For the second straight game, Carolina battled their way through regulation and overtime but came up short in the end, losing to the Rangers when Rick Nash was the only shooter to score in the six-man shootout.

The Carolina Hurricanes kicked off their annual North Carolina State Fair road trip in the Big Apple Thursday, falling in a shootout to the Rangers to bring their record to 0-2-2 on the young season.

Three Observations

1. Justin Faulk had a shaky night — go back and watch right after Tim Gleason and Marc Staal took matching minors to send the game to four-on-four and you'll get the gist — but there were flashes that Carolina's cornerstone defenseman is shaking his early season funk. The Hurricanes can't afford anything but the best out of Faulk each night with so many players out of the lineup, but for a stretch he looked like Carolina's most unreliable defender. That turned once the game was tied, and Faulk looked like he was back to his normal, steady self. The Canes ask a lot of their 22-year-old defenseman, but they do so out of necessity.

2. Chris Terry continues to do everything right for the Hurricanes. The longtime AHLer tallied Carolina’s only score and now has four points in four games (three goals, one assist), more than he had in his 13 previous NHL games (one goal, two assists). With Patrick Brown and Brody Sutter both reassigned to Charlotte (see below), it's clear Terry has solidified his spot in the Hurricanes’ bottom six even once the likes of Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner and Patrick Dwyer get healthy.

3.The Hurricanes kicked off the 2014-15 campaign with a terrible penalty kill and an encouraging power play in the home-and-home series with the Islanders. In the two games since, that has inverted. In shootout losses to the Sabres and Rangers, the Hurricanes power play failed to connect on six opportunities, but the penalty kill was perfect in denying seven opponent man advantages. The power play struggles are understandable — the Canes have been without about one full PP unit the past two games — and the PK improvement is encouraging, performing well even though the team has been down a couple frequent shorthanded players. The shorthanded success means that Bill Peters and Steve Smith are getting their system to sink in.

Number To Know

59.1 — Faceoff winning percentage for the Hurricanes through four games, tops in the NHL. Montreal is a distant second at 55.4 percent. Riley Nash ranks fourth in the league at 64.9 percent, while Victor Rask and Jay McClement are ninth (59.6 percent) and 10th (59.4 percent), respectively.

Plus

Anton Khudobin— What Carolina needed more than anything was a night of netminding without any glaring mistakes. Khudobin gave them that and more. Both goaltenders brought their A game Thursday, and Khudobin was able to make several key stops to help Carolina earn a point. He also took the lead in what is a close battle with Cam Ward for the No. 1 job.

Minus

Alexander Semin— For the second straight game, Semin was a non-factor when the Hurricanes needed him most. Maybe Semin garners so much criticism because his style of play is so different than everyone else on the ice. Maybe it's that he rarely gives himself an opportunity to explain himself in the media. Or maybe it's just that he's an easy target as a $7 million-a-year Russian import. Regardless, his salary is more than twice that than any player who stepped on the ice for Carolina last night, and he was outplayed by several players making a fraction of what he makes. He needs to answer the bell — and fast.

Sutter, Brown Reassigned To Charlotte; Skinner Off Injured Reserve

The Hurricanes announced that forwards Brody Sutter and Patrick Brown have been reassigned to Charlotte (AHL). Jeff Skinner was also taken off injured reserve. Here is the release from the team.

HURRICANES ASSIGN BROWN, SUTTER TO CHARLOTTE
Forwards will join Carolina’s AHL affiliate; Skinner removed from IR

RALEIGH, NC – Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has assigned forwards Patrick Brown and Brody Sutter to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was also announced that forward Jeff Skinner has been removed from injured reserve. The Checkers will play their home opener tonight at Time Warner Cable Arena as they host the Grand Rapids Griffins in the first of two games between the teams this weekend.

Brown, 22, made his NHL debut with Carolina on Opening Night, Oct. 10, and has averaged 9:37 of ice time while playing in all four of the Hurricanes’ games this season. In 2013-14, the Bloomfield Hills, MI, native scored 15 goals and earned 15 assists (30 points) in 40 games during his senior season at Boston College. Brown (6’1", 210 lbs.), the son of two-time Stanley Cup-champion Doug Brown, is in his first professional season after having signed with the Hurricanes as a free agent on April 12, 2014.

Sutter, 23, made his NHL debut on Thursday in Carolina’s 2-1 shootout loss at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. The Viking, Alb., native is in his third full professional season and has played in all three of Charlotte’s games thus far this year. Sutter (6’5", 203 lbs.) notched eight goals and earned 20 assists (28 points) in 69 games with the Checkers in 2013-14, and has scored 12 goals and earned 22 assists in 99 career AHL games with Charlotte since turning professional. The Hurricanes drafted Sutter in the seventh round, 193rd overall, of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Some notes from Sunday's practice at PNC...

A few notes from an otherwise nondescript day of practice Sunday for the Carolina Hurricanes:

• Coach Bill Peters expects that Jeff Skinner, who has been sidelined with a concussion since the start of the regular season, will make his season debut on Tuesday when the Canes face the Winnipeg Jets in the first of four straight games in western Canada. Skinner was taken off injured reserve last Friday and has been a full participant in practices since last Wednesday. Andrej Sekera and John-Michael Liles, neither of whom practiced today, are likely to play in Winnipeg as well.
• Peters also said that captain Eric Staal (upper-body) will travel with the team and may be able to play in the final game of the road trip, October 28 at Vancouver.
• As for Nathan Gerbe and Patrick Dwyer, neither are expected to play Tuesday although Gerbe may return sooner than Dwyer.
• The Canes sent Brody Sutter and Patrick Brown to Charlotte last Friday to allow them to play in the Checkers' first two home games. Today, the Canes recalled Brown for an extra body to have on the road trip. The release from the team is below.
• And, what the heck: open comment thread! Have fun.

HURRICANES RECALL PATRICK BROWN

Rookie appeared in two games for the Checkers over the weekend

Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has recalled forward Patrick Brown from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Brown, 22, appeared in two games during Charlotte's weekend homestand. The Bloomfield Hills, MI, native made his NHL debut with Carolina on Oct. 10, and has averaged 9:37 of ice time while playing in all four of the Hurricanes' games this season. In 2013-14, Brown (6'1", 210 lbs.) scored 15 goals and earned 15 assists (30 points) in 40 games during his senior season at Boston College. The son of two-time Stanley Cup-champion Doug Brown, he is in his first professional season after having signed with the Hurricanes as a free agent on April 12, 2014.

Today's New York Rangers notes.

Note: I'm tweaking Monday notes again, slightly. I realized it was weird to only judge the three starts based on what had happened since Friday. So now they'll be ranked by the entire previous week's worth hockey. Same applies for the big highlight. Those are the only changes.

Three Stars of the Week

Number three: Kevin Hayes Even before Hayes scored his first career goal Sunday, he had been one of the better Rangers forwards and skaters for a few games. He's becoming more comfortable by the night, and his size and ability to wall off the opposition makes him a natural fit to play with two other big bodies.

Number two: Henrik Lundqvist The King got off to a rough start this week, letting in six to the Islanders on Tuesday, but rebounded strong to earn the Rangers their first home win on Thursday, and then posted his first shutout Sunday night, recording 33 saves. Lundqvist has stopped 62 of the last 63 shots he's faced, a pretty welcome sight.

Number one: Rick Nash This guy will be the Rangers number one star until he decides someone else is allowed to be it. Nash scored three goals in three games this week, and while he didn't find the back of the net Thursday against the Hurricanes, all he did that game was bank the shootout winner. It's Rick Nash's world, we're just all living in it.

What You Missed

Kevin Hayes shoots, Kevin Hayes scores. Congrats to the rookie on his first career NHL goal.

And now for some links!

The Rangers got back on track with a sloppy win versus the Hurricanes on Thursday, and kept that momentum going Sunday night, as the team put together its most complete effort of the season, handing the Sharks their first regulation loss of the season. Some recaps. [Blueshirt Banter] [NY Post] [The Record] [Daily News] [ESPN NY] [Newsday] [Blueshirts United]

One late note from that game: Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein both received stitches after being hit by pucks, and are considered day-to-day. [Ranger Rants]

If you're someone who enjoys GIFs over videos, here's a GIF of that Hayes goal. [Blueshirt Banter]

While we're on animated highlights from this weekend, Pavel Buchnevich scored again in the KHL (obviously). [Blueshirt Banter]

On Friday, the Rangers sent down both J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast, while recalling Chris Mueller. [Blueshirt Banter] [Ranger Rants] [Blueshirts Blog] [Newsday]

Wait, Mueller? Who's that? Mueller? Mueller?!?! [Blueshirt Banter]

Those moves could mean that Anthony Duclair could soon be back in Quebec. [Blueshirt Banter]

And for Alain Vigneault, the wait continues when it comes to Miller, the 21-year-old who has yet to truly crack the Rangers NHL roster. [NY Post]

The lineup the Rangers used Sunday night was its sixth different one in six games, as Vigneault continues to try to find what works while dealign with key injuries. [NY Post]

Meanwhile, the Rangers had plenty of questions at the center position (especially when these stories were run). So they turned to Hayes, and now Mueller. [NY Post] [The Record]

Our new guy Nick breaks down some fancy stats for you, and explains why math matters. [Blueshirt Banter]

Is there a culprit for the Iowa Wild's poor start this season?

Four games into the season is too soon to declare the Iowa Wild's season lost. And yet, it already looks like the Iowa Wild could be in for another season of struggles. They are currently the only team in the AHL that has zero points in the standings after two weeks. It's a bit disheartening, but there could be any number of reasons that Iowa has yet to post any wins.

Drafting NCAA Players

Last spring, Hockey's Future rated the Wild's prospects as a group at 25th in the NHL. In 2011, the Wild was ranked 2nd. The overall quality of the prospects in the pipeline decreased because Chuck Fletcher and management used the prospects and draft picks in trades to obtain impact players for the NHL team.

Most NHL teams draft heavily from the three junior leagues of the CHL. Once a player drafted from one of these leagues graduates to the pro game, he generally plays in the AHL until he is ready for NHL duty or until the team decides that he will never be ready to play for their NHL club. Under Chuck Fletcher, the Wild have chosen a slightly different strategy, favoring players who are NCAA bound. Typically, college bound players spend more years in college than a junior player does in the CHL. It makes sense that the college route would take longer since college student plays fewer games in a season because they are also attending school and are balancing education with their athletic pursuits. But when these players are ready to turn pro, they are physically more advanced than the average younger junior player who turns pro. They are more likely to be ready for NHL action which can cause them to spend less time in the AHL. That's great for the player and for the NHL club, but it can leave the AHL club lacking in talent, which could be one reason that Iowa is struggling.

The good news for Minnesota Wild fans is that prospects are graduating into being NHL regulars at such a quick pace that the AHL team can't keep up. Minnesota has a better chance to be successful in a salary cap based league with contributions from cheaper, entry-level contracts from players who were recently only prospects. That's little consolation though to the fans in Iowa or the players still trying to develop.

Bringing in New Faces

Because of last year's terrible season, Iowa was bound to have some roster turnover. Only 8 guys that have played for the Iowa Wild this season played more than 20 games with Iowa last season. It's hard for a team with that many new players to develop the kind of chemistry necessary to play hockey at a high level. In both of their away games opening weekend in Texas, Iowa was out-shot, but last weekend Iowa out-shot Milwaukee in both games and still lost both games. The new players are combinations of guys who just started their pro careers and free agents acquired to create depth for the Minnesota Wild and have an impact in games for the Iowa Wild.

As can be seen with Thomas Vanek with the big club, it can be hard for even one new guy to get comfortable with his teammates and start to contribute in a big way. Remember how long it took Ryan Suter to finally score when he joined Minnesota? But now that Suter has gotten comfortable, there is no player who is more important to team success. Learning takes time. For Iowa, it's more than just one player who is trying to adjust to the new squad. It's more than half the team! Additionally, there are several players the Wild signed after their time in junior was done, so these players are still adjusting to life on their own. They have to cook for themselves and clean their own places for the first time ever. A lot of these guys are going through life changes and it could have an impact on their production.

Playing a Bad System

Obviously Iowa needs to run the same system that the Minnesota Wild runs so that when a player is called up, he is not lost. Playing within the system needs to be second-nature, especially for a depth player who may not be as skilled as the player he is replacing on the NHL roster. But perhaps the system does not work as well for the prospects in Iowa because they are less skilled than the players on the big club. The 169 goals that the Iowa Wild scored last season was absolute worst in the AHL. The team nearest in scoring futility were the Adirondack Phantoms and the Hamilton Bulldogs which each scored 182 goals. The Minnesota Wild were tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for 7th worst in league scoring by scoring 207 goals, so the system that both Wild teams play is not one that fosters offensive output. That's not to say that a team that doesn't score won't win. The Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings only scored 206 goals last season, and they still managed to win their second Cup in the last three seasons. Would a system less focused on defense give Iowa more success?

Blame Bad Goaltending

There is hope that Johan Gustafsson will take large strides forward this season, but so far, he has struggled. Last Friday, he got pulled after allowing 4 goals on 8 shots. But these weren't all bad goals. The second one probably shouldn't have gone in (first goal in the clip), but the entire team lets Leipsic slide past them like his pants were coated in butter. It's no wonder Gustafsson would be confused about who had the puck and where the puck was!

And on the last two goals, the skaters cannot let the puck get to those areas. A goalie should make a tough save if he has to, but it would be even better if the team would not put him in a position where he has to make a big save.

The goals on Saturday were much softer. The goaltender needs to make a save when an opponent is skating in and there is no traffic.

Even though he allowed a few goals that he should have saved, I'm not ready to panic. Goalies have bad games sometimes. Gustafsson is still developing. The only season he has spent in North America was one where the organization he belongs to had so many goalie problems, and so much instability that it is not surprising that he struggled. If the Minnesota Wild can have more stability in their own net this season, it could really help Gustafsson feel comfortable in his starting role with Iowa. The only way to find out if he can have success in professional hockey is to let him try.

Small Sample Size

Iowa has only played four games. In half of them, they only lost by one goal. If a couple of bounces had gone the other way, Iowa could have won any or all of the games that they played so far. It's too soon to pronounce that Iowa will miss the playoffs again because there simply isn't enough evidence to determine that yet one way or the other. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Wait and See

While it's in vogue to blame Mike Yeo's system or claim that losses must be the goaltender's fault, I don't think it's quite time to panic. Four games is not enough to make judgments even if waiting too long to make changes could also harm the Iowa squad. This team can be better this year and can succeed. Hopefully a week of practice can help build team chemistry, so that the Iowa Wild can try again on Friday to get that first win of the season.

Today’s Number To Know looks at a frequent opponent in two different countries.

Number To Know

2227:26 — Career minutes Cam Ward has vs. the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise, the most against any opponent. Ward is 22-11-4 vs. the Jets and Thrashers with a .902 save percentage and 2.96 goals-against average. Ward won 3-2 in Winnipeg last season.

By comparison, Anton Khudobin has faced the team just once, a 2-1 loss last season in which Chris Thorburn scored with 1:03 left to propel the Jets past the Hurricanes. Carolina kicks off their West Coast road swing tomorrow with their only visit to Winnipeg this season.

Bill Peters seeks his first NHL head coaching win as the Canes embark on a Western Conference road trip.

Carolina Hurricanes at Winnipeg Jets
October 21, 2014 - 8:00 pm ET
MTS Centre - Winnipeg, MB
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Arctic Ice Hockey

Fancy Stats

Game Notes

• As of last night's Edmonton Oilers win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, your Carolina Hurricanes are now the only team in the NHL without a win in 2014-15.  They will look to remedy that situation as they embark on a four-game road trip through western Canada over the next week. The Winnipeg Jets are first on the docket tonight, followed by back-to-back games against the Flames and Oilers on Thursday and Friday, and wrapping up with Vancouver next Tuesday night.
• The story to date has been injuries that have plagued the Canes early and often, but good news is finally on the horizon. With the exception of Jordan Staal, all the other injured players are nearing a return to the line-up. Jeff Skinner will return tonight after receiving medical clearance on his concussion and an activation from IR on Friday. Andrej Sekera has skated several days with the team and is probable (but not confirmed) to return tonight after missing one game. John-Michael Liles skated with the team in no-contact gear yesterday, and Eric Staal skated before the team practice. The two of them, along with Patrick Dwyer and Nathan Gerbe, could return before the end of the road trip.
• Unless there is some type of transaction today, there are only 11 forwards available tonight. Ryan Murphy pulled the extra forward duty in yesterday's practice, so it's likely seven defensemen will dress. The starting goaltender has not been announced (more details from practice via audio from Bill Peters).
• Chris Terry is riding a two-game goal scoring streak. Alex Semin is four points away from 500 NHL points, and Jeff Skinner is a mere hat trick away from 100 NHL goals.
• Paul Maurice is dropping f-bombs, y'all. After a convincing win over the Coyotes to start the season, the Jets have dropped four straight, and the former Hurricanes coach took his new team to task (as did the fans) after a 4-1 loss to the Flames Sunday (here's a portion of the video). Tonight is exactly the kind of rally game a Paul Maurice-coached team would go out and win. Okay, tie. Whatever. The opposing players will be riled up which doesn't usually bode well for the Canes, although the road team has won 18 of the last 24 meetings.
• For the second straight game the Canes are facing an opponent who has not previously scored a power play goal. The Jets are 0-for-14 on the season with the man advantage. Their fortunes are reversed on the penalty kill, where they rank third in the league with an impressive 95.2% penalty kill rate. The Jets had killed off 18 straight penalties before allowing a power play goal Sunday.
• Outside of their first game, the Jets haven't been able to put points on the board, scoring just 2 goals in their four losses. Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in scoring with four points (2g, 2a). Captain and former Cane Andrew Ladd has one assist and is a minus -5 through five games.
• Line-ups are speculative based on how the Canes last practiced and how the Jets lined up Sunday (they didn't practice yesterday). We'll have updates later today after the teams hold their morning skates.

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (from yesterday's practice)

Injuries: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Patrick Dwyer (IR lower body), John-Michael Liles (DTD upper body), Eric Staal (DTD upper body), Nathan Gerbe (DTD lower body)

Jets (from Sunday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Evander Kane (IR knee), Matt Halischuk, Grant Clitsome

A later start tonight in the Central Time Zone. We'll have the open game thread ready to roll by 7:30. See you there.

Preview of the Winnipeg Jets' tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes on October 21, 2014 at the MTS Centre

The Carolina Hurricanes are in town to take on the Winnipeg Jets tonight at the MTS Centre. The Jets are coming off a disappointing 4-1 loss to Calgary - in a game where they were dominant in the first 25 minutes, and led 1-0. Now after four-straight losses, the Jets desperately need a win to start moving up the standings.

Thoughts

Winnipeg Jets

After opening the season with a win in Phoenix, the Winnipeg Jets are winless. They've lost two games to excellent California teams, and dropped another at home and lost to both an underrated Nashville squad and a young Calgary Flames team. The team can, and will play better, but at the same time, maybe the Jets simply "are who we thought they were". A win tonight might be telling.

On the topic of playing better, it’s time for captain Andrew Ladd to start pulling harder on the rope. Through 5 games, he has just one assist, and is a -5. The same could be said for Dustin Byfuglien, who has 1 goal in 5 games. The Winnipeg Jets will need more from their top players if they want to overcome this slump.

Was Paul Maurice’s press conference faux pas with CBC reporter Jeff Hamilton a sign of frustration? Or a calculated play to throw himself into the limelight, and take pressure off his team? My guess is the latter.

Carolina

The Hurricanes are winless on the season thus far, with a record of 0-2-2. While Anton Khudobin has been decent in goal, Cam Ward has continued his uninspiring play, with a 3.87 GAA, and .846 save % in his first two games. (3.06 GAA and .898 save % in 30 GP last season). No word yet on who starts in goal for the ‘Canes, but they need some quality tending regardless of who starts.

The Hurricanes are missing many of their top forwards, including diminutive forward Nathan Gerbe, two-way centre Jordan Staal, and their captain, and franchise centre, Eric Staal. Young sniper Jeff Skinner hasn't played yet this season after suffering a concussion in the pre-season – he’s a game-time decision.

It’s nice to see an undersized, not-fleet-of-foot player like Chris Terry having success at the NHL level (3 goals in 4 GP), but when a tweener like him is your leading scorer, your team isn’t going to win a lot of games.

Player to boo Mercilessly

With Eric Staal out, no one really screams out. Not sure that ex-Jet Ron Hainsey is worthy of that kind of attention, but he might hear a few boos nonetheless.

Prediction

The Jets are playing a team that missing some of their best players, and they absolutely need this game to keep their heads above water. They take this one 4-2.

The Jets host the Carolina Hurricanes in Winnipeg.

The Winnipeg Jets (1-4-0) return to the ice tonight, having lost four games in a row, as they'll take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Winnipeg.  The Jets will be looking to get back in the win column after dropping four straight to Western Conference foes following their season-opening win in Arizona.

The game is being broadcast on TSN3 (MTS channel 22, Shaw 238).

Lineups

Winnipeg Jets

Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Dustin Byfuglien

Mathieu Perreault - Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler

T.J. Galiardi - Adam Lowry - Michael Frolik

Chris Thorburn - Jim Slater -Matt Halischuk

Toby Enstrom - Zach Bogosian

Mark Stuart - Jacob Trouba

Adam Pardy - Paul Postma

Ondrej Pavelec

Michael Hutchinson

Carolina Hurricanes

Jiri Tlusty - Riley Nash - Alexander Semin

Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Elias Lindholm

Chris Terry - Jay McClement - Zach Boychuk

Brad Malone - Patrick Brown - Ryan Murphy

Andrej Sekera - Justin Faulk

Jay Harrison - Tim Gleason

Ron Hainsey - Brett Bellemore

Anton Khudobin

Cam Ward

Player to Watch

Adam Lowry.  When I watch Adam Lowry, he's just there.  Nothing good, nothing bad, just there.  As the Jets' third line centre, I'd like to see more than that.

For the Hurricanes, it's Ryan Murphy.  He appears to be slotting in at forward tonight, and I'm curious to see what that looks like.

Carolina remains only winless team in NHL

The Carolina Hurricanes did not get off to the start they wanted and fell behind by two goals early then went on to lose to the Winnipeg Jets, 3-1 on Tuesday night at the MTS Centre.

Andrew Ladd scored his first goal of the season just 1:57 into the game and Adam Lowry scored the first in his NHL career just 44 seconds later to stake the home team to a lead they would never relinquish.

Ladd stood in Anton Khudobin's grill and pounded in a rebound for his goal.  The puck hit Lowry and bounced in past the Carolina goalie for the other.

