Thoughts From My Couch

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)...

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes played their first game in four days on Thursday night, battling the Utah Mammoth on Whalers Night. Andrei Svechnikov got the Canes off to a fast start, potting a rebound past Karel Vejmelka. The Canes maintained their lead after 20 minutes, but Utah tied it early in the second, capitalizing on a blown tire. Shayne Gostisbehere, playing in his first game in over two weeks, fell in the neutral zone, allowing the Mammoth to turn it the other way and score when Kailer Yamamoto went post-and-in on Brandon Bussi. Yamamoto potted his second a few minutes later after getting away with a slash. The Mammoth's fourth line was denied on a 2-on-1 before Yamamoto cleaned up the trash. Gostisbehere got is back late in the period by hammering home a shot on the power play, but another turnover led to another Utah goal 19 seconds later. Jalen Chatfield's dump-in attempt was blocked by Barrett Hayton. He turned it up the ice and found JJ Peterka for a one-time...