'll have to find something from within the room to spark a run of postseason-quality play.

If they don't, another playoff flameout is likely to follow.

Audio courtesy Jason Seidling & Pittsburgh Penguins.

It certainly was a perfect week for the Carolina Hurricanes, but it was better than it has been in a while. Carolina played 4 games and got points in each of them. While it doesn't help them get into the playoffs, maybe it builds a little momentum heading into the offseason?

Too little, too late would be an accurate statement to describe the Hurricanes week.  But after going 6-12-0 between February 1st and March 25th, a 2-0-2 week looks quite nice.  It started out with a 3-0 home victory over the Panthers where Anton Khudobin picked up his well deserved first shutout of the season.  It was followed up with a hard fought, yet disappointing overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.  Then Canes fans witnessed the Cam Ward of old, stealing Carolina a point in a shootout loss in Ottawa.  The week was capped off with an impressive win over the Metropolitan Division leaders in Pittsburgh.  It was a week with both negatives and positives.  The Canes continued to generally get off to slow starts and the veteran forwards really weren't huge factors.  But the goaltending was superb and the younger generation led the way.  7 of the 10 Canes to register points this week were 26 years old or younger.  While the playoffs are out of the picture, if they can continue and generate a little momentum and good feelings heading into the offseason?  Here are the stats for the week of 3/26/14 through 4/1/14.

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

• Jeff Skinner - This might have been one of Jeff's best stretches in his career.  He's scored more goals, had game winners, made some dynamic plays before, but this week Jeff displayed a little more complete game in my opinion.  He was looking to pass, rather than just shoot and was fighting for the puck along the boards.  He led the team in goals, points and total goals for.  He also tied for the team lead in shots, tied 2nd in assists and tied for 4th in +/-.  His possession numbers were only above average, but you could tell the difference he made when he was on the ice.  But the number that really stood out to me was his 5 hits.  That represents more than 1/4 of his season totals in this week alone!  Maybe Skinner is taking the next step or maybe this is just one of his little streaks, but he deserves much credit for his play this week.
• Andrei Loktionov - Loktionov has been teetering on my Hot List for the past couple of weeks and finally makes it.  Since coming over in the Tuomo Ruutu trade, Loktionov has seen his minutes and game pick up.  He was getting close early on, but now it seems things are starting to break his way.  He had a team high 3 assists, was 2nd in points, tied for 4th in +/- and tied 4th in shots on goal.  Loktionov was in the top 4 in every possession category, leading 3 of them.  His lowest number was 52.8%, which is even more impressive considering where the team as a whole ranked this week.  This guy is proving to be a quality player that can pass and helps the PP.  He's also seems to be pretty reliable in his own zone while contributing offensively, given he was on the ice for 5 Canes goals and only 1 against.  Got to give some props to Jim Rutherford here, doing what he does best, finding a diamond in the rough.
• Anton Khudobin/Cam Ward - What a week for the goaltending duo for the Canes?  4 games played, 3 against teams in the top 14 in goal scoring and you average a 0.961 save percentage & 1.21 goals against average.  You really can't ask for much more than that and both guys were excellent this week.  As mentioned earlier, Khudobin got his first shutout of the season.  And in Ottawa, Cam looked like the guy from 2010/2011, stealing a point in a game the Canes didn't deserve to be in.  Given the team's scoring issues this season, this is what was needed on a more consistent basis this year.  And there's still the issue with what to do with Ward this summer.  But for a week at least, the Canes had an outstanding show put on by both of their goalies and it was great to see.

