CarolinaHurricanes.com
Wow! What a week of NHL hockey in Raleigh, N.C.
The Carolina Hurricanes started the 2011-2012 season with a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, followed by a 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Captitals the next night, and then finished the Columbus Day weekend with a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
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.
Recent Raleigh Sports Examiner news:
Hurricanes earn first point, look to rebound against Devils
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...
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