The Flames' injuries are really testing their prospect depth.

Max Reinhart is back in the NHL. Injuries have hit the Flames hard this year, resulting in Reinhart being the team's fifth recall just over a month into the 2014-15 season.

First, David Jones was injured, and Josh Jooris was recalled to replace him. Just when Jones got healthy, Mason Raymond went down, allowing Jooris to stay up. A parade of injuries - Matt Stajan, Mikael Backlund, and Joe Colborne - followed, resulting in the recalls of Markus Granlund and Michael Ferland.

But then, in just his second NHL period, Anton Volchenkov concussed Ferland, and the Flames recalled Sven Baertschi. That left four guys on injured reserve, and four players called up to replace them.

Well, now Ferland, who hasn't played since Oct. 31, has been moved to the injured reserve.

By the way, word is #Flames LW Michael Ferland is making good progress in his recovery from concussion.

— Wes Gilbertson (@SUNGilbertson) November 9, 2014

Devin Setoguchi was injured in the second period against the Florida Panthers on Nov. 8, and while he still may be able to play next game, the Flames are only carrying one spare forward, Brian McGrattan. That problem has been solved, as with Ferland now on the injured reserve, the Flames opened room for another roster spot. This one goes to one of their more experienced prospects, the eldest of the Reinhart kids.

Reinhart improved by leaps and bounds last season, tripling his point production as his shooting percentage increased. He had a decent camp showing with the Flames, and was part of the third last round of cuts. All forwards cut after Reinhart we recalled before him.

Now Reinhart, who has one goal and five points over 12 games this season, is back in the NHL. He's sixth in remaining Adirondack forward scoring, but leads the team in shots with 33. His shooting percentage is a mere 3.0%, suggesting his luck will hopefully turn.

Reinhart also has the most NHL experience of the next possible callups, with a goal and five points in 19 games played over two seasons. He is joining the Flames in Raleigh, where the Flames take on the Carolina Hurricanes for the final game of their road trip. Reinhart may or may not play, probably depending on Setoguchi's health. But with his recall, it sure seems likely McGrattan will be kept out of the lineup.

The Hurricanes saw their four-game win streak end in Washington, but not before they earned three of four points in back-to-back overtime games vs. the Blue Jackets and Capitals.

The Carolina Hurricanes avoided a shootout by scoring in the final minute of overtime to top Columbus Friday at PNC Arena, but the Capitals gave the Canes a taste of their own medicine with an overtime game-winner with 14 seconds left the next night.

Three Observations

1. Cam Ward continues to stake his claim to the No. 1 job ahead of Anton Khudobin. Ward won his fourth straight start Friday — the first time he's done that in a long time— while Khudobin stayed winless. Not many expected things to go this way, with Khudobin the heavy favorite after a strong showing last season and Ward seemingly as likely to be bought out as reclaim the top job. Ward's overall numbers are still pedestrian — 4-3-1, 2.72 goals-against average and .894 save percentage — but his last four games have been stellar and the best Ward has looked in some time.

2. Alexander Semin has looked better, but Carolina's top trio of him, Eric Staal and Jiri Tlusty is till yet to truly click like they did in 2012-13. Coach Bill Peters has jumbled his lines frequently of late, including teaming up his three most dangerous players — Staal, Semin and Jeff Skinner— to try to ignite the offense. It worked Saturday, with Skinner setting up Staal"s goal that pulled Carolina within one and kicked off the comeback‚ but the team can ill afford to put all its eggs in one basket.

3. Victor Rask and Riley Nash continue to jockey for the right to be Carolina's No. 3 center once Jordan Staal returns. Both have been great: they excel at faceoffs, play a defensively responsible game, and are strong enough to handle big opposing forwards. That means it might come down to scoring. Right now, Nash leads the team with 10 points, but Rask has all four of his NHL points in the past four games. The heated competition is nothing but good news for the Canes.

Number To Know

17 — Shot attempts for Justin Faulk in the back-to-back set. Faulk had seven shots on goal and one missed shot vs. Columbus, and finished with four shots, three attempts blocked and two missed shots at Washington. Faulk's seven shots Friday were the third time in his career — and this calendar year — he has registered that many on net, but he has never scored in any of those games and has just one assist.

Plus

Elias Lindholm— After a rookie season of adjusting to the North American game, Lindholm finally seems to be fulfilling his promise. Lindholm's eight points rank tied for second on the Hurricanes and has seven of those during his active five-game point streak. Lindholm is also tied for first in the league with three others with three game-winning goals, including the overtime tally against the Blue Jackets.

Minus

Brett Bellemore— Bellemore nearly cost Carolina the game Friday against Columbus, taking two penalties — including one in the final minutes of a tie game — and looking out of sorts most of the night. He was better Saturday, but Peters still played him just two shifts in the third period with the team looking to overcome a two-goal deficit, and he was on the bench for the entirety of both overtime periods.

Returning home with their win streak snapped, the Hurricanes try to keep a point streak alive as they take on a formidable opponent.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Calgary Flames
November 10, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Matchsticks & Gasoline

Fancy Stats

Game Notes

• The Hurricanes and Calgary Flames wrap up their season series tonight. The Canes met up with Calgary just a couple of weeks ago and were shut out 5-0 in the middle of their State Fair road trip and O-for-October streak. The Canes were missing some key forwards that night with Eric Staal, Nathan Gerbe, and Patrick Dwyer all out with injuries. Since that game, and with a return to better health, the Canes are a respectable 4-2-1 and so are the Flames. The Flames hold an 8-1-1 head-to-head advantage over the Canes in their last 10 games.
• The Canes arrive back home in Raleigh lucky to have their point streak alive for five games, after spotting the Washington Capitals first a 17-3 shot advantage and then a 3-1 lead on Saturday before tying things up to force overtime in the 4-3 loss.
• Riley Nash holds the honor of being the first Canes player to hit double digits this season with 10 points (4g, 6a).
• With the tip-in of Justin Faulk's shot Saturday night, "Swedish Beast" Elias Lindholm now has seven points (5g, 2a) in five straight games and his three game-winning goals ties him for first in the league.
• Jeff Skinner remains one goal away from 100 career NHL goals, and Alexander Semin is two points away from 500 career NHL points.
• The Canes did not practice yesterday so any line-up changes will be forthcoming after this morning's skate including the starting netminder.
• Calgary is wrapping up a five-game road trip tonight. The Flames are 3-1-0 against their road opponents and have won four of their last five games.
• The Flames head into Raleigh having won 6-4 in Florida Saturday night after scoring three unanswered goals in the third period. Karri Ramo was chased out of the net in the second period after giving up the fourth goal and was replaced by Jonas Hiller, who will get the start tonight. Hiller is 4-1-0 with a 1.97 GAA in five career games against the Hurricanes including the shutout last month.
• Devin Setoguchi left the Florida game in the second period with an upper body injury and did not return, though he is expected to be back in the line-up tonight.
• Noted Canes killer Jiri Hudler (nine points in six games) had a goal and an assist in Saturday's game and has six points (3g, 3a) in his last five games. Rookie Johnny Gaudreau has eight points (2g, 6a) in his last five games and logged a goal and two assists against the Panthers.
• Not only are Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie good at the defense, they're also good at generating offense. Giordano leads the NHL in defenseman scoring with 18 points, and his partner Brodie is third with 14 points. Our esteemed colleagues over at Matchsticks & Gasoline wrote a great feature outlining just how valuable they are to the Flames' success.

