Thoughts From My Couch

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes extended their point streak to nine games on Tuesday night, knocking off the red-hot Ottawa Senators. The visitors struck first in the opening minutes. Stephen Halliday redirected a shot from Jordan Spence under Brandon Bussi's glove to kick off the scoring. Late in the period, Sebastian Aho earned a bounce. His shot redirected past James Reimer with the help of Jake Sanderson's skate to knot it up. They took the lead in the second period, scoring on the power play. The top unit needed just six seconds to convert, coming when Seth Jarvis snapped one over Reimer's shoulder to take the lead. Jarvis got another just over three minutes later. After Bussi kicked out Drake Batherson's chance, Aho sprung Jarvis the other way, powering past Sanderson and chipping it into the net to double the Canes' advantage. Ottawa's power play scored twice to tie it. Tim Stutzle buried a one-timer late in the second, and Sanderson blasted another ho...

For the final time before the Winter Games, the Carolina Hurricanes took the ice at the Lenovo Center, trying to get their point streak to nine games with another win over the Ottawa Senators. The Sens played last night, doing the Canes a favor by beating the Penguins, 3-2. Now, coming in on the second half of a back-to-back, they'll turn to former Hurricane James Reimer to put in a better effort than he did when the Canes visited Ottawa in January. The Canes have reverted to their old ways of blowing leads. It cost them on Saturday in D.C., but they picked up the second point in overtime on Sunday against the Kings. I'd much rather they get the job done in regulation without all of the theatrics. Scoring Summary 1st Period OTT (2:46)- Stephen Halliday (4) (Jordan Spence (15) & Lars Eller (7)) CAR (17:49)- Sebastian Aho (20) (K'Andre Miller (19)) 2nd Period CAR (12:39-PP)- Seth Jarvis (24) (Andrei Svechnikov (28) & Sebastian Aho (36)) CAR (15:41)- Seth Jarvis (25) (...

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes needed overtime to beat the Los Angeles Kings for the second time this season. They struck first on the power play. Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrei Svechnikov needed just four seconds on their first man advantage to set up Jordan Stall for the opening tally. The 1-0 score remained for most of the afternoon. Brandon Bussi wasn't tested much, and Anton Forsberg stopped everything in sight. They finally earned a second one after some hard work by Jackson Blake and a snipe from Alexander Nikishin. He went off the iron and past Forsberg to double the advantage. Almost immediately, the Kings responded. Samuel Helenius scored 24 seconds later on a 3-on-2 to get the Kings on the board. Late in the period, before the Kings could pull Forsberg, Adrian Kempe threw a pass through two sets of skates to find Quinton Byfield on the backdoor for a tap-in. Just like that, the game was tied. In overtime, the Hurricanes won the draw and never relinquished possession....

The Carolina Hurricanes blew another lead on Saturday night, and no one in the league is going to feel sorry for them, so they have no choice but to move on and face the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday afternoon. With snow on the ground outside, the fans made their way to Raleigh for the penultimate home game before the Olympic break. The Kings also played on Saturday, beating the Flyers, 3-2, in their 22nd overtime game of the season. With both teams traveling before the game, it would be on Brandon Bussi and Anton Forsberg to keep things in check for their respective teams. Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (6:25-PP)- Jordan Staal (13) (Andrei Svechnikov (27) & Shayne Gostisbehere (28)) 2nd Period None 3rd Period CAR (12:57)- Alexander Nikishin (7) (unassisted) LAK (13:21)- Samuel Helenius (3) (Jeff Mallott (5) & Brian Dumoulin (11)) LAK (16:49)- Quinton Byfield (11) (Adrian Kempe (25))  Overtime CAR (1:25)- Sebastian Aho (19) (Seth Jarvis (18) & Shayne Gostisbehere (29)) My...

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes watched another lead disappear, blowing a three-goal lead in an overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. The Canes jumped out to the lead late in the first period on an excellent effort from the fourth line. Jesperi Kotkaniemi's keep-in and William Carrier's pass set up Mark Jankowski to get the Canes on the board. In the final minutes, John Carlson mishandled a bouncing puck, giving Sebastian Aho a golden chance to double the lead, scoring his first goal in 12 games. Shayne Gostisbehere made it 3-0 early in the second period. His shot caught Clay Stevenson guessing, beating him with a silent wrister from along the boards. After Jankowski was a goal post away from making it 4-0, the Capitals got on the board. Hendrix Lapierre jumped on a rebound in the crease to break the goose egg. Late in the middle frame, Dylan Strome redirected a pass from Aliaksei Protas between Frederik Andersen's pads to shrink the deficit to one....

Thursday night was nuts, but it's in the past now. The Carolina Hurricanes start a back-to-back on Saturday against a division opponent, so all of the celebrating subsides. They're rolling into this one, earning points in their last six games after the miraculous comeback win, and they sit atop the division. The Capitals are trying to get it figured out, and the timing of some injuries has made it even tougher. Along with Pierre-Luc Dubois' long-term ailment, both of their goalies are out, two of their key defensemen aren't playing, and Connor McMichael, who scored in the last matchup, is week-to-week. Still, the Capitals have known Canes' killer Alex Ovechkin, general nuisance Tom Wilson, and two of the highest-scoring defensemen in the league, John Carlson and Jakub Chychrun. The Capitals are desperate. It'll be up to the Canes to match it. Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (13:27)- Mark Jankowski (5) (William Carrier (6) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (7)) CAR (17:51)...