Who's Not

• Alexander Semin - When he falls, I guess he falls pretty hard.  Semin has been one of the Canes best players for a while now, but when pointless in 3 straight for the first time since early January.  And to wrap things up, he caught the flu and missed the 4th game.  But it wasn't just a lack of scoring, Semin's whole game was off this week.  He only had 5 shots on goal and was not on the ice for any Carolina goal.  But the biggest thing was his possession numbers.  Alex was in the high 40s this week, with his highest being the All Situation Corsi For at 50.5%.  This is a guy that leads the Canes in almost every possession stat this season, averaging over 60% in All Situations Corsi and over 59% in All Situations Fenwick.  Hopefully this was just an off week or maybe he was fighting the flu a little longer than expected.  Either way, I hope this was an aberration and not what we'll see the rest of the season.
• Jordan Staal - The same thing that happened to Alex also happened to Jordan.  The well went dry and quickly.  Jordan didn't have any points for the week, wasn't on the ice for any Canes goal and saw his possession numbers dip into the 40s.  But at least Jordan did some of the little things to help the team out, like delivering a team high 10 hits.  It is starting to seem to me that Jordan feeds off his linemates, but isn't the type of guy that really drives the bus.  That's not meant to say he isn't a good player, but it appears that his linemates are the ones that are going to determine Jordan's point production for the Canes.  If their going, Jordan produces, if not, he's almost strictly a defensive center.  Another thing to point out is that Jordan has been struggling in the faceoff circle the past couple of weeks.  He's still at 54% for the season, but the last 2 weeks have been in the mid 40% range and that needs to rebound.  Let's just hope that some rain fills that well up again and Jordan finishes the season strong, producing some points.
• Eric Staal - This is a week were the stats the don't the whole story.  Eric lead the team with 6 takeaways, tied for the team lead in shots with 12, tied 3rd in hits with 8, tied 4th with a +2 rating and tied 4th with 2 points.  That really doesn't sound too bad, but watching him has been a different story.  His play has been lackluster and his effort level disappointing.  Maybe his brother can't drive a line, but we all know that Eric sure the hell can and he isn't.  Use to, when this team needed him, he could put them on his back and score a critical goal or at least fend off defenders with the puck, eventually creating a scoring chance for a teammate.  This year's version (particularly lately) of Eric Staal isn't the same guy.  I wish I knew what was going on with him, but I don't.  All I can say is that I believe the old Eric is still there, but someone or something needs to draw it out of this shell.  I'm not 100% sure if he'll be back with Carolina next season, but I hope so and I hope it's not the 13/14 version.  If he is here, this team needs Eric Staal to be the player he can be if they have any hopes at being a playoff team.

Notable Weekly Team Stats

• The Hurricanes certainly weren't scoring in bunches this week, averaging exactly at their season average of 2.50 goals per game.  That ranks 21st on the season and tied for 17th for the week.
• The PP continued it's recent hot streak, going 2 for 8 or 25%.  That ranked tied for 6th in the league and is 9 percentage points higher than their season average.  It appears the coaching staff has finally figured out that the "Kid Unit + Old Man Harrison" might be something that works.
• The PK dropped some this week, clocking in at 85.7%.  That puts them dead middle in the NHL, tied for 15th.  Of course the 1 PP goal they gave up was a 4-on-3 in OT against Columbus, those are always difficult.
• Sort of an unusual week for the Canes.  They finished top 10 in hits with 103 (6th) and blocked shots with 55 (8th).  They were middle of the pack in takeaways with 24 (12th), giveaways with 28 (18th) and turnover margin at -4 (tied 16th).  Typically the Canes are near the top in takeaways and turnover margin and generally closer the bottom in giveaways and hits.
• Carolina again gave up more shots than they took.  They averaged 29.5 shots per game, tied for 16th in the league.  They gave up 31.8 shots against per game, which was 21st in the NHL.  Luckily, the had the highest save percentage for the week.
• Faceoffs stepped off a cliff this week, dropping to 22nd in the NHL at 48.3%.  Manny was the only regular in the positive at 53.8%, Riley was next at 48.0%, and Eric & Jordan both tied at 47.7% to finish it off.
• The Hurricanes go 1-2-0 and finished with 51% Corsi & Fenwick the previous week.  Yet the drop this week and go 2-0-2, really puzzling?  Carolina finished with a 46.8% 5 on 5 Corsi For percentage for the week.  They finished with a 45.9% 5 on 5 Fenwick For percentage.  So they drop 5 to 6 points and end up getting better results.
• Team Stat of the Week - Goals Against - 1.25 GA/G - The Canes tied for giving up a league low 5 goals, but did it in more games than the others.  So their 1.25 goals against per game was the league leader.  And while the defense played a part, most of the credit needs to go to Dobby and Cam.  The team gave up the 2nd most shots on goal with 127.  As mentioned above, the goaltending duo stopped a combined 96.1% of those and ended up with a 1.21 goals against average with overtime factored in.

Former Canes Weekly Stats

Look at that puck fly.

You have to feel a little bad for Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen here because, really, what is he supposed to do about a bounce like this?

That's a shot from Carolina Hurricanes defenseman John-Michael Liles that bounced off of something in the slot (presumably his teammate Eric Staal, who was initially credited with the goal) then soared 20 feet in the air before falling into the net. This is like hockey's answer to the Eephus pitch.

Liles has three point night and Khudobin makes 33 saves to lead Carolina

The Carolina Hurricanes scored two powerplay goals and used a 33 save performance by Anton Khudobin to defeat the red hot Dallas Stars, 4-1 on Thursday night at the PNC Arena.

John-Michael Liles had a goal and two assists, Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist, and Chris Terry had two assists to lead the home team.

The Canes had a bit of a slow start again, not as bad as some nights, but still, the Stars had the jump to start out.  But Khudobin was on top of his game and made 13 saves on 13 shots in the first period.  Carolina had eight shots in the scoreless opening frame.

Carolina got the scoring started on a fluky play early in the second period.  Liles fired the puck on net and it hit the back of Eric Staal's skate, went high in the air, then fell behind goalie Kari Lehtonen.

Justin Faulk then lit the lamp for a second straight game with a blistering shot from the point while on a powerplay.

The Hurricanes made it 3-0 when Liles picked a perfect spot on Lehtonen, also on a powerplay goal, and they had scored all three goals in under five minutes.

Tyler Seguin made it 3-1 though on a rush and the second period ended with the home team in the penalty box with a penalty to kill.  But the Canes held firm the rest of the way and Khudobin did not allow any other pucks past him.

Riley Nash made the score, 4-1 when he roofed a Brett Bellemore rebound past Tim Thomas, who had come in to spell Lehtonen.  Thomas allowed one goal on 16 shots while his counterpart allowed three on 16.

The Hurricanes started out 2-2 on the powerplay, but they were unable to capitalize on two 5-on-3 chances and partial powerplays later in the game.

The team is now 5-2-2 in it's last nine games, but the playoffs are still too far out of reach for them.  Next up will be the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.

Game Notes:

• The Canes were outshot 34-32 and were led by Eric Staal with six.  Justin Faulk was next with five.
• The team was credited with 20 takeaways compared to three for Dallas.  Loktionov, Nash, Dwyer, and Terry had three each.
• Chris Terry played a very solid game and to go with his two assists and three takeaways, he had one blocked shot and one hit.
• Bellemore had a team high four hits.
• The Canes had 15 blocked shots, led by Dvorak, Bellemore, and Harrison with three each.
• Andrej Sekera was held out of the game after warm ups because of a lower body injury and Mike Komisarek filled in for him.  There was no update of his condition after the game. 
  
• Ray Whitney only played 45 seconds for the visitors and left the game with a lower body injury.  Erik Cole was held out with an upper body injury.
• Faulk played a team high 23:40 while Zach Boychuk was a team low 8:06.

After a gutsy, hard-fought win with fifteen skaters by the end, the New Jersey Devils have to put a roster together to play the Carolina Hurricanes in their building tonight. This preview focuses on the recent good play by the Canes among other thoughts.

On the road, against a fresh home team that hasn't lost in regulation in over a week, and after a night where a shorthanded roster gave it their all to win.  Well, let's see what happens.

