Welcome back!
Wow. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from that game – the Panthers and the Hurricanes are both teams with middling skill levels who play defensive-zone-clogging games. But this game was fast, chippy, and, fortunately for Canes fans, full of scoring opportunities for the Hurricanes.
+ If Jose Theodore hadn’t brought his A game, this game would have been a slaughter by the Canes. Many, many scoring chances that Theodore just stoned people on, including robbing Ruutu. He should be a star of the night. He was incredibly good. The reason this is a plus, though, is because the Canes kept generating offense and didn’t let themselves get shut down by a good goalie.
+ How amazing is Eric Staal looking lately? World-class talent for sure.
- Jeff Skinner. STOP TAKING STUPID PENALTIES. YOU ARE NOT TEN FEET TALL AND NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR RAGE ISSUES. TONE IT DOWN, BOY.
+ Anthony Stewart had some hustle to him.
+ Pitkanen’s first night back was a great one.
- The Canes, once again, let themselves be mesmerized by the puck and let the Panthers dance around in their zone a little too much.
There’s not a lot to say about this game. I’ll stick my head in a blender if people keep talking playoffs push, because it’s NOT happening and they’re still 5 points out of the playoffs with just a little more than a handful of games to play. But it’s nice to see the Canes win 4 straight. It’s very promising for next year.
