Hurricanes Team Report
INSIDE SHOTS
The Hurricanes can still do enough to tease themselves and their fans.
In a season when scoring seems to have escaped them, they’ve shown signs of breaking out. Usually, those are short-lived signs.
But the six-goal outburst against Washington on Monday night was the third game of six or more goals this season. This was the first of those games to come on the road.
Maybe the Hurricanes need to be challenged on the road. They’ve won only two road games this season, and those have come against Pittsburgh and Washington.
The offense has come in spurts.
After posting seven goals on Oct. 9 at Florida, the Hurricanes had a total of seven goals in the next four games.
After scoring six goals Nov. 19 against Toronto, it was another four games before they managed their next six goals.
This makes the game Thursday night game against the visiting Rangers especially unpredictable. It will be the second of three meetings between the teams in a two-week window.
Hurricanes 6, Capitals 3: The Hurricanes received a five-point night from C Eric Staal(notes) (two goals, three assists) in carrying momentum from a strong third period two nights earlier to a surprising victory. A 3-0 first-period lead had nearly vanished less than 90 seconds into the third period when the Capitals pulled within 4-3 before the Hurricanes recovered.
Staal’s second goal was an empty-netter. G Cam Ward(notes) made 28 saves for the Hurricanes.
NOTES, QUOTES
• The Hurricanes don’t have to take a backseat to Southeast Division front-runner Washington just yet. After losing by one goal in each of the first two meetings this season, the Hurricanes posted Monday night’s 6-3 victory. The teams have three meetings remaining this season, all in March. The Hurricanes have won the season series the past two years.
• For a team that has been hammered statistically in many areas this season, it was strange to see two Hurricanes sitting at plus-4 in a game. But that was the case for C Eric Staal and LW Jussi Jokinen(notes) with their outings Monday night at Washington. Staal has been steady since returning from injury. After some quiet mention surfaced about his potential value in a trade, he seems to have elevated his performances.
Quote To Note: “It’s good for them to get a good feeling because they’ve earned it.”—Coach Paul Maurice, who has insisted that the Hurricanes have played well enough to have more victories to their credit during the past month. Even with an impressive performance Monday night, the Hurricanes have only 27 points and they trail first-place Washington by 27 points in the Southeast Division.
ROSTER REPORT
Goaltenders: Cam Ward, Manny Legace(notes).
Defensemen: Aaron Ward(notes), Tim Gleason(notes), Andrew Alberts(notes), Joni Pitkanen(notes), Jay Harrison(notes), Brett Carson(notes).
First Line: Ray Whitney(notes), Eric Staal, Tuomo Ruutu(notes).
Second Line: Jussi Jokinen, Matt Cullen(notes), Patrick Dwyer.
Third Line: Sergei Samsonov(notes), Brandon Sutter(notes), Tom Kostopoulos(notes).
Fourth Line: Rod Brind’Amour(notes), Stephane Yelle(notes), Scott Walker(notes).
Player Notes:
• RW Tuomo Ruutu is making the most of his time on special teams. He scored a power-play goal Monday night against Washington, giving him 18 power-play goals since joining the Hurricanes last season. That’s the 11th most since the franchise relocated to North Carolina from Hartford. His willingness to stake out the front of the net makes him capable of producing on power plays.
• D Joni Pitkanen reached the 100-game mark with the Hurricanes during the weekend. It took him almost a season and a half to do so. He’s earning his pay when he’s in the lineup, logging more than 29 minutes in Monday night’s game at Washington.
• C Eric Staal moved into sixth place on the franchise’s list for career points with 379 on Saturday night. By notching five points in the next game Monday night at Washington, he’s on pace to catch Pat Verