Daily Washington Capitals news and notes: Recaps of last night's win over the Hurricanes, Ovechkin in historical context, and more.

Your savory breakfast links:

• Recaps of last night's win over Carolina from us (QuickCap, Recap), Vogs, Monumental video (Trotz, Fehr, Beagle, Chimera, highlights), NHL.com, AP, WaPo (gamer, blog), CSNW, Peerless, Frankovic, BrooksLaichyear, RMNB and Canes Country.
  • Honest Jay Beagle. [Caps OT]
  • If there's a chance for a player to hit a milestone, snap a goalless streak or score against his former team, he'll do it against the Caps. Enter Alexander Semin... who did all three. [The Score]
• News and notes from yesterday's pregame skate:
  • In general. [Dump 'n Chase, Monumental video (Trotz, Rinkside Update/Beagle)]
  • Over the last few games, the Caps' once stalwart penalty kill has been faltering - and now the Caps are looking for answers. [CSNW]
  • Also needing answers? Their tendency toward slow starts, for which the solution needs to come from within the room. [WaPo (and again)]
  • Lights, camera, action! It's time for the Caps to open their doors to the Epix cameras, as filming is set to begin on "Road to the Winter Classic". [CSNW]
  • A tough - and crucially important - December filled with Division rivals lies ahead for the Caps. [WaPo, Stars and Sticks]
• Mike Green is pretty good. Y'know, for a bottom-pairing defenseman... [RMNB]
• ...but hey let's play another round of "what can we get for him?" [TFP]
• Saturday night was Alex Ovechkin's 702nd career NHL game, which equals the number of games played by Pavel Bure. So... which Russian superstar gets the nod? [THN]
• Investigating some of the reasons why the NHL has had the mumps running through its ranks over the past few weeks. [WaPo]
• Who you should and should not be rooting for to land Connor McDavid. I think we all can get behind #30. [Grantland (DBG)]
• Good (short-term) news for Dish Network subscribers, as the satellite provider has reached an extension with Comcast SportsNet. [RMNB]
• Finally, happy 28th birthday to Julien Brouillette.

The Hurricanes rallied to tie the Washington Capitals in the third period Thursday, but a late-game turnover led to another regulation loss.

Carolina dropped another one-goal game, allowing a late goal to fall to Washington at home, 2-1, on Thursday.

Three Observations

1. Plainly put, Anton Khudobin needs more goal support. But that doesn't absolve him from blame on Carolina’s first goal. Yes, defenseman Michal Jordan’s mistake was the biggest blunder on the opening tally, but Khudobin's inablilty to control the rebound — a problem that was evident throughout the beginning of the game and often for him this season — ultimately led to Beagle’s goal. No, the team shouldn't expect to win scoring just once, but the combination of mistakes set a poor tone for the night.

2. It was good to see the Hurricanes engage in a physical game with the Capitals. From hits going both ways to Nathan Gerbe’s shoving match with Karl Alzner, Carolina played with as much grit as they have all season. Four Hurricanes were credited with at least three hits, and all but one (Victor Rask) showed up on the hit list.

3. Riley Nash’s hot start has cooled considerably. And it's not just about his turnover that led to the game-winning goal — Nash has now gone five games without a point. He has taken a minor penalty in each of the past two games — his first two of the season — and overall has not been playing at the level he was in the season’s first 20 games. This has been mentioned before but Rask and Nash are essentially playing for the post-January third line center job, since Jordan Staal will slide in as a top-six pivot, so every game matters.

Number To Know

79 — Power play opportunities in 25 games for Carolina this season after receiving none vs. Washington Thursday. That ranks 22nd in the NHL, a stark drop for a team that usually ranks near the top of the league in penalties drawn. Since the lost 2004-05 season, Carolina has led the league in power play opportunities four out of nine seasons and never ranked lower than 12th. All but two of those years the Hurricanes ranked in the top five. The drop in power play chances makes it more difficult to score goals, especially on a team with troubles scoring at even strength, but it's particularly crippling this season with the Carolina power play ranking ninth in the NHL at 21.7 percent.

Plus

Alexander Semin— It wasn't just that Semin finally scored his first goal of a thus far frustrating season, or the fact that the goal tied a close-checking game against the team that drafted him. It was Semin’s reaction to the goal, a triumphant fist pump, followed by a bear hug by linemate Jiri Tlusty, that was the best moment of Thursday’s game. The singular cat calls yelled at Semin — there has never really been a chorus of boos from the PNC crowd — throughout the season with each indecisive play or turnover were replaced with a deafening roar, one that usually isn't made by a scant announced crowd of 10,783. Both the players and the crowd were thrilled to see the monkey come off No. 28’s back. And while it was just one night — and a loss, at that — Semin recaptured the support of the Hurricanes fans Thursday. With some luck, maybe he even rediscovered his confidence along the way.

Minus

Michal Jordan — Jordan has been reliable in his brief NHL stints, but Thursday’s outing was clearly his worst. His offensive zone stumble in the first period led to Washington’s first goal, a Jay Beagle tap in on a Jason Chimera rebound.  Chimera, one of the NHL’s best skaters, wasn't done: he consistently tested Jordan’s foot speed, and the Hurricanes rookie defender came out on the losing end several times.

Head coach Bill Peters faces his friend and mentor from the opposing bench for the first time as the Hurricanes take on the Red Wings this evening.

Carolina Hurricanes vs Detroit Red Wings
December 7, 2014 - 5:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Winging it in Motown

Fancy Stats

Stats via NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters served as an assistant under Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock for three years, and the two have a long working and personal relationship that precedes their experience together in Detroit. Today Peters will face his friend and mentor from the opposing bench for the first time.
• Less than three weeks ago, Hurricanes forward Andrej Nestrasil was a member of the Red Wings, having been drafted by them in 2009 and having played as a prospect in their development system before getting his first NHL start earlier this season.
• The Hurricanes have been idle since Thursday's 2-1 home loss to the Capitals. They had a scheduled day off on Friday and a light practice yesterday (no practice this morning with the 5:00 pm start). Brett Bellemore, Andrej Sekera, and Cam Ward were all back at practice. Per Bill Peters (audio interview), Bellemore is close to returning but needs more practice time, Sekera looked a little 'rusty' and will be evaluated again today, and Ward fared well in practice and is expected to play but will also be evaluated today before a decision is finalized.
• Jordan Staal took the ice yesterday at RCI for the first time since breaking his leg in a preseason game on September 23rd. His rehabilitation is on schedule but no timetable for his return has been announced other than the three to four months that was estimated at the time of his injury. Jordan spoke to the media after yesterday's practice (audio interview).
• With Thursday's loss, the Hurricanes dropped to last place in both the Metro Division and the Eastern Conference. They are only ahead of the Edmonton Oilers in league standings, and are on pace for 62 points.
• The Red Wings played last night in Detroit, overcoming a two-goal deficit to snap a five-game losing streak against the Rangers with a 3-2 win. Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening scored barely a minute apart to tie the game in the second period, Darren Helm tallied the game winner, and Jimmy Howard made 27 saves in net. The win was the 500th of Mike Babcock's head coaching career; he is the 19th NHL head coach to achieve that honor.
• In reviewing Detroit's team statistics above, they rank highest (third overall) on penalty kill percentage and goals per game (fourth overall), but they do not rank outside of the top ten in any statistical category. They are balanced and consistent across all aspects of their game and play with a quick pace. Twelve players have double digit point totals through 27 games, Henrik Zetterberg leads in total points with 24 (5g, 19a), and Gustav Nyquist leads in goal scoring with 12 goals.
• While not official, it has been reported that Petr Mrazek may get the nod in net today for the Red Wings. Mrazek was called up three weeks ago from Detroit's AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins to back up Jimmy Howard after Jonas Gustavsson suffered a shoulder injury. Mrazek has a 2-0-0 record and some pretty interesting holiday goalie equipment.

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (from Thursday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Brett Bellemore (IR lower body), Andrej Sekera (DTD upper body), Brad Malone (healthy)

Red Wings (from last night's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Justin Abdelkader (shoulder), Jonas Gustavsson (shoulder), Dan Cleary (healthy), Brian Lashoff (healthy)

During today's game, the Hurricanes will honor US Army Special Forces Sgt. Mike Cathcart, who was killed in Afghanistan in November. Member of Cathcart's family and unit will be in attendance. The Canes will be back in black today in their alternate jerseys. Good seats are still available.

Game 28

5:00p ET, PNC Arena

Raleigh, NC

TV: Fox Sports Detroit Plus

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket

Canes Blog: Canes Country

I'm enjoying this ride right now. Hell, if you're not enjoying the ride right now with this Red Wings team there's something wrong with you. This is a fun team and the start of the season has been above and beyond my expectations and, quite frankly, it seems everyone else's too.

Oh man… that 3rd period last night? Remember that? Those 5-on-3 PKs were beautiful. That was a championship caliber period for the Red Wings. Of course, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here, there's still a long way to go in the season, but the Red Wings are in a great position at the moment. They've got a real nice mix of veterans and young guys throughout the lineup. The defense has played better than most anticipated. The specialty teams are both top 10 in the league. Hell, goals per game, goals against and 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio all land in the top 10. That's the sign of a pretty solid team. And we can't forget Jimmy Howard's solid bounce back performance so far.

I'll still contend that this team is a (right shooting?!?!) defenseman away from being elite, but they've shown us so far that the pieces are there to contend. Hockey is a weird sport. Bounces happen. Breaks happen. You sometimes never know just who is going to be standing tall at the end of the day. I'm just enjoying the ride. It's been fun. Hopefully the Wings can continue the trend this evening against the Canes.

The Expected Lineups (based off last night's 3rd period)

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

Scratches: Brian Lashoff & Daniel Cleary

Injuries: Justin Abdelkader (shoulder) & Jonas Gustavsson (shoulder)

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

• The Red Wings are 35-27-8-0 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time in the regular season against the Carolina Hurricanes.

