Thoughts From My Couch

I hope the Hurricanes enjoy the ambiance they'll get tonight from the crowd at the Lenovo Center because it's the last time they'll have the crowd on their side for the next week. The Canes welcomed the Red Wings to town for the final clash of the season. Ideally, the game wouldn't be in the hands of the referees, like it was when these two met last month in Detroit. Neither goalie had taken a start for their teams in over a month, though the edge that Frederik Andersen had over Cam Talbot was his ability to play for his country in Italy, giving Andersen some much-needed reps. He was busy, too, with Denmark being largely overmatched by most of its opponents. The Canes came out of the gates hot on Thursday against Tampa, but they didn't keep their foot on the gas for the full 60 minutes. They won, but it was a lot closer than it needed to be after jumping out to a 3-0 lead. They would require a complete effort on Saturday if they wanted to get the job done against th...

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes nearly surrendered another 3-0 lead to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night in their return from the break. They got off to an incredible start, getting goals from Nikolaj Ehlers, Logan Stankoven, and Taylor Hall before the game reached the 7:00 mark. The Bolts responded with two goals before the end of the period from Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov, and Dominic James scored early in the second to tie things up. The Canes' top line put them back ahead, with Andrei Svechnikov finding Seth Jarvis in front of the net to restore the lead. Unfortunately, the Lightning tied it again, needing five seconds to set up Brayden Point on the power play, sending the game into the third tied at four. The Canes' power play provided the difference-maker. Sebastian Aho fluttered a one-timer over Jonas Johansson's shoulder to take their third lead of the night. This one stuck. The Canes' defense allowed very little to Tampa Bay in the third, exte...

To quote Foreigner, "it feels like the first time," because it has been a few minutes since we saw the Carolina Hurricanes on our screens and on the ice as a collective. I'm fully prepared for the product on the ice to be incredibly rusty, especially with most of the roster not seeing game action for 21 days. Three newly-medaled Olympians returned to the Hurricanes after two weeks in Milan, looking to continue their hot streaks, while the rest of the team tried to get back into game mode. With only 25 games left in the season, we're in top gear to push for the postseason. Tampa Bay is both a good and a bad team to come back from the break against. On one hand, the Bolts are a playoff team, and this will be a good measuring stick game. However, they are also 20-1-1 in their last 22 games, making them one of the hottest teams in the league. If the Canes aren't ready, this one could quickly get out of hand. Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (1:43)- Nikolaj Ehlers (15) (...

Last Game: It has been a full three weeks since the Carolina Hurricanes took the ice at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. The Rangers were playing their first game after trading Artemi Panarin, and they were already without Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox. Completing their season series, the Canes got on the board early on a snipe from Andrei Svechnikov. As he came off the bench, Svechnikov worked around Matt Rempe and put it past Jonathan Quick to break the ice. Quick was excellent that night, but Brandon Bussi was perfect. Quick was under attack for the majority of the night, finishing the night with 41 stops. Quick did all he could to keep the Rangers in the game. Bussi, when tested, wasn't letting anything through. He had a close call with a shot off the post on the power play, but nothing else felt that close as he completed a 16-save shutout. Jordan Staal scored into the empty net with Quick on the bench, cementing a 2-0 win for the Canes to slide their point s...

The Rangers have been in the news quite a bit in the last 24 hours after trading leading scorer Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings. The trade itself was something many knew was coming, even if Los Angeles was a surprising destination to everyone not named Artemi Panarin. What does this mean for tonight's game? Absolutely nothing. Panarin hasn't played in the last few games, so this isn't anything new for them. For the Canes, their sole focus is getting two more points before the Olympic pause and getting their point streak to double digits. They played an okay game on Tuesday against the Senators, so they'll want a big effort today against another division opponent. They can either spend three weeks thinking about a win or stewing on a loss. I'd much rather the former. Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (6:26)- Andrei Svechnikov (21) (unassisted) 2nd Period None 3rd Period CAR (19:07-EN)- Jordan Staal (15) (Nikolaj Ehlers (29) & Jackson Blake (17)) My Thoughts ...

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....