Justin Faulk tied the game in the third period for Carolina, but Tampa Bay got a second fortunate bounce that ended up in the Hurricanes net with just 31 seconds left, giving the Lightning a 2-1 victory.

A late-game redirection off Ron Hainsey’s skate cost Carolina any points in the standings Thursday, with Tampa Bay scoring twice on flukey bounces to top the punchless Hurricanes, 2-1.

Three Observations

1. Thursday’s game wasn't one the Hurricanes deserved to win. But they also didn't deserve to lose. Two bad bounces felled the Hurricanes and spoiled another good outing by Cam Ward. But the underlying issue continues to be that Carolina cannot generate enough offense to support good defensive efforts.

2. Justin Faulk’s plus-minus (minus-14) will make many second guess his play this season, but the 22-year-old blueliner is blossoming as an offensive player. Faulk scored Carolina’s only goal Thursday, his fifth of the season, and now has 17 points in 28 games. That ties him with Shea Weber and a few others for the 16th-most points by a defensemanin the league this season. The Canes have just 60 goals, so Faulk’s 17 points means he has registered a point on 28.3 percent of Carolina’s goals. Comparatively, Calgary’s Mark Giordano, the league's top scoring defenseman with 30 points, has notched a point on 32.2 percent of the Flames’ 93 tallies.

3. It's time to take a long, hard look at Eric Staal and his future with the Hurricanes. Staal is mired in a five-game pointless streak and has simply not been a difference maker on the ice. Injuries and lack of talent have been legitimate excuses in the past, but now it seems Staal has just settled into being an inconsistent and streaky player. Prior to his past five games, Staal had seven points in the previous six outings, so the talent and ability to produce is still there. But as Staal goes, it seems, so goes the Canes. Right now, Carolina isn't scoring. It's not coincidence that Staal isn't either.

Number To Know

4 — Consecutive games with just one goal for the Hurricanes. Carolina lost all four games, which were all one-goal losses with the exception of Sunday’s game vs. Detroit, when the Red Wings tacked on a late-game empty net goal in a 3-1 win.

Plus

Victor Rask— He didn't show up on the score sheet, but in watching the game one couldn't help but notice that Rask won every battle — in the neutral zone, along the boards, in the defensive zone — against the high-powered Lightning. Rask has only nine points this season — and just three at even strength — but he is already emerging as a major piece in the Hurricanes rebuild.

Minus

Jiri Tlusty— Tlusty has a team-high 10 goals, but he's now gone six games without a point. It's his second six-game run without a point this season, and Carolina could certainly use more consistency from its best secondary scoring threat. The good news for Carolina is Tlusty has done much of his damage on the road this season (nine of his 10 goals have come away from PNC Arena), so perhaps he can work his way out of his funk in Philadelphia and Montreal.

The Canes look to break a four-game losing streak against a team that is strong on home ice.

Carolina Hurricanes at Philadelphia Flyers
December 13, 2014 - 1:00 pm ET
Wells Fargo Center - Philadelphia, PA
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Broad Street Hockey

Fancy Stats

Game Notes

• The Canes are in Philly this afternoon for the first of five games against the Flyers. They swept the Flyers last season with a 4-0-0 record, including their only shootout win in the season finale. It was the first season sweep of the Flyers since the Hurricanes were the 1991-92 Whalers.
• (Sidebar, while on the topic of Whalers and Flyers, check out what was happening 32 years ago this week, courtesy of Broad Street Hockey).
• The Canes come into today's game having mostly held their own against the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night before two unfortunate bounces ended up in the back of the net for a 2-1 loss, their fourth in a row in which the Canes were only able to muster one goal.
• Speaking of those four straight losses... with 19 points in 28 games played, the Canes are on pace for 56 points. They are five points behind their closest opponent in the Eastern Conference, and while Edmonton is technically last in the league with more games played, the Canes are tied with them for the fewest points.
• After tallying his fifth goal Thursday night, Justin Faulk took over the Canes points lead with 17 points and has goals in two straight games. Jeff Skinner is two points away from 200 career points, and Eric Staal is one power-play goal away from 100 career power-play goals.
• The Canes practiced yesterday in Philadelphia. Jordan Staal again skated with the team. Andrej Nestrasil, day to day with an upper body injury, did not skate and is not expected to be in the line-up. Also missing was Jiri Tlusty, with an undisclosed injury requiring treatment and calling his status today into question. Head coach Bill Peters indicated that if Tlusty is not able to play, he will look at a line-up with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
• Led by a goal and an assist from Matt Read, the Flyers opened a four-game home game stand Thursday night with a 4-1 win against the Devils. They have points in their last four games with a 2-0-2 record.
• Seven out of the Flyers' ten wins this season have come at home, where their record is 7-4-2. Outside of last season's sweep, the Canes have not experienced a lot of success playing in Philly, where their record has been 3-6-2 in their last 11 games.
• The Flyers have a top-five power play, and Wayne Simmonds is the straw that stirs the drink. After finishing third in the NHL last season with 15 power play goals, he is ahead of last year's pace with seven power play goals and 11 power play points. He's also a point-per-game player against the Canes, with 13 points (7g, 6a) in 13 games. Joining him is Claude Giroux, with 19 points against the Canes (6g, 13a) in 19 games. Jakub Voracek (10g, 25a) leads the team with 35 points, and Sean Coutourier (6g, 8a) is riding a five-game point streak.
• Hitting the newswire for the Flyers is a story that may sound familiar to Canes fans: a high profile player sitting in the press box. Vincent Lecavalier is out with a lower body injury, after having been a healthy scratch for the last five games.

Potential line-ups

Hurricanes (from Thursday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Alexander Semin (IR lower body), Andrej Nestrasil (DTD upper body), Jay Harrison (healthy), Brett Bellemore (healthy)

Flyers (from Thursday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Kimmo Timonen (blood clot), Ryan White (chest), Vincent Lecavalier (DTD lower body), Carlo Colaiacovo (healthy), Michael Del Zotto (healthy)

Don't forget about today's matinee start.  The game thread will be ready to roll at 12:30 pm. See you there.

Canes drop fifth straight after flat game in Philadelphia

The Carolina Hurricanes lost their fair share of close games this season but this was not one of them as they got thumped by the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers scored just 53 seconds into the game and then made it 2-0 when Wayne Simmonds broke down the Carolina defense then beat Anton Khudobin with an open blast from the circle.

The Flyers dominated the opening period and outshot the Canes, 12-5.

Eric Staal drew a penalty to start off the second, then scored on a wrap-around during the ensuing powerplay to make it,  2-1.  But the Flyers would draw one of their own and scored easily on a tic-tac-toe passing play by Claude Giroux, Simmonds, and Jakub Voracek.

Then, Scott Laughton scored his first NHL career goal less than three minutes later to make it 4-1 and for all intents and purposes, the contest was over.

By the end of the second period, the score was 5-1 and the Flyers had the game won in just two periods.

Khudobin was the surprise starter and looked understandably rusty but the team in front of him gave him little help.  The goalie ended up allowing five goals on 23 shots.

The loss was the fifth straight for the Canes, who are 3-12-0 in their last 15 games.  Their overall 8-18-3 record, for 19 points, keeps them with a solid foothold on last place in the East.  Buffalo and Columbus are closest to them with 24 points each.

They next face the Habs in Montreal on Tuesday night.

Game Notes:

• Not much to mention in the notes.  The Canes ended up with 26 shots on goal but most of them were meaningless.  Staal led the way with six, but was only 21% in the faceoff circle, (4 of 19).
• Jiri Tlusty was a last minute scratch due to an injury so Peters went with seven defensemen.  Justin Faulk played a team high 21:37 while Brad Malone played 11:27.
• "It was over early." Bill Peters audio.
• Event Summary

After a questionable performance against a good team, can the Habs get a win against a questionable team?

The Montreal Canadiens are no strangers to questionable victories.

In fact, they've made something of a habit of winning despite themselves over the last two years, and Friday night made for a dramatic addition to that track record.

On paper, the Kings absolutely smoked the Habs, putting 46 shots on Carey Price while giving up only 20 on Martin Jones. On the ice, the result was the satisfying opposite.

Sparked by an early Jiri Sekac tip, and capped by an outstanding skill play by the same player, the Habs put up a season high six goals, propelling them to a win created as much by goaltending as by offence. The process may be less than sound, but when the margin of victory is four goals, it's hard to argue with how it happened.

Getting back on track is a little easier when the last game's result was two points. Tonight, the Habs have a chance to do just that.

How to Watch

Start time: 7:30 PM ET
In Quebec and Atlantic Canada (French): RDS
In Quebec and Atlantic Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In North Carolina and South Carolina: FoxSports Carolinas
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice

Tale of the Tape

Know Your Enemy

The Carolina Hurricanes are a rebuilding team that has been, to put it mildly, unlucky.

22-year-old Justin Faulk is the team's #1 defenceman. 21-year-old Victor Rask is a top-9 centre. 20-year-old Elias Lindholm has been thrust into the role of top-six winger. All three players have played beyond their years, but without a few key contributors, the team hasn't been able to keep up.

New coach Bill Peters has been immediately confronted by injuries to two of his best forwards, Alexander Semin and Jordan Staal. Players like Rask and Lindholm, not to mention a slew of other unknowns, have played well, keeping the 'canes in the top ten in possession league-wide. Unfortunately, all of that sidelined shooting talent has left the Hurricanes less than dangerous.

When competitive, the Hurricanes were reliant on their torrid first line to drive offensive production. Minus his brother, and his top running mate, Captain Eric Staal has been relegated to playing with the likes of Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry.The result is the second-worst offensive output in the league, ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres at even strength.

The toothless offence, combined with some of the league's worst goaltending from Cam Ward (below-average) and Anton Khudobin (atrocious), has the Hurricanes at the bottom of the PDO table. Accordingly, they're also at bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Last Time Out

The Canadiens allowed the Hurricanes to open the scoring when these last two teams played. Marc Bergevin made sure that would never happen again, signing Drayson Bowman and assigning him to the Bulldogs..

Meanwhile, the Habs solved short-term problem as well, storming back for four goals to rout the Hurricanes.

That most recent Canadiens-Hurricanes contest was characterized a little like Friday night's game, in that the game came during a stretch in which the Habs were often heavily outplayed, and won anyway. Carey Price was lights out for that stretch, not unlike his superlative play when the Habs battled the Kings.

Montreal teams of the last few years have been in that situation quite often, and usually, their insurance policy is usually Price. Facing a team like the Hurricanes, it shouldn't be necessary to make a claim.

Follow @iancmy1

Justin Shugg makes his NHL debut when the Canes take on the Canadiens tonight.

Carolina Hurricanes at Montreal Canadiens
December 16, 2014 - 7:30 pm ET
Bell Centre - Montreal, QC
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Eyes on the Prize

Fancy Stats

Stats via NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• The Hurricanes continue to toil away at the bottom on the NHL standings. They are currently on a five-game losing streak, during which they have not been able to muster more than one goal per game despite generating 161 shots on goal (I believe that equates to a 3.1% conversion rate). They are now on pace for a 54 points.
• The Canes were down to 11 healthy forwards on Saturday against the Flyers, and with no one poised to return this week, Justin Shugg was called up yesterday from the Charlotte Checkers and will make his NHL debut tonight. He becomes the third player from the 2010 draft (behind Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk) to suit up for the Canes. In 17 games this season for the Checkers, Shugg leads the team with nine goals and has eleven points. Shugg won back-to-back Memorial Cups as a member of the Windsor Spitfires in 2009 and 2010, and reached the Memorial Cup final game with Mississauga in 2011. He won an ECHL Kelly Cup title with the Florida Everblades, leading the team with seven playoff goals. A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Shugg (aka Shuggernaut) will have plenty of family at the Bell Centre tonight to witness his first NHL start.
• In order to make roster room for Shugg, Andrej Nestrasil, after missing two games with an upper body injury, was moved to injured reserve, where he will join Alexander Semin, who has missed three games with a lower body injury. Jiri Tlusty was considered a game-time decision on Saturday, but was unable to play and is still out of the line-up as well with an upper body injury. Neither Nestrasil, Semin, nor Tlusty made the trip to Montreal, and all three are undergoing further evaluation and treatment in Raleigh.
• Jordan Staal continues to practice with the team but has not taken contact. Head coach Bill Peters remains hopeful that Jordan can get back into the line-up before the end of December (here's his post-practice audio).
• Jeff Skinner is now one point away from 200 career NHL points.
• After leading the Eastern Conference for most of October and November, the Canadiens took a bit of a dip in the standings after losing three straight on the road. Now back at home and in the middle of a five-game home stand, they're back to winning ways, scoring nine goals combined in two games against the Canucks and Kings. They are 11-3-1 at home this season.
• Tomas Plekanec, P.K. Subban, and Max Pacioretty are tied atop the Montreal scoring ranks with 22 points each. Pacioretty leads the team in goals with 13.
• Rookie Sven Andrighetto made his NHL debut three games ago and has points in all three games played (2g, 1a).
• Forward Lars Eller (upper body) and defenseman Mike Weaver (concussion) have been practicing with the team but remain out with injuries. Former Hurricane Bryan Allen has also been out with an illness but may be able to return to the line-up tonight.
• The Canes will see another familiar face across the face-off circle with Manny Malhotra in the Habs line-up.
• Goaltender Carey Price is a key driver behind Montreal's early season success, with 16 wins. Coming off a first-star performance against the L.A. Kings where he stopped 44 of 46 shots, head coach Michel Therrien has confirmed that he will get the start in net again tonight. Price is 10-5-2 with a 2.35 GAA and two shutouts in 17 career games against the Canes.
• This is the first of three meetings between the Canes and Canadiens this season. The Canadiens won the series last season with two wins and an overtime loss.
• Finally, tonight's player to watch is none other than Canes captain Eric Staal, who scored his 100th career power play goal on Saturday against the Flyers and is a point-per-game player against the Habs with 37 career points in 36 games. Congratulations are in order for Eric and his family as they welcomed a new addition yesterday. If my math is correct, I believe he'll be draft eligible in 2033.

Nice message on the board in the #Canes dressing room today ... congrats Captain on the birth of your newest son! pic.twitter.com/tDqtjJqKBu

— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) December 15, 2014

The Canadiens have a chance to put two points on the board against a weak team, with the McDavid chasing Hurricanes coming to town.

The Montreal Canadiens are no strangers to questionable victories.

In fact, they've made something of a habit of winning despite themselves over the last two years, and Friday night made for a dramatic addition to that track record.

On paper, the Kings absolutely smoked the Habs, putting 46 shots on Carey Price while giving up only 20 on Martin Jones. On the ice, the result was the satisfying opposite.

Sparked by an early Jiri Sekac tip, and capped by an outstanding skill play by the same player, the Habs put up a season high six goals, propelling them to a win created as much by goaltending as by offence. The process may be less than sound, but when the margin of victory is four goals, it's hard to argue with how it happened.

Getting back on track is a little easier when the last game's result was two points. Tonight, the Habs have a chance to do just that.

How to Watch

Start time: 7:30 PM ET
In Quebec and Atlantic Canada (French): RDS
In Quebec and Atlantic Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In North Carolina and South Carolina: FoxSports Carolinas
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice

Tale of the Tape

Know Your Enemy

The Carolina Hurricanes are a rebuilding team that has been, to put it mildly, unlucky.

22-year-old Justin Faulk is the team's #1 defenceman. 21-year-old Victor Rask is a top-9 centre. 20-year-old Elias Lindholm has been thrust into the role of top-six winger. All three players have played beyond their years, but without a few key contributors, the team hasn't been able to keep up.

New coach Bill Peters has been immediately confronted by injuries to two of his best forwards, Alexander Semin and Jordan Staal. Players like Rask and Lindholm, not to mention a slew of other unknowns, have played well, keeping the 'canes in the top ten in possession league-wide. Unfortunately, all of that sidelined shooting talent has left the Hurricanes less than dangerous.

When competitive, the Hurricanes were reliant on their torrid first line to drive offensive production. Minus his brother, and his top running mate, Captain Eric Staal has been relegated to playing with the likes of Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry.The result is the second-worst offensive output in the league, ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres at even strength.

The toothless offence, combined with some of the league's worst goaltending from Cam Ward (below-average) and Anton Khudobin (atrocious), has the Hurricanes at the bottom of the PDO table. Accordingly, they're also at bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Last Time Out

The Canadiens allowed the Hurricanes to open the scoring when these last two teams played. Marc Bergevin made sure that would never happen again, signing Drayson Bowman and assigning him to the Bulldogs..

Meanwhile, the Habs solved short-term problem as well, storming back for four goals to rout the Hurricanes.

That most recent Canadiens-Hurricanes contest was characterized a little like Friday night's game, in that the game came during a stretch in which the Habs were often heavily outplayed, and won anyway. Carey Price was lights out for that stretch, not unlike his superlative play when the Habs battled the Kings.

Montreal teams of the last few years have been in that situation quite often, and usually, their insurance policy is usually Price. Facing a team like the Hurricanes, it shouldn't be necessary to make a claim.

Follow @iancmy1

With the Hurricanes blowing in Montreal hopes to keep the good times rolling at home.

How are the Caroline Hurricanes built? Well they're made up of a guy the Leafs didn't want (John Michael Liles), a guy the Leafs thought they wanted, but really didn't (Tim Gleason), another guy the Leafs didn't want (Jiri Tlusty), and yet another guy the Leafs didn't want (or couldn't afford) in Jay McClement. Throw in a guy named Michal Jordan who doesn't even wear the number 23 (come on!) and two former Sabres, and you basically have the island of Misfit Toys - don't even get me started on the guy who refused to play for the Mooseheads.

There are some very good pieces on Carolina - Faulk, Lindholm, Skinner at times, the Staals when healthy, but in the end the team looks and plays like a collection of spare parts. A discount store for other teams shopping for something at the deadline. I don't mean this as an offense - this is coming from a team that once featured Oleg Petrov as its leading scorer. We know cast-offs (see: Dackell, Andreas and Kilger, Chad).

Speaking of which*... Bryan Allen has recovered from the flu, so there's a chance he replaces someone on the back end. More news as it becomes available. Mike Weaver and Lars Eller both skated, but wore non-contact jerseys. Eric Tangradi has been recalled, but I envision no circumstances in which he plays in tonight's game. Aside from a possible change on the back end, this will be the same team that faced the Kings on Friday.

*Former Ducks Kilger and Allen - what did you think I meant?

Puck drop is at 7:30 PM ET (9 PM in Newfoundland). You can watch:

In Canada (English): Sportsnet-East
In Canada (French): RDS
In the Canes' Region:FS-CR
Elsewhere: NHL Center Ice or NHL Gamecenter Live

Injured: Mike Weaver, Bryan Allen, Lars Eller

Scratched: Eric Tangradi

As for the Canes, here's how they're shaping up

Scratched: Jay Harrison

Injured: Jordan Staal, Brett Bellemore, Alexander Semin, Andrej Nestrasil, Jiri Tlusty

Check out the opposing side at Canes Country

Follow @Mark_Black

The year of the Galchenyuk continues!

Pregame:

• My 1st time writing the Top Six Minutes was a Hurricanes game about a year ago. The Habs blew a 3-0 lead in the 3rd period and lost 5-4 in overtime.
• Cam Ward is in nets, who I forever remember as the guy who stepped in to help the 'Canes steal a playoff series vs MTL in 2006 after Justin "Hacksaw" Williams tried to poke out Saku's eye. But I'm not bitter at all about that.
• I know his 2 goals on 3 shots aren't sustainable but I want another Andrighetto goal so we can spam #GhettoBlaster on Twitter

1st Period:

• Therrien is being Therrien to start the game by inserting Weise with Plekanec and Sekac for the first shift of the game.
• Bill Peters looks like the stern vice principal of a school drama
• Weise now taking a 2nd shift on the Plekanec line. That'll teach Andrighetto to score a point in each of his first 3 games, just showed no respeck doing that.
• Parenteau generates the 1st scoring chance of the game, no dice but good timing to seize on the giveaway.
• Galchenyuk's line is doing lots of nice things, their cycle game is already the best on the team.
• Desharnais outwaits Ward, Carolina's D forgets there are other guys on the ice leaving Desharnais to feed Prust who nets what you could qualify as an empty-netter. 1-0 Habs!
• Sportsnet says Therrien hasn't touched the line of Andrighetto-Plekanec-Sekac when they have yet to play a shift together in this game. 12 more years...
• It is amazing no matter what the opponent, Emelin-Gonchar makes the opposing forwards look like the 90s Red Wings.
• A buzzing Gallagher nearly made it 2-0, but 'buzzing' is a redundant word when it comes to Gallagher.
• Parenteau-Desharnais really seem to have something going since they were lined up together, big positive for the team regardless of how you may feel about DD.
• Power play! And Gallagher rings the post. No crueler sound in hockey when your team has the puck.
• Gonchar Desharnais'd that.
• Wow that went by fast. Great period for Montreal, 13-4 SOG.
• Andrighetto with a team-low 2:47 in the 1st period, Weise with 4:03.

2nd Period:

• That's a pretty weak call on Gonchar, hope it doesn't haunt the boys. PK time. Not to be confused with P.K. time.
• And the Whalercanes blow the power play just like that, 4-on-4 time!
• Shot on Price, who mostly spent the 1st period reading on his Kindle.
• Rough shift for Gilbert there.
• And another questionable call, this time on Gallagher. 'Canes games and bad officiating, unavoidable at this point.
• As noted by Andrew Berkshire on the twitters, Pacioretty has become one hell of a penalty killer.
• It would be nice if the Habs figured out they're playing the last-place team in the Conference during this period.
• And finally some life. Prust grabs the puck in the D zone to push an end-to-end rush that almost finishes on a Desharnais goal but the puck skips on his stick.
• Hurricanes didn't seem to have a chance on that one, Gallagher slips a check in his own zone to feed Markov who skates it in to feed Pacioretty, who spots Galchenyuk all alone in the right circle and finishes to give Montreal a 2-0 lead. You couldn't have drawn it up any nicer.
• Plekanec and Sekac look so good together, then you see the cement block that is Weise on their line. And of course, Sportsnet talks him up like he's actually helping.
• Power play for the Habs, I have no idea who Justin Shugg is but he kinda looks like an asshole with that one.
• Goalie interference on Parenteau, who now gets to shed his perimeter player reputation. 4-on-4 time again.
• Staal steals the puck from Subban and goes in for a chance, this video will now be used for 11 years on how PK is bad at defence.
• I can't be the only who is getting disoriented by hearing Rask and it not being in the context of a Boston game.
• Ice times to be upset about update: Beaulieu with 6:55 through 40 minutes, Bournival with 5:30, Andrighetto with 5:02

3rd Period:

• Great PK shift for Prust. The difference between when he's healthy and not is such that it makes you wonder why the coaching staff are always so eager to play him hurt. It isn't like they can't tell at this point.
• Galchenyuk draws a penalty!
• Beaulieu just has no luck this season when he's up with the Habs. Does everything right to generate points but never a reward.
• UGH! Skinner started last year's 3rd-period comeback as well. Habs now have a 2-1 lead with plenty of time to blow this. And having 13:13 left on the clock is hardly a friendly number if you are superstitious.
• Pacioretty-Galchenyuk-Gallagher being the most dangerous offensive line for the Habs ensures that Therrien will break them up at the earliest opportunity, but let's enjoy it for now.
• Markov's having one of his best games of the season tonight, set up a goal, passes are hitting their mark pretty often and some great own-zone coverage.
• Malhotra hauled down but no call, are we in Ignore the Rulebook territory or "Letting Them Play" as traditionalists know it?
• Hey guess what happened to the 'ol fancy stats when Subban was benched by Therrien for a bit...
• This is feeling WAY TOO MUCH like the game I did last year. Habs are braindead in the 3rd and the coach is doing what exactly?
• Carey Price's biography will be titled "A Solitary Journey"
• Alex Galchenyuk, better at deking than Ward is at goaltending. 3-1 Habs after Pacioretty sprung his centre at the line.
• ALEX GALCHENYUK HAT TRICK!!!!
• Max Pacioretty had all 3 primary assists on Galchenyuk's hat trick, so it's basically the opposite of how we thought those two might generate a hat trick.
• One more power play!
• And one more disappointment to go with it.
• Games against the Hurricanes shouldn't be this nerve-wracking, but fortunately Galchenyuk-Pacioretty saved the day, almost like it makes sense to have your two best forwards play together.
• Habs are now 3-0-1 when I do Top Six, you're welcome.

Three Stars:

1. On the idea of Allen playing another game

2. Therrien may be a secret expert at something! 

3. And you people do some weird stuff with your cats

Galchenyuk's hat trick can be viewed in all its glory here.

Galchenyuk scores hat trick for Habs - Canes lose sixth straight

The Montreal Canadiens broke open a close game late in the third period as Alex Galchenyuk scored two goals within 1:09 to lead the Habs to a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night.

Galchenyuk finished with his first career hat trick as the Hurricanes dropped their sixth game in a row.

The home team had a fast start and jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Brandon Prust knocked a puck into an empty net about nine minutes into the first period.  Cam Ward was drawn out of the crease on the play and no one could tie up Prust who had set up in front of the Carolina net.

The Habs outshot the Canes, 13-4 in the opening period, with the help of a late period powerplay and some lackluster play by the visitors.

The second period was a bit better for the Canes but Montreal took a 2-0 lead on a pretty passing play by Andrei Markov, Max Pacioretty, and Galchunyek.  Carolina had more shots in that period, 11-6.

The Hurricanes finally got on the board 6:47 into the third when Carey Price lost track of a Jeff Skinner shot.  Victor Rask whacked at Price's leg pad and the puck went into the net, so Rask was given credit for the goal.

Price had another good game, par for the course for him as he made 25 saves on 26 shots.  Ward stopped 25 of 29.

