Hurricanes vs. Sabres - The Recap

I had promised to get a couple blogs out during the Four Nations event – it was not to be.  I failed.  Overall, I wanted to take a breather and head into the home stretch strongly.  Which was also ultimately an early failure, having missed recaps on the last two games – both losses in Canada.  I contemplated doing a recap on the Canadians game – I have notes – I might still do it.  It would have been titled/will be titled (if I do it) “Tropical Storms at Canadians”.

After losing five of our last six, Deren and I had an impromptu podcast – the theme was the fanbase “crying”, although I don’t really have a problem with the fanbase wanting better for a team that has proven over the years that it is better than they have shown recently.  I do have a problem with the knee jerk reactions calling for Rod Brind’Amour’s job or the system to change.  In my eyes, the issue was real simple – we weren’t playing our system.  We were doing something different, playing a different style for whatever reason…and it wasn’t working.  We were missing with the details. 

My only ask of the team – look in the mirror and pick one detail that they can improve on to help the team win.  From the coaching staff (because they weren’t off the hook either) – find a consistent group and, for better or worse, stay consistent with it for a bit.  Let it bake.  Generating chemistry isn’t something that just happens.  If you want some consistency with the play on the ice, keep the lines and pairs consistent. 

Tonight, we came back home, put on our green and blue Whalers kits, and took on our former Adams Division rival Buffalo Sabres.  I said on the podcast, and I maintained this before the game and as the puck dropped – just play a sound, detailed game.  Get to the forecheck, battle for pucks, get in front of the net, bury a couple and, regardless of the outcome, I’d be happy.

Below are my thoughts on the game:

• There was some talk about what the line combinations would look like tonight – these are the lines:
• Svechnikov – Aho – Rantanen
• Martinook – Staal – Jarvis
• Hall – Jost – Blake
• Robinson – Kotkaniemi – Roslovic
• I saw the Kotkaniemi line out to take the first faceoff of the game and immediately thought something was up.  Sure enough, the gloves drop right at puck drop – Cozens and Kotkaniemi.  Perhaps this was a loser leaves town match given the trade deadline is coming up and Cozens is allegedly on the block?  I don’t know.  Whatever the case, KK wins the fight, both head to the box for fighting, and the hockey game gets going.  Looks like Cozens will be leaving town. 
• From the jump, you could see a completely different energy with all 4 lines – starting with the Svech-Aho-Rantanen tandem.  They had a couple of nifty shifts that generated a couple chances.  Svechnikov and Rantanen looked great playing together, with their bigger frames working along the boards to keep pucks in the zone and working below the goal line and getting to the net area – you love to see it. 
• The same can be said from the Martinook-Staal-Jarvis line – hard work below the goal line on the forecheck.  This is Hurricanes hockey.  We can’t cheat these games and take a night off.  Points are vital in the home stretch.  This line came to work.
• Dimitri Orlov had a bit of an up and down night – he took a penalty and had a tough shift on a penalty kill to get Buffalo on the board, but overall, I really liked his physicality and appreciated him asserting himself a little more than he had been.  (I am sure he was working hard – but perception for us fans is reality).  I just need him to be a physical defenseman.  Nothing more, but nothing less.  He laid the wood on a Sabre a minute in.
• A flurry of activity over six minutes of game play prior to the halfway point of the first period:
• First, a power play opportunity.  We moved Gostisbehere back to the top unit to QB it.  Overall, it wasn’t awful, but still a little bit more standing around than I’d prefer.  Rod gave both units a minute out there. 
• The bump up shift after the power play, Staal, Robinson and Martinook were out there to get to work – and they did just that, winning board battles.  Martinook put a shot pass right on Staal’s skate, who was parked 4 feet in front of the net, and the puck slid through the five hole – 1-0 good guys.  
• The second goal is a sweet play, all started by Mikko Rantanen – he settles a fumbled puck lost by the Sabres at the goal line in the attacking zone and makes a slick feed to Sebastian Aho who buries it.  And guess where Aho was…right out in front.  2-0 Canes – and Luukkonen gets pulled.
• The goalie pull didn’t matter, though, as less than two minutes later Mikko buries a puck top shelf on a nice pass from Andrii Svechnikov on…wait for it…the power play!  The passing was crisp, the puck movement was great – the arena has now played The Brass Bonanza three times tonight – three zip us.
• This is the way we have to play each night – this is what we do – we muck things up in the neutral zone, we forecheck the heck out of you, and we work hard in front of the net to ensure we get rebound opportunities for some dirty chances.   
• All four lines had their hands on this game – from the Kotkoniemi fight to start the game, to the Staal and Aho lines getting on the board early, to the Jost line creating some mayhem (Jackson Blake was a dang menace out there in large doses).  Everyone had a hand in this one tonight.
• The obligatory Jackson Blake love – this dude seems to always have jump, and all game tonight he was all over it – whether it be a pick pocket when the opposition was exiting out of the zone, or the defensive prowess he showed in his own end, or the bobbing and weaving through traffic to create opportunities in his offensive end.  He may not show up every night on the stat sheet, but this dude is always noticeable in a good way.
• The pressure and energy we had during the first period was likely a little overwhelming for the Sabres.  They did get a power play goal due to a bad play by Orlov (mentioned above) leading to an Alex Tuch goal, to cut the deficit to 3-1, but in the first period it was all Carolina.
• As the second period got underway, I could sense the game getting back to even – Lindy Ruff, I am sure, calmed his group down a little – but that only really brought them to even.  It felt as though they were 50/50 on the board battles and splitting zone time with us.  To make matters worse, we allowed two power plays, which hurt the flow of the game.  Jost and Orlov were the guilty parties on the penalties.  The good news is, we killed them both – but we have to be smarter than that in those situations – both were avoidable penalties. 
• I noted at the halfway point that I didn’t feel as confident as I did in the first period – again, just taking the penalties and losing some flow of the game a little.  Buffalo, while not a high-end team, does have some high-end players that can make you pay.  Fortunately, we were able to limit the damage – in fact, on the second power play Buffalo had we outshot them 3-0. 
• About a minute after the Sabres 2^nd power play of the period, Taylor Hall made it 4-1 – and it started with him poking a puck out as the Sabres were trying to exit the zone – Sean Walker, who had a real strong game in my opinion, kept the puck in deep, finding Jack Roslovic out front who provided a no-look back hand pass to Taylor Hall and he buried it top shelf – another goal (Taylor’s first as a Hurricane), another Brass Bonanza.  Just great work all around.  Poor James Reimer didn’t have a chance.
• Early in the 3^rd, we had a solid chance, but we got stuffed by Reimer, and a 2-on-1 breakaway ensues the other direction, which gets buried.  4-2 good guys, but not the start of the period we were hoping for.

Overall, I thought we played a physical game – Seth Jarvis put someone in the boards hard in the 2^nd, Orlov had a good physical presence and others consistently bodied people up.  Additionally, the defense was really good, but the forwards were also committed defensively – it was evident in our offensive end on the Aho goal, the Staal goal and the Hall goal.  But even more than that, we were committed to the defensive end in our own end as well. 

Eventually Jarvis wrapped this thing up with an empty net goal – it all starts with a full team commitment in our own end in what was a real solid shift by the Sabres.  We end up winning this one 5-2 – a win that wasn’t a must win, but a win you really want to have – a slump buster if you will.  Next up for the Hurricanes, a date with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday evening.