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (updated after morning skate)

The Canes are hosting a Stock the Pantry Food Drive between now and November 13. Bring non-perishable food items to the game tonight and receive a buy-one-get-one-free ticket voucher for Thursday's game against the Jets. Good seats are still available. See you at the rink.

Boston has won four straight and would you believe Calgary and Carolina are both trending up?

It's a light night in the NHL on Monday with just a pair of games.

The Boston Bruins take a four-game winning streak into their matchup against the New Jersey Devils. The Bruins might be without Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller and David Warsofsky on the blue line, but they've seen Dougie Hamilton pick up his game to help fill the void. One other guy they might be without is David Krejci who is day-to-day with an undisclosed ailment.

The Devils would be happy to take advantage of those absences as they've lost three straight. They might get some offensive help as Mike Cammalleri and Martin Havlat may play on Monday. Their returns will be needed as the Devils be without Adam Henrique, Ryane Clowe, and Jon Merrill. They'll also have to hope the early workload of the season hasn't been too much for goalie Cory Schneider as he's started every game this season.

Bruins vs. Devils - 7 p.m. ET

Where: TD Garden - Boston, MA

TV: MSG+, NESN, TVA

Streaming: GameCenter Live

If you saw the Hurricanes vs. Flames on the schedule a couple weeks ago you might have rolled your eyes and prepared to find something else to do. Now both teams come in winners of four of their past five.

The Hurricanes, after going winless in October, have points in five straight. Getting healthy players back has done them a world of good and they've seen Elias Lindholm pick up his game as well. With Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner getting back into form, things have picked up.

The Flames have seen defenseman Mark Giordano play like a man possessed of late. Giordano has a six-game point streak and has four goals and seven assists during that span. He's tied for fifth in the NHL in points and already has people talking about him for the Norris Trophy. Not bad.

Rookie Johnny Gaudreau has gone bananas lately as well. In his past 10 games, Gaudreau has three goals and nine assists. Nine of 12 points on the season came in the past seven games. His adjustment to the NHL is moving along well and the Flames are benefiting.

Hurricanes vs. Flames - 7 p.m.

Where: PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC

TV: Fox Sports-Carolina, SNW

Streaming: GameCenter Live

Not everybody on this Flames team is an NHLer, and I'm not talking about the call-ups.

The last time the Calgary Flames faced the Carolina Hurricanes, the Flames took advantage of a hurt eastern squad, pounding 'em 5-0. Well, another five goals were scored, but it wasn't quite the same story. Massive shoutout to Rob Lozon for the recap title.

First period

Slow start. Slow start. Slooooowwwww staaaaarrrrtttt. For, well, everybody. Max Reinhart had some noticeable jump, but neither team could really get anything going until about 12 minutes into the period, when Alexander Semin sent TJ Brodie down to the ice. Brodie got up just fine, and the Flames were off to the game's first powerplay.

And who other than Brodie and defence partner Mark Giordano was going to get things started? With the Flames set in the zone, Brodie passed the puck up to Gio from the point. Gio touched it to Curtis Glencross, who sent it David Jones' way. Jones, set up forcefully right in front of the net, snapped it in for his second in as many games, putting the Flames up 1-0.

As the boring period was nearing its end, Zach Boychuk skated down the wing, loosely and weakly covered by Dennis Wideman. Boychuk didn't have anyone with him, so he just threw the puck on net. The puck bounced off Jonas Hiller's mask and in, tying the game at one.

And then we were released from what was not a great frame. The Flames outshot the Hurricanes 8-5, and out-corised 'em 14-13.

Second period

The Flames nearly took back the lead early on, with Cam Ward leaving a wide open net, but Jiri Hudler and friends were unable to capitalize on the warp around. Carolina then almost had the lead as the puck deflected to Nathan Gerbe, but Gerbe couldn't direct it into the open net.

Jeff Skinner stripped Devin Setoguchi of the puck, and as he was trying to keep both his balance and the puck, he grabbed Semin's stick and took a penalty for doing so. Right away - like, four seconds later - Riley Nash won the faceoff and sent the puck back to Justin Faulk, who shot it and scored. Just like that, it was 2-1 Hurricanes.

Markus Granlund, who lost the faceoff, followed it up by really crashing the Carolina net and fighting for a goal. The team controlled offensive zone pressure for quite a bit, but it was Carolina who would score next. Brandon Bollig fell over himself, giving the puck up to Semin. Semin dished it off to Skinner who, with an absolutely perfect shot and little to no coverage, sniped it to make it a 3-1 game.

Even with more guys like Jones and Paul Byron crashing the net, the Flames were held to just their one powerplay goal. The period closed out with a late Granlund holding the stick penalty, as the Hurricanes outshot them 19-18. Calgary, though, retained the corsi edge after two with a 43-42 count.

Third period

The Flames killed the remaining penalty time, and Byron sent the puck up to Glencross, who had a great redirect, but was met with an even better Ward save.

Already down by two, Hiller had to be sharp when Skinner came in with an excellent scoring chance, which was immediately followed up with a shot off the post. And it didn't get much better from there. Without many quality Flames chances, the Canes were able to control some time in the offensive zone, and it got them a goal, as these things tend to do. Even the best will occasionally make mistakes, and that's what happened here: a poor Giordano throw and Brodie unable to corral the puck somehow got Tim Gleason on the board, putting Carolina up 4-1.

And then it was almost - almost - 5-1. Semin rang the puck off the post, but Hiller got it just before it rebounded in. Kris Russell took a hooking penalty in the process, though, which wasn't exactly helping any theoretical attempt at a comeback effort with the game winding down.

The penalty was killed, but the Hurricanes just went right back to trying to extend their lead, including some nice moves by Chris Terry. The game finished off with the Hurricanes very firmly in control and the Flames without a hope. Score effects shmore shmeffects, as Calgary was done, outshot 31-23 and out-corised 65-55.

Flame of the game

This is a hard one because nobody really stood out. Ah geez. Well, when in doubt, go with the goal scorer: David Jones. Jones is outperforming expectations, and while expectations were never high to begin with, credit where credit is due. He's getting pucks in the net by virtue of being a big bodied presence up there, and starting to actually do something with it. He and Sean Monahan had the worst zone starts for the Flames at just 36%, but Jones managed to pull away with a 45% corsi, which definitely wasn't the worst on the team.

Stray observations

• Reinhart's return to the NHL saw him play less as the game went on, but he wasn't bad. He came out with some great jump, and finished the night with 10:52 in ice time (above just Bollig and Setoguchi), a shot, a blocked shot, and 43% corsi with 40% zone starts. We should get to see more of him going forward. He was honestly one of the better Flames on the night.
• Giordano extended his point streak, but couldn't tie Al MacInnis for five multipoint games in a row. Still, that's seven straight games with a point, and 19 points has him tied with Tyler Seguin and Phil Kessel for third overall in the NHL. Not bad for some undrafted guy.
• I should probably make one of those for Engelland, too. And maybe Smid. They're just... extremely... well, bad? And that's being nice about it? Watching them is painful. Do you really want to sacrifice watching quality hockey so some useless tough guys can "protect" players (a thing that does not actually happen)? They're. They're just. So. Bad.
• And the Flames didn't just sign Engelland to get over the cap floor, they signed him because they legitimately thought Engelland, a 32-year-old who had never exactly shown anything, had more to offer. How long do you think it takes them to realize they were horribly wrong? He's signed until he's 35. He's only going to get worse. And he's already really, really bad.
• Guys remember that time Olli Maatta was available for free and even though the Flames were horribly lacking in defence prospects they took Mark Jankowski because someone watched a high school game and now Calgary has all of one blueliner prospect who's ready for the NHL and they play absolute garbage on the bottom pairing?
• So, Gerbe is the shortest player in the league, at 5'5". Both he and Byron were little guys who came up through Buffalo's system and found homes in the NHL. Gerbe's at 178 lbs., though, 25 more than Byron, who's listed as two inches taller. And 28 more than Johnny Gaudreau, who is supposedly four inches taller. And all three are better than certain other names employed by certain teams that certainly were not discussed just up above.
• Okay, so, Sven Baertschi was held out of the lineup today due to the flu. He isn't the first player that's happened to, and he won't be the last. But because I'm apparently great at grumping about his usage, I'M GONNA KEEP DOING IT:
• Somebody please explain to me why Baertschi can get shots on net and generate scoring chances but get immediately benched, while Setoguchi does none of that and not only gets first unit powerplay time, but in this game in particular, come out beyond sluggish, take a bad penalty that immediately led to a goal, and then be sent right back out there. Or is Sven the only one who has to "earn it".

Next game wishes

Unrealistic: Does Rafa Diaz have to actually kill somebody to become a lineup regular? You know what I totally wouldn't hate? Brodie - Giordano / Wotherspoon - Russell / Diaz - Wideman. I would not totally hate that.

Realistic: Considering the performance of some of the veterans - Bollig, Setoguchi, and the ever-scratched Brian McGrattan (who is ever-scratched for a good reason) - there's absolutely no way at least one of them doesn't get sent down as Flames start coming off the injured reserve. Prospects are starting to earn their spots. Jooris has to be a lock at this point. Hopefully it'll keep up with the others.

Welp. That's it. The Flames leave this five-game eastern swing with a 3-2-0 record. They'll be back at the Saddledome Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. MT to face the PhoenixArizona Coyotes. (Side note: my name is Ari. Do you have any idea how terrible it is for me that the Coyotes are now abbreviated "ARI"?) It'll be just the Flames' third contest against the Pacific Division. Go team.

The Carolina Hurricanes continue their point streak as Jeff Skinner records his 100th career goal.

The last time the Carolina Hurricanes faced the Calgary Flames, the Hurricanes were blown out 5-0 in Calgary, Alberta.  This time around the Hurricanes returned the favor with a 4-1 victory Monday November, 10th at the PNC Arena.

The first period included some nice opportunities and passing for the Hurricanes.

It was a stalemate until Alexander Semin was called for tripping at 11:58 of the period.  Calgary converted on the powerplay opportunity as Curtis Glencross fed an uncovered David Jones in the slot from below the goal line with 6:53 left in the period.

Zach Boychuk was the one to answer Calgary's goal off of a heads-up pass from Justin Faulk several minutes later.  Boychuk saw minimal space on Jonas Hiller's short side and converted his third goal of the season as the puck careened off of Hiller's mask while fighting off Dennis Wideman in the process.

Physicality was present from both teams as things started to heat up at the end of the period.

Bill Peters wasn't happy with what he saw from his lines at the end of the first.  The initial top line consisted of Alexander Semin, Eric Staal, and Jeff Skinner.  Peters saw the chance to juggle the lines and place Jay McClement with Semin and Skinner and putting Staal on the wing with the line of Boychuk and Victor Rask.

Out of the gate, the second period was faster paced as the Flames were able to muster five shots in the first three minutes putting pressure in the Hurricanes' zone.  Cam Ward was caught on a bad wrap around chance after a rebound  but John-Michael Liles made a diving effort to deny the opportunity on Jiri Hudler.

The Hurricanes finally managed to break out of their zone as a chance from Nathan Gerbe that was stoned cold by Hiller followed.

Carolina's second goal of the came four seconds into their first powerplay opportunity at 4:50 of the period after a faceoff win by Riley Nash and a blast from Justin Faulk from the top of the circle giving them a 2-1 lead.

At 12:15 of the period, Semin skated into the offensive zone, slowed down the pace while avoiding, and found Jeff Skinner drifting into the slot on a backhand pass as Skinner wristed one past Hiller top shelf, blocker side for his 100th career goal to give the 'Canes a 3-1 lead.  All Skinner needs is a little bit of space in order to make something happen.

After Faulk's goal, the second period was all Carolina outshooting the Flames 14-10.

Skinner racked up two nice chances in the third period producing a rebound for McClement who hit the post and another one after that which left was unattended to and cleared out of Calgary's zone.

Peters called timeout at 14:22 of the third as the Flames made an offensive push to get back in the game. A factor behind Peter's logic could include seven of Calgary's nine wins have come on the road, the most in the league.

Jeff Skinner generated another chance as an intended pass for Semin went off Flames' Troy Brodies skate with Tim Gleason to pick it up to give the 'Canes a 4-1 lead.  After his milestone goal, Skinner made nice plays mixing in nice moves to elevate his game.

The line of Lindholm, Nash, and Gerbe deserved praise as they created countless chances and and showed defensive effort, and out-worked the opposing line when they were present on the ice.

Cam Ward made exceptional saves throughout the night while using the paddle of his stick efficiently as well. Ward also made a noticeable effort to maintain the rebounds.  He faced 31 shots and made 30 saves and recorded a win in his past five starts as well as a .944 save percentage.

The decision making of players led to good opportunities and the good opportunities led to numbers on the scoreboard.  They came out hungrier and showed that with the end result.  Overall, it was solid effort for the Hurricanes as they record another win to keep their point streak alive winning five of their last six while recording a point in their outing against the Washington Capitals.  Bill Peters said prior to the game, "You want to have an identity you can be proud of."

Two hot teams entered, one hotter team left with the win.

The Carolina Hurricanes won the battle between teams who came in on a roll as they took out the Calgary Flames 4-1 at PNC Arena in Raleigh. The win was the fifth in six games for the Hurricanes and they have points in all six.

Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk was a force as he scored a goal and had two assists to lead the way offensively. Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist and Cam Ward stopped 22 shots.

Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano extended his point scoring streak with an assist on a power play goal by David Jones in the first period. Jonas Hiller had a tough night with 27 saves. To show you how fickle streaks can be, the Flames came into the game on Tuesday winners of four of their past five games, but have now lost two of their last three.

Three Things We Learned

1. Mark Giordano is just a machine. Yes, the Flames lost but he extended his point streak to seven games with an assist on David Jones' goal in the first period. The Norris Trophy drum started beating for him last season and it's only growing stronger this year. Coach Bob Hartley has a guy he can rely on in all situations to make things happen with Giordano.

2. Justin Faulk isn't too bad either. There's something to be said for teams that haven't been great the past few seasons having a defenseman that can help spark the offense when you need it most. Faulk's three-point game carried the Hurricanes.

3. Is... Is Cam Ward back? He's won five straight starts and given up seven goals and has a shutout. That mark is good for a .946 save percentage. He had a rough start to the season, but he's been great lately and stood tall against the Flames with 22 saves. It was assumed at the start of the season that Anton Khudobin would just assume the starting job at some point. That's not happening right now with Ward on fire.

Ward last had 5 straight wins in March-April 2009 when he won 9 straight, including 2 in OT #havefun#Canes

— Chantel McCabe (@NHLChantel) November 11, 2014

The Caniac Commute mini podcast gives you a chance to get answers to your questions and hear a little insight on the latest with the Carolina Hurricanes. Here's Episode No. 2.

The latest Caniac Commute podcast comes on the heels of the Hurricanes’ convincing 4-1 home win over the Calgary Flames. While things are going well for Carolina right now, people still seem to be wondering how certain players fit in going forward, including Jordan Staal, Ryan Murphy and, of course, Alexander Semin.

Thanks for the questions, and if you want one of your own featured in a future episode, tweet me @corylav or with the hashtag #CaniacCommute. We'll be working on having iTunes integration soon. In the meantime, you can listen here.

Caniac Commute-11.11.14

♫ The Flames went down to Raleigh. They were lookin' for some points to steal. They were in a bind 'cause it was rebuildin' time and they refuse to make some deals. They already had a captain, scorin' points, and lookin' hot. The Flames decided to ice some young players and said "Carolina, please don't pound our butts." ♫

- Mike FAIL, bad song writer and interpreter of the Flames 4-1 loss last night.

As we recapped in last night's rage inducing loss, after beating the Hurricanes last time with a 5-0 victory and at the time, a "more NHL" looking lineup the Flames dressed and played more so at times of their AHL affiliate. This is humbling and a more realistic expectation of what we will see of the team throughout the season however.

Given what we know about how well the Flames have been performing (often with their heads above water), we knew that the Florida portion of the roadtrip would most likely signal the regression to set in. I had a sinking feeling going into last night's game that it would be more visible against a Hurricanes team who seemingly have found themselves in the last four games (five if you include last night's win).

Courtesy of HockeyStats.ca by the amazing Greg Sinclair:

The first period was a snooze-fest and really didn't generate much. Max Reinhart was responsible for the first attempt towards Cam Ward and from there it was some very minimal back and forth attempts that sporadically continued until the David Jones goal. Calgary flat-lined for a huge section of time until the essential end of the period.

With only four power plays this game, the Flames special teams didn't make a significant difference between Corsi ALL and Corsi ES aside from the Jones goal. As expected, the Hurricanes would have a stronger power play generating a slide edge in events and being generally a better team. We'll examine the differences below.

Corsi 5v5

There is a stretch in the second period that the guys behind Natural Stat Trick mentioned last night.

The #Canes followed that with 15 straight shot attempts in 2:30 of play. Crazier. http://t.co/7paFa3TGFgpic.twitter.com/cv9bwHnGgS

— Natural Stat Trick (@NatStatTrick) November 11, 2014

We used HockeyStats.ca's data to examine it a bit further. 23:17 to 25:47, during the second period Carolina generated 14 attempts at even strength against a Calgary. I was examining it further but Photoshop wouldn't line up the charts from War-On-Ice properly to show exactly who had shifts during that period. From what I could tell, Russell and Wideman appeared to have been on ice for the bulk of it.

I want to go through it further with the game video (I recorded it) and try to get the data to match up to give an accurate report of who was on, why it happened, and what maybe could have prevented it. So stay tuned for that, I want to try and tackle it sometime today.

Peters also took advantage of matching top lines on the ice against the Flames' 4th line comprising for most of the night as Lance Bouma, Brandon Bollig, and young Josh Jooris. That would change after Setoguchi's turnover, penalty, and subsequent PP goal against though.

Fenwick 5v5

Calgary performed much better later in with regards to non-blocked shots than Carolina. During a stretch from the late part of the second period leading late into the third, the Flames held fenwick of 39-35 until Carolina continued to storm Calgary's end generating more and more at even strength.

We're going to break down the period data for each player along with the team-level data as well for this recap which will give some fans a closer look at players by the period as opposed to the game level.

Nerdy numbers via Natural Stat Trick:

Hurricanes vs Flames - All Situations

• Flames power play in first helped push them above 50% in the first in CF% and FF% which is nice to see. However, the reliance on a PP to keep possession numbers up isn't going to last or even be viable long term. The team (once healthy and shedding of dead weight) will be (HOPEFULLY) a better even strength team.
• With all the penalties in the second, the Flames finished at a 50% CF and 52.50% FF which is also a good sign but realistically not sustainable for this team.
• Final period, yeesh. Carolina was a really great team in the third and proved why they're trending upwards. Are they in the same situation as Calgary for the season? Probably not. A lot of people expected them to trade off assets if injuries and the team didn't rebound. I have them as a bubble team who are a few years away still.

Hurricanes vs Flames - Even Strength

• Hurricanes push late int he first period was responsible for the slight edge leading into the second.
• The Flames commanding start to the second was overshadowed immediately by that aforementioned storm of 'Canes chances that was truly remarkable to examine. That being said, it was nice to see the Flames finish the second period above 50% rather than below which is a common theme for the team.
• The game would be close throughout the remainder of the game until late in the third when Carolina's relentless push was too much for the Flames to overcome.

Team Data - Courtesy of  HockeyGoalieEh who was posting it in the Gamethread

Flames Even Strength Data

The Carolina Hurricanes extended their point streak to six games with a convincing 4-1 win over Calgary at PNC Arena.

If you want to know how different the November Hurricanes are from the previous month's incarnation, look no further than the team’s two performances against the Calgary Flames. The Canes paid back the Flames for a 5-0 road whipping on Oct. 23, dominating Calgary Monday en route to a 4-1 victory.

Three Observations

1. Another night, another win for Cam Ward. That makes it five straight starts with a win for Ward, who pushed his save percentage into the .900s and dropped his goals-against average to 2.53 by allowing just one goal — on the power play — in Carolina’s win over Calgary. Chances are Ward will be back between the pipes Thursday vs. Winnipeg.

2. Bill Peters won't look to Jay McClement to center Alexander Semin and Jeff Skinner for the long haul, but the Carolina coach continues to push all the right buttons in leading his team out of the "Winless Eight" era and back into relevance. His moves also included moving Eric Staal to the wing, rewarding players like Boychuk with more ice time, and balancing the defensive minutes (Faulk had a team-high 21:39, while Gleason was the low among defensemen at a respectable 17:10).

3. The secondary scoring issues that have haunted Carolina in recent years haven't been a problem of late. While Skinner, Semin and Staal have just a combined six goals (still none for Semin), Riley Nash, Chris Terry and Zach Boychuk have 11 between them. Elias Lindholm and Jiri Tlusty have 11 more. And now Victor Rask seems to be coming on with two in the past five games. Toss in some defense scoring — after getting just two goals from the D the entire first 13 games, the Canes doubled that with two from the blue line Monday — and you have a recipe for three-plus goals a night.

Number To Know

1,058 — Days since Tim Gleason scored for the Hurricanes, a streak snapped when he added the nail in the coffin Monday with his third period goal. Gleason last scored Jan. 25, but that was with the Maple Leafs. His last goal with the Canes was Dec. 18, 2011. Monday’s goal was the 17th of Gleason’s career and 14th with Carolina — pushing him past Mike Commodore and Hall Of Famer Paul Coffey for the 15th most by a defenseman in Hurricanes history. Joe Corvo holds the record with 42, while Jay Harrison (21) and Justin Faulk (20) are the active leaders.

Plus

Justin Faulk — After playing maybe the worst hockey of his career to start his season, Faulk is now playing his best. The 22-year-old blueliner has 10 points in 14 games after a three-point night Monday. That ties him for 10th in the league for scoring by a defenseman, and Monday he outplayed both Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie — the NHL’s first- and third-leading defensive scorers, respectively — by a wide margin. Honorable mention to Boychuk, who not only got the Canes going with his first-period goal, but finished with a game-high five hits.

Minus

Nathan Gerbe— It's hard to find much fault in anyone’s play Monday, but Gerbe seemed to have a little too much cuteness to his game against the Flames. On three instances Gerbe was caught out-thinking himself in the offensive zone, either going for a difficult pass or attempting a Semin-esque cruise through the defense. He still finished with six shots, but it felt like he left at least one point out on the ice.

Notes

The Hurricanes reassigned Michal Jordan to Charlotte Tuesday, a day after recalling him as an insurance policy when Brett Bellemore was ruled out for Monday’s game and both Gleason and John-Michael Liles were game-time decisions. Jordan was a healthy scratch vs. the Flames. Here's the release from the team.

‘CANES ASSIGN MICHAL JORDAN TO CHARLOTTE
Defenseman was recalled on Monday but did not play against Calgary

RALEIGH, NC – Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has reassigned defenseman Michal Jordan (MIH-kahl yohr-DAHN) to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). Jordan was recalled to Carolina on Monday, but did not play in the Hurricanes’ 4-1 win at PNC Arena against Calgary.

Jordan, 24, has totaled two assists in 10 games for the Checkers this season. The Zlin, Czech Republic, native is in his fifth professional season, after earning AHL career highs in assists (21) and points (25) in 2013-14 with the Checkers. Carolina’s third selection, 105th overall, in the fourth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Jordan has appeared in five career games with the Hurricanes, all during the 2012-13 season.

The Winnipeg Jets were unable to keep their points streak going as they fell to Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens. While they were able to get a healthy number of shots on goal, they were unable to beat the Habs star net-minder.

The first period was a solid one. The Jets came out ready to play and looked physical and aggressive early. Unfortunately for Evander Kane, it was a little bit too aggressive as he got called for two penalties in the period. He also failed to convert on a two-on-o breakaway chance with Blake Wheeler. Unfortunately, failure to capitalize on scoring chances would be a theme throughout the night.

The scoring opened up early into the second period as Lars Eller put the puck past a scrambling Ondrej Pavelec. The Jets had two power play opportunities in the period. While their power play has looked better as of late, the hockey gods were not in their favour as the pipes were sounding throughout the night.

It was more of the same in the third period. The Jets continued to receive and blow scoring opportunities throughout the period. Their failure to convert was punished when Alex Galchenyuk scored with an impressive wrap around in front of the net. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Paul Maurice went for the hail mary by pulling Pavelec and giving the Jets the extra attacker. After some time with the man advantage, the Habs gifted the Jets with a penalty giving them a 6 on 4 opportunity. But when Evander Kane missed a glorious chance with less than a minute to go in the game, it was clear that it just wasn't the Jets night. Tomas Plekanic converted the empty net chance with 37 seconds remaining and the Jets were held pointless for the first time in 8 outings.

Thoughts from the game:

• The Jets really did play a solid game. Excuse my cliches, but they battled hard and created opportunities. They just failed to convert.
• Evander Kane had a rough night. He took penalties, missed on opportunities that he should have capitalized on. On a team that has struggled to score consistently, he will need to be a bigger contributor moving forward.
• Carey Price is really, really, really good. Any shutout is a combination of skill and luck, and Price certainly got lucky at times... but he is simply one of the best goalies in the league and played like it tonight.
• The Jets really appear to have an identity now. I've pinned for some sort of an identity since they relocated to Winnipeg and now they have one. They realize that they aren't one of the more talented teams in the league, but they play hard and they play physically. It's a style that suits the personnel and it's nice to see.
• Ondrej Pavelec had an alright game. He made some good stops and his rebound control was decent. While he wasn't perfect, he played well enough to give the Jets a chance to win.
• Puck luck sucks.
• Grant Clitsome stood out tonight, and that's never a good thing with him. He looked lost several times on the night and was a major contributing factor to the Eller goal.
• Mark Scheifele played well tonight, but I think Travis said it best:

Scheifele needs to realize he's not playing shinny anymore. So many damn pipes.

— Travis Hrubeniuk (@thrubeniuk) November 12, 2014

The Jets play next on Thursday when they travel to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes.

Good seats are still available. The Canes are back in black tonight. Come on down to PNC Arena and see if the Canes can keep the points streak going.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Winnipeg Jets
November 13, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Arctic Ice Hockey

Fancy Stats

Game Notes

• The Canes and Jets wrap up their season series tonight. The two teams met just three weeks ago, on October 21, and the Canes were still looking for their first win of the season. They didn't get it that night, losing 3-1 with Jiri Tlusty getting the lone tally, and went on to lose three more before turning things around with a 5-0-1 November including a big 4-1 victory over Calgary Monday night.
• Outside of their November run, the big story for the Canes is the forward line shake-up that Bill Peters rolled out during the Calgary game and continued into practice yesterday. Moving Jeff Skinner and Alexander Semin to a line with Jay McClement seemed to energize the two wingers, with Skinner finishing off a beautiful pass from Semin for his 100th career NHL goal. The other line change saw Eric Staal move to Victor Rask's wing along with Jiri Tlusty, a move Peters had been interested in implementing with both Staal brothers on a line, but decided not to wait for Jordan's return later this season.
• Brett Bellemore is still considered day-to-day with an upper body injury, though he did practice yesterday. Peters didn't sound confident that Bellemore was quite ready to return. He'll be evaluated again today.
• Justin Faulk tied his career best game with three points (1g, 2a). Alexander Semin still doesn't have a goal this season, but he has three assists in his last three games and is one point away from 500 career NHL points.
• Cam Ward gets the start again tonight, his sixth. He's been the Wardo of old over the last few games, stopping pucks and having fun, and he spend some time with Adam Gold and Joe Ovies today in a very candid interview about his bounce-back [WRALSportsFan].
• John Forslund previewed tonight's game for Illegal Curve Hockey [TSN1290].
• Jeff Skinner was on the Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast today (starts around the 18-minute mark) [Puck Daddy].
• Bill Peters provided an audio interview after yesterday's practice [ch.com], and for those who missed it, he spent some time with Adam and Joe Tuesday afternoon discussing why the team had been so good as of late [WRALSportsFan].
• The Jets are in the middle of a five-game road trip. They won in a shootout against Ottawa on Saturday night before being shut out 3-0 in Montreal Tuesday night. They are 4-1-1 in November.
• The Jets aren't generating a lot of points on the score sheet these days but they're playing an honest, physical, hard-working style with solid defense and strong performances in net. This is reflected in their special team numbers where they are third in the league on the penalty kill but 27th on the power play. Bryan Little (11), Andrew Ladd (10), and Blake Wheeler (10) lead the team in points.
• The Jets arrived in Raleigh after Tuesday's game and practiced at PNC yesterday. I know y'all miss hearing him, so here's Paul Maurice after he spoke to the media [Illegal Curve].
• The projected lines that are posted represent how the Jets lined up for Tuesday's game but there could be quite a few changes tonight. Anthony Peluso, Matt Halischuk, and Adam Pardy are all ready to return, and Maurice stated he needed to get them back in the line-up during the road trip.
• Maurice also strongly hinted that Michael Hutchinson may get the start in net tonight. The Jets have been riding Ondrej Pavelec hard (only Cory Schneider in New Jersey has more starts and saves) but he has been strong. Hutchinson only has six NHL starts, but he was stellar in his last start, a shutout win against the Blackhawks.

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (from yesterday's practice)

Injuries: Anthony Peluso (IR, upper body), Matt Halischuk, Adam Pardy

The Canes wrap up their Stock the Pantry Food Drive tonight. You can still bring non-perishable food items to tonight and receive a buy-one-get-one-free ticket voucher for tonight's game. There are several other ticket specials available tonight including College Game Night pricing. Good seats are still available. Canes are back in black for this one. See you at the rink.