The Canes made a game of it and scored a powerplay goal just a bit later in the period when Jiri Tlusty knocked in a rebound of a Riley Nash shot, but the visitors could not get another puck past Ondrej Pavelec.  The win broke up a four game losing streak for the Jets.

Dustin Byfuglien scored on a breakaway late in the second period, when a puck got past Justin Faulk to score the only other goal in the game for the Jets.

The Canes had a rough time getting any consistency at all going in this contest and only combined for 22 shots in the game.  They will next travel to Calgary for their next try for a win on Thursday night.

Game Notes:

• The Canes went 1-5 with the man advantage and did not allow a goal while on the penalty kill.
• Jeff Skinner had a team high five shots on goal.
• Jay Harrison had a team best four blocked shots.  Andrej Sekera had three.
• Sekera led the way with 22:28 of ice time and Riley Nash was right behind with 22:24.  Nash would have my vote for player of the game.
• Event Summary stat sheet

Jets win! Jets win!

After a four game losing streak, and much vocalized frustration, the Winnipeg Jets returned action Tuesday night versus the downtrodden Carolina Hurricanes. The Winnipeg Jets played a solid 60 minute game and walked away with a 3-1 win. The Hurricanes remain the NHL's lone winless team.

Ten Thoughts:

The Winnipeg Jets were clearly the better team tonight - and they should have been - the Hurricanes roster was a mess and they handled the puck like an AHL squad for much of the game. It was still nice to see a pillar to post effort though. The Jets kept their foot on the gas through the third period and were rarely hemmed in their defensive zone.

Grant Clitsome made his grand return to the lineup and he played hella well. Clitty quickly found himself on the score sheet early and before the end of the game he even logged some powerplay time. Did he do enough to stay in the lineup? Hard to imagine he hurt his chances.

Matt Halischuk was also returned to the lineup tonight. He made a few plays, but didn't stand out in a big way.

TJ Galiardi has yet to provide any offense, but his is definitely earning his ice time. Galiardi is providing strong play on the penalty kill and since being moved up to the third line he has been generating chances at 5 on 5. If he keeps it up, he will score soon.

Speaking of that third line, the youngster Adam Lowry had himself a game. He was voted the second star in the arena, but there is a case to be made he should have been first. Lowry led the team in hits with 5, played sound two way hockey and netted his first NHL goal. Congrats kid!

The Captain is back. During the lockout season, Andrew Ladd was being discuss as one of the best captains in the NHL. Leading up to this games, some fans wanted to strip him of his "C". The big guys stepped up and likely silenced the critics for the time being. Ladd scored his first goal of the season and piled 6 shots on net.

Ondrej Pavelec had himself a nice bounce back effort. He stopped all of the pucks that he had to. His night was relatively easy, but he also played well.

Anton Khudobin didn't get off so easy. Despite only being credited with 23 three saves, and finishing the night with less that stellar numbers, he made a number of impressive stops.

It was nice to hear Evander Kane along side Denis Beyak in the booth. The kid seems to be in good spirits and hopeful about a return the the lineup in relative short order. I believe he said he is hoping to pick up a stick (which could perhaps mean he is back in the lineup) before the end of the month, but he obviously isn't a doctor.

The Winnipeg Jets fourth line continues to be a sore spot. They didn't play much (Chris Thorburn played just 3:44), and when the did play, they didn't play well. The fourth line was the only Jets line that ended the night with negative Corsi numbers. They also broke out their patented 5 on 5 penalty kill once again tonight too. The Jets need a fourth line that they can play versus real NHLers and if you can't keep your head above water versus the dregs of this Canes team, there is little hope for the long run.

Mark Stuart and Jacob Trouba were also buried by the fancy stats. Trouba himself buried more than a handful of people and that won over the masses, but that pairing can't continue to get shelled on the shot clock if this team wants sustainable success.

I think that was eleven thoughts. The Winnipeg Jets are back in action on Friday versus the Tampa Bay Lightning, be sure to enter our most recent edition of our Jekyll and Hyde's contest prior to game time. What did you think of the game? Share your thoughts below.

A mostly clean game got too exciting a little too late, and that hurt.

The Calgary Flames, finally back home, faced off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a largely whistle-free game. No goals were scored until the third period, and then... Ah, dang it.

First period

The game started off with Flames pressure, then the Lightning took over, then the Flames, then the Lightning... And on and on it went, throughout most of the first, with both teams getting good, clean chances. Tampa seemed to control the puck more often and have greater sustained pressure, but the Flames were the ones who came away with the lead in shots and shot attempts: 8-5 and 16-12.

Things got exciting with just under two minutes to go in the period. Mark Giordano had a huge hit on Nikita Kucherov, laying him out at centre ice. JT Brown took exception to this, and challenged Gio to a fight, which the Flames' captain gladly accepted. I get the point is to avenge his teammates' honour or whatever, but Brown didn't avenge much of anything, since Giordano kind of easily and quickly beat him.

Still, if I'm Tampa, I do that trade off every time. You sacrifice five minutes of Brown to make the Flames' best player unavailable for just as long? It's not even a question.

Second period

Fortunately for the Flames, the Lightning were unable to do anything when Giordano was sitting in the box... for 10 minutes. He and Brown had to sit for double the time because, similar to the first, there were just no whistles throughout the period, and no chance for them to get out. Clean, back and forth hockey, but with very few shots on net was the story throughout the first 30 minutes of the entire game.

And that's when the first powerplay of the game came in! With only (only!) 29:05 remaining in the game, Mike Blunden tripped Deryk Engelland while chasing him around the Flames' net. As was custom with this particular game, it took a while yet for the powerplay to actually start, as the Flames successfully played keepaway for a bit while trying to advance the puck.

Eventually, though, the Bolts were able to touch the puck, and out went the Flames' first powerplay unit, which now finally contains Johnny Gaudreau! The powerplay was spent with Flames players moving the puck, and Lightning players blocking it at every turn. Ondrej Palat went on a shorthanded break and Tyler Johnson nearly corralled the rebound, but Karri Ramo was sharp, and TJ Brodie retrieved the puck and singlehandedly advanced it back into the offensive zone. Giordano had an excellent shot attempt from the point, but Evgeni Nabokov had an even better glove save.

As the powerplay was ending, Mikael Backlund, Mason Raymond, and Josh Jooris nearly combined for a goal, but nobody was able to actually get a handle on the puck, and it slid harmlessly to the side. Despite the Flames managing three shots over the powerplay, it ended with the game still scoreless.

Ramo had an excellent glove save to match Nabokov's, as the game went back to its standard of play: back and forth, few shots, chances for each side. The Lightning seemed to really have something going in the game's final minute, but Brodie exists, and not only did he do a great job of completely disrupting their puck movement, but he also drew a penalty when Valtteri Filppula interfered with him with just 34 seconds to go in the frame.

The period ended with the Flames still leading in shots (15-12), but just behind in total attempts (29-30).

Third period

Starting the period on the powerplay worked out great for the Flames! Just as it was ending, the Flames broke into the offensive zone. Kris Russell to Gaudreau, and Gaudreau, drawing all the Lightning towards him, deftly slid the puck across to an easily open Dennis Wideman, who had no problem blasting it past Nabokov, finally putting the Flames up 1-0. Both Flames went crashing into the boards - Wideman partially on top of a Bolt - and Gaudreau had the worst of it, as he ended up limping to the dressing room. All was good, though, because he came back! (So did Matt Stajan, who briefly left after blocking a shot.)

The game continued par for the course, but with just under five minutes to go, a miscommunication from behind the Lightning net allowed Sean Monahan to grab the puck and pass it right up to Raymond, who was coming up through the slot. Sadly, Raymond hit the post... but it turned out okay, after all, because pretty much right after Steven Stamkos hit the post on the other end.