The Time: 7:00 PM EST

The Broadcast: TV - MSG+2; Radio - 1130 AM WBBR

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (33-28-16) at the Carolina Hurricanes (34-32-11; SBN Blog: Canes Country)

The Last Devils Game: heart. Guts. Grit. Effort. And so forth.  The Devils went down to 15 skaters during the third period as they lost Patrik Elias, Adam Henrique, and Jacob Josefson to injury.  And they started off with only eleven forwards and seven defensemen against the Washington Capitals.  The Caps had the better run of play early, thanks to some early power plays.  Thanks to a turnover by Mark Fayne on defense, Alexander Ovechkin eventually ended up with a free shot in the slot. He scored, unsurprisingly.  But the Devils hit back more in the second period, starting with plenty of shots on a four-minute power play.  While they didn't score then, they kept up the pressure and eventually got rewarded.  Eric Gelinas took a long wrister that Tuomo Ruutu re-directed past Jaroslav Halak to make it 1-1.  The Devils battled the Caps closely, but continued to out-shoot them.  The Caps got a few big scoring chances but Cory Schneider got nearly all of them - and a bit lucky on one in the second.   With just under five minutes left, Ryan Carter was able to walk right into the slot and fire a hard shot low past Halak to make it 2-1.  The Devils didn't settle for defense and continued to attack until near the end.  It helped the Caps stay away from 5-on-6 hockey and the Devils held on to win.  My recap of the pride-blooming win is here.

The Last Hurricanes Game: On Thursday night, the Hurricanes hosted the Dallas Stars. The first period went poorly for the Canes.  The Stars ran right over them.  If it wasn't for Anton Khudobin standing on his head, so to speak, then the game could've been decided then.  It wasn't.  That came in the second and in favor of the home team. Early on, Eric Staal deflected a shot by John-Michael Liles past Kari Lehtonen.  Less than two minutes later and on a power play, Liles set up Justin Faulk for a one-timer that got through to make it 2-0.  Almost three minutes later on another power play, Liles fired a wrister through a screen to make it 3-0.  Tim Thomas came in relief.  Tyler Seguin got the visitors on the board not long after to keep some hope alive for them.  But that didn't come about.  In the third period, Riley Nash made it 4-1 Carolina to put them comfortably in front.  Some tomfoolery ensued later but Carolina cruised to a regulation victory.  Bob Wage has this recap over at Canes Country.

The Last Devils-Hurricanes Game: The Canes came to the Rock on March 8.  Not long after the mighty Tuomo Ruutu-Andrei Loktionov trade, the two had to face their former teams.  What ensued was a goal-fest.  It started off innocently enough when Travis Zajac scored early in the first period thanks to a great feed by Ruutu to the top of the crease.  Jeff Skinner scored off a fluke - he fired the puck off Mark Fayne - to make it 1-1 in the second. But the Devils made Khudobin suffer.  Damien Brunner put home a rebound from the end-boards to convert a power play.  On the very next shift, Ryane Clowe gave Adam Henrique a short one-on-one with Khudobin and Henrique put the backhander home.   Minutes later, Henrique burnt Khudobin with a perfectly placed wrister in a 2-on-2 shorthanded attack that made it 4-1.  The Canes would respond, chipping away at the three goal deficit.  Jay Harrison teed up a shot from the slot on that same power play to make it 4-2.  An error at the point by Brunner on a power play led to Nathan Gerbe getting and finishing a shorthanded breakaway against Martin Brodeur.  Alexander Semin provided the equalizer at 12:29 with a turnaround shot from the high slot.  Less than a minute later, Ruutu made another mark on the game. He put home a wrister from the high slot that beat Cam Ward.  The Devils managed to hold onto 5-4 to win.  My recap of that game is here. Bob Wage had this recap of the Canes' loss at Canes Country.