• Last 10 Games: Carolina 3-7-0, Detroit 8-2-0

• The Red Wings are 1-0-1 on the second night of a back-to-back.

• Is it me or do the Hurricanes seem to have to wrong version of certain players? The wrong Nash. The wrong Rask. The wrong Boychuk. That's not a shot at those players that they do have. They're in the NHL and I'm not, but I'd sure as hell rather have Rick, Tuukka and Johnny instead of Riley, Victor and Zach.

• This will be the first time the Red Wings will face Andrej Nestrasil since losing him on waivers. Expect him to score a goal. It will also be the first time the Wings face former assistant coach and current Carolina head coach Bill Peters. It's less likely he'll score a goal.

• This could be the 2nd straight game where the Wings face a goalie named Cam. They're 1-0-0 so far against goalies named Cam.

• Mrazek is 2-0-0 with a 3.36 GAA and .875 SV% in 2 starts this season. He's never faced the Canes.

Carolina falls to another backup goalie, team is now 1-3 in this homestand

The Carolina Hurricanes approached this most recent five game homestand as one of importance but lost another game, this time by a score of 3-1 to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday evening in front of 13,489 at the PNC.

The loss gives the Canes a 1-3 record in this homestand and keeps them in last place in the Eastern Conference with just 19 points overall, (8-15-3).

Things didn't start out well as just two minutes and change into the game Tim Gleason was called for highsticking and was given four minutes to sit in the box.  The home team was able to kill the penalty but of course that was not the start head coach Bill Peters was hoping for.

Both teams battled back and forth until Pavel Datsyuk created a play and made an incredible shot from the slot area to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead.   It was classic Datsyuk.

Exactly two minutes later, Tomas Tatar sent a puck toward the net that deflected off Andrej Sekera and got past Cam Ward to make it, 2-0 and the Canes went to the first intermission behind the eight ball.

About 12 minutes into the second period, Tatar scored again, this time as he was set up beautifully by Datsyuk, who had a hand in each of Detroit's goals.  With the score 3-0, the Hurricanes really had their work cut out for them, especially against a puck control team like Detroit.

The Canes got one up on the board later in the second when Jay McClement got his stick on a puck that Tim Gleason fired on net.  It was McClement's first of the season.

After a scoreless third period, Wings backup goalie Petr Mrazek earned his third win of the season and the Wings won their second game in as many nights, having just won the night before against New York.

The Canes will have their shot at a back-to-back as they will close out this homestand and face the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.

Game Notes:

• Eric Staal was hit by a puck late in the game and was seen using crutches afterward in the dressingroom.  Coach Peters had no update on his status.
• The Canes outshot the Wings, 35-22, but the Wings had the better chances.  Jeff Skinner led Carolina with 10 shots.  Victor Rask was next with five.
• Gleason had a team high three hits.  The Canes were credited with 12 for the game.

The Red Wings have won seven of their last eight games now that they've swept a weekend, beating Carolina 3-1 on Sunday night.

Box Score Here

The refs were pretty unnoticeable in this game, which makes me feel better after Saturday night's game. Neither team scored on a power play (three for Detroit and four for Carolina). The Canes outshot Detroit 35-22. Yikes.

Petr Mrazek will probably always make me nervous with the Hasekian way he plays hockey, but he gets good results and made a bunch of good simple saves in the third to make this game a good boring win.

Guide to plus/minus adjustments

The Goals

1st Period 16:36 - Detroit Goal: Pavel Datsyuk (snap shot) from Jonathan Ericsson and Darren Helm
The Wings get on the board first because Pavel Datsyuk is really good. After Quincey and Smith do good work in their own zone to get the puck away from the Canes, Smith feeds it up ice to Datsyuk for a zone entry that leads to a backhand shot from a sharp angle for Pavs on a give-and-go with Helm. Helm regains possession and makes space to cycle to Datsyuk in the corner. Pavel feints to the inside, but has his lane cut off, so he slowly coasts up toward the point with Faulk in tow trying to get it away from him. As Pavel approaches the blue line, Ericsson swings around to the outside of him and receives a pass. Riggy chucks it on net from the wall as Tatar battles in front. The biscuit gets blocked off behind the net before it gets to ward, but Ericsson keeps skating and picks it back up behind the cage, carrying it out to the corner thanks to a bit of room made by a Tomas Tatar pick. As Riggy gets to the half-wall on the far side from where he started, he throws a backhand pass to his original point where Datysuk gets it. All five Carolina defenders are watching the wrong side of the ice here as Pavel gets it and has space to walk into the top of the circle. Sekera goes out to meet him, but just as he gets there, Pavel snaps a wrister on net that Ward doesn't pick up on immediately thanks to Tatar skating through his vision just prior. This one is weird from a D-Man's standppoint because Q and Smith do good work to make this play happen to where it can develop, but so does Ericsson. I'm going to go ahead and give DeKeyser's plus back to Quincey and I'm going to give Smith a bonus plus (Quincey's contribution is slightly more passive, so he gets the more-passive plus). Tatar will get a screener's assist on this play for blocking Ward's sight-line. Datsyuk, Ericsson, and Helm will all get bonus pluses as well for excellent fast movement to keep the Carolina defense at bay.

1st Period 18:36 - Detroit Goal: Tomas Tatar (wrist shot) from Pavel Datsyuk and Kyle Quincey
The Wings get on the board second because Tomas Tatar is really good. After two good shifts following the Datsyuk goal, his line comes back out for a neutral zone faceoff outside the Carolina zone. Pavs wins it back to DK, who passes across the ice to Quincey, who dumps it into the Carolina zone. As the puck rings around up to the half-wall, Justin Faulk misplays it on the backhand and digs it out just below the faceoff dot where both Datsyuk and Tatar get to it. Pavs is neck-and-neck with Nash when the misplay happens, but he puts himself in good position and eliminates the only stick in the area which poses a threat before collecting the puck. Before he gets a chance to fully take control of the puck, Tatar swipes it off Datsyuk's stick with a shot that goes off Ward's pad and then bounces back in off Sekera's skate right in front. It's a lucky bounce, but Datsyuk will earn a plus on the combination good faceoff win and good work to eliminate Nash from being able to make a play.

Goal-Saved Adjustment - 2nd Period 00:53: Early in the 2nd, Henrik Zetterberg loses the puck along the boards on the far side of the ice which creates a 2-on-1 for the Canes, who catch the Wings in a change on this play. Elias Lindholm takes in with Kronwall watching the passing lane to Victor Rask driving the front of the net. Lindholm dekes out Mrazek on the short side and is able to throw a pass directly through the crease as Rask get there, but the Carolina forward isn't able to plop it into the open net because of a combo defensive play by Ericsson racing off the bench to tie him up and an aggressive stick by Kronwall to freeze his stick as well. Kronwall and Ericsson will split a goal-saved plus between them, getting half each.

2nd Period 12:14 - Detroit Goal: Tomas Tatar (snap shot) from Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen
The Wings get on the board third because Tomas Tatar and Pavel Datsyuk are really good. After the Lashoff penalty expires, the Canes dump it in and forecheck aggressively before Detroit can finish an entire change. Eventually, thanks to work by Glendening, Datsyuk has time to come in and steal the puck away and then beat two forecheckers to find Franzen in stride heading up ice. Mule builds speed through center ice and dumps it to himself off the boards to get around Sekera. McClement and Faulk combine to keep Franzen from driving the net-front and then putting in the wrap-around as he cycles up to the wall before dropping it off for Datsyuk who goes to Lashoff at the point for a shot that misses high. Tatar chases up to get it from his net-front position and wins the race against Sekera, pushing it toward the corner where Franzen follows up and gets the puck. Mule takes Tatar's wake back up to the half-wall before throwing it to Datsyuk at the faceoff dot. Faulk keeps Pavel to the outside as he gains control of the puck, but he can't do anything about Datsyuk throwing a backhand saucer pass from the bottom of the circle that meets Tatar going to the front of the net splitting between Dwyer and Sekera. Tatar one-times it to the far side before Ward knows what's going on. Datsyuk and Franzen will each get a bonus plus on this play for excellent puck movement to get it up ice with speed. Luke Glendening will pick up a half-plus for helping make sure the puck got out of the Detroit zone after the PK shift.

2nd Period 17:11: Carolina Goal: Jay McClement (tip in) from Tim Gleason
The Canes get on the board fourth because we just can't have a shutout in a game like this. The Wings kill off a penalty and then get a defensive zone faceoff, but that goes poorly for them. McClement beats Datsyuk cleanly on the faceoff, getting it back to Gleason at the point while he heads to the front of the net. Gleason holds for a few beats before slapping it to the net-front area. McClement gets his stick on it in the slot and redirects it past Mrazek. Kind of shit luck here, but it counts as a goal. Tatar, DeKeyser, and Quincey all get cleared for having exactly no involvement in the play due to other responsibilities. Franzen will also be cleared. His job is to be in Gleason's shooting lane and he is. The shot that Gleason takes to get it around Franzen is not aimed anywhere near on-net. Datsyuk will get an extra minus for losing the faceoff plus a half minus for the coverage on McClement. Shit luck, but Datsyuk messed up here.

The Penalties

1st Period 02:31 - Tim Gleason (high sticking) against Luke Glendening: Detroit gets a four minute power play to start the game as Gleason pops Glendening in the face as the Wings harmlessly enter the Carolina zone. Both players are stickfighting here and Gleason gets his lumber way too high. High sticking is always about carelessness with the stick, but Glendending is doing good work to keep control and fend off Gleason's stick. I'm going to award Glendening a half-plus.

1st Period 11:07 - Johan Franzen (interference) against Jiri Tlusty: Franzen takes the first Wings' penalty off a defensive zone faceoff. Sheahan wins it back cleanly, but Franzen dedicates himself solely to slowing down Tlusty from a bad position. Tlusty falls and Franzen gets a minus for an obvious interference.