Then again, maybe it would've been nice if Raymond hadn't missed. With just 2:16 left in the game, Jonathan Drouin, with three Flames chasing him for some reason, passed the puck over to a wide open Jason Garrison. Garrison's hard shot from the point fluttered just past Ramo, and he was unable to react fast enough, as an uncovered Filppula darted in behind him to make sure it went in the net, tying the game at 1, and ultimately forcing overtime.

The Flames finished regulation leading in shots (21-19), but behind in total shot attempts (38-45).

Overtime

The teams traded chances in overtime, but it was the Lightning who had the most dangerous ones:

• A giveaway resulted in a Stamkos and Drouin 2 on 0. Stamkos passed to Drouin, and Ramo was incredible in coming over to deny him his first NHL goal.
• Another giveaway resulted in a Tampa 2 on 1.

Flame of the game

With no disrespect to Ramo, I'm gonna go with probably the Flames' best offensive player on a slow night: Johnny Gaudreau. His assist was amazing, he's finally getting a regular shift now (15:19 - closer to the bottom of the spectrum, but with the way the minutes were spread out, not far from the top), and he's on the top powerplay unit. He really does look a whole lot better since coming back from being healthy scratched. Really disappointing to not see him in OT, though, but he's turning a corner.

Stray observations

• Wideman scored all of four goals last season in a pretty poor outing. He's now scored three in his last four games. He's firmly planted himself back in the top four, and hey, if this keeps up, maybe there'll be a taker later in the season (with the Flames almost certainly retaining salary, but it's not like they can't afford it). He certainly hasn't been healthy scratch worthy, though.
• I really like Paul Byron? Anyone else? Lowest zone starts on the team, over 50% CF. He doesn't really make mistakes on the ice, he drives possession, and he's fast. He's the perfect complimentary player, and he probably doesn't get enough credit for it. He was especially great in OT.
• Brodie once again led everyone in ice time: 25:50. He was, unfortunately, on the ice for both goals against, although neither was necessarily his fault (being so close to the OT winner, though... ugh). Dude blocked five shots, too.
• Giordano's ice time was down mostly because of that fight and how long it took them to get back on the ice after, but he still managed over 20 minutes. And a team-high four shots.
• Joe Colborne was most commonly sent out to combat Stamkos. Stamkos did better when Colborne was on the ice as opposed to when he wasn't.
• The fourth line had a pretty good possession game? The minutes were a bit more evenly spread out, with all of them playing about 12-13 minutes, and it wasn't a waste having them on the ice. Still don't like seeing Stajan down with them, though.
• I love our goaltending tandem. Both goalies have performed extremely well so far this season. They are neat and good.
• I hate the third jerseys. The Flames have won, like, twice in them. All time. They are cursed and bad.
• As always, fuck Tampa Bay. Holy shit, fuck them all so hard.

Next game wishes

Unrealistic: Give us our Cup back you jerks. I hate you.

Realistic: Not sure why Colborne was the Flames' most played forward. Or why he was matched up against Stamkos. Backlund is the Flames' best centre, especially defensively, and Hartley should have had control of the matchup. C'mon. Backlund's the first line centre.

Welp. That sucked. In just a couple days though, the winless Carolina Hurricanes come to town. With the Edmonton Oilers finally accomplishing something last night, they're the only ones without a win, and Staal-less. Puck drop will once again be 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 23. See you then!

A Twitter experiment featuring top NHL prospect Connor McDavid, the Next Great One. Sabres @ Ducks.

It's a bit early, admittedly, but the Buffalo Sabres still do not have a regulation win in the 2014-15 season. Their single non-regulation win came in a shootout against the Carolina Hurricanes (one day after the last time they met up with Anaheim, a game Buffalo lost 5-1).

The Sabres are not a very good hockey team.

But many Sabres fans are looking on the bright side; the worse their team does this season, the more likely they are to get the number 1 overall draft pick next season. The top prospect for the next draft is Connor McDavid, whom many are calling "The Next Great One" or, more stupidly, "The LeBron James of hockey," and as you can imagine Sabres fans would love to have them on their team.

Many Buffalo fans have already thrown in the towel on the season, but their excitement for the possibility of landing McDavid can not be contained. So much so, that McDavid himself recently admitted that he can't escape Buffalo fans on Twitter, and every time the Sabres lose his twitter mentions blowup.

With that information about Buffalo fans' Twitter habits in mind, I thought I'd setup an experiment for tonight. Although nothing is ever a given in hockey, there's a very real possibility that the Ducks will once again beat Buffalo tonight. Below, I am embedding an auto-refreshing Twitter search below which will show us every time Connor McDavid is mentioned with the word "Sabres" in the tweet. You can already see below what is being said prior to the game, and if you come back during and after the game, you'll be able to see what else pops up, in real time. Keep in mind, if you are viewing this days later, it'll still be updating, and you've already missed all the fun (unless, of course, the Sabres are on to losing to some other team on the particular day you visit).

Tweets about "@cmcdavid97 sabres"

Now, what happens if the Ducks lose this game? Hopefully we don't find out, but you if that happens, it might still be interesting to see what pops up in McDavid's mentions.

If you're monitoring the feed and something interesting catches your eye, please share it with us in the comments, so that we may preserve some of the magic.

Gameday

Sabres @ Ducks

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2014, 7:30 PM PDT

Honda Center

Prediction

In an attempt to foil the Sabres' Connor McDavid plan, Anaheim lets Buffalo win 4-2.

The Hurricanes fell to 0-3-2 on the season, losing in Winnipeg in the second game of their five-game road trip.

The Carolina Hurricanes remained the NHL’s only winless team, falling in Winnipeg 3-1 to slip to 0-3-2 on the season.

Three Observations

1. Paul Maurice had said everything short of "yes, we're a fragile team" in his media scrums leading up to the game. So the one thing Carolina could ill afford to do was let the Jets get out to a fast start. Yet that's exactly what happened, with Winnipeg scoring twice in the game’s first three minutes and never looking back. The Hurricanes got back into the game with a power play goal at 7:03 of the first, but Justin Faulk’s mishandling of a puck at the blue line gave Dustin Byfuglien a breakway goal and the Jets a 3-1 lead.

2. Jeff Skinner played his first game of the season and had flashes of brilliance that were overshadowed by two frustration penalties. The Jets can thank sophomore defender Jacob Trouba for that. The 20-year-old defenseman was arguably the best player on the ice Tuesday, contributing in all three zones, hitting everything that moved, and getting under Skinner’s skin. Skinner still had a team-high five shots, but he was kept off the scoresheet and had time to think about it during his four minutes in the box.

3. The Hurricanes are struggling with the game's fundamentals right now: clearing pucks out of the defensive zone, not turning the puck over at center ice, executing zone entries at even strength and on the power play. You'd like to attribute that to youth, but veteran players like Alexander Semin have been as guilty or more so than the 20-somethings in the lineup.

Number To Know

3 — Power play goals for Jiri Tlusty through five games after he scored Carolina’s lone goal Tuesday on the man advantage. Tlusty had zero goals and just one power play point all of last season, but now has four power play points through five games. Tlusty has also been coach Bill Peters’ most used forward at 20:42 per night. That includes an average of 3:16 on the power play (the team is now at 25 percent, tied for eighth in the league) and 1:57 on the penalty kill (80 percent, T-17th).

Plus

Riley Nash— Nash continues to be Carolina’s most consistent and hardest working player. While all the preseason talk was about fellow center Victor Rask, Nash quietly had an efficient camp and has emerged as the Hurricanes’ steadiest player. How much has he improved? We're only five games into the 2014-15 season, but his advanced stats look great, as does his traditional stat line (1-3-4 through five games; 61.7 percent faceoff rate, T-4th in the NHL).

