Where's the Heart in Texas?

The Carolina Hurricanes lost 4-1 last night against Dallas in what was a lackluster display of hockey by the Hurricanes. They seemed to never be able to put together a cohesive offensive attack, whereas Dallas was crisp, fluid with their passes, and aggressive from the opening puck-drop. The difference in this game was intensity. Dallas had it, Carolina didn't. With at least 6 stick infractions, the Canes gave up plenty of power play minutes to Dallas. But, giving up 2 shorthanded goals really says it all. Dallas came to play, and Carolina is still trying to find something, I'm not sure what.

Hurricanes Coach Kirk Muller lamented, "...for whatever reason we didn't have enough guys ready to go..." Umm, isn't that the responsibility of the coach? The Canes are in their playoff run right now. They need every point they can get. Coach Muller needs to light the fire of urgency in this team NOW if they hope to have any chance of getting the final wild card spot.

The most excitement of the night came in the 3rd period. Antoine Roussel of Dallas plowed into Canes goalie Anton Khudobin right in front of the goal mouth. He was immediately jumped by Ron Hainsey of the Hurricanes in what turned into a bloodied nose for Roussel. One can hope that the aggressiveness Hainsey showed in defense of his goalie will somehow transfer to the rest of the team, and that Carolinia will play with the intensity they showed a few weeks ago.

The game's outcome cannot be pinned on Khudobin, who made several outstanding saves. He saved 30 of 33 shots, and worked hard to the bitter end. Muller is spot-on saying "He is an elite goalie." Speaking of elite, the loss of Alexander Semin in the 2nd period with a lower-body injury could be devastataing to the Hurricanes' playoff hopes. Canes fans are hoping for a good report as he will be evaluated today.

A collective soul-searching needs to take place in the Carolina locker room. Yes, Captain Eric Staal scored, and Nathan Gerbe continued to play with abandon. But, the team's power play production is nonexistent, and offensively they look disjointed. Their next outing is Saturday in Los Angeles versus the Kings, with Jonathan Quick in goal fresh of his outstanding Olympic performance. It is not hard to imagine Jim Rutherford with the "for sale" close by as the trade deadline approaches. Rumors are already swirling. Another outing with 0 points will likely make the Canes sellers, not buyers.

"This Should Be Easy"

The post-Olympics part of the NHL season kicked off last night, with all eyes on the Carolina Hurricanes visiting the Buffalo Sabres for the makeup of a game that was previously scheduled but snowed out.  I received a text from a friend shortly after the puck dropped which read, “The Canes need this game.  It should be easy.”  On paper, this sentiment was accurate – the Canes did need that game, and it did appear to be “easy.”  Of course, things are not often as they appear.

“Easy” did not take into account Ryan Miller, who although in the midst of likely being traded any minute, played like Ryan Miller.  He stopped 36 of 38 shots and once again showed why he is still one of the premier goal tenders in the NHL.  He also notched 2 assists on his way to an all-around 1^st star performance.

“Easy” did not take into account Cam Ward being in the pipes for the Hurricanes.  In his first game back since New Year’s Eve, Ward was the Ward of late - not great, not terrible, but not looking like the Ward of years past.  Yes he was screened by Matt Moulson on the Sabres’ first goal by Christian Ehroff.  But the shot hit his glove on the way into the net.  Would the Ward of old have caught or deflected that shot away?  The 2^nd and 3^rd goals for the Sabres are anyone’s guess.  Tyler Ennis tapped in a puck that was lying in the crease after Ward made what looked to be a great save on a shot by Moulson to make it 2-1.  The winning goal was a freak tip-in off the stick of Justin Faulk, after Ehroff had skated around and sent it to the net.  The tip-in gave him his 2^nd goal of the night and won the game for Buffalo.  With rumors circling about Jim Rutherford weighing his options on whether to keep Cam Ward or trade him, Ward did not help himself last night.  Again, he was not great and not terrible.  But stopping 15 of 18 shots is not noteworthy.

And “Easy” did not factor in the Hurricanes continued lack of production on the power play.  This is possibly going to be the biggest factor in whether or not the Canes make the playoffs.  It’s really that simple.  If they cannot score with the man advantage, it will not bode well for them playing after the regular season.  Not to say that they are not shooting and trying.  They just need to figure out a line combination that will produce in a more consistent fashion. 

It’s on to Dallas tomorrow night for the Hurricanes, to face a Dallas team that looks somewhat evenly matched – the Canes are now 26-23-9 and the Stars are 27-21-10.  I hope my friend doesn’t call this game as “easy.”  We saw last night that nothing is truly easy in the NHL.  Leaving Buffalo with 0 points does however mean that the road to the living room post-season will be “easy” if the Canes don’t win the games that they should (on paper) and figure out how to get the all-important power play goals.