The Canadiens broke the game open when Galchenyuk scored his second with just 3:19 left in the game.  The young star broke in the Carolina zone alone and beat Ward to put the game away.   But just a minute and change later, he would score again on another nice feed from Pacioretty to complete the first trifecta of his career.

This loss pushes Carolina deeper into last place in the East as they are now eight points behind the Flyers and nine points behind the Devils, Sabres, and Blue Jackets.   .

The Canes will return home looking for some healthy bodies to return to the ice as they next face the red hot Toronto Maple Leafs at the PNC on Thursday night.

Game Notes:

• Alex Semin, Andrej Nestrasil, and Jiri Tlusty all missed this game due to various injuries.  Jordan Staal of course was also out but could return soon as he is practicing with the team.
• The Canes had a horrendous night in the faceoff circle and only won 39% for the game.  Eric Staal was low man with 31%.  Manny Malhotra won 79% for Montreal.
• Ron Hainsey led the way with four blocked shots.  The team had 11.
• The team was credited with 26 hits led by Brad Malone with five.
• Event Summary stat page

As the Oilers go full Oilers, Craig MacTavish may be looking to ship out their top star. Could Dallas ever land Taylor Hall? Also, an amazing 20-round shootout happened last night.

Darren Dreger had a worthwhile TSN Radio segment the other day as he did some, ahem, forensic analysis of the Oilers after their firing of "not-to-blame, but you're fired anyway" Dallas Eakins.  Check it out here.

The big takeaway from the Oil Change (another joke, there) is that Taylor Hall is rumored to be playing the wrong way.  He's even been referred to as "uncoachable" by a Dreger source that may or may not be Dallas Eakins.  Would Taylor Hall really in this universe get traded in the prime of his young career?  We're talking about either the top or the second-best left winger in hockey, drafted one spot ahead of Tyler Seguin.  We're talking about one of the first players identified as bringing hope to what has been a moribund (no one ever uses that word outside of sports teams, I've noticed) franchise for quite a while now after a sniff at the Cup Final back in 2006.  This would kind of be analogous to the Stars trading Seguin after being terrible for a while.  Do you want to imagine a world were management is seriously talking about trading Tyler Seguin to help your team get better? That is not a world I want to think about.  That is how bad things are in Edmonton, and their fans think about it all the time, lately.  How does Hall feel about it?

You hear things," said Hall, who was a hot topic on Monday’s rumour mill. "Whether the rumours are true, you never really know (but) the best teams in the league don’t break up their core. They’re not trading guys because they’re winning so it’s on us to improve and do whatever we can to get respectability back this year."

*snip*

"It’s tough. I got drafted by the Oilers and I love the franchise. I love the city. Standing here today, having a new coach, really makes you look in mirror and wonder what you’ve done wrong. I certainly do that."  [Edmonton Journal]

But hey, there is a bright side to all of this doom and gloom.  Not really for Edmonton, mind, as Craig MacTavish is bound and determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious misery behind the franchise (for which he either bears no responsibility or has "blood on [his] hands," depending on which MacTavish you've spoken with over the last couple of weeks.)  Perhaps old Craiggers still has some tricks up his sleeve, however, as the Oilers did manage to extract a point out of mighty Arizona last night before losing in OT with 0.3 seconds left on an OEL goal assisted by, obviously, Sam Gagner.  That might be a perfect encapsulation of the franchise right now, but it's probably best not to think about it too much.  Maybe a little bit is okay.  (Arizona, guys.  This was not good. Come on.)

The bright side, of course, is for the other 29 teams in the league who suddenly have the prospect of acquiring one of the best players in the game.  Taylor Hall is signed through 2020 with a $6 million cap hit according to CapGeek, which never lies.  He has a scoring line of 100-143=243 in 271 games played.  He has played for the terrible Oilers (i.e. the Oilers) his entire career, and he has still put up those numbers.  If you wonder how long Hall could sustain that production (barring another friendly knee from a Brown alumnus), well, you are not alone:

Think of it this way: At the end of this year, the Oilers’ best player, Taylor Hall, will have played five NHL seasons. He’ll have played zero postseason games. He’ll never even have finished within single digits of a playoff spot. Without putting too fine a point on it, you could argue that Hall will have been in Edmonton for half a decade without ever playing a meaningful NHL game.

What does that do to a player? It’s hard to say. And yet any reasonable plan for an Oilers’ renaissance would feature Hall in a leading role, both one the ice and in the dressing room. When the losing finally stops, maybe Hall will be ready. Then again, maybe he’ll be a shell. It’s no sure thing, and the Oilers should stand as a warning to teams like the Sabres and Hurricanes who seem intent on following that rebuild blueprint, wherever it might lead them.  [Grantland]

Of course the mere whisper of a player like Hall becoming available (and in this case, it's more of a "partly deaf person in a dentist's office whisper" that everyone everywhere hears clearly) causes GMs to salivate.  One can only imagine what other teams thought back in 2013 when they saw Tyler Seguin being moved.  ("Wait, we could have gotten THAT guy?!  Aw, I should check my MySpace messages more often.")  But it is certainly possible that in this case, the overt trade talk is intended to drive Hall's price up past Kingly Ransom to somewhere around Collective Global Offering to Appease Space Alien Threatening Earth's Existence.  If we're talking about Jim Nill actually mentioning players, what would this look like, and would the Stars even want to consider it?

Well, we know the Oilers have needs:  In no particular order, it's probably something like a 2-center behind RNH, Top-flight defensemen, and goaltending.  (They're totally set other than that, though.  Actually, not really, even.)  Also, because you're acquiring Taylor Hall, you'll be expected to toss in some draft picks in case the NHL players flee to Pakistan rather than report to Edmonton.  That way MacTavish at least has something to show for his efforts.

So before you start drooling over the thought of Taylor Hall, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin all dressing up in Valentine's Day gear together, let's posit a theory before you all let lose with your wild and fanciful speculation.  The least I could ever see the Stars giving up would probably center (get it) around Jason Dickinson or Devin Shore, then Goligoski or any other NHL-ready defenseman Edmonton wanted except for Klingberg, because the Stars right now cannot afford to lose him. Throw in someone like Nichushkin (although I wonder if MacTavish would be shy about getting another player yet to really break out) or, if you're padding with some nice picks, Roussel or Eakin, and you might have a deal.  Would you trade (Any D but Klingberg), Roussel or Eakin, Shore or Dickinson + a 2015 first and a 2016 second round pick for Taylor Hall and one other player or pick Edmonton will throw in?  That is probably the cheapest package MacTavish would even look at from Jim Nill without trying to fire him, if my wild guess can be relied upon.  (But it can't.  Nobody knows.  You don't know, I don't know.  I'm not going to act like I know; this is just playing with names until it "feels" right without making me sad.  And that usually means you're not really putting in the pieces other teams really want from your team.  I felt sad about Loui and Reilly Smith leaving, even with Tyler Seguin coming to town.  That's what it takes to get that level of player: making us kind of sad.  What a cruel world.)

Alternatively, Edmonton might in Crazyworld be willing to talk about Kari Lehtonen+, but that's a dicey proposition for Dallas, since they don't have anyone ready to replace him--and Fasth or Scrivens isn't exactly going to solve a problem in net.  Not to mention that 2014-2015 Kari Lehtonen isn't exactly buying magazine ads for himself these days. (Yet.  Please get better, Kari!)

Realistically, these  aren't the type of trades we've seen Nill make.  He generally works quietly behind the scenes then surprises everyone with what usually looks like a somewhat balanced deal at the time, if you squint a little.  Are the Stars going to acquire Taylor Hall?  No, they really probably are not.  But just imagine if they did, and if you would even be happy about it after you saw the price tag.  Players like Hall are, in theory, worth whatever it takes to get them; but players like Hall usually don't get dealt unless the deal can be gussied up pretty well from the player's former organization.  It's tough to find a realistic trade scenario that also makes the Stars significantly better than they've been this year, since Hall doesn't really solve the issues at hand.

We are talking about Jim Nill, though.

* * * * *

Wednesday Links are, at long last, game day links.  You can just smell the freshness from here.

