The
Carolina Hurricanes host the Chicago Blackhawks in the two teams’ first
and only meeting this season at the RBC Center on Friday night in
Raleigh, N.C.Sitting at 3-3-3, with a ninth of their NHL..
It
has been a busy week for the Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball
team.The team held its annual Blue-White Scrimmage game on Sunday and
continued prepping local fans and media for the upcoming season when
it...
The
Carolina Hurricanes proved that it was possible to tread on solid water
in suffering a 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators at the RBC
Center on Tuesday night.Playing what seemed like a paralytic game, the
Hurricanes...
The
Carolina Hurricanes host the Ottawa Senators at the RBC Center in
Raleigh, N.C. on Tuesday night.After a recent four-game road trip that
the team ended with a 2-1-1 record, Eric Staal and his teammates...
The
Carolina Hurricanes finished a four-game road trip with a 5-3 loss to
the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Saturday
night.The loss brings the team full-circle from a situation that it...
The
2011-2012 edition of the Duke women's basketball team is set to host
its annual Blue-White scrimmage game on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Cameron
Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.The event is free...
The
Carolina Hurricanes played a few ‘wrong notes’ during the final minutes
of overtime that resulted in a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at the
Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO on Friday night.Coming...
The Carolina Hurricanes were part of one of the NHL's most physically-engaged games of the season earlier in the week as they once again claimed a victory over the Stanley Cup champions, but in their own house, the TD Banknorth Garden.
Not necessarily a team to back down from confrontation, Carolina stood its ground as the Bruins led by captain Zdeno Chara, among others, lost their cool in trying to intimidate Hurricanes throughout the game.
It can't be described any differently.
Regardless, the win extended Carolina's streak to 3 games in a row and left the Bruins seeking to find what they had last season.
It's early in the season, but the excitement that the Hurricanes and Bruins presented hockey fans around the league on that night will only ignite more passion from the players and coaches in competing for a playoff spot and the chance to compete for the the Stanley Cup as the season progresses.
Life seems to be pretty good for hockey fans right now.
The
Carolina Hurricanes fully expected a tough game against the Boston
Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden on Tuesday night.What the Hurricanes
didn’t expect was being part of a bar fight-turned-street brawl in
winning their third...
When
the Carolina Hurricanes faced off against the Boston Bruins last week
at home, Brandon Sutter took the initial faceoff and put in a solid
performance, including an assist on the winning goal, that gave the
Hurricanes a 3-2...
Beginning the season at 0-2-1 was not what the team expected after trying to work the kinks out on the heels of finishing 1-5 during the preseason.
With the situation looking bleak as the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins were coming down South, the Hurricanes put together their first full 60-minute effort to win the game 3-2 at the RBC Center.
The win was the tonic needed to boost the team's confidence after all of the hard work it had been putting in to make a number of changes since training camp began, including carrying 9 defensemen.
For rookie defenseman Ryan Murphy, the full NHL experience was completed as he was assigned to his junior team, the Kitchener Rangers, as the 'numbers game' finally caught up to him and sitting upstairs was not doing him any good.
With the NC State Fair in operation, the Hurricanes began a four-game road trip by traveling to Buffalo on Friday and put together another hard-fought victory to beat the undefeated Sabres 4-3 in their own building - the First Niagara Center while coach Paul Maurice coached his 900th game with the organization.
Jeff Skinner scored the winning goal on a cross-ice feed from Jussi Jokinen and Joni Pitkanen.
Last season's Rookie of the Year has started the season with six points (2g, 4a) in five games.
No worries of a sophomore slump at this point.
The Hurricanes return home and prepare to travel to Beantown on Tuesday to battle the Bruins once again who will be looking to avenge their loss earlier in the week.
Carolina
Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice reached a significant milestone as a
National Hockey League (NHL) coach as his team beat the Buffalo Sabres
4-3 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. on Friday night.Maurice
coached...
Following
the Carolina Hurricanes' 3-2 victory over the defending champion Boston
Bruins on Wednesday night, the Twitterverse received a message about
the immediate future of defenseman Ryan Murphy directly from the rookie
himself :"Had a great run...
In
what could have been described as an epic battle of gladiators in the
coliseum, the Carolina Hurricanes earned a hard-fought and well-deserved
3-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins at the
RBC Center...
The
Big Bad Boston Bruins are coming to Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday night.As
defending Stanley Cup champions, the Bruins are coming to the RBC
Center to face the Carolina Hurricanes with the national spotlight in
tow. Versus...
The
Carolina Hurricanes lost their home opener 5-1 to the Tampa Bay
Lightning in front of a sellout crowd at the RBC Center on Friday
night.With barely any time to mull over the loss, they packed their
bags...
The Carolina Hurricanes played their home-opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning in front of a sold out crowd at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. on Friday night.
In addition to signaling the start of a new NHL season in the Triangle, it offered an opportunity for redemption and closure from a crushing loss to the Lightning back in April.
However, that is not how the game played out.
With all the work that the team has put in during training camp to revamp its defense and offensive set-up, coming up way short in a 5-1 loss was not part of the plan.
Last season's Calder Trophy winner, Jeff Skinner provided the lone bright spot for the Hurricanes as his goal in the first period was the only time that 18,680 Caniacs would really be able to cheer.
The team played the first period exactly to plan and you could see it as drawn out on the #CanesWhiteboard:
1) The team was executing its Quick-touch Breakout well:
2) Cycle-low Offense generated 18 shots in the first period of play:
Trouble maintaining consistency
After one period of play, the Hurricanes led 1-0 and the air was electric with optimism as the team's 18 shots on goal had many expecting to see more goals in the coming periods.
But then the Lightning struck and took advantage of the 'little' thing that the Hurricanes have been apt to to lose focus on consistently - not scoring on rebound opportunities on the offense and not covering the trailing forward that picks up the rebound after goalie Cam Ward makes the initial save on the defense.
That is how the Lightning tied the game 1-1 as Ward was surrounded by Tampa Bay snipers Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos who left Ward sprawling as the puck bulged the twine.
The remainder of the game was comprised of choppy play peppered with man-down and power play situations that provided ample opportunities to score, but to no avail.
Finishing 0-5 on the power play will not lead to a successful outcome in most games.
Looking ahead
In order for the team to truly make strides towards improving in 2011-2012, it will be critical for the team to continue its work on quick puck movement and non-stop skating.
Both of these areas have shown to be effective, but have not been consistently executed for three full periods.
Secondly, and most importantly, this team must learn how to collect rebounds on both even-strength and power play situations to score goals.
If anything, believe it or not, this is the team's biggest problem and weakness, and has been for quite a while.
Carolina
Hurricanes rookie defenseman Justin Faulk stepped onto the ice at the
RBC Center in front of a sold out crowd of 18,680 people and made his
National Hockey League (NHL) debut against the Tampa Bay Lightning on
Friday...