Minus

Justin Faulk — Speaking of Trouba, he was everything Carolina is hoping to get out of Faulk on a nightly basis. Unfortunately, right now Faulk is a total disaster on the back end. All that Peters can hope is that Faulk plays his way out of his funk. It's good to see Brett Bellemore play well and Ryan Murphy contribute wherever he is used, but the Hurricanes will continue to go nowhere fast if one of their best defensemen continues to play like he should instead be in the press box.

"That was like an NHL team playing against a peewee team." — Buffalo head coach Ted Nolan on last week's Ducks-Sabres game.

If you take the quality of the opposition into account, the Ducks are coming off their best game of the young season, a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues. But if you watched the games or looked at the possession stats without paying attention to the other teams, you would be forgiven for thinking that their best game of the season came a week earlier against the Buffalo Sabres. The point is, the Ducks look good now and they're set to play a team that looks really bad. How bad?

• They are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for last place in the league with only two points, both of which were earned in a shootout win over those 'Canes.
• They are dead last in goal differential at -14.
• Just during Buffalo power plays, their team goal differential is -1.
• Per war-on-ice.com, their 37.43% Fenwick is four whole percentage points worse than the second-worst team (Calgary).
• It's been 142 minutes of game time since they've scored a goal.

As is customary for this type of matchup, the head coach of the heavily favored team said he expects the bad team to play the best game of their season. For the sake of two points and another rout, hopefully his players believe him, regardless of whether or not we do.

Game Notes:

Patrick Maroon, Dany Heatley, Bryan Allen, and Kyle Palmieri are all still injured. Recently recalled John Gibson went 1-1 with a .902 SV% and 3.05 GAA in his brief stint with the Norfolk Admirals, and if the plan is to get his confidence back for NHL-quality hockey, there isn't a better team to start him against than the Sabres, of course that was the case in Buffalo last week too but Boudreau started Andersen anyway.

Patrick Kaleta is out with an injury for the Sabres. Rookie center Sam Reinhart was a healthy scratch in Buffalo's last game, but he has been centering the fourth line in practice since then. No word yet on whether Jhonas Enroth or Michal Neuvirth will start in goal.

Also, it's Hockey Fights Cancer Night. Which means Cam Fowler once wore a spiffy purple tie.

What Can We Learn From This Game:

If Gibson starts, his play will be the biggest story of the night from a Ducks perspective, win or lose. Nobody wants Frederik Andersen to have to play 60+ games this year, but if Gibson can't find his form, Bruce Boudreau is going to have to start thinking about it. I know that sounds like a panicky, too-early-in-the-season thing to say, but the reality is that Gibson hasn't played well since last season, and this team as currently constructed needs that to change if they are going to be successful.

Another focus of scrutiny will be Tyler Myers. If Bob Murray is watching him, then we should be too.

Fearless Prediction

Brian Hayward rags on Myers, who scores one fewer goal than Sami Vatanen.

A return home for several players and coaches as the Canes take on the Flames tonight in Calgary.

Carolina Hurricanes at Calgary Flames
October 23, 2014 - 9:00 pm ET
Scotiabank Saddledome - Calgary, AB
TV - Fox Sports South***
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Matchsticks and Gasoline

Fancy Stats

Game Notes

• The Canes are in Alberta for back-to-back games with the Flames tonight and Oilers tomorrow night. This will fulfill two of the fourteen back-to-back scenarios the team will face this season.
• The Canes only dressed eleven natural forwards for the game against the Jets Tuesday night, but they recalled Brody Sutter from Charlotte yesterday to fill the 12th forward slot (press release follows below). After making his NHL debut a week ago at Madison Square Garden, Sutter will have the chance to come home to Alberta to play in front of his family.
• Speaking of coming home, there are a lot of Alberta connections in the Hurricanes organization. Here are just a few (let me know who I missed):
  • Zack Boychuk, playing in his 100th NHL game tonight, hails from just up the road in Airdrie and played junior hockey for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
  • Victor Rask makes his return to the Saddledome where he spent two years playing for the Calgary Hitmen.
  • The aforementioned Brody Sutter, from nearby Viking, also played his junior years in Lethbridge.
  • Just down the road from Calgary is the town of Three Hills, home of head coach Bill Peters, who had his first head coaching assignment at the University of Lethbridge.
  • Goaltending coach David Marcoux spent six years as the goaltending coach for the Flames.
  • Heading up the road toward tomorrow night's opponent, Riley Nash was born about halfway between Calgary and Edmonton in Consort, Alberta, and was a first round draft pick for the Oilers in 2007.
  • Cam Ward grew up in the Sherwood Park suburb of Edmonton and played his junior hockey with the Red Deer Rebels.
  • Assistant coach Steve Smith split time between the Flames and Oilers during his playing career, including three Stanley Cups with the Oilers (who he later coached) in 1987, 1998, and 1990.
• With that biography/geography lesson out of the way, there's not a lot new to report on the game tonight. Peters gave about a 45-second sound bite after yesterday's practice (audio) and there is no line-up information other than Sutter's call-up (Eric Staal was retro-moved to IR to free up a roster spot). John-Michael Liles is cleared to play so he could enter the line-up at the expense of one of the other healthy defensemen.
• No starting netminder has been announced. Going with the standard goalie rotation, the assumption might be Cam Ward to start tonight, but Peters may go with Khudobin again and give Ward the start tomorrow night in front of his home crowd in Edmonton.
• The Calgary Flames didn't finish with an impressive record last season (13th in the Western Conference), but they are a team on the rise. They don't boast a lot of star power but they have a reputation for being physical, hard-working, and one of the toughest opponents to play against.
• The Flames have a 7-1-1 winning record against the Canes in their last nine meetings. Calgary won both match-ups when the Canes played them last season, with Jeff Skinner the sole Hurricanes player to tally a goal.
• Average statistically in generating offense and on special teams, the Flames have been back-stopped by excellent goaltending from both Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo. Hiller will probably get the start tonight because it's his turn in the rotation.
• Mason Raymond leads the team in scoring with five goals and seven points. Defensemen TJ Brodie (who just re-upped for five more years with the Flames on Monday) and Mark Giordano have six points apiece. Rookie forward Johnny Gaudreau has three points in two games. Dennis Wideman leads all Flames skaters with 14 points in 27 career games against the Canes.
• The Flames have played two home games this season and lost both (one in overtime) so they will be looking for their first home win tonight.

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (from Tuesday's game)

Injuries: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Eric Staal (IR upper body), Patrick Dwyer (IR lower body), John-Michael Liles (DTD lower body), Nathan Gerbe (DTD lower body)

Flames (from Tuesday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: David Jones (IR), Brian McGrattan, Devin Setoguchi, Raphael Diaz

Brody Sutter Press Release

Canes Recall Brody Sutter from Charlotte

Eric Staal placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 11

Wednesday, 10.22.2014 / 5:00 PM / News

By Terrell Williams

RALEIGH, NC– Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has recalled forward Brody Sutter from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was also announced that center Eric Staal has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 11.

Sutter, 23, made his NHL debut in Carolina’s 2-1 shootout loss against the New York Rangers on Oct. 16. The Viking, Alb., native is in his third full professional season and has played in all five of Charlotte’s games thus far this year, netting one goal. Sutter (6’5", 203 lbs.) notched eight goals and earned 20 assists (28 points) in 69 games with the Checkers in 2013-14, and has scored 13 goals and earned 22 assists in 101 career AHL games with Charlotte since turning professional. The Hurricanes drafted Sutter in the seventh round, 193rd overall, of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

*** Along with the late start, note the broadcast change for television coverage. Tonight's game will be on Fox Sports South (check here for the broadcast guide for Raleigh market providers). We'll have the game thread up by 9:00 pm. See you there.