You've surely seen this picture by now, but if not, check out Seguin and his buddies in their jammies.  (Don't worry, it's unrelated to SNL's Jammy Shuffle.)  [Instagram]

Mark Stepneski catches you up on the Texas Stars.  [Stars]

This UAE writer is not a huge Stars fan, apparently.  [The National]

Winnipeg's Jacob Trouba has been shut down for six weeks after an upper-body injury began to worsen.  [Winnipeg Sun]

The Kings revealed their Stadium Series sweaters yesterday, and they are almost interesting.  Not quite, but almost.  Grey and white and grey and white and black and grey and white and grey.  Also, here's a little advice for Mr. Kings: Your logo is awful and you won the cup in spite of it.  Your logo is like somebody took a white magic marker and scribbled something down in the lobby after their two-year-old accidentally printed forty pages of nothing but black ink.  [NHL Shop]

I would like to offer my condolences to Ryan Garbutt.  When is a spear not a spear?  When it's Corey Perry or John Tavares.  [Puck Daddy]

With a tip o' the cap to Graham Jenkins, check out these amazing one-star Yelp reviews of NHL arenas.  I think my favorite complaint is, "It's too big."  [imgur]

Barry Trotz has a beautiful family, as you will see in the Epix (EPIX?) series, Road to the Winter Classic or whatever it's called.  Seriously, though, I have become a big Barry Trotz fan since his arrival in Washington.  [NHL Video]

Finally, OH MY GOODNESS A 20-ROUND SHOOTOUT.  Did you ever want to see what Jussi Jokinen would do if he had to go again after scoring with his B move earlier?  Well, now you can.  This just gets insane, as the NHL record was set last night between Florida and Washington:

Galchenyuk's first career hat-trick lifted the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. And boy was it pretty!

When David Desharnais' pretty deke drew Cam Ward from his net opening up Brandon Prust for the first goal of the game, I got the feeling David was going to have a good game. Apart from a soft play on Carolina's only goal scorer of the night, Victor Rask, he did.

Photo credit: hockeystats.ca

But it was Alex Galchenyuk who stole the show with his first career hat-trick to sink the Hurricanes in a 4-1 win. Playing only 14 minutes, four less than the aforementioned Desharnais, Galchenyuk proved why he is the franchise's future-and arguably present-at the center position.

For all the times that we've heard that Max Pacioretty and Desharnais are inseparable, look no further than the three assists Pacioretty racked up on #27's goals. Both forwards can put the puck in the net which makes them a difficult duo to contain. Toss in the hardworking play from Brendan Gallagher and what you have one of the best first lines in the league blossoming in Montreal.

Given Therrien's line juggling tendencies, it's unlikely we've seen the end of a Pacioretty-Desharnais partnership this season. But don't expect it anytime soon. Since the Canadiens' new number one line was assembled the team has three straight wins and outscored opponents 13-4.

The pressure is on Desharnais to reinvent himself and find a new niche among the team's top nine forwards. Whether or not he sees spot duty back on the top line again, the writing is on the wall. Galchenyuk is making the most of his opportunities at center and Desharnais' time is running out.

The situation will be complicated by Lars Eller's return in about a week's time. I wouldn't be surprised to see Galchenyuk slotted back to Plekanec's wing, at least temporarily. But why break up a good thing? Chemistry is brewing between two highly skilled offensive players. Let them play!

The best case scenario would see Desharnais shifted over the wing where he's had some success earlier in his career. If a diminutive rookie of Sven Andrighetto's stature can put up three points in four games, why can't Desharnais find success there? Alas, I digress...

To Carolina's credit, they came into the Bell Centre and played a decent road game. Carey Price stood tall, as usual, turning aside 25 of the 26 shots he faced. You have to feel bad that he didn't notch the shutout. Price made the initial save but Rask was able to power through Desharnais to poke the puck in over the line 6:47 into the third period.

Fortunately Montreal was able to stave off the comeback and hold on for their 20th win of the season. With only two points separating the top four teams in the Canadiens' division, you get the feeling one bad slump could have your team dogging it for a Wild Card position.

The Habs next two games are at home, including the next one against the Anaheim Ducks on Saku Koivu night. The former Captain will be honored before the game in which the only two NHL teams he ever played for face off.

Finally, I encourage you to check out Galchenyuk's hat-trick in its entirety right here!

ONE is the common theme for the Hurricanes this month. They have only won ONE game this December, they have only scored ONE goal in every game this month except ONE. And probably most importantly, because of all the losing, they currently have the best odds of drafting number ONE and picking up an unbelievable player.

Sorry I've been away for a while, I had a family matter to deal with, but I'm back now.  I see not much has changed for our beloved Hurricanes.  They continue to lose and do so in such a non-entertaining way.  The team simply doesn't appear to have enough skill and doesn't seem to be competing hard enough to win games in the NHL.  This team is in a very sad state and needs a enema (sorry if that is offensive to anybody).  I believe that EVERYBODY now can see the writing on the wall, but does that mean management will finally start breaking things down for the inevitable rebuild?  I guess time will tell, but on to the weekly stats.  Here are the stats for the week of 12/10/14 through 12/16/14.

Canes Weekly Stats

Weekly Advanced Stats

The chart is arranged by the highest 5 on 5 Close Corsi For Percentage.

Here is a little key to some of my abbreviations. AS – All Situations, 5C – 5 on 5 Close, CF% - Corsi For Percentage, FF% - Fenwick For Percentage, SF% - Shots For Percentage, OZst% - Offensive Zone Start Percentage, NZst% - Neutral Zone Start Percentage and DZst% - Defensive Zone Start Percentage. If you would like more advanced statistics, this information was collected from www.war-on-ice.com.

Weekly Studs

Jeff Skinner– Picking studs this week is like finding the prettiest girl in a bar full of ugly women.  But Skinner was decent this week.  He ended up tied for the team lead in goals and points.  He also led the team in takeaways with 3 and had really nice possession numbers.  I think we would all still like to see him do more, but at least he’s not invisible.  It looks like this is become more of Skinner & Faulk’s team and they need to do what they can to lead by example.

Nathan Gerbe– Here’s a case when stats don’t really tell the whole story.  Gerbe had no goals or assists and was pretty much average in the possession area on the team.  But of everybody on the ice, he consistently showed the most heart and effort.  Grebe did lead the team with 12 shots and goal and had an Even rating on a team that was outscored by 8.  If everybody else could put forth the same compete level that Gerbe does, this team would be quite different.

Justin Faulk– I’m not really sure anybody deserves this last spot, but I’ll give it to Faulk.  He did score 1 of the Canes 3 goals this week and ended up a +1.  He tied for 1st on the team with 6 hits and was 2^nd with 9 shots on goal.  Whether he can be the Canes #1 defender is still in question, but he has many of the tools, Peters just has to refine some issues and get everything put together.  Like I mentioned above, this looks like it is becoming Skinner & Faulk’s team and they need to play like it for the rest of the season.

Weekly Duds

The Offense– I know the team is suffering with some injuries and it isn’t the most skilled team in the league, but 6 straight games of only scoring 1 goal?  Our defense isn’t good, but there were winnable games in this stretch, we just can’t put the puck in the back of the net.  Everything we do offensively just looks like a struggle.  This is on the players, because they should know how to score by now and it’s somewhat on the coaching staff.  You just can’t win a lot of games by only scoring 1 goal and it’s not helping with attendance, because scoring is exciting.  This rut needs to be addressed and rather quickly.

Chris Terry– It’s tough picking on Terry, because he is what he is and does put forth effort.  He started the season rather well with 5 points in the first 5 games.  But since then he has 2 points and both were in the same game and that occurred on November 2^nd.  Terry isn’t getting a tremendous amount of opportunities, but he is getting some and isn’t really doing anything with them.  His -4 rating was the worst among the forward ranks and he just doesn’t provide a lot of other things.  Francis gave him a $600K NHL salary and a $300K AHL salary and that’s a lot of money for what appears to be an AHL player.

Anton Khudobin– What a difference a year makes.  Dobby was suppose to be our primary goaltender and looked awesome last season.  But he is not looking the same this year and that could be a result of very limited starts.  The coaching staff has loaded up on Cam (surprising isn’t it?) and Dobby hasn’t been able to get in any sort of groove.  When he does get to play, he really looks like he is fighting the puck and the Flyers game was pretty damn bad.  His teammates aren’t helping him either, but you have to wonder if he’s regretting signing that contract extension with Carolina.

Weekly Team Stats

Former Canes Weekly Stats

In which a team on a six-game losing streak hosts a team on a six-game winning streak.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
December 18, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Pension Plan Puppets

Fancy Stats

Stats via NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• The Hurricanes and Maple Leafs are streaking, but in opposite directions. The Canes have lost six straight and the Leafs have won six straight. This is the first of three times the teams will meet this season. Last season the Canes won two of three, and they haven't lost a series to the Leafs since the 2006-07 season, and they've won six out of the last seven at PNC Arena. Over the last 22 games in which the teams have faced each other, the Canes have scored four or more goals in 11 of those games.
• The Hurricanes closed out a three-game road swing on Tuesday with a 4-1 loss to the Canadiens in Montreal. In addition to the sixth straight loss, it was the sixth straight game in which they were held to one lone goal. Head coach Bill Peters admitted it was a first for him to see a team dry up this much on offense and that the challenge he faces in his first season here as head coach might be a little bigger than he first realized.
• The Canes held a limited skate yesterday. All players who were in the line-up Tuesday are expected to be available, and none of the injured players are due back, so there won't be significant line-up changes. They'll skate at RCI this morning at 10:30 (NCSU graduation at PNC).
• After scoring the solo Canes goal Tuesday night, his 200th career NHL point, Jeff Skinner has points in his last two games. Skinner is a point-per-game player against the Leafs (13 points in 12 games) along with Eric Staal (37 points in 35 games), Alexander Semin (24 points in 23 games), John-Michael Liles (9 points in 7 games), and Elias Lindholm (3 points in 1 game).
• There are five Canes on the active roster with ties to the Leafs organization. Jay Harrison and Jiri Tlusty were drafted by the Leafs and made their NHL starts there, and more recently, John-Michael Liles and Tim Gleason spent at least part of last season there before/after being traded for each other. Jay McClement will face the Leafs for the first time after two years on their roster.
• The Leafs have come a long way since their 9-2 loss to the Predators on November 18th and the ensuing 'Salute-gate' following a win two nights later. They have been red hot, clicking at a 10-1-1 record over their last 12 games.
• Their last win was a convincing 6-2 defeat of the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. David Booth scored the game-winning goal, his first as a Maple Leaf after suffering a broken foot that kept him out for the early part of the Leafs season.
• Roman Polak is ready to reenter the Leafs line-up tonight after suffering a knee injury on November 22nd. Brandon Kozum was placed on waivers yesterday in anticipation of Polak's return. If Polak returns, he will likely replace Korbinian Holzer in the line-up.
• Phil Kessel leads the Leafs in goals (17) and points (34) and has points in five straight games. He's followed by James van Riemsdyk with 28 points (13g, 15a) and Tyler Bozak with 27 (12g, 15a).
• Jonathan Bernier is receiving the majority of the reps in net. He has 13 wins in 22 starts, and in his last four starts, all wins, he's stopped 143 of 149 shots for a .960 save percentage.
• The Leafs won't skate today, so any roster updates won't be known until closer to game time.

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (from Tuesday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Alexander Semin (IR lower body), Andrej Nestrasil (IR upper body), Jiri Tlusty (upper body), John-Michael Liles (upper body), Brett Bellemore (healthy)

Injuries and Scratches: Roman Polak (IR, knee), Leo Komarov (concussion), Carter Ashton (suspension)

The Canes are back in black tonight, and it's a College Select night with discounts available for upper and lower level tickets. Good seats are still available for this one.

It's Paul Maurice's third reunion with the defenseman, who fetches a sixth-round pick.

It may be nothing, or it may be the start of a fire sale, but either way, the Carolina Hurricanes beat the holiday trade deadline with a minor deal Thursday afternoon.

The Canes shipped defenseman Jay Harrison to the Winnipeg Jets, receiving a sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft that originally belonged to the Ottawa Senators. Harrison, in his sixth season with the Hurricanes, has endured a miserable start to the season, posting four points in 20 games while suffering two injuries and serving as a healthy scratch on occasion. Harrison averaged a little over 14 minutes per game this season, playing mostly with Tim Gleason and John-Michael Liles on the Canes' third pairing.

Harrison joins a Jets team in turmoil. The injury-riddled Jets lost defenseman Mark Stuart in a fight against Buffalo on Tuesday, the fourth blueliner that the team has lost for an extended period of time. Stuart and Jacob Trouba are expected to be out until February, with Toby Enstrom and Zach Bogosian on the sidelines until mid-January. Harrison joins Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice for the third time in his career, having played under Maurice with the Toronto Maple Leafs before starting his stint with the Hurricanes.

According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman...

Carolina is retaining approximately 25 per cent of Harrison's salary.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 18, 2014

...which indicates that the Canes will be on the hook for around $375,000 each of the next two seasons.

(Edit: ESPN's Craig Custance puts a more concrete number on Friedman's "approximately":

Told that Carolina is retaining 30 percent of Jay Harrison's salary in trade with Winnipeg.

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) December 18, 2014

...which places the retained salary at $450,000.)

This is the second of Carolina's three allotted retained-salary transactions on the books, joining the approximately $1 million the Canes are paying Tuomo Ruutu to play for the New Jersey Devils. As stipulated in the CBA, the Canes can only retain salary on one additional trade until Ruutu's and Harrison's deals come off the books.

The release from the team is below.

HURRICANES DEAL HARRISON TO WINNIPEG JETS

Carolina acquires a sixth-round draft pick for veteran defenseman

Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the Hurricanes have acquired a sixth-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for defenseman Jay Harrison. The pick was previously acquired by Winnipeg from Ottawa.

"We thank Jay for his time with the Hurricanes," said Francis. "He represented our organization with class and we wish him and his family nothing but the best."

Harrison, 32, totaled four points (1g, 3a) and a minus-5 rating in 20 games for the Hurricanes this season. The Oshawa, Ont., native played in six seasons for Carolina, notching 68 points (21g, 47a) in 317 games.

Justin Faulk with a goal and assist in win

Two streaking teams met on Thursday night and both streaks came to an end as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 in front of 12,332 at the PNC Arena.  The Hurricanes ended their six game losing streak, while stopping the Leafs six game winning streak.

Cam Ward made 25 saves on 26 shots to earn the win for the home team.  Ward was given the fireman's helmet after the game.

The Canes came out with fire and speed in the opening period and jumped out to a 2-0 lead within the first 14 minutes.

At the 11:54 mark, Chris Terry scored his fifth of the season when he knocked in an Eric Staal rebound in close.   Jonathan Bernier made the initial stop on Staal but the puck came right off his pad and Terry's quick reflexes took over.

Less then two minutes later, Patrick Dwyer and Justin Faulk teamed up on a short-handed two-on-one break.  Dwyer fed Faulk and the defenseman made a pretty shot to put the Canes up by two.

Faulk continues to lead Carolina in scoring, now with 19 points.

The Leafs were outshot 16-9 in that opening period but came back stronger in the second.  Ward made a couple of flashy glove saves to keep them at bay until Dion Phaneuf scored with 3:05 left in the period.

Just a one goal game, it was anyone's contest in the third and both teams played fairly evenly.  Midway through the third, Carolina was given a powerplay and Andrej Sekera made a nice shot as he skated in from the point.  With the score 3-1, the home team just had to keep Toronto off the scoreboard the rest of the way and with the help of some nice defensive work and solid play by Ward, they held on for the win.

With 1:24 left, Staal had the puck at center ice and was looking at an empty net, but passed it to Elias Lindholm who was able to control it and flick it in the goal to make the final, 4-1 Carolina.

After the game, coach Peters said that finally playing with a lead was huge for his team.

Peters also made a comment about losing Jay Harrison, who was traded earlier.  He said they wanted a long look at Michal Jordan and liked what they have seen.  The team did not need eight defensemen, so that made Harrison available.  Peters also mentioned that Ryan Murphy was close to being NHL ready in Charlotte.

The Canes will practice on Friday in preparation for the game against the Rangers on Saturday night.

Game Notes:

• The Canes outshot the Leafs 37-26 for the game.  Lindholm led the way with eight. 
  
• It was the first goal of the season for Sekera, who scored a career best 11 last year.  He was due.
  
• After a poor night in Montreal, Carolina won 68% of the faceoffs in this game.  Jay McClement led the way at 84%.
• The team was credited with 29 hits and were led by Faulk with five.  Faulk also had 24:28 of ice time. 
  
• Jeff Skinner had a team high four giveaways.

The Hurricanes ended their six-game slide with a 4-1 win over Toronto at PNC Arena Thursday, at the same time snapping the Maple Leafs equally long winning streak.

Chris Terry, Justin Faulk, Andrej Sekera and Elias Lindholm all scored for Carolina — the first time the Hurricanes have scored more than once since Dec. 2 — to lead the team past the red-hot Maple Leafs, 4-1, at PNC Arena on Thursday.

Three Observations

1. Balance. Look no further than the evenly distributed ice time from Thursday’s game to see what a game in Bill Peters’ system should look like. Outside of Justin Shugg— who in just 6:52 had two legitimate chances at his first NHL goal — and Brad Malone (9:48), Carolina’s forwards played between 17:35 (Jeff Skinner) and 12:10 (Zach Boychuk). The defensive minutes were also well distributed, with Faulk playing a team-high 24:28 and Brett Bellemore logging 15:06.

2. After six games without a point, Lindholm got on the scoresheet for the second straight game with his empty-net goal. But don't let the fact that it was a gimme goal discredit Lindholm’s night: the 20-year-old forward had a game-high eight shots on goal and nine shot attempts as the line with Victor Rask centering him and Skinner carried the play shift after shift.