The Goal: Slow it down. Last night, the Devils had to go down to fifteen skaters in a close win.  It was most certainly tiring for many players; plenty of gassed Devils by the end.  Without a full night's rest as well as Elias and Henrique not likely available, it's imperative that the Devils make the game as frustrating as possible for the home team.  This means they need to not concede the puck easily, they need to control the neutral zone, and they need to avoid making this an up-and-down affair.  The Canes are rested and they've been playing well.  On top of that, they've been a high event team at even strength.  They have the fourth highest CF/60 and eighth highest CA/60 in the NHL per Extra Skater.  Those attempts have led to averages both for and against just above 30.  The Devils aren't at all about that in general, they surely will be in trouble if they don't clamp down on that coming off a potentially draining win the night before.  For the Devils to better manage the physical and mental fatigue that came from last night, I think they keep the pace of the game relatively low.

You Disrespect Carolina At Your Peril: On March 25, the Canes lost to the Isles 5-4. That was their last regulation loss.  Since then, they beat Florida 3-0 on 3/27; got a point against Columbus in a 2-3 OTL on 3/29; got a shootout loss in Ottawa on 3/31; decisively beat Pittsburgh 4-1 on 4/1; and cruised over Dallas 4-1 on 4/3.   Even if the Devils weren't missing two important forwards and coming off a hard-fought win with a shorthanded roster last night, this isn't an easy game. The Canes have been able to get points for the better part of two weeks and most recently beat two good teams.  They're also not that far behind Washington and New Jersey in the Metropolitan Division standings, too.

Anton, the Man: The Devils did light up Anton Khudobin the last time these two met.  That's not likely to happen again.  Khudobin has been playing rather well as of late with only seven goals conceded in his last five appearances over 155 shots against.  Khudobin has one of the best overall save percentages in the league among goalies who've played more than a handful of games at 93.1%.  His even strength save percentage of 94.1% is ridiculously good.  So if he plays well, don't be surprised.  It's not confirmed that he'll start tonight. Given that he's been playing well, he started the last two games, and he got a day of rest, I'd expect it.  If not him, then Cam Ward would be in net - a far easier goaltender for the Devils to face given his inferior numbers to Khudobin.

Canes Changes: On Friday, Chip Alexander reported at the Charlotte News & Observer that the team made a few roster changes. They sent down Chris Terry and Zach Boychuk while recalling Ryan Murphy.  Alexander noted that Alexander Semin and Drayson Bowman were ill recently while Jiri Tlusty has been injured.  I suspect that two of those three - likely the sick guys - are going to be good to go since Carolina sent two forwards down.   Adding someone with 22 goals and 198 shots who's been one of their best possession player at evens this season is a big potential gain.

Staals & Skinner: Jordan Staal has been a driver of play and plays in all situations.  Alas, he has only been able to produce 15 goals and 27 assists.  Eric Staal has been the team's leading scorer with 19 goals and 39 assists, second leading shot taker with 211, and has also been a driver of play at evens. They've played on separate lines recently. Jordan's been with the speedy Nathan Gerbe and Patrick Dwyer.   Eric's has Andrei Loktionov and Chris Terry (who's now sent down and may be replaced by Semin, which is, again, a big gain).  They're potentiall dangerous lines in their own way if only because of the distribution of guys named Staal.

You'll notice I didn't mention Jeff Skinner.  He's missed a few games this season but it hasn't prevented him from being a shot machine. He's got 256, which puts him eighth in the league.  He's the leading goal scorer for Carolina with 30.  The last Devils-Canes game showed he'll shoot it from anywhere, even off a defender if he has a chance. The guy is such a good skater and aggressive at taking initiative with the puck.  Skinner will likely be separate from either Staal, making his recent line with Elias Lindholm and Riley Nash another threat.   One of the big problems for the Canes this season is that beyond Eric Staal, Skinner, and Semin, the scoring by player is similar to New Jersey. Players with enough that could be threatening, but also make you think there's something left to be desired.

Look at the D: This team has been recently without Andrej Sekera, their leading defensive scorer and a guy who hasn't been too bad in the possession department. While John-Michael Liles had a big game against Dallas, the ve a young defender with a real bold future in Justin Faulk.  With 5 goals, 23 assists, and a lot of minutes played, he's not an easy target. The Devils should be trying to make the most of their match-ups against Jay Harrison, Mike Komisarek, and/or perhaps where Ryan Murphy gets slotted in on their blueline.