SB Nation maintains a dedicated blog for each of the 30 NHL teams. The Carolina Hurricanes website, Canes Country, is run by Bob Wage. Bob took some time to answer my questions. You can look for my answers to his questions over there as gametime gets closer.

Bob Wage runs Canes Country, SB Nation's dedicated Carolina Hurricanes' blog. He answered three questions in preparation for tonight's contest.

Kevin Kraczkowski (Matchsticks & Gasoline): Has Cam Ward completely regressed to this point? Is there a call for him to be relegated to number two?

Bob Wage (Canes Country): Short answer, yes.  Last season, Khudobin won the number one spot and Ward was relegated to number two most of the year, (when he was healthy enough to play).  He ended up with a .898 save percentage and a 10-12-6 record compared to .926 and 19-14-1 for Khudobin.  The jury is still out this season, although Khudobin has the early edge with a .912 save percentage to .846 for Ward. 

Neither goalie has won a game yet though, so look for Ward to be given another chance tonight.

KK (M&G): If the Canes have a strong point in the early going, it would have to be the power play (4-for-15 as I write this). Does Bill Peters have a plan to rely on his pests (Nathan Gerbe, Tim Gleason) to try and draw more penalties?

BW (CC): (As of today, Gerbe is hurt and may not play).  I'm not sure he and Gleason are very good at drawing penalties, so much so that it is part of a plan, but they do indeed try to be pests.  There has been special emphasis by the team on improving the powerplay and as you say, so far they have shown great improvement over last season, (25% versus 14.6%).  The biggest improvement is their ability to bring the puck in the zone and get set up to run a play.  They spent most of their time chasing the puck, dumping it in the zone, then chasing it some more, last season.  Primary kudos should go to Rod Brind'Amour, who was given this task over the offseason. 


KK (M&G): Chris Terry has been a nice surprise for you, with four points in four games. Who else should we be watching for tonight?

BW (CC): Riley Nash has probably been the most consistent, overall player for the Canes so far this season.  He leads the team in faceoff percentage, is second with four points, has a good (plus/minus), and plays responsibly in all zones.  For a player who was expected to be challenged for third line center duties this season, his improvement has been a pleasant surprise. 

Also watch for Andrej Sekera, who is the team's best defenseman, and Jiri Tlusty, who leads the team with four goals in five games.

My answers to Bob's questions can be found here.

I'd like to thank Bob for swapping off these questions with me, and for his thoughtful and well informed answers. Go to Canes Country for more on Carolina, and check back here throughout the day as we prepare for gametime with our preview, a live GameThread, and our award winning recap.

Our friends at Matchsticks and Gasoline asked us three questions about the Hurricanes and we responded in kind

Kevin Kraczkowski from Matchsticks and Gasoline, the SB Nation blog covering the Flames, sent me three questions to answer about the Hurricanes.  I answered his questions and sent him three of my own.

Here are his questions and my answers to start with:

Today’s Number To Know illustrates the lack of individual success the Hurricanes have had against Calgary.

1 — Hurricanes player set to play Thursday who has more than one goal vs. Calgary in their career. Only Jay McClement (four goals, four assists in 30 career games) has scored more than once against the Flames. Eric Staal, who is out with an injury, has the same career totals (4-4-8) as McClement, but in just nine games, and John-Michael Liles (also hurt) has three goals and 16 assists in 47 games vs. Calgary.

Several players, including Alexander Semin (eight games), Jiri Tlusty (five games), Jeff Skinner (four games), and Brad Malone (two games), have scored once against the Flames in their career.

With many positives to come out of the start to the season, it doesn't negate the fact the Hurricanes are winless over five games.

It’s been five games since the start of the 2014-2015 season and the Carolina Hurricanes are the only team yet to manage a tally in the win column.Surprisingly though, the Buffalo Sabres are below them in the standings.

A slow start and facing adversity is nothing new to the Hurricanes.However, their previous struggles are nothing compared to the concerns currently at hand.The injury bug has not a helpful situation as Andrej Sekera, Jordan Staal, Eric Staal, Patrick Dwyer, John Michael-Liles, and Jeff Skinner have all found themselves out of the lineup for at least one game already.Thankfully Brad Malone was able to return to the bench against the Winnipeg Jets after a knee on knee collision with Mark Stuart in the first period Tuesday night.

With Jeff Skinner and Andrej Sekera’s presence back in the lineup, their hopes to secure their first win of the season against the Jets had better odds.However, their start early consisting of giving up 2 goals in 40 seconds not even 3 minutes into the first period took those odds back.

Despite their present situation, however, there are several positives to take from their recent play in contrast to last season progressing forward.

The dump-and-chase method became an identity for the Hurricanes.They didn’t have the stature or the aggressive forechecking to make it effective.In the words of Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise, "I get it, but you dump the puck, you have to get it back. All you're doing is giving the puck away. I mean, it's so hard to get it, why would you give it away?" he told the Star Tribune.It makes sense.

Once Bill Peters took the spot behind the bench this season, the dump-and-chase was no longer a primary method of offensive zone pressure.Like many offensively successful NHL teams- Chicago, Dallas, Pittsburgh- the game plan is skate the puck in the offensive zone while quickly and efficiently setting up the play or cycle.

While setting up on even strength is important, their production with the man-advantage has already appeared to make a big leap from last season.As of now, the Hurricanes sit 9^th in the league on the power play converting 25% of their 20 opportunities.Last season they ranked 28^th at 14.6%.

On the contrary, the penalty kill has room for improvement although they seemed to workout the kinks after a sub par showing in their first two games’ against the New York Islanders.The ‘Canes gave up 4 goals while shorthanded against the Islanders but haven’t allowed any since.

Chris Terry, the long time AHLer and Inline Hockey player, has recorded 3 goals, 2 assists, and the only shootout conversion of the Hurricanes’ season in five games.It appears Terry has finally built the confidence needed to play in the NHL.His soft hands and ability to carry the puck through the neutral zone has helped the Hurricanes possession in the offensive zone.He’s shown when carrying the puck he can make smart decisions and isn’t afraid to take a hit.Terry’s proven he earned a spot on the roster and while he continues to find himself in the right place at the right time, the only question is will he be able to produce consistently?

Face-offs are currently being dominated by the ‘Canes despite the departure of Manny Malholtra who lead the team in faceoff percentage last season.Leading the league at 57.4%, Riley Nashleads the team with 61.7% trailed by Jay McClemnt with 60.7%.

Although the Hurricanes haven’t gotten the results they may have anticipated, their recent effort as a whole has certainly had a positive impact and gives a positive outlook going forward.

However, the effort and hustle appears more noticeable without the key players in the lineup.  If effort like this was given by the entire roster, maybe their situation would bode better.

OrneryBlushingCrocodile.0.html

Malkin's effort describes the type of work ethic given in recent contests by players who aren’t given outrageous substantial contracts.

With Alex Semin in the lineup, his effort compared to the rest of the team isn’t parallel.He hasn’t stepped up to the plate without other key players in the lineup as one might anticipate.Several times he was caught slipping on defense and losing his man against the Rangers.He’s a sniper, why is he thinking pass first?Right now the Hurricanes need goal production from him and they know he’s more capable of making it happen.

Communication issues have also been an area to brush up on.The Hurricanes new tactic of bringing the puck through the neutral zone to the blue line by a defenseman and dropping it back to a forward to carry it in to the attacking zone still has some kinks to work out.Sekera played the role of puck carrier number one and dropped it back to Riley Nash who wasn’t ready for it.