3. Speaking of carrying the play, Carolina really took it to Toronto’s young defensemen. Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly and Cody Franson all struggled against the Hurricanes’ persistent attack, be it the speed of Nathan Gerbe and Patrick Dwyer, the physicality of Eric Staal and Lindholm, or the shiftiness of Skinner and Rask. Meanwhile, Michal Jordan looked solid after the team traded away Jay Harrison earlier in the afternoon and essentially gave him a vote of confidence, and Bellmore’s return led to better play by frequent partner Ron Hainsey, even if Bellemore was understandably rusty after not playing since he was injured Nov. 22.

Number To Know

2 — Shorthanded goals for Justin Faulk this season, the most of any defenseman in the NHL and the first Hurricanes blueliner to score multiple man-down goals since Mike Commodore had two (one of a 5-on-3 kill) in 2006-07. A defenseman has scored multiple shorthanded goals only seven times since the start of the 2007-08. The most notable are Kimmo Timonen (two in both 2009-10 and 2010-11) and Ryan McDonagh, who had three shorthanded goals for the Rangers last season. Only three defensemen have scored more than two shorthanded goals in the season this century: McDonagh, Keith Ballard (three in 2005-06 with Phoenix), and Steve Staios (three in 2002-03 with Edmonton). Paul Coffey has the most ever by a rearguard in a season with nine in 1985-86 with the Oilers. Former Whalers great Mark Howe has the most shorthanded goals by a defenseman in a career with 26 in 15 NHL seasons. He had 24 more in six WHA seasons.

Plus

Cam Ward— Ward continues to play well for the Hurricanes, outdueling Toronto’s Jonathan Bernier en route to his ninth win of the season. After breaking the 30-win mark in five of his first six seasons as a No. 1 starter, Ward is within a win of his total from last season and tied with his mark from 2012-13. Thirty wins certainly seems unlikely given the Hurricanes record, but there’s no denying that Ward — whose 2.47 goals-against average is close to his career best of 2.44 in 2008-09 — is playing his best hockey in some time.

Minus

Riley Nash— The Carolina center is still looking to rediscover the game that had him playing so well early in the season. After scoring four goals in his first 13 games, Nash hasn't found the back of the net in the last 18 games and has just one assist in his past 11 games. Nash also hasn't registered a shot on goal in three games and he was one of just two Carolina forwards to finish with a negative Corsi on a night when the Hurricanes smothered the Leafs in possession stats.

It's Jets vs. Bruins tonight at the MTS Centre! Why is everything broken? What is Jay Harrison going to bring to the lineup? How much do you miss Stuart? Does missing him feel kind of wrong and sad? Is it bad that I desperately want to call Craig Cunningham "Sir CleverPork" every time I see his name?

The Bruins are in town tonight to take on the Jets. While the Jets are newly injured a lot of the Bruins core guys (Chara, Krejci, etc.) are newly back in the lineup after spending time on the injury list themselves.

The Jets also have a slightly used Jay Harrison in tonight. Harrison, if you will recall, is the newest Jet after being traded from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 6th round pick. So, there's that. If you want more information on Harrison, here's a couple of links to awesome things written by Garret and Cara.

The game is being broadcast on TSN3.

Lineups

Winnipeg Jets

Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler

Mathieu Perreault - Mark Scheifele - Michael Frolik

Evander Kane - Adam Lowry - Matt Halischuk

Chris Thorburn - Jim Slater - Anthony Peluso

Defensive Pairings

Okay, okay. I'm just kidding. The defense and the rest of the lineup looks like this:

Ben Chiarot - Dustin Byfuglien

Adam Pardy - Paul Postma

Grant Clitsome - Jay Harrison

Ondrej Pavelec

Injured: Zach Bogosian, Jacob Trouba, Tobias Enstrom, Mark Stuart

Boston Bruins

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Seth Griffith

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Reilly Smith

Chris Kelly - Carl Soderberg - Loui Eriksson

Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Sir CleverPork (um... I mean Craig Cunningham)

Defensive Pairings

Zdeno Chara - Dougie Hamilton

Dennis Seidenberg - Zach Trotman

Torey Krug - Kevan Miller

Goalies

Tuukka Rask

Niklas Svedberg

Injured:Adam McQuaid

Players to Watch

The Canes are in a New York state of mind this weekend, playing host to the Rangers tonight, then repeating in the Big Apple tomorrow night, all the while trying to avoid the NHL mumps outbreak.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers
December 20, 2014 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Blueshirt Banter

Fancy Stats

Stats via NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• The Canes and Rangers meet tonight for the first half of a home-and-home back-to-back weekend. Tonight's game is here at PNC, and tomorrow they'll square off again at MSG. The Rangers took the first game of the season series back on October 16th in a 2-1 shootout win.
• In a rare occurrence this season, the Canes come into tonight's game savoring a victory after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Thursday night. Justin Faulk was awarded the game's first star with a 2-point night (assist and game-winning shorthanded goal), and after hosting it for over two weeks, Andrej Sekera was finally able to hand off the fireman's hat to Cam Ward for his 25-save performance.
• Though a feel-good moment for the home fans in the arena, reality is that the team is seven points behind its nearest opponents in the Eastern Conference, and just one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers for last in league rankings, on pace for 56 points.
• The Canes didn't hold a practice yesterday, and there were no injuries or roster changes to report coming out of Thursday's game, so that line-up will be assumed going into tonight's game until after the pre-game skate. Coach Bill Peters mentioned earlier in the week that Alexander Semin may be close to returning, and John-Michael Liles has been day-to-day with a lower body issue. Injuries to Jiri Tlusty and Andrej Nestrasil are expected to keep them out a while longer, and while he's made great progress in his recovery, Jordan Staal has yet to participate in a practice with full contact.
• With the holiday roster freeze in effect as of midnight last night, players can't be traded, loaned, or waived until after December 27th, although there are a few provisions for emergency recalls and reassignments. The Canes currently have 22 players on the active roster and three players on injured reserve.
• Snapping the Leafs' six-game win streak was certainly cause for celebration, but doing the same thing to the Rangers, who come into tonight's game on a four-game winning streak, won't be an easy task. The Canes were 1-3-0 against them last season, and the Rangers have won 12 of the last 13 meetings.
• The Rangers have been idle since Tuesday night but prior to that played three games in four nights against Western Conference opponents. Rick Nash led the way Tuesday with two goals in a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames. Nash, also the difference-maker in the shootout win against the Canes in October, is riding a personal best 11-game point streak and leads the team in goals (20) and points (33).
• Certainly one of the big stories for the Rangers is their having fallen victim to the mumps outbreak that has made its way through the NHL (for a full rundown, follow Katie Strang's mumps tracker on ESPN). Tanner Glass was the first confirmed case for the Rangers, missing four games. Derick Brassard, second on the team in points (24), has missed two games but practiced yesterday and is a game-day decision although expected back tonight. Lee Stepniak is isolated and being tested, along with Joey Crabb and coach Ken Gernander of the Rangers' AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack. As a side note, the Canes have thus far escaped the mumps outbreak. Players have received booster shots, as necessary, and earlier this week the team postponed holiday hospital visits in order to minimize possible risks to patients.
• Martin St. Louis (91 points in 80 games), Derek Stepan (15 points in 15 games), and Mats Zuccarello (11 points in 11 games) are all point-per-game players against the Canes in their NHL careers.
• Henrik Lundqvist will get the start in net. Backup netminder Cam Talbot, who the Canes may face in net tomorrow night, was signed to a one-year, $1.45m contract extension yesterday.

Possible line-ups

Hurricanes (from Thursday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Alexander Semin (IR lower body), Andrej Nestrasil (IR upper body), Jiri Tlusty (upper body), John-Michael Liles (upper body)

Rangers (from Friday's practice)

Injuries and Scratches: Lee Stepniak (isolation/mumps), John Moore (healthy)

The Rangers are going for 5 in a row tonight against the worst team in the Eastern Conference.

Tonight will be the first Rangers' hockey we have seen since the Rangers beat the Calgary Flames 5-2 on Tuesday night. In that game Chris Kreider finally got the monkey off his back and scored on the power play, Rick Nash had 2 gorgeous goals, and Derek Stepan scored his third of the year on an unforgettable wraparound. The Rangers outburst of goals (the fifth was an empty netter by Carl Hagelin) gave the club their fourth straight win and a clean sweep of the 3 Western Canadian teams. Right now the Rangers have some serious momentum and a very confident Henrik Lundqvist behind them. I'm starting to think we should just stay on the road and continue to play games that keep us up past midnight.