2nd Period 04:31 - Alexander Semin (holding) against Gustav Nyquist: Detroit gets another power play as Nyquist turns to exit his own zone and gets held by Alex Semin. This is more a dumb play by Semin, but Nyquist will get a half-plus for good body positioning.

2nd Period 09:27 - Brian Lashoff (slashoff) against Justin Faulk: After a Justin Faulk chance against Mrazek, Lashoff chops down on Faulk's stick to prevent an immediate rebound chance. This is a perfect example of a good penalty to take for Lashoff, as Faulk does have room on the short side to score here if not for the chop. Since it's not Lashoff's fault that Faulk gets this chance, I'm not going to give him a minus. The rush here is on Riley Sheahan, who is a little slow to cover a pinch by Smith. Sheahan will get a half-minus.

2nd Period 14:54 - Luke Glendening (holding) against Michal Jordan: Glendening is forechecking in on Jordan, who takes body position and then the puck as he tries to escape around the boards. Glendening starts by trying to hold his stick back, but has his own stick ride up to the hands of Jordan right in front of the refs. Glendening will get a minus. He's got to control his stick better.

3rd Period 05:42 - Johan Franzen (interference) against Andrej Nestrasil: Franzen gets tripped up a bit on a forecheck and gets up to try and skate back into position, skating directly into Nestrasil ahead, taking a penalty for interference on a moving pick. I'm going to give Franzen a half-minus. I honestly don't think that this is anything more than incidental contact, especially after the non-called trip. However, Franzen needs to be more careful.

Total Adjustments

Full Season Chart Here

Possession Metrics

Even-strength Corsi numbers provided thanks to NHL.com via War-On-Ice.com.

This was a weird game for the eyeball versus the stats, but it also shows pretty well the effects of a game that had lots of score effects time which makes getting severely outpossessed much less worrisome. The other thing is that at least through two periods when the game was still in question, the Canes put a lot of garbage on net that wasn't particularly dangerous.

The Wings didn't have a ton of offensive zone faceoffs to choose from, so you have to consider 50% starts to be pretty heavy sheltering. Babcock really seems to be trying hard to get that Zetterberg line going.

Check out more from war-on-ice.com, including the visualized shift chart here.

Final Say

Despite all the scoring coming from the Datsyuk unit, I think the Sheahan line was very good. The Z line is still mostly snakebitten, but I'm getting worried about them. I really liked the defense in this game, espeically how well they cleared out the net-front for Mrazek. Lashoff played simple and mean hockey, as did Quincey. Did Eric Staal play in this game?

Corsi Timeline from Hockeystats.ca

The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes have struggled through the first two months of the season and both need results badly. They play each other tonight, learn about the matchup with this game preview.

Some wonder how things could be worse for New Jersey. Well, consider tonight's opponent.

The Time: 7:00 PM EST

The Broadcast: TV - MSG+; Radio - 880 AM WCBS

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (10-13-4) at the Carolina Hurricanes (8-15-3; SBN Blog: Canes Country)

The Last Devils Game: The Devils hosted Washington on Saturday night. Their effort was littered with a lack of intelligence from throwing pucks away to icing pucks without pressure to missing passes to teammates close by to struggling to even cycle. The Capitals were smarter.  They went up first thanks to a miscommunication; Karl Alzner took a poor pass and rifled one past Cory Schneider.  Dainius Zubrus created a goal off an individual effort; Patrik Elias swopped in to tap it in. The Devils looked good to close the first but once their power play ended to start the second, the Capitals just controlled the game. The Devils struggled to even get the puck out of their end to get people changed.  Eventually, they paid the price. Jay Beagle put up an individual effort for a go-ahead goal.  Evgeny Kuznetsov sniped a shot on a power play to make it 1-3.  The Devils responded with nothing.  In the third period, score effects lended itself to a massive shot advantage. But the offense was left wanting as Braden Holtby comfortably made a lot of stops. An empty netter from Brooks Laich sent the home fans away unhappy and deservedly so. My recap of the dreadful performance is here.

The Last Hurricanes Game: On Sunday night, the Hurricanes hosted Detroit.  It was a fairly even game until Detroit put up the game's first goal, a lovely move followed by a lovelier shot by Pavel Datsyuk.  Detroit got a second goal exactly two minutes later.  Justin Faulk didn't handle a dump-in, Datsyuk got a touch of the puck to Tomas Tatar, who flung it past Cam Ward.  The Canes started to shoot more in the second, but the Red Wings made it three when Datsyuk flung a sweet backhand pass to a cutting Tatar, who put home the rebound.  The Canes would pull one back when Jay McClement got a deflection off a shot by Tim Gleason past Petr Mrazek. That would give them some life on the scoreboard and more incentive to keep pushing for a comeback.  But Mrazek stopped everything and it was not to be.  Carolina lost 1-3, the recap is available at Canes Country.

The Goal: Execution.  After Saturday's game, I'm was in favor of it.  But seriously, the Devils aren't going to succeed if they're going to help the opposition pin them back in their own end for large stretches of the game, concede a bunch of goals, and hope they can ride the wave of score effects to get back in it.   The fundamentals must be there and they must be there from the beginning.   Everyone has to contribute in that regard after the pathetic team performance seen on Saturday.

No Patrik, No Mike, But There's Martin: Tom Gulitti reported on Sunday at Fire & Ice that Patrik Elias aggravated his groin injury, Mike Cammalleri pulled something in his butt, but Martin Havlat will be on the trip.  I would think if he's on the trip, then he's likely to play.   That's still not really good news. The Devils are down their leading goal scorer, Elias being out isn't helpful, and Havlat really has not done much of anything.   It'll be interesting to see whether Havlat can do something away from Elias. The two haven't been good together this season, so if Havlat can contribute something away from him, then that would go a long way to salvaging that signing.

Regardless, the pressure is on who's left.  Jaromir Jagr is capable.  What about Adam Henrique or Michael Ryder? Can they do something positive? What of the bottom six, which should see a return of Jacob Josefson to the lineup? Can they step up?  Really, without Zajac and Cammalleri, the forwards remaining really do leave plenty of questions.   And the answer can't be the waived Damien Brunner.  He was sent down to Albany.

So Who Sits on Defense?: As Brunner was sent down, Peter Harrold was called up - also reported by Gulitti on Sunday. He never actually went to Albany, but regardless, here's back on New Jersey's roster.  Given how poor Seth Helgeson and Eric Gelinas played combined with Jon Merrill looking shaky, I wouldn't be surprised if Harrold comes into the lineup tonight. I would think it would be for Helgeson as he played the least on Saturday night.  I wouldn't blame Peter DeBoer for putting him in over those three.  We'll see what happens before the game.  Unfortunately, Adam Larsson is still sick.  I hope he does not have what seems to be an epidemic of mumps going through the league.

Their Problem in Three Letters: The Carolina Hurricanes, on paper, aren't the basement dwelling team in the division that the standings imply.  They have some seriously talented players up front such as Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, and Alexander Semin.   They have Andrej Sekera and Justin Faulk taking on the toughs to lead the blueline- and doing pretty well. Cam Ward hasn't been all that bad, either.  This is a team that's actually pretty good in terms of team Corsi%, sitting at 51.62% in between Washington (ninth) and Los Angeles (eleventh) per War on Ice prior to Sunday's game. They're not getting heavily out-shot on the regular.  They've been successful in special teams with their power play conversion rate at 21.5% and their penalty killing success rate at 83.8%. Sure, their depth isn't so good, Ward hasn't been all that good, and Anton Khudobin hasn't been a good #2 goalie.  Is losing Jordan Staal and five games of Eric Staal that big of a deal?

I think their biggest issue has three letters: PDO.

That's the sum of a team's even strength shooting percentage and even strength save percentage.  PDO is a rule-of-thumb metric.  Typically, over time, it'll regress to the true mean of the team which is around 100.  So if a team has a very high PDO, then they are benefiting from hot sticks and hot goaltending.  That's when you want them to get as many results as possible before one or both go south.  The Canes are at the opposite end.  Their PDO is the second lowest in the NHL per War On Ice prior to Sunday's games: 97.38.   The Canes' even strength save percentage is the fourth lowest in the league at 90.86%.  The Canes' even strength shooting percentage is the third lowest in the league at 6.52%.   Carolina may be getting healthier but they're not getting as many bounces as they could, the player's sticks are cold, and the goalies haven't been all that good.   Devils fans who remember the John MacLean got to saw that in person - and those who remember Jacques Lemaire coming in after him so fondly would do well to recall that as well.   It isn't pretty.  When the pucks aren't going in and not staying out of your own net, everyone gets down about it and that has contributed to the Canes' continued lack of success over the past few weeks.  Don't be surprised if in, say, January or February, this team goes off on a run and looks much better than they have been. It may be too late, but it'll be an oasis amid the desert they're trudging through.

OK, Nice Long View, But What About Tonight?: Carolina may be in a worse position after last night's loss to Detroit.  Eric Staal got hit in the leg by a shot from Justin Faulk as the Canes were pushing for a late goal and he was hurting.  Staal was on crutches after the game according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, but there has been no update since then.  That's a big loss as Staal is tied for the team lead in scoring with six goals and nine assists.  He also takes on the tough competition for Carolina and actually has done well. He has led a line with Jiri Tlusty, Carolina's leading goal scorer with ten; and Elias Lindholm, who's been averaging just under a point every two games in his second NHL season.   Should he be out tonight, that's a big hole in the middle of Carolina's forwards.

Among those forwards, do watch out for Skinner. He had ten of Carolina's 35 shots against Detroit.  He's always been a very good skater and shooter.  The Devils would need to keep an eye on him.  The same applies with Tlusty, again team's leading goal scorer, and Lindholm.  Nathan Gerbe and Andrej Nestarsil also have done very well driving the play, they could be thorns in the side of New Jersey. Alexander Semin has talent to be respected, though he's had his struggles.  Not just with only one goal scored, but he's barely averaging over a shot per game.  It's been rough for him; Carolina would do well were he to contribute more.

Further, Cam Ward played against Detroit.  Should Anton Khudobin get the start tonight, that could be to New Jersey's benefit.  In eight appearances, Khudobin has a 90.1% even strength save percentage. That is not good and the Devils should seek to exploit that.  Especially when the Faulk-Sekera pairing isn't on the ice. Presuming they can actually move the puck effectively.   If the Canes decide to give Ward back-to-back duty, he'll be more challenging though he hasn't exactly been great either.

Your Take: With all due respect to Carolina, this is the easier half of the back-to-back set the Devils are now in (they get Chicago on Tuesday).  With all due respect to the Devils, this is also the easier half of the back-to-back set the Hurricanes will complete tonight.   Who will take it?  Who will be leading the way for each team? Can the Devils at least not be so dreadful on the ice tonight? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about this game in the comments. Thank you for reading.

The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes have struggled through the first two months of the season and both need results badly. This game stream will consist of all posts relevant to tonight's game.

Some wonder how things could be worse for New Jersey. Well, consider tonight's opponent.

The Time: 7:00 PM EST

The Broadcast: TV - MSG+; Radio - 880 AM WCBS

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (10-13-4) at the Carolina Hurricanes (8-15-3; SBN Blog: Canes Country)

The Last Devils Game: The Devils hosted Washington on Saturday night. Their effort was littered with a lack of intelligence from throwing pucks away to icing pucks without pressure to missing passes to teammates close by to struggling to even cycle. The Capitals were smarter.  They went up first thanks to a miscommunication; Karl Alzner took a poor pass and rifled one past Cory Schneider.  Dainius Zubrus created a goal off an individual effort; Patrik Elias swopped in to tap it in. The Devils looked good to close the first but once their power play ended to start the second, the Capitals just controlled the game. The Devils struggled to even get the puck out of their end to get people changed.  Eventually, they paid the price. Jay Beagle put up an individual effort for a go-ahead goal.  Evgeny Kuznetsov sniped a shot on a power play to make it 1-3.  The Devils responded with nothing.  In the third period, score effects lended itself to a massive shot advantage. But the offense was left wanting as Braden Holtby comfortably made a lot of stops. An empty netter from Brooks Laich sent the home fans away unhappy and deservedly so. My recap of the dreadful performance is here.

The Last Hurricanes Game: On Sunday night, the Hurricanes hosted Detroit.  It was a fairly even game until Detroit put up the game's first goal, a lovely move followed by a lovelier shot by Pavel Datsyuk.  Detroit got a second goal exactly two minutes later.  Justin Faulk didn't handle a dump-in, Datsyuk got a touch of the puck to Tomas Tatar, who flung it past Cam Ward.  The Canes started to shoot more in the second, but the Red Wings made it three when Datsyuk flung a sweet backhand pass to a cutting Tatar, who put home the rebound.  The Canes would pull one back when Jay McClement got a deflection off a shot by Tim Gleason past Petr Mrazek. That would give them some life on the scoreboard and more incentive to keep pushing for a comeback.  But Mrazek stopped everything and it was not to be.  Carolina lost 1-3, the recap is available at Canes Country.

The Goal: Execution.  After Saturday's game, I'm was in favor of it.  But seriously, the Devils aren't going to succeed if they're going to help the opposition pin them back in their own end for large stretches of the game, concede a bunch of goals, and hope they can ride the wave of score effects to get back in it.   The fundamentals must be there and they must be there from the beginning.   Everyone has to contribute in that regard after the pathetic team performance seen on Saturday.

No Patrik, No Mike, But There's Martin: Tom Gulitti reported on Sunday at Fire & Ice that Patrik Elias aggravated his groin injury, Mike Cammalleri pulled something in his butt, but Martin Havlat will be on the trip.  I would think if he's on the trip, then he's likely to play.   That's still not really good news. The Devils are down their leading goal scorer, Elias being out isn't helpful, and Havlat really has not done much of anything.   It'll be interesting to see whether Havlat can do something away from Elias. The two haven't been good together this season, so if Havlat can contribute something away from him, then that would go a long way to salvaging that signing.

Regardless, the pressure is on who's left.  Jaromir Jagr is capable.  What about Adam Henrique or Michael Ryder? Can they do something positive? What of the bottom six, which should see a return of Jacob Josefson to the lineup? Can they step up?  Really, without Zajac and Cammalleri, the forwards remaining really do leave plenty of questions.   And the answer can't be the waived Damien Brunner.  He was sent down to Albany.

So Who Sits on Defense?: As Brunner was sent down, Peter Harrold was called up - also reported by Gulitti on Sunday. He never actually went to Albany, but regardless, here's back on New Jersey's roster.  Given how poor Seth Helgeson and Eric Gelinas played combined with Jon Merrill looking shaky, I wouldn't be surprised if Harrold comes into the lineup tonight. I would think it would be for Helgeson as he played the least on Saturday night.  I wouldn't blame Peter DeBoer for putting him in over those three.  We'll see what happens before the game.  Unfortunately, Adam Larsson is still sick.  I hope he does not have what seems to be an epidemic of mumps going through the league.

Their Problem in Three Letters: The Carolina Hurricanes, on paper, aren't the basement dwelling team in the division that the standings imply.  They have some seriously talented players up front such as Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, and Alexander Semin.   They have Andrej Sekera and Justin Faulk taking on the toughs to lead the blueline- and doing pretty well. Cam Ward hasn't been all that bad, either.  This is a team that's actually pretty good in terms of team Corsi%, sitting at 51.62% in between Washington (ninth) and Los Angeles (eleventh) per War on Ice prior to Sunday's game. They're not getting heavily out-shot on the regular.  They've been successful in special teams with their power play conversion rate at 21.5% and their penalty killing success rate at 83.8%. Sure, their depth isn't so good, Ward hasn't been all that good, and Anton Khudobin hasn't been a good #2 goalie.  Is losing Jordan Staal and five games of Eric Staal that big of a deal?

I think their biggest issue has three letters: PDO.

That's the sum of a team's even strength shooting percentage and even strength save percentage.  PDO is a rule-of-thumb metric.  Typically, over time, it'll regress to the true mean of the team which is around 100.  So if a team has a very high PDO, then they are benefiting from hot sticks and hot goaltending.  That's when you want them to get as many results as possible before one or both go south.  The Canes are at the opposite end.  Their PDO is the second lowest in the NHL per War On Ice prior to Sunday's games: 97.38.   The Canes' even strength save percentage is the fourth lowest in the league at 90.86%.  The Canes' even strength shooting percentage is the third lowest in the league at 6.52%.   Carolina may be getting healthier but they're not getting as many bounces as they could, the player's sticks are cold, and the goalies haven't been all that good.   Devils fans who remember the John MacLean got to saw that in person - and those who remember Jacques Lemaire coming in after him so fondly would do well to recall that as well.   It isn't pretty.  When the pucks aren't going in and not staying out of your own net, everyone gets down about it and that has contributed to the Canes' continued lack of success over the past few weeks.  Don't be surprised if in, say, January or February, this team goes off on a run and looks much better than they have been. It may be too late, but it'll be an oasis amid the desert they're trudging through.

OK, Nice Long View, But What About Tonight?: Carolina may be in a worse position after last night's loss to Detroit.  Eric Staal got hit in the leg by a shot from Justin Faulk as the Canes were pushing for a late goal and he was hurting.  Staal was on crutches after the game according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, but there has been no update since then.  That's a big loss as Staal is tied for the team lead in scoring with six goals and nine assists.  He also takes on the tough competition for Carolina and actually has done well. He has led a line with Jiri Tlusty, Carolina's leading goal scorer with ten; and Elias Lindholm, who's been averaging just under a point every two games in his second NHL season.   Should he be out tonight, that's a big hole in the middle of Carolina's forwards.

Among those forwards, do watch out for Skinner. He had ten of Carolina's 35 shots against Detroit.  He's always been a very good skater and shooter.  The Devils would need to keep an eye on him.  The same applies with Tlusty, again team's leading goal scorer, and Lindholm.  Nathan Gerbe and Andrej Nestarsil also have done very well driving the play, they could be thorns in the side of New Jersey. Alexander Semin has talent to be respected, though he's had his struggles.  Not just with only one goal scored, but he's barely averaging over a shot per game.  It's been rough for him; Carolina would do well were he to contribute more.

Further, Cam Ward played against Detroit.  Should Anton Khudobin get the start tonight, that could be to New Jersey's benefit.  In eight appearances, Khudobin has a 90.1% even strength save percentage. That is not good and the Devils should seek to exploit that.  Especially when the Faulk-Sekera pairing isn't on the ice. Presuming they can actually move the puck effectively.   If the Canes decide to give Ward back-to-back duty, he'll be more challenging though he hasn't exactly been great either.

Your Take: With all due respect to Carolina, this is the easier half of the back-to-back set the Devils are now in (they get Chicago on Tuesday).  With all due respect to the Devils, this is also the easier half of the back-to-back set the Hurricanes will complete tonight.   Who will take it?  Who will be leading the way for each team? Can the Devils at least not be so dreadful on the ice tonight? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about this game in the comments. Thank you for reading.

The Canes wrap up a five-game home stand tonight against the Metro rival Devils. There are a lot of moving parts on both rosters.

Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils
December 8, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - In Lou We Trust

Fancy Stats

Stats via NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• Tonight's game is the first of four this season between the Metro Division rivals. The Devils held the upper hand in last season's series, claiming three wins to one for the Canes.
• The Hurricanes end a five-game home stand tonight. They are 1-3-0 so far in the home series and tonight's game wraps up their seventh of fourteen sets of back-to-back games. After last night's 3-1 loss to Detroit, the Canes are 3-4-0 on the first half of their back-to-backs, and 1-4-1 on the second half.
• There are a few unknowns as to how the roster is going to set up tonight. Eric Staal limped off the ice last night after getting hit by a shot from Justin Faulk and was later seen on crutches, but he was able to take part in the morning skate. He will be a game-time decision. Alexander Semin will not be in the line-up tonight, citing an injury concern (EBI). Jeff Skinner did not skate this morning but is not reported to be out. Chris Terry and Brad Malone were healthy scratches last night but should draw back in tonight.
• On defense, Ron Hainsey and John-Michael Liles did not skate this morning but neither was considered as a concern for tonight. Brett Bellemore, still listed on injured reserve, got in extra practice as did Tim Gleason, so he is likely to be out tonight with Jay Harrison back in.
• Cam Ward did not skate this morning either, but he has been announced as the starter in net tonight. It will be Wardo's 19th start. He faced 22 shots and surrendered three goals in the loss to Detroit last night.
• The New Jersey Devils come into tonight's game off a 4-1 home loss to the Capitals on Saturday night and losses in six out of their last seven games. The Devils are not particularly strong on offense, 23rd in the league in goals/game and 29th in shots/game, they own the 29th ranked penalty kill, and they have struggled to maintain a lead. Tonight's game won't have quite the quick pace seen last night from the Red Wings.
• The Devils have several shifts in their line-up tonight as well owing to recent injures and illnesses. Patrik Elias is out with an aggravation of a recurring groin injury. Mike Cammalleri, the Devils' leading goal-scorer (11g, 15pts) is also out with a lower body concern (aptly described here). Adam Larssen and Travis Zajac (also injured) are ill and are being tested for mumps. After clearing waivers on Sunday, Damien Brunner has been reassigned to the AHL Albany Devils. Martin Havlat returns tonight from injured reserve (lower body).
• Congratulations to Jaromir Jagr who is playing in his 1500th NHL game tonight.
• Cory Schneider has started in 26 of 27 games for the Devils, including the last six straight, and leads the league in starts (obviously) and saves (686). He'll get his 27th start of the season tonight.
• Devils' lines, courtesy of Tom Gulitti of The Record:

Devs' lines in skate: Zubrus-Gomez-Jagr; Ruutu-Henrique-Ryder; Havlat-Josefson-Sislo; Tootoo-Gionta-Bernier.

— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) December 8, 2014

Devs' D pairs; Greene-Severson; Merrill-Zidlicky; Gelinas-Harrold; Helgeson. Goalies: Schneider, Clemmensen.

— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) December 8, 2014

Cory Schneider will start. Martin Havlat will play. Seth Helgeson out, Peter Harrold in. All confirmed.

— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) December 8, 2014

The Canes are in the midst of a holiday season toy drive. Come early and bring unwrapped toys to tonight's game to get a buy-one-get-one-free voucher to the game, and enter to win a team-signed jersey. Good seats are still available.

Cory Schneider made 39 saves out of 40 shots and 94 attempts by the Carolina Hurricanes. The New Jersey Devils gave him only 16 shots, 42 attempts, and 2 goals to work with while getting dominated. This is the recap of a game Schneider stole.

My post from earlier today was about tanking and the very first reason as to why I don't think this team is bad enough to tank is Cory Schneider.  I wrote that he was one of the biggest pluses on the team.  Any doubters, skeptics, or haters of that reality only need to see tonight's game as to why.  The New Jersey Devils beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 and the biggest reason why was #35.

The Devils were simply outplayed by the Hurricanes in every period.  They got out-attempted and out-shot in the first and second period.  Carolina scored first when their pressure yielded Justin Faulk firing a strong shot past two bodies and the goalie for the game's first goal.  The Devils got two in response and against the run of play.  A turnover by Carolina allowed Scott Gomez to get the puck into their corner.  He looked up, flung a perfect pass to Jaromir Jagr, who one-timed it past Cam Ward.  The Devils got an abbreviated power play late in the second because the Canes had six men on the ice during a power play. In the dying seconds of the period, Jagr wrapped the puck around and Adam Henrique popped in the rebound.   Other than the scores, it was an ugly forty minutes featuring bad zone exits, several icings, and a myriad of dumb decisions in their own end of the rink, never mind in the neutral or offensive zones.   With the Canes down one and with a whole period left to play, there was a real concern that it was going to get worse for New Jersey.

To call it a miserable third period would be putting it lightly.  The Devils got only one shot on net in the third period; a backhander that was no issue for Cam Ward. That happened with 3:36 left to play.   The Devils only attempted three shots on net all period and Tuomo Ruutu even took a dangerous boarding call in one of the rare moments the play was beyond the red line.   Carolina absolutely shredded the Devils' skaters.  They put up 46 attempts on net.  46! They had 48 in the first two periods combined!  Carolina may rue their accuracy, but there's no shame in putting up 17 shots on net.   New Jersey played it like a penalty kill, which only exacerbated the pressure as the Canes kept coming at them over and over - whenever they didn't just straight up ice the puck.

Oh, and adding to the degree of difficulty, the Devils shortened the bench.  Dainius Zubrus apparently got hurt while Jordin Tootoo and Eric Gelinas were stapled to the bench.  Not that one would have wanted Tootoo or even Gelinas (he was terrible tonight) out there but that's a lot of tired Devils doing very little and contributing to their hideously bad zone exit attempts tonight.  That's also why defensive non-stalwarts like Jagr, Martin Havlat, Michael Ryder, and Scott Gomez kept getting shifts, almost entirely in their own end in the third.  Only so many guys can be kept off the ice.

Only Cory Schneider came to play all three periods.  He stopped 39 out of 40, he had to react to over 80 attempts, and the one he didn't get, he didn't really see.   Schneider was somehow not named one of the three stars of the night by [looks up Game Summary] 99.9 The Fan.  Anyone who would deny that did not see this game. They did not see the Devils skaters look like boys among men save for the titan in the net bailing them out, over and over.   Schneider doesn't score the goals but without his stupendous play tonight, the Devils would have been blown out of PNC Arena by the Hurricanes.   Again, he's the reason why this team isn't abjectly terrible night-in, night-out.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The NHL.com Devils Time on Ice Log | The Natural Stat Trick Corsi Charts

The Opposition Opinion: Please visit Canes Country for their viewpoint on this game.  One where Carolina arguably deserved at least a point from how they played.

The Game Highlights: Jagr got a milestone, Schneider stopped nearly everything, here's the video from NHL.com:

Fifth: Jaromir Jagr put up a lot of what little offense the Devils generated tonight.  He had five shots on net out of eight attempts.  He scored his 710th career goal.  He is now seven behind Phil Esposito for fifth all-time.  His wraparound that created the rebound Henrique put in was his 1,772nd career point.  That put him past Marcel Dionne and he's now the fifth all-time leading scorer in NHL history. And he did it all in his 1,500th career game.   He sure had himself one.   He was admittedly sore for any eyes with sight on defense, but he provided the plays that made the difference on the scoreboard.  That deserves something.

First Points: Scott Gomez contributed his first two points since joining the Devils.  His pass to Jagr was excellent.  His secondary assist was, well, a secondary assist.  Still, the points help justify the decision to sign him.   He was doing OK tonight until the third happened. That can be said for all of the skaters, really.

I will say this: I loved it that he actually and specifically called out being unable to make the first pass out of their own zone as one of the things they were struggling with in his post-second-period interview.   Someone on the team finally said.  Unfortunately, he and the rest of the team didn't do anything about it as evidenced by the third period where they got out attempted 48-3.

Players Coming in Squalls: It would be shorter for me to note which Canes didn't bring it right to the Devils over and over again tonight.   So I will.  Defenseman Michal Jordan was the only Cane without a shot on net.   Chris Terry didn't do much.   And that's really that.

Seriously, Jiri Tlusty was in New Jersey's end of the rink so much, I half expected him to be like a coach in practice just giving out directions.   He was superb along with Andrej Nestrasil and Victor Rask.  Jeff Skinner put a ton of rubber on Schneider; five shots out of 12 attempts is something akin to what Ovechkin does.   Nathan Gerbe played big.  Faulk, the lone goal scorer for the home team, just brought it from everywhere.  Their whole defense was exceptional at keeping the Devils' mostly-soft zone exits in play.  John-Michael Liles, Jay Harrison, and Andrej Sekera were studs at it.  Even Ron Hainsey, somehow the only Cane to not be positive in Corsi at evens tonight, has two shots and five attempts.  And I didn't even bring up their ace, Eric Staal - who had himself a nice game.

The Devils cannot have nights like this where they have been so thoroughly dominated.  I admittedly feel a little bad for the Canes, they absolutely deserved something out of tonight's game.   Thankfully for fans like me and the Devils, Schneider's greatness was on full display tonight.

Sit: Gelinas was hideously poor in his own end in what little ice time he got tonight.  Therefore, DeBoer chose to play Peter Harrold and Jon Merrill more in the third.   Do not be surprised if Seth Helgeson draws in for him tomorrow.

C'mon Son: Martin Havlat played 16 minutes and not a single second with Patrik Elias.  Of course, Elias was hurt so that wasn't possible. But given how bad those two have been together, maybe he would be better with other linemates.  He eventually moved up to fill in for Zubrus with Gomez and Jagr.  Before then (and during), Havlat showed that he is - still not at all smart in his own end of the rink and doesn't create all that much going forward.  In a night full of abysmal attempts at clearing the puck (and when they did, icing it and/or giving it right back to the Canes was the common result), he managed to have the most memorably bad.  He attempted a spin-o-rama backhander in his own zone.  It went right to the Cane at the blueline.  That was one crummy moment out of an otherwise ineffective night.   Sigh.

Schneider Deserves A Night Off: 94 total attempts against, 40 shots against, and getting a barrage for large stretches at a time before nearly twenty straight minutes in the third period.  He needs a night off just as a reward.

Your Take: The Devils got a win they did not deserve thanks to Cory Schneider. What was your reaction when the final whistle blew?  What in the world can they do to be anywhere close to better against Chicago tomorrow night? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about this game in the comments.  Thank you for reading.

Jaromir Jagr helps Devils beat Canes with a goal and assist in 1500th career game

The Carolina Hurricanes had 40 shots on goal, 33 blocked by the opposition, and missed the net 21 times, for a total of 94 shot attempts, but could only get one that counted as they lost their third straight game, 2-1 against the New Jersey Devils at the PNC on Monday night.

The Devils had an official 16 shots on goal but got a goal and an assist by Jaromir Jagr who was playing in his 1500th career NHL game.  The Canes blocked 13 of their attempts and Jersey missed the net 13 times for a total of 42 attempts.

Cam Ward made 14 saves on 16 shots for the home team while Cory Schneider had 39 saves for Jersey.

After a scoreless first period, Justin Faulk got Carolina on the board 7:11 into the second with a pretty snap shot as he joined the play.  It was the defenseman's fourth of the season.

The Devils would come back quickly though.  First, Jagr beat Ward with a nifty wrister from in front, then the elder statesman set up Adam Henrique who got a step on his defender when he broke to the net.

The visitors only had one shot on goal the entire third period, but they blocked everything they could and cleared the puck when they needed to.  Try as they might, the Canes could not get another puck past Schneider.

This important homestand for Carolina turned into a disaster as the team finished with a 1-4-0 record.  Next up will be the Lightning in Tampa Bay on Thursday.

• After their hot start to November, the Canes are 3-10-0 in their last 13.  They are last in the East and tied with the Oilers for last in the NHL.
• Of their 40 shots on goal, Skinner led the way with five.  Rask, Gerbe, and Dwyer had four each.
• Faulk led the team with 26:51 of ice time.  Low man was Brad Malone with 6:48.
• After being injured the previous night and being questionable for this contest, Eric Staal did play this game and had two shots on goal while winning 50% of his faceoffs.
• Registering just 12 hits the previous night, the Canes had 22 this time around.  They were led by Dwyer with four.  The Devils had 29 led by Ruutu with five.
• Event Summary stat sheet

The second game of this current back-to-back set sees the New Jersey Devils play host to the surging Chicago Blackhawks. Simply put, if the Devils put up the same performance tonight as they did last night, it is very unlikely that they will even keep this game close, never mind come away with points.

The backend of this most recent back-to-back set for the New Jersey Devils has them hosting the Central Division powerhouse Chicago Blackhawks.  If you did not know...they're good.

The Time: 7:00 PM EST

The Broadcast: TV - MSG+; Radio - WFAN 660 AM and 101.9 FM

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (11-13-4) vs the Chicago Blackhawks (18-8-1, SBN Blog: Second City Hockey)

The Last Devils Game: Last night, the Devils went to Carolina for a date with the Hurricanes.  The Devils did not play a particularly good game against a poor opponent.  Carolina peppered Cory Schneider all night with 40 total shots on net, and a 69% Corsi For%.  The Devils, on the other hand, had a putrid 16 shots on net, with only one shot coming in the entire third period.  In fact, Caolina's Corsi For% in the 3^rd period was just under 94%.  They literally controlled play for the entire period.  Nonetheless, Schneider was brilliant, stopping 39 of the 40 shots that went his way.  There were so many chances where it looked like Carolina would tie it up and go on to take the lead, and as a fan watching the game I was just waiting for the equalizer.  However, it never happened, and the Devils stole two points.  How Schneider was not one of the three stars of the game baffles me.  John had this recap here.

The Last Blackhawks Game: On Saturday night, Chicago traveled to Nashville to play the other top team in the Central, the Predators.  Scott Darling got the start in net for the ‘Hawks, with Corey Crawford on the shelf for a couple weeks with an injured foot.  Darling was real solid, stopping 32 of 33 shots that Nashville threw at him.  Marian Hossa scored two goals himself despite poor production recently, one against Pekka Rinne and the other an empty netter to seal the game.  Brandon Saad had the other goal for Chicago in the game, opening the scoring with a fine wrister past Rinne's glove with a little over 5 minutes left to go in the first.  Saad also had the primary assist on Hossa'a eventual game-winning goal.  He was the first star of the game, and deservingly so.  Chicago won 3-1, and gained sole possession of first in the Central with that win.  It was also their 6^th win in a row.  They are now 9-1-0 in their last ten games.  Second City Hockey had a recap of the game here.

The Goal: Play mistake-free hockey.  I realize that it is near impossible for any team to play mistake-free for sixty minutes, especially this Devils team that has been very prone to mistakes this season.  Nonetheless, Chicago ranks first in the league in even strength Corsi, with a 55.1 CF%.  They are a juggernaut when it comes to possessing the puck, and will wear a team down by their ability to control the run of play.  The way to avoid that, for New Jersey, is to commit as few mistakes as possible.  Passes need to be crisp and players need to be at the right positions on the ice at all times.  While that will only help to slow Chicago down, if the Devils can keep Chicago from possessing the puck as much as they normally do, it will greatly help NJ's chances to do well.

Avoid Dumping It In: Another great way to prevent Chicago from possessing the puck so much is to actually control the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.  The Devils have been prone to dumping and chasing the puck into the offensive zone.  While that may work better against some teams, it will not work too well against the Blackhawks.  They have a great ability to gain control of the puck and make clean and accurate passes up the ice in a hurry.  Dumping the puck into the offensive zone is essentially relinquishing possession to Chicago, and that is a very bad idea.  Keep control of the puck and look to set things up in the zone through controlled offensive zone entries.

The Goaltending Situation for NJ: Cory Schneider started last night against Carolina and was awesome to say the least.  He was the single greatest factor as to why the Devils got the win in my opinion.  Peter DeBoer has started Schneider in both games of a back-to-back before, and it is very possible that he starts him again tonight.  However, as of when I wrote this, there was no definitive starter announced for New Jersey.  If Schneider does not go, it would be Scott Clemmensen in net, who has one start on the year so far, the 5-4 shootout loss to Calgary on November 22^nd.

Any Relief From Injuries? The Devils have been playing at far from full strength recently, with injuries and illnesses to Travis Zajac, Adam Larsson, Mike Cammalleri and others.  It has severely weakened the top 2 forward lines especially, as others have been forced up to top-line duty along with Jaromir Jagr.  As of when I wrote this, I was not able to find any information as to whether or not anyone would be returning tonight.  Playing Chicago will a full roster is tough in and of itself.  Playing them with a depleted lineup, however, will be especially difficult.

Just How Good Has Chicago Been? Very good.  During their six game winning streak, they have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 22-9.  Furthermore, they have taken over 37% of their faceoffs in the offensive zone this season, which is far and away the best in the league.  The Devils, by contrast, are at 30.2%, good for 25^th.  At 5 on 5 action, for every goal the opposition scores, Chicago scores 1.41 goals.  That is an excellent split.  Also, while not a major stat, I feel that is noteworthy to bring up that Chicago has a 52.4% faceoff win percentage, while the Devils are only at 47.2%.  This will make preventing Chicago from possessing the puck extremely difficult, considering their ability to win draws.

How About Their Special Teams? Chicago's special teams this season has looked a lot like how New Jersey's special teams usually looked.   Their power play has been okay.  They convert on 18.4% of their chances, good for 17^th in the league.  They are decent enough at converting on them, but it is nothing to be overly scared about.  Their penalty kill, on the other hand, has been absolutely dominant.  They have the best kill in the league, with a successful kill rate of 91.1%.  They are the only team in the league with a kill% over 90%.  Simply put, even if the Devils can get some power play opportunities, the odds of them converting on any of them is not too great.

Their Top-Heavy Offense: The leading point scorer for Chicago so far this season has been Patrick Kane, who is performing at basically a point per game clip, having 26 points in 27 games.  He has been quite good, with 12 goals, a +7 rating, and a faceoff win percentage of 66.7%.  The Devils will need to keep a very close eye on number 88 when he is out on the ice.

The real issue when trying to play against Chicago is that Kane actually plays on the second line, currently with Brad Richards and Kris Versteeg.  The second line has been performing like a top line.  As I just wrote, Kane has a +7, but that is the worst of the line.  Richards is at a +8 and Versteeg is at an incredible +13.  They are on fire.  But as good as they are, the top line may even be scarier.  That line consists of the team's captain Jonathan Toews centering Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad.  As I mentioned earlier, Hossa had been cold but was dominant on Saturday.  So was Saad, who has been performing very well for the ‘Hawks recently.  And Toews has 22 points while averaging just over 20 minutes per game.  To put it bluntly: their top 6 has been exceptionally good.

Their bottom 6 has not been quite as great.  Third liners Andrew Shaw and Brian Bickell each have 10 points for their club, but Shaw is also a possession black hole for their team, so his production only goes so far.  Other than them, there has not been much to write home about.  If the Devils can get their bottom 6 pinned out on the ice, good things could happen.

A Quality Defense Too: Chicago's defense is anchored by the top pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.  While Seabrook has not been bad at all, Keith has been the dominant one this year.  He has 17 points and a +10 rating so far this year, and this is all while playing against the opposition's top competition.  Seabrook has 15 points, but has been more of a sieve, as he only has a +0 and a relative Corsi of only 1.5.  Keith, meanwhile, has a relative Corsi of 10.3.  He is extremely tough to play against, and the Devils will have their hands full with #2.

The Blackhawks' bottom four has not been particularly productive on the score sheet.  Niklas Hjalmarsson leads them with 6 points, but they have been very stout at preventing goals.  So much so that no one currently on the team has a negative +/- (with the exception of Patrick Sharp, who I will get to in a minute).  They allow only 1.96 goals per game, which is tops in the league.  They are the only team to be under 2 in that category.  They also allow only 28.6 shots per game, which is a solid number.  So even though their bottom 4 is not as pretty as Keith and Seabrook, do not let that fool you.  They get the job done.

Patrick Sharp: If things were not already looking bleak for the Devils, it is reported that Patrick Sharp will rejoin the team tonight after missing 14 games due to a right knee injury.  He may skate on the third line tonight so that he is not thrown right back into the fire, but he is normally a top line winger for this team.  He is a very good player who has 9 points in 13 games this season, after scoring 78 points in 82 games last year.  So while he may be back only in a limited role, his presence on the ice will most likely still be felt.

Their Goaltending Situation: Without Corey Crawford, Chicago is rolling a combination of Antti Raanta and Scott Darling.  Both have performed admirably this season.  In 5 games this season, Raanta has a sparkling .942 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average.  Darling, who won on Saturday, has a .943 save percentage and 1.74 goals against average in 4 games.  Clearly, both have been excellent, and they are not missing Crawford all that much at this point.

According to Left Wing Lock, we will see Darling in net tonight for Chicago. Hopefully for New Jersey, we will see some rookie mistakes, but with the way he has played so far, that will most likely not happen.

Your Take: This is going to be a real tough game for the Devils.  Chicago is coming in to Newark fully rested, not having played a game since Saturday.  Furthermore, they are smoking hot right now, winning their last 6 and 9 of their last 10.  Even without Crawford, they have proven that they can prevent goals as well as they can score them.  For the Devils to get any points tonight, they will need to be on the top of their game for all 60 minutes.  Even then, it may not be enough.  That is my take, however.  What is yours?  Do you think the Devils stand a chance tonight?  If so, what do they need to do to get a decision?  Please leave your comments below, and thanks for reading.

8:00p ET, Joe Louis Arena

Detroit, Michigan

TV: NBCSN

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket

Leafs Blogs: PPP

Hey, we got hockey tonight! Neat. The Red Wings are riding a three game winning streak after weathering the storm against the Hurricanes, and taking them down 3-1 off of brilliant games by Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Tatar, and Petr Mrazek.

The last time we saw the Wings play the Leafs, it was quite possibly the worst game Detroit has played all year. I think this team is much different today than it was then, so I like the matchup. I'm hoping to see the Zetterberg line shutdown the Kessel line, and let the red-hot 2nd and 3rd lines take it from there. Detroit has a really good chance at creating more space in the standings. They have a pretty favorable schedule coming up, so putting these points away will play a huge part down the road. Detroit was largely out-possessed by Carolina the other day, but they still found a way to win. Tomas Jurco is going to get more reps at first line opportunities, and that's a great thing. He's been fantastic over the past 10 games, and has played a huge part in the teams current success. Let's get the toasters ready, folks. Randy Carlyle wants a pop tart.

The Expected Lineups

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

Scratches: Daniel Cleary, &Jakub Kindl

Injuries:Justin Abdelkader (shoulder)

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

• Detroit has won their 8 out of 10 games.
• Toronto has won 6 out of their last 10 games
• James Reimer is a career 0-2-0 when starting at JLA.

The Hurricanes have lost a lot of one goal games, are they close to being a winning team?

Sometimes stats in sports can be deceiving.  The shots on goal totals can look fantastic, the puck possession time might be very good, and the individual player's CORSI numbers could be outstanding.  But what if the team is still losing?

To the naked eye it seems like the Carolina Hurricanes are playing better hockey than they did last year.  The powerplay has improved as well as the penalty kill.  Some other stats have improved as well.  But results are all that matters and the Canes are in last place in the Eastern Conference and tied for last in the entire league.

The Hurricanes have lost a lot of one goal games and this has some thinking that they are very close to breaking through and being a winning team.  But are close games an illusion for false hope?

Many games won in the NHL are one goal games and several of the two goal games are the result of an empty-netter near the end.  So just because a team lost by one goal does not necessarily mean that they were a lucky break away from winning.

For instance, the Devils jumped out to a 2-1 lead late in the second period and only took a single shot on goal the entire third period.  They were perfectly content to win the game by one goal.  While that case is an extreme example, (it is the Devils after all), it does show how some teams will go into more of a defensive mode when they are winning so it is difficult to tell just how badly they could beat a team if they really wanted to.

The Canes are having trouble scoring goals.  Is it because of skill, effort, or having the physical ability needed, (being physically big enough to get to the front of the net and stay there)?  It is probably a combination of those things.

The question I am posing today is, do you think the Hurricanes are close to being a good team?  Are they a good player or two, (or healed player), from being winners?  Are they improving and moving in the right direction?

Let's take a quick look at the roster and see where there is likely to be improvement.

Newcomers Jay McClement and Brad Malone have not contributed much on the scoreboard.   (McClement scored his first goal recently and Malone has yet to light the lamp.)  Malone was a surprise signing, considering he was given a two-year, one-way contract after only playing 54 career NHL games with Colorado over a three year period.

Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry, two players from the system, have done pretty much as expected.  Rookie, Victor Rask has been a pleasant surprise, especially considering his all around game.

Riley Nash started out very well but his game has tapered off a bit as of late. You know what you are going to get with Nathan Gerbe.  Elias Lindholm has had ups and downs so far, but nothing surprising considering his age and experience.

Jiri Tlusty leads the team with 10 goals and is on a 30 goal pace, so you cannot really complain about his production.  Jeff Skinner missed a few games because of an injury and has also had ups and downs.  He has six goals in 23 games so far, (on pace for 21) so there is room for improvement there.  Skinner has the ability to get hot and light things up in a hurry.

Eric Staal seems to have played much of this season at less than 100%.  He has six goals in 22 games, (on pace for 22), so if he can get healthier he should also improve.

Finally, Alexander Semin has been the biggest disappointment with just a single goal this season.  No matter the reason for his lack of efficiency on offense, (mental or physical), the team needs more from him as well.

On the defensive side, Justin Faulk leads the team with 16 points and after a slow start, has played well.  Andrej Sekera's scoring is down from last year's career best and his numbers now are closer to what he has done over his career.

There is no reason to expect more scoring from the rest of the defense.

Jordan Staal has started skating and will return fairly soon, (perhaps a month or less but the time frame is unknown.)  Will his return be enough to turn this season around or should Ron Francis look to blow this team up?

What do you think?  (please explain in comments)

Stamkos has found himself in good company, the Carolina Hurricanes have not, and Andrei Vasilevskiy is a pretty good goalie. All that and more in our Quick Strikes for today.

• Steven Stamkos reaching 250 career goals before the age of 25 is impressive. The company it puts him with who accomplished the feat before 25 is even more impressive. [The Hockey News]
• Post by Raw Charge.
  
  
  Well, Bolts fans? Have you?
• Jeremy Houghtaling's latest feature at Bolt Prospects is about Vladislav Namestnikov and how the young center is doing since being sent down to the Syracuse Crunch. [Bolt Prospects]
• The Tampa Bay Lightning drafted a pretty good goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasya is riding a shutout streak of 143 minutes, 16 seconds after his second straight shutout in a 2-0 Syracuse Crunch win over Springfield. [Syracuse.com]
• Mission #PalmTreesForRadko has succeeded! The Lightning are releasing a t-shirt based on the prank new alternate jersey video. [ The Hockey News]
• Pierre LeBrun covered the governors meeting and recapped the highlights, including outdoor games, the World Cup of Hockey, and the eight pending class-action lawsuits against the NHL from players. [ESPN]
• At first glance, the Carolina Hurricanes seem like a better team than they were last year. But they are dead last in the Eastern Conference. The pieces seem to be there though, so Canes Country asks: are they on the brink of greatness? [Canes Country]

One of these teams is scoring goals. The other is not. That must change.

Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning
December 11, 2014 - 7:30 pm ET
Amalie Arena - Tampa, FL
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Raw Charge

Fancy Stats

Game Notes

(Hey folks. Apologies if this is a little brief or incoherent, I'm under the weather, but taking the morning skate and in the line-up regardless).

• After a 2-1 loss to the Devils on Monday, the Canes had an off-day Tuesday and practiced yesterday at RCI before making the trip to Tampa for their first game of three this season against the Lightning. This starts a stretch of three road games for the Canes after going 1-4-0 in five straight at home.
• The focus of yesterday's practice can be culled down to three words: net front presence. The Canes rank next-to-last in goals per game (2.18), and have only scored three goals in their last three games despite outshooting their opponents 105-66. Bill Peters continued to emphasize the need to generate traffic, getting in the goalie's eyes, and going to the net with purpose.
• Eric Staal and Alexander Semin didn't practice yesterday, and according to Peters, Staal is expected to skate this morning and is a game time decision for tonight. Semin is still a ways from returning, dinged up with both wrist and lower body injuries cited.
• A big story coming out of yesterday's practice is that Jordan Staal is traveling on the road with the team and should make his practice debut (in no contact gear) this morning.
• Congratulations to Andrej Sekera who will be playing in his 100th game for the Canes, and congratulations to Ron Hainsey who will be playing in his 700th career NHL game tonight.
• Though tied for first place in the Eastern Conference with 39 points, the Lightning have hit a bit of a slump, losing their last two games and three of their last four, their latest loss a 5-3 decision against the Capitals on Tuesday.
• One certainty for the Lightning is that they generate offense. Despite the recent losses, they lead the league in total goals (100) and goals per game (3.45). They are second in goal differential (+26), and third in even strength goals for (59%).
• The Lightning's best player is their best player. Steven Stamkos scored his 250th career NHL goal on Tuesday night, and leads his team in goals (17) and points (33) and is ranked third and fourth respectively in the NHL in those categories.
• Victor Hedman logged his fourth multi-point game of the season on Tuesday, assisting on all three Tampa Bay goals.
• Netminder Ben Bishop ranks second in the league in wins (16).
• After posting assists in two straight games, rookie Jonathan Drouin was a healthy scratch for Tuesday's game; no word as to whether he will be back in the line-up tonight.
• The Lightning have five players with more than 20 points (the Canes have none, by the way, Justin Faulk leads in total points with 16).

Join us for all the action at Amalie Arena (wait what? Yes, Amalie Oil bought the naming rights in September) with the game thread starting at 7:00 pm.

The Tampa Bay Lightning (18-8-3) finalizes their four game home stand the struggling Carolina Hurricanes (8-16-3). If recent games for Tampa Bay have taught us anything, though, standings don't mean s-with-a-t.


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Two consecutive home losses against a weaker cross-division opponent should not call for serious concern, even for one of the league’s current top clubs. But three could.

The Lightning are frustrated, as they should be. A losing streak at home, no matter how small, is unfamiliar territory to this team. And with the regular season now being over a third of the way through, it's actually fortunate that a blemish this tiny is being considered a setback for the Lightning. That's because in the grand scheme of things it isn't a huge deal, so long as the streak doesn't grow.

Ever since last season’s new divisional alignment, the Lightning don’t cross paths with the Carolina Hurricanes as often. And currently, the Bolts and Canes are on opposite ends of the spectrum in the Eastern Conference. Even still, Tampa Bay has issues to address.

Yeah, the Lightning stayed close in their last two home surrenders, but the same problems are reoccurring.

Showing up to play in the first period, avoiding silly penalties, and refraining from giving up early goals are on the agenda tonight. These pretty easy things that should be accomplishable against a pretty easy team.

A lot of it comes back to defense. Ben Bishop has arguably been the team’s most valuable member regarding this season, and he needs consistent support. Victor Hedman has excelled in spurts since returning from injury 12 days ago. His reluctance at times to stick his nose in and be aggressive in the Lightning’s zone has made his return a gradual process, but nevertheless, Heddy's 3 assists Tuesday night against the Capitals were beyond beneficial for the Lightning

Then there is special teams, still.

Although ranked 6th in power play, Tampa Bay is 0-5 in its last 2 games with the man advantage. The offensive capability is unquestionably present, but there's still a struggle to invade the opponent’s zone in 5v4 play. Speed and shooting are the missing ingredients.

Penalty kill is another struggle, again falling back on defense. Radko Gudas and Matt Carle have blocked the most shots for the Lightning this season, combining for just under 100, but this isn’t enough of a barrier. And while the Bolts’ PK setup isn’t foolproof, Bishop cannot be expected to keep putting everyone on his back, even though he will anyway.

Again, simple things that can be worked on tonight against a simple team.

The Hurricanes walk into Amalie Arena with very little threat. Carolina is 3-7-0 in its last 10 games, and its top liners are slacking. Eric Staal, Riley Nash, Jiri Tlusty, and Elias Lindholm have all been held pointless in the month of December, while Jeff Skinner has only notched a goal and assist. Cam Ward’s save percentage is .916 with 1.8 GAA in his last 5 games, but his consistency is scattered at best.

The Canes are still eyeing the return of forward Jordan Staal, who’s been out of the lineup indefinitely from a broken leg suffered in the preseason. The third youngest Staal brother has begun skating in team practices, but still has no set return date.

The Lightning are fortunate to face another weak Metropolitan Division team tonight, as the typical attitude in a matchup like this would contain little concern. In Tampa Bay’s case though, that mentality has to stop. It's time to get it together. Tonight is the opportunity to remind everyone why this team is still one of the best by joining the Islanders, Ducks, and Blackhawks for most wins in the league.

Ron Hainsey chose a bad time to kick the puck in his own net.

With his team tied with the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period at one goal apiece on Thursday, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov had the puck on his stick and a game-defining decision to make.

Should he pass the puck to his teammate or take the shot himself?

But then another option appeared in the form of Ron Hainsey.

Whoops. Just like that, the Carolina Hurricanes lost the lead and the game thanks to an own goal. That about sums up their season so far.

(H/T @MyRegularFace)

Backup goalie Evgeni Nabokov was fantastic in net and the Lightning took advantage of fortunate bounces as they snap their two-game losing streak with a 2-1 win, decided in the final seconds, over the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Thursday night.

In a game that was about as even as you can get between two teams, the Lightning came out on top in a duel of stellar performances by both goaltenders, Tampa Bay's Evgeni Nabokov and Carolina's Cam Ward. Until the final seconds, neither team had an advantage of more than one or two in shots taken and ultimately, the Bolts won because they were the beneficiaries of two crucial mistakes by the Hurricanes.

"A couple weird ones. When you work hard and stick with the plan, pucks go your way and when you don't, (like) the last couple of games, they don't go your way. It's nice to see a couple of good bounces." - Steven Stamkos

The Lightning started out well at the beginning of the game, however any momentum they tried to build was erased by two penalties. Fortunately, they were able to kill off the ensuing power plays, as well as a third penalty against them later in the period. Both Nabokov and Ward made a number of remarkable saves during the opening period, effectively setting the tone for the game.

There was no score through the first two periods and the Lightning got on the board first thanks to Ward's only real mistake of the game, which really wasn't even his fault. With the Lightning on the power play, Anton Stralman dumped the puck in along the glass. Ward went behind the net in anticipation of stopping the puck there. Instead, it took a flukey bounce and slid right through the empty crease where Nikita Kucherov swooped in to tap it home. Stralman and Nabokov were credited with the assists and the time of the goal was 6:35.

If anybody thought the one goal might be enough, almost understandable considering how both goalies had been playing, their bubble was burst at 12:03 when John-Michael Liles tied it for Carolina, getting assists from Riley Nash and Andrej Sekera.

The clock continued to run and just when it was pretty apparent that things were headed to overtime and possibly an extended shootout, last-minute heroics presented themselves in the form of the second big Carolina error of the night. With :30.6 seconds remaining, Kucherov attempted to pass from the left circle to Tyler Johnson on the right side of the net. The puck hit Carolina defender Ron Hainsey's skate and deflected past Ward for the game winner. Alex Killorn and Matthew Carle picked up assists on the play.

Fortunate bounces or not, it's doubtful the Lightning come out on top in this without an outstanding effort from beginning to end by Nabokov.

"He's an unbelievable teammate. He works extremely hard in practice. Tonight was hopefully a game that can give him some confidence because he's played some really good hockey games and some of them he hasn't won because we were not able to score. It was nice to see some bounces for us and for him to get the win." - Stamkos

Having salvaged a disappointing homestand with the win (banking four of a possible eight points), the Lightning will now head out on a five-game road trip and will be in action again on Saturday when they visit the Washington Capitals. They'll return to home ice on December 23 to host the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Game notes:

• Both teams came into tonight's game on losing streaks Tampa Bay with a two-game skid and Carolina having dropped three straight.
• The Lightning haven't lost three in a row since the beginning of March, 2014, part of what eventually stretched to a five-game streak.
• The Lightning are now 31-19-1 all-time at home against Carolina.
• Of the 102 goals the Lightning have scored so far this season, 37 of them have come in the third period..
• The Lightning are now 13-2-3 when scoring first.
• The Lightning honored Dan Campbell as the 17th Lightning Community Hero of the year during the first period of tonight's game. Campbell, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, will donate the money to Metropolitan Ministries Pasco. Campbell lives a life of service dedicated to serving those in need and ending homelessness in Pasco County. His inspiration was ignited while serving at a Church camp and a young girl wearing her father's boxers asked if she could bring her lunch home to share with her family. From that day forward, Campbell has been on a mission to serve the needs of those living in poverty. He has developed partnerships to provide food, utility assistance, clothing, adult education, and after school care to those in need residing in Pasco County. His efforts have impacted over 30,000 families in need and attracted over 10,000 volunteers to help carry out his mission. Tonight's Lightning Community Hero has generated community support to open a new commercial kitchen that would serve 2,000 meals daily to those in need of assistance. He has also helped raise $ 1.6 million in county and state funds to build emergency shelter housing. From 2008-2011, Campbell served as President of the Coalition for the Homelessness in Pasco and organized the Ten-Year plan to End Homelessness in Pasco. Campbell's choice for donation, Metropolitan Ministries, is a faith-based and community supported non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides care services for the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless with operations in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, and Pasco counties.

Canes lose in final 31 seconds on own goal

The Carolina Hurricanes keep finding new ways to lose and did so again against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night as the game winning goal bounced past Cam Ward off the boot of Ron Hainsey with just 31 seconds left, giving the Bolts a 2-1 win at Amalie Arena.

It was just another of several goals this season which have ended up in the net after being "helped" by a Carolina skater.

Hainsey was trying to break up a pass but appeared to kick the puck into his own net as he reacted.  Nikita Kucherov was credited with the goal, his second of the game and his 11th of the season.

Ward and Evgeni Nabokov had an old fashioned goalie's duel going while both teams had battled through two plus periods of scoreless hockey.  Kucherov broke that up on another fluke goal about six minutes into the third.

During a Tampa Bay powerplay, Anton Stralman rifled the puck along the side boards on an attempt to dump and chase it as his team entered the Carolina zone.  Ward went behind his net, anticipating to play it, but the puck hit a station holding the glass and bounced oddly, directly in front of the net.  Kucherov was right there to poke the puck into the wide open goal to make it 1-0, home team.

To the Hurricanes credit, they fought back to tie the score as a Justin Faulk shot from the point found it's way past Nabokov to make it, 1-1.  Elias Lindholm was in front of the net, something the Canes have been emphasizing of late.

Faulk continues to lead the team in scoring, now with 17 points.

It looked as though the contest would go into overtime but it was not meant to be as Carolina dropped their fourth game in a row.   The Canes have now scored a measly eight goals in their last six games.

Next up will be the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

Game Notes:

• Cam Ward made 25 saves on 27 shots for the loss.  Nabby made 29 saves on 30 Carolina shots.
• The Canes went 0-4 on the powerplay, although they had many good looks.
• Gerbe, Terry, and Faulk led the team with four shots each.  Eric Staal had one.
• The team was credited with just 11 hits, led by Zach Boychuk with two.  The Bolts had 17.
• Everyone had double digits of ice time, led by Faulk with 23:39
• Event Summary stat sheet.
• Bill Peters audio - post game