The goalie situation is still a work in progress, but it appears Anton Khudobin’s performance and numbers gives him the edge to be the top goaltender.Unlike Cam Ward, Khudobin is relaxed in the crease and isn’t fazed by traffic in front of him.Ward still doesn’t have the Conn Smythe confidence we’ve seen in the past and soft goals are still an area of concern.Khudobin has a 2.64 goals against average and .912 save percentage over three games while Ward has a 3.87 goals against average and a .846 save percentage in just two.

Winnipeg came out Tuesday night angry and determined to win after losing four straight.So far the Hurricanes have shown no such aggravation.

The positives are hard to take into account because they’ve yet to come to fruition.  Tlusty scores a hat trick and they still lose.  The Hurricanes score first and they still lose in extra time.   If they continue to work hard and play their game something good will come of it.  Peters is still adjusting to his role and it’s still early, but going winless in five games doesn’t give the glass half full outlook they need.

That was fun.

Tonight, the Calgary Flames met the Carolina Hurricanes: one team looking for its first home win, the other looking for its first... win. The Hurricanes are suffering some significant injuries, so they probably weren't expecting to be this bad, but the Flames? They had a pretty good night.

First period

Remember the game against Tampa? Well, this one started off in much the same way, with very little happening. Carolina had the initial pressure, but eventually Calgary - and especially Paul Byron - started driving pucks towards the Hurricanes' net.

Just over 11 minutes in, we finally had a meaningful whistle. Chris Terry grabbed Dennis Wideman's stick, didn't let go for some reason, and kind of dragged Wideman with him. It was an easy holding the stick call, sending the Flames to the first powerplay of the game. The powerplay exhibited some great puck control - especially between TJ Brodie, Mark Giordano, and Johnny Gaudreau - and constantly directed the puck towards the net, but with so many bodies in front of Cam Ward, the Hurricanes blocked many of the attempts, and Ward had the rest.

Right after the penalty was killed, Matt Stajan gave the puck away to Jeff Skinner right in the defensive zone. Skinner was wide open for a perfect shot, but an even more perfect glove from Jonas Hiller kept the game scoreless.

It was pretty much all Flames after that. With the period winding down, Wideman absolutely blasted it from the point and past Cam Ward, already matching his goal total from last season and putting the Flames up 1-0. The period ended with Calgary outshooting Carolina 10-4, and out-corsiing them 21-9.

Second period

The period opened with a bang. Just 32 seconds in, a Justin Faulk giveaway led to a Byron and Stajan 2 on 1. Byron dished it over to Stajan, who had a wide open net to bury it in, putting the Flames up 2-0.

The Hurricanes followed it up with Skinner once again advancing to try to beat Hiller, but Wideman covered him perfectly, and Skinner couldn't even get a shot off.

Carolina's night went from bad to worse. Just a few minutes later Joe Colborne, from behind the net, passed to Jiri Hudler. Hudler saw Sean Monahan streaking in behind Ward and a few other Canes, and made a perfect pass over to the 20-year-old for the sophomore's first of the year. 3-0 Flames.

This was followed up by Faulk hooking down Mason Raymond. The Flames spent pretty much the entire powerplay in the Hurricanes' zone, moving the puck and controlling the play, but were unable to add to their lead. Stajan then tripped Alexander Semin, giving Carolina their first powerplay of the game, and it was... significantly worse than the Flames'. Needless to say, it was killed.

The Hurricanes started to show a bit more life, and a lot of traffic around Hiller's net led to another good chance by Skinner, but that was about it. The Curtis Glencross - Stajan - Byron line went back to work (I think Stajan likes playing with them), creating chances. The Canes seemed just kind of done - with only seven seconds left in the period, they gave the puck away to the fourth line, and while Ward kept the gates shut, that's just not something that should happen.

The period ended with the Flames leading 19-11 in shots, and 36-22 in corsis.

Third period

Aaaand... things didn't get better for Carolina. Just over three minutes into the frame, the puck came out from behind the net, and 2013 sixth overall Monahan out-battled 2013 fifth overall Elias Lindholm for it, scoring his second of the game and putting the Flames up 4-0.

Not even two minutes later, Josh Jooris was speeding down the boards. He threw the puck towards the net, and Lance Bouma, who was charging it, tipped it in for his first of the year, and the Flames were suddenly up 5-0.

Yeah.

Stajan hooked down John-Michael Liles. The powerplay did nothing for the Hurricanes, as they got no shots on net, and in fact, the best scoring chance of the two minutes belonged to Byron.

With the game pretty much decided, the rest of the third wasn't too exciting. The Hurricanes really started pressuring with just a few minutes left, trying to break Hiller's shutout bid, but they're no Chicago. The game ended with the Flames trying, and sadly failing, to feed Monahan for his first career hat trick.

The score stayed 5-0, with the Flames outshooting the Canes 24-16, and out-corsiing them 47-38. Sorry, Carolina - but we're definitely cheering for you guys to get your first win of the season tomorrow.

Flame of the game

In a relatively easy game for the Flames, there weren't really a ton of standouts. Most of the team played, well, really well. So let's go with the best offensive player of the night: Sean Monahan, who had his second multi-goal game of his career (his first came in a 2-1 OT win against Edmonton, which was awesome). He had excellent chemistry with his linemates, and his three shots were good to tie for second on the team, all while receiving some of the poorest zone starts. He played 15:09 - second for Flames centres, behind just Mikael Backlund - and played in all situations. Good game for him to finally get pucks past the net.

Stray observations

• Colborne things that work: screening on the powerplay, because he's huge and has pretty good hands (see: shootouts); having him play on Monahan's wing, where he left off last season. Why'd it take this long to get back to that? Whatever, keep doing that, it's great and the two work well together. Also he's tied for the league lead in assists with eight. Still no goals, but that's nearly an assist a game. Good trade Toronto!
• Never put Stajan on the fourth line again. He works great with real linemates; especially when one of them is Byron, who was, once again, one of the Flames' best possession players. Byron isn't really putting pucks in the net, but make no mistake: he's good, and they'll probably start going in for him this year. He's a great player though. Actually made the Robyn Regehr trade, well, worth it. He had amazing chemistry with Backlund as well; maybe he just kind of works really well with everyone?
• The Flames took their first penalties since the first period against the Winnipeg Jets: the one that pretty much got Rafa Diaz benched and sent back to the pressbox. And it was Stajan with both of them. Huh. Still, don't take his linemates away from him please!
• The Brodie - Giordano pairing got a break. Actually, all of the defencemen played pretty much 20 minutes tonight. Really evenly spread out, but considering the score, they could obviously afford it.
• Hiller wasn't really challenged tonight, but a shutout's a shutout, and after an iffy start, he's stopped the last 99 of 101 pucks he's faced over three games. He's completely elevated the team's goaltending, and is actually really fun to watch. Outstanding free agent pickup; without him, the Flames would definitely be a lot closer to Connor McDavid... but there's always the lottery.
• There are too many Sutters. This was Brody's second game. When the Hurricanes first drafted Brody, they still had both Brandon (now in Pittsburgh) and Brett (now in Minnesota). I really wanted a Brett - Brandon - Brody line, and there was hope once, but now it'll probably never happen and I blame Carolina. They deserved to lose 5-0 just for that.

Next game wishes

Unrealistic: So... can we do that again? The Flames now have a goal differential of +6. That's awesome. I like having a positive goal differential. Let's get it to double digits!

Realistic: Keep these forward lines! Keep Colborne on Monahan's wing, the two of them worked great with Hudler. Stajan had an excellent game when he was given real linemates. Hell, even the new fourth line performed really well together. Just don't mess with that. And if you have to, for the love of god, just don't put Stajan back on the fourth line. He doesn't deserve that.

Well, one of those things will probably happen. But the last time the Flames played the Washington Capitals, they won 5-2, so... That's the next game. Saturday, Oct. 25. Flames. Capitals. Hockey Night in Canada. Hopefully it'll be as fun as this one!