Tonight's contest against the hapless Canes will bring the Rangers back to the East coast and into their division, where every game means and counts for a little bit more. Their opponent tonight just so happens to be their opponent tomorrow night; the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are currently the worst team in the Metropolitan Division and in the Eastern Conference. Just as a reminder for everyone, the Buffalo Sabres are also in the Eastern Conference. In fact, the Hurricanes have just 1 more point in the standings than the Edmonton Oilers do, though the Oilers have played in 2 more games than Eric Staal's Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes are 3-7-0 in their last ten and have a record of 9-19-3. Despite having some noteworthy forwards, the 'Canes are tied with the Florida Panthers for the fourth worst offense in the league. The goals just hasn't been there and that is partly due to big injuries Carolina has struggled with and big name players not playing like big name players. Let's take a look at their three top scorers.

• Justin Faulk 6 G, 13 A in 31 GP.
• Eric Staal 7 G, 11 A in 26 GP.
• Riley Nash 4 G, 12 A in 31 GP.
• Jeff Skinner 7 G, 8 A in 27 GP.

Rick Nash has 20 goals this season. The Hurricanes don't have a single skater with 20 points. Alex Semin has been a healthy scratch this year for Carolina and he has 1 goal and 5 assists in 21 games. Yes, that Alex Semin. The one that might have the best wrist shot in the league. By the way, Semin is under contract for 3 more seasons after this one at a cap hit of $7,000,000. Yikes. To say that things aren't going well in Carolina would be a bit of an understatement. The only silver lining is that Cam Ward has shown flashes of being the old Cam Ward here and there which has helped the Canes have a chance in some games with their lack of offense. It's true that his numbers are hardly inspiring (2.47 GAA and .909 SV%), but he has been in net for all 9 of Carolina's wins and he's been a great deal better than Anton Khudobin who looked like he might have stolen Ward's job last season.

The point I am laboriously trying to illustrate is that the Hurricanes are a bad team that has been playing bad hockey. The Rangers are bringing a 4 game winning streak into this weekend, and it would be both shocking and infuriating to see it derailed tonight on the road or tomorrow in the Blueshirts' first game back at the Garden since they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rangers have been playing some weak competition lately and every time we've been saying the same things- we expect the Rangers to win and if they lose it means that they beat themselves. Tonight will be no different. The Rangers can continue to build something really special here if they come away with a win tonight. It seems like just a few games ago going into the game against the Penguins that the Blueshirts were in danger of falling back to .500. The Rangers are now 15-10-4. What a difference strength of schedule and some momentum can make, huh?

There has been some talk that Derick Brassard, who is currently listed as day-to-day, might be back tonight for the Rangers after recovering from the mumps. Obviously, getting Brass back will be a huge addition to the lineup even though the Rangers have been getting some great play from their depth players. Stepan has been fantastic and it's been great to see J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes play more pronounced roles in the lineup, but getting Rick Nash his center back is an exciting thing to think about if you're a Rangers fan.

With or without Brassard the Rangers are looking to win tonight and wrap-up a perfect road trip which will push their winning streak to 5 games. The puck drops at 7 PM. Let's go Rangers.

Kevin Klein is a freaking monster. The Rangers take 10 points in their last 5 games and they'll be looking to push their winning streak to 6 tomorrow night at the Garden.

Tonight, in Carolina, the Rangers’ winning streak and perfect road trip was on the line. Prior to tonight’s game the Rangers had beaten the Canes twelve times in their last thirteen meetings. The Rangers had the benefit of Derick Brassard returning to the lineup, although they were without Lee Stempniak who was out of the lineup with the mumps.

Early in the first period the Rangers were creating offense and scoring chances whenever the puck was in Carolina’s zone. The puck movement and work ethic behind the net and in the corners was the kind of stuff that made you feel like the Rangers were ready to go, and that this one was going to go well. Mats Zuccarello and Matt Hunwick both came close right in front of the net, but Cam Ward managed to deny both of them.

At 12:40 of the first, the first goal of the game went to the Hurricanes. The Rangers were hunting for a goal after Kevin Hayes was inches away from scoring on a three on one. The resulting scramble down low resulted in Dan Girardi pinching in without any one covering his spot and an errant pass from Hayes that went down the ice and created a two on one for the Canes. Nathan Gerbe set up Chris Terry for a one-timer that got through Henrik Lundqvist and just like that it was 1-0. At that point in the game the shots were 6 to 2 in favor of the Rangers.

With less than four minutes left in the first stanza Martin St. Louis and Chris Kreider had a two on one and once again the Rangers were stopped on the rush. The resulting scramble created an empty net and the puck went to Derek Stepan who just couldn’t manage to shoot it through the tangled mess of defenders and Cam Ward. The Rangers had at least three quality odd-man rushes in the first period, and they failed to convert on all of them. After the first the Rangers led 11 to 6 in shots but a single bad play and great scoring chance resulted in them being behind by a goal.

The first half of the second period was marked by more of what we saw in the first period, although Carolina did look better than they did in the first period. The Blueshirts were enjoying plenty of possession and getting shots on net, but the quality scoring chances just weren’t there.

At 11:59 Henrik Lundqvist made a glove save on Eric Staal that you’ll be seeing a lot of replays of, and for good reason. Eric Staal got open in the slot and smashed a shot towards the net. Hank flashed his glove with a flourish and kept it a one goal game.

While killing Tanner Glass’ interference penalty the Rangers drew a 55 second power play thanks to the outstanding shorthanded hustle of Rick Nash and Derek Stepan. Earlier in the game the Rangers had killed off two penalties and had even created some offense while on the kill. The Hurricanes looked ill equipped to handle the Rangers aggression while the Blueshirts were killing penalties. The Rangers’ power play certainly didn’t look amazing, but the puck movement was encouraging to see. Through two periods you couldn’t ask for much more from the special teams. With 5 minutes remaining in the period the Rangers led the Canes in shots 23 to 12, but going into the third the Rangers had only twenty minutes left to get a puck past Cam Ward and tie the game up.

About 2:30 into the third period Rick Nash drew a big penalty and earned the Rangers their second power play of the contest. After a sloppy first half of the power play J.T. Miller was sprung by Mats Zuccarello and he scored an insane power play goal to tie the game. I lost count of the amount of head jukes and feints that Miller threw in, but it was enough to finally beat Cam Ward and give the Rangers a huge goal. Miller’s highlight reel goal was his fourth of the season. Just 26 seconds later Henrik Lundqvist gave up a softie to Jeff Skinner who immediately stole back the Hurricanes’ one goal lead. Lundqvist’s stick was off the ice and Skinner just threw it at the net, and just like that the Rangers were hunting for a goal again.

With 7:36 left in regulation Cam Ward lost his helmet after a shot from a bad angle by Rick Nash damaged it. The helmet remained on Ward’s head just as Matt Hunwick blasted a shot from the point that went into the net. While the puck was going past Ward and across the goal line, Ward pulled his own helmet off with his glove and the goal was immediately waved off by the referees. There was a discussion among the referees during a TV timeout and because it was a broken strap the goal didn’t count. It would have been Matt Hunwick’s first of the season and first as a New York Ranger. It was the right call, but still incredibly frustrating given the score and the way the play came together.

Yes, what happened next actually happened. Kevin Klein scored his seventh of the season from Kreider and Stepan to tie the game at 17:37 of the third period. The puck deflected off of Lindholm on the way to the net and just like that the Rangers were energized and back in the game after feeling like they were just a few minutes away from defeat and seeing their winning streak die against Carolina. Regulation ended and the Rangers managed to pick up their sixth straight game where they got at least one point although their winning streak and Rick Nash’s scoring streak were in peril.

The Rangers couldn’t get enough of the puck to make any kind of attack in overtime thanks to lost faceoffs and miscommunication on rushes and failed cycling plays. Thankfully, the Hurricanes didn’t generate any major scoring chances and the Rangers survived to get the game into the shootout. A lot was on the line for both teams. Carolina was desperate to not let this game get away from them on their home ice, and the Rangers had their big winning streak in jeopardy against the worst team in the Eastern Conference.

Jeff Skinner was stopped by Henrik Lundqvist.

Mats Zuccarello came in slow and then snapped a lethal shot past Cam Ward.

Nathan Gerbe looked to respond by making a deke but he put the puck wide trying to get around Lundqvist.

Which meant that Derek Stepan had the game on his stick. He tried his trademark wrister and was stopped by Cam Ward who stuck with him the whole way.

Chris Terry, who had Carolina’s first goal in the game, came in needing to score and was not equal to the task. Henrik Lundqvist stopped him and in so doing gave the Rangers the win and the two points they were so hungry for.

The Rangers’ shootout win was their first in their last five attempts in the skills competition.

Tomorrow night the Rangers and the Hurricanes will lock horns again, but this time around it will be on Garden ice. Unfortunately, Rick Nash’s point streak came to an end tonight. However, that is not indicative at all of how Nash played, he was absolutely dominant tonight against Carolina and was creating plenty of chances and offense when he had the puck. The Rangers will be looking for their sixth straight win tomorrow night after finishing off their perfect four game road trip tonight.