The Winnipeg Jets recent eight game point streak came to a close Tuesday night, at the hands of the Montreal Canadians. Tonight, they will look to grab two points when they face off against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Jets and the Hurricanes have both succeeded as of late. The Hurricanes are on a six game point streak ( 5-0-1) meanwhile the Jets have possessed a 4-1-1 record through November.

Puck drop is at 6 pm CT and the game can be viewed on TSN 3. You can also listen to all the action on TSN 1290.

Thoughts

Winnipeg Jets

Put the Puck In The Net: Despite the Jets recent success, the team has struggled to find the back of the net. The Jets currently average 1.75 goals a game, which puts the Jets at 29^th in the league. The Jets can't rely on goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to win them hockey games by himself. The Jets need to muster up more offense, night in and night out.

Hey Evander, Wake Up! Some like to refer to Evander Kane as the Jets best player but through his first eight games he has struggled. After being sidelined for eight games with a knee injury, Kane's return has produced one goal in eight games. Versus Montreal, Kane was denied on a breakaway, registered two penalties and missed an empty net. If Kane picks up his production, his linemates Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele should follow.

Changes Could Be Made Despite the Jets recent success, Head Coach Paul Maurice reiterated that changes could be made to the lineup.

"We’re going to have a long conversation about what our lineup’s going to look like in the next three games because at some point, I've got to get these guys back in the lineup," Jets coach Paul Maurice said.  "We’re a 23-man roster and the three guys that have been out have been working hard, done what we've asked."

The three players Maurice was referring too are, Adam Pardy, Matt Halischuk and Anthony Peluso.

"They need to get back into a game and we need them to get back into a game," Maurice said. "So that’ll be a discussion, especially when you look at this stretch of hockey we’re in."

It is likely all three players will draw in to the lineup at some point on the Jets current road trip.

Carolina Hurricanes

Welcome Back, Cam Ward! Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward has bounced back in great fashion from last year in which he was outplayed between the pipes by goaltender Anton Khudobin. Ward is in the midst of a five game winning streak and has been a key component to the Canes recent success.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice coached Ward in Carolina, praised the goaltender.

"To me, Cam is at his best when he's running a bunch of games (in a row) and gets into that good zone. When Cam Ward is on top of his game, he's an elite goalie. For a team that is looking to score goals, it will be a challenge for us."

Staal On The Wing: The Canes captain has played the bulk of his career up the middle but after being moved from centre to left wing on Monday against the Flames. Tonight he will line up on the left side once again, against the Jets. Playing on the left side is not such a foreign thing for Staal. Staal was used in the same capacity during the 2010 Winter Olympics, in which he helped the team win a goal medal.

Head Coach Bill Peters broke down the move

"(Eric is) a big, strong guy who plays north-south, and he wants to work. I think it’ll be effective here in the short term and possibly the long term, allowing him to drive the net and play more of a power-forward type game and be strong on pucks in the offensive zone."

It’s different," Staal said. "It depends on what type of game it is, to be honest. I mean I like having the puck, I like being around the puck. Last game was good. I thought our line generated a lot. We had some good shifts."

Player to Boo Mercilessly

Justin Faulk After starting out the year slow, he is playing some of the best hockey of his young career. We don't like it when opposing players play well.

Prediction

4-2 Jets

Today’s Number To Know investigates Alexander Semin’s goal drought and one stat that hints at him snapping the streak vs. Winnipeg.

Number To Know

6 — Career game-winning goals for Alexander Semin against the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise, the most he has vs. any team in the NHL. Semin is still searching for his first goal of the season, having gone 12 straight without a tally. It is by far his longest season-starting goal drought: Prior to this season, Semin’s longest stretch of games he had played to start a season without a goal was four in 2007-08. In his eight other NHL seasons, he scored his first in his first game three times, in his second and third game once, and the fourth game three times.

Semin is riding a three-game assist streak and has five points on the season.

The Winnipeg Jets take on the Carolina Hurricanes at 6:00 PM CST.

After suffering a loss in their last contest at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, the Winnipeg Jets are back in action tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Jets are going into this game on a bit of a hot streak, 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.  They sport an 8-6-2 record on the season, despite a -5 goal differential.  The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are 5-6-3 and still a bit battered by injuries.

The Jets will be starting Michael Hutchinson in net tonight, just his third start of the season.  After a not-very-good first start, he has saved all 42 shots directed at him in subsequent appearances (one start, one in relief of Ondrej Pavelec).  The Hurricanes will start Cam Ward in net, who is looking to continue his bounce-back season.

The game will be broadcast on TSN3.

Winnipeg Jets

Forwards

Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Michael Frolik

Evander Kane - Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler

Mathieu Perreault - Adam Lowry - Dustin Byfuglien

TJ Galiardi - Jim Slater - Matt Halischuk

Defence

Tobias Enstrom - Zach Bogosian

Mark Stuart - Jacob Trouba

Grant Clitsome - Paul Postma

Goalies

Michael Hutchinson (starting)

Ondrej Pavelec

Carolina Hurricanes

Forwards

Eric Staal - Victor Rask - Jiri Tlusty

Jeff Skinner - Jay McClement - Alexander Semin

Nathan Gerbe - Riley Nash - Elias Lindholm

Zach Boychuk - Patrick Dwyer - Brad Malone

Defence

Andrej Sekera - Justin Faulk

Tim Gleason - Jay Harrison

Ron Hainsey - John-Michael Liles

Goalies

Cam Ward (starting)

Anton Khudobin

Who to Watch

For the Jets, it's Michael Hutchinson.  He's been great since his first start, but it's come in limited action.  Let's hope that continues.

For the Hurricanes, it's not so much one player, but two.  I'll be interested to see how Victor Rask fares patrolling the middle of the ice, particularly when lined up against a top-line centre like Bryan Little.  Similarly, how Eric Staal fares playing on the wing.  It seems like a strange decision, moving your best player to where he can only be effective on half the ice.

Who to Boo

Victor Rask.  I'm sure he's a perfectly nice kid, but moving a team's best player to the wing, where he can only be effective on half the ice, seems like a silly move and I don't want to support it.  Sorry, Victor, but your coach has set you up to take the fall here.

Prediction

Jets 3 - Hurricanes 2. And Derek complains about the refs.

Carolina starts out slowly and cannot get much going against Winnipeg

The Carolina Hurricanes started out slowly again but could not pick up steam later on in this one as they dropped a home game against the Winnipeg Jets, 3-1 in front of 10,005 at the PNC Arena on Thursday night.

Cam Ward made 34 saves on 36 shots to keep his team within striking distance, but the visitors outshot the home team in every period and ended up with a 37-23 advantage for the game.

The Carolina goalie continued his outstanding play of late and made several tough saves in this one to keep it close.

After the game, both Ward and Tim Gleason said that the coaching staff has made a point of talking about getting off to a better start, but this team continues to have trouble doing so.  In this contest, the Jets outshot the Canes 13-6 in the first period but the Canes only had two shots on goal until there was about five minutes left.

Blake Wheeler scored two goals for Winnipeg, both on tips from in front of the net.

The first goal came 5:29 into the game, but Elias Lindholm scored his sixth of the season to tie the score early in the second.  The goal was a powerplay goal and Carolina went 1-3 for the game with the man advantage.

Later in the second period Wheeler would score the eventual game winner on a similar play as his first goal. The Jets added an empty-netter late in the game to seal it.

It seemed as though the Hurricanes were waiting for an opportunity to turn on the pressure or pick up some momentum, but other than for a few short spurts, the Jets controlled this contest throughout.

Coach Peters mixed and matched the lines in the third period and moved Eric Staal back to center, between forwards Zach Boychuk and Jiri Tlusty, but they still could not find a spark.  Peters said that Victor Rask finally looked like a youngster in this affair, maybe because he was trying too hard to feed Staal.

But the experiment to move Staal to wing did not work for now.  Rask had a team worst (-3) for the game, had no shots on goal, and only won 40% of his faceoffs, much below his season average.  The captain also failed to generate a single shot on goal.

The team will practice at the RCI at noon on Friday and then will fly to Boston for a Saturday afternoon tilt with the angry Bruins.

Game Notes:

• The Jets dominated in the faceoff circle and won 55% for the game.  Nash had a rough night along with Rask and won 35%.
• Tim Gleason had a team high five hits.  Justin Faulk and Brad Malone had four each.
• Faulk had a team high 23:25 of ice time.  Malone was low man at 8:41.
• Of the team's 23 shots, Jeff Skinner and Faulk had four each.  Joining Rask and Staal, Alexander Semin also did not have a shot on goal. 
  
• Andrej Sekera had four blocked shots which led the team.

Sven awakened, Byron scored two goals. Hiller let in a weird one. Oh and Engelland punched a guy in the head a lot. Eric Francis promoted fighting culture like it's normal too.

The Flames, after being slaughtered publicly and embarrassingly in Raleigh were looking to rebound tonight at home. After a 3-2 record on the recent road trip, Calgary wanted to impress hometown fans with a game they wouldn't forget. David Jones was tentatively uncertain for the roster tonight as Setoguchi was poised (YUCK) to play tonight. Fortunately Ol' Davey Jones was able to play tonight and the ill effects of the flu didn't seem visible.

Oh yeah and Brian McGrattan played but whatever right?

First Period -

The immediate theme of every game this season appears to be lose the draw and allow a zone entry but you know what? That's okay because this period wasn't the predictable Phoenix Arizona Las Vegas Puerto RicoCoyotes period. Given the necessary, back to reality beating the Hurricanes did last game; the Flames rebounded. They were generating shot attempts and after Lauri Korpikoski held TJ Brodie (not romantically), the Flames got their first power play.

The power play had been successful as of late going recently 6/6 and vaulting the Flames into 8th in the league on the man-advantage. Calgary would only get 3 shots and and a handful of good chances on their first PP though thanks to Arizona utilizing shot-blocking and efficient positioning to limit the Flames. An awkward moment transpired shortly after with a scrum in front of the net, Dennis Wideman put the puck toward Jonas Hiller for him to cover it up. It definitely wasn't communicated and it looked incredibly risky.

Moments later pugilist Deryk Engelland would fight BJ Crombeen and beat him to a pulp. Cool, good job Deryk.
After a series of unusual moments: TJ Brodie stick breaking leading to Arizona's first series of actual attempts on Hiller; it would be Paul Byron who would score first for the Flames. Thankfully to an amazing zone entry followed by Sven Baertschi passing from behind the net bouncing around until it landed on Byron's stick. Byron would finally score his 2nd of the season.

Curtis Glencross started the game with a jump, his aggressive play continued as a blocked shot lead to a great shot on net but the real story of the first would be Sven. After driving into the offensive zone and getting in behind the net in a scrum, he drew a penalty on former Oilers' centre Sam Gagner. The second PP of the game would not be as effective as the first, generating very little. Baertschi would have a great tip in close to the net but that would be it. Only a brief moment after the PP, Coyotes captain Shane Doan would take advantage of an excellent forecheck and pass from Antoine Vermette roofing it past Hiller. The period would end shortly after with a 1-1 tie.

Second Period -

The Flames started the second period on a much more elevated pace than others in the last few games. The Flames immediately generated a few more chances before play went back the other way. Connor Murphy run a shot off the post catching Hiller only slightly. The continued strong play of the Sven-Byron combo continued as Kris Russell on a turnover fed a beauty pass to Baertschi who then fed Paul Byron to make it a 2-1 game. Johnny Gaudreau, not on the score sheet yet continued his strong play of driving into the offensive zone leading to another series of shots on net.

The Flames would strike again as a scrum in front of Mike Smith lead to Sean Monahan poking garbage in to pot home his 7th of the season. The Baertschi - Byron - Jooris line continued to be a force but unfortunately after Sven was mowed down from behind, Jooris took a cross-checking penalty. The Flames PK would stand strong continuing their aggressive play as Monahan would get a great scoring chance a man down. Alas, it would not last as Vermette would be left wide open and put the rebound in the back of the net.

After an unusual amount of fourth line pressure from the Coyotes and the Flames responding with a few chances on Mike Smith, Joe Vitale would put a completely questionable shot on Jonas Hiller that some how went in. The Flames would not let this stand as another fantastic play by Jiri Hudler to enter the zone and pass off to TJ Brodie who would then out-wait Mike Smith to pass to Mark Giordano at the side of the net who put it past Smith to make it 4-3. The pairing now has combined for 35 points on the season which is tops in the league.

The Flames would close out the period leading 4-3 and leading in shots 21-15.

Third Period -

The final frame would take a similar page from the second, as the hop in the Flames' step (probably because Brian McGrattan was playing) would continue. Immediately into the period Brodie would blast one on net but the sustained pressure would not amount to much more. The Coyotes would somehow begin to show up generating more opportunities and increasing tension in our defensive zone. Finally it would break and open the game up a bit. The top line started buzzing more, developing more plays in Phoenix's end which lead to another David Jones-Glencross tandem attack.

Paul Byron, hungry for his first hat trick was sprung on a beautiful breakaway on an outlet pass from Brodie. Unfortunately Byron was stopped but that didn't stop the fervent forward from continuing to do everything possible to make something happen. Murphy would have another beautiful point shot on Hiller, waking him up late in the third. Finally after a gritty performance along the boards, Jones would be rewarded with his 3rd of the season throwing it on net and it deflecting off Smith's stick and in.

Ignited by the late goal, a continued and more relentless attack continued and after a Martin Hanzal knee-on-knee with Ladislav Smid, the PP was back to work. Both PP units were creating hell on ice in the Coyotes' zone but it didn't result in a goal. Regardless, it was a fantastic man-advantage and one of the better PPs this season. Dave Tippett pulled the goalie with just over 1:20 left on the clock and Paul Byron almost tipped home an empty net goal but it hit the post.

Seriously. Paul Byron and the Hockey Gods need to sit down about this. Flames win 5-3.

Flame of The Game

Do we need to even need to guess? It's ya boi Paul Byron. Yes, I had to say "ya boi" because Paul Byron arguably had his best game as a member of the Calgary Flames. He was doing everything possible tonight to ensure a victory. Here is a run down of what Paul Byron did tonight:

• 2 Goals! He broke onto the scoreboard and didn't try to stop. His 2nd and 3rd goals of the year were well deserved. We love you, Paul.
• +1 tonight but who cares about +/- anyway?
• 57% CF ES with 57% OZS which isn't bad either.
• 64% CF ALL with 62% OZS too! So he had some padded starts but he was also responsible in the defensive zone too.
• 3 hits (truculence), 2 blocks (pugnacity), and 14:54 TOI

He's been nearly perfect, so it time for Hutch to see the ice more?

Since our last look at Michael Hutchinson this season the Jets young goaltender has started in two games, looking quite fantastic in both performances. With a shutout against the ever dangerous Chicago Blackhawks and a solid outing against the Hurricanes on Thursday night, you have to think Paul Maurice's confidence in Hutch is growing. The guy has allowed one goal in his last three appearances. He's earned more time.

The Basics

Michael Hutchinson's numbers are still all drawn off of a pretty darn small sample. He's only started three games and played in a total of four this season, so even though many of these numbers look good (and I think they have earned him a bigger role) they need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Either way, a total of four goals in four appearances is pretty nice.

Situations

With only one special teams goal against being added to this chart since the last post, there is little new that I can say. I think early negative judgement on a goalie who allowed two of his three even strength goals on odd man rushes is kind of ridiculous, and he's shown a lot in his last two starts.

The Jets have appeared to clean up their play in front of him as well. It's been nice to watch.

Reasons

I do still have one criticism in regards to Michael Hutchinson. His rebound control needs a bit of improvement. I wouldn't say it's nearly as bad as Pavelec has been in the past, but it's definitely been a concern of mine. What makes him different in my eyes though, has been his ability to recover positionally to almost every rebound he allows. He stays calm, rarely flails, and keeps his body in front of the puck. This is something Pavelec hasn't been able to do for long stretches before.

Goal Location

Again, nothing has really changed on this chart. Not really too much I can read here, outside of two open net goals in situations that Hutch wasn't able to recover as explained above. No glaring weaknesses yet, but he's a new trick for teams in the NHL. They aren't familiar with his style, his play, or his tendencies. As film on the kid grows, teams may be able to figure him out.

Evidence

Since there was only one goal scored on Hutch since my last post on him, I guess I'll just break that one down....?

Goal 1 @ Carolina

This goal really just displays a case of an unlucky bounce for the Jets, and makes the case for the importance of always going to the net.

Carolina is on a power play here and they overload the far side of the ice. Although both Mark Stuart and Jim Slater are in good position, This overloading has drawn Jacob Trouba a little bit higher than you would probably want to see him. This opens up a slight passing lane for Gerbe, who has time and space to make a smart decision.

The play that really changes this for the Hurricanes here, is what Elias Lindholm does as soon as the puck hits his stick. He rapidly pivots and heads to the from to the net, and get the puck into a high-traffic area.

As a result, the puck takes a bounce off of Mark Stuart's foot, and goes right into the net. A lucky bounce drawn from a smart play, and it's suddenly a tie game.

Summary

As of Thursday night Jets starter Ondrej Pavelec ranked second in the NHL for goaltender time played, already tallying 875:35 this season. Now I will be the first to admit his play has been pretty impressive thus far this season. But that workload can't keep up. Regardless of his "improved fitness", Pavelec is on pace to play simply unrealistic minutes this season. This will almost certainly wear him down, and eventually hamper his performance. That's not a shot at Pavelec, it's just how these things work. The Jets seem to have a solid guy in Hutchinson. They need to start using him.

One... More... Time...

The Bruins shuffle on to host the Carolina Hurricanes in a dreaded manatee at TD Garden tomorrow at 1:00 PM.

• This assessment may be grim, but it is short and sweet. [Boston.com]
• But it was 1-0... and then spiralled down into more of what we saw in Toronto. [TheBostonGlobe]
• Here are takeaways from the game, and the road trip in general. Why was Alexander Khokhlachev called up? [WEEI]
• At least the Bruins kept their cool, but at what cost? [NHL]
• The Bruins need the best from their best at a time like this, and are not getting it. [WEEI]
• Is it injuries, or something more sinister holding back the Bruins? Bob McKenzie opines. (Audio, 8:27) [TSN]
• Ooooh, that big meanie! Here's how Milan Lucic became the NHL's bête noire. [NationalPost]
• Hide your mikcrates no more: A serene Tuukka Rask benefits the Bruins. [TheHockeyNews]
• Marc Savard well understands former teammate Nathan Horton 's postition, and priorities. [TheHockeyNews]
• Here's your cartoon for today- enjoy a sardonic laugh on the Bruins. [WEEI]
• How about some good news about David Pastrnak ? [ProvidenceJournal]

Elsewhere around the rink:

• In other NHL action, the Wild and Lightning came out on top. Skip the Bruins part, if you'd like. [ProHockeyNews]
• One take on the state of the Bruins, plus other observations around the NHL. [TheScore]
• This Milwaukee Admirals event urged people to ...get behind... screenings promoting men's health. [TheHockeyNews]
• Well wishes to Ottawa GM Bryan Murray, who would like to spare others what he could likely have avoided with a screening procedure. [PuckDaddy]
• An ode to sick, sweet flow. The best salad around the NHL- including a former Bruin. (Video, 1:43) [SportingNews]
• A look at domestic violence: As in the Varlamov and Voynov cases, professionals have mandate to report, and it is problematic that some victims who are foreign nationals may not speak English. Might repeated concussions and hockey fighting play a part? Resources are also listed. [PuckDaddy]
• Narrative! Myth busting such terms as "intangibles," "pedigree," and "character." [CorsiHockyeLeague]
• It isn't the money, it is that it is cheap and lazy. Why to hate advertising on jerseys. [ArcticIceHockey]

Eric Staal is expected to return to his familiar spot at center as the Canes take on the Bruins this afternoon.

Carolina Hurricanes at Boston Bruins
November 15, 2014 - 1:00 pm ET
TD Garden - Boston, MA
TV - Fox Sports South
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Stanley Cup of Chowder

Fancy Stats

Game Notes

• Bill Peters said in yesterday's media scrum not to read too much into the forward line changes that were implemented at practice. Eric Staal moved back to center, which seems likely to stick, but the wingers were shuffled around when Elias Lindholm sat out with a foot injury. Lindholm will be evaluated today and Peters was hopeful he can play.
• Jay Harrison was also missing from practice after suffering a lower body injury in Thursday's loss to the Jets and will be a game-time decision.
• The goaltending assignments have been announced, with Cam Ward getting the start today. Anton Khudobin will make his home debut tomorrow when the Hurricanes return to take on the San Jose Sharks.
• Lindholm and Justin Faulk are averaging over a point-per-game in November, both with eight points in seven games. Riley Nash leads the team with 12 total points and points in each of his last three games.
• Right now the Boston Bruins are not as big and not as bad as the reputation they've earned over the years. A recent CSNNE article went so far as to describe them as "soft". With captain Zdeno Chara sidelined with a PCL tear, the Bruins rank 20th out of 30 teams by weight, and they only have three players in the top 100 in hits. They have five wins in their last seven games, but the two losses are the most recent, a 6-1 beating by the Leafs on Wednesday followed by a 5-1 smackdown courtesy of the Canadiens on Thursday. Today's matinee will be their third game in four days.
• In addition to Chara, David Krejci is out with an undisclosed injury, and Kevan Miller is recovering from a dislocated shoulder.
• Tuukka Rask was pulled in Wednesday's game when the score hit 4-0, and backup Niklas Svedberg played Thursday. Rask is expected to get the start this afternoon.

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (from Friday's practice)

Injuries and Scratches: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Jay Harrison (DTD lower body)

Injuries: Zdeno Chara (PCL tear), David Krejci (undisclosed), Kevan Miller (dislocated shoulder)

Be advised that today's game will be aired on Fox Sports South (channel guide) so plan your watching and DVRing accordingly. The game thread will be up and rolling by 12:30 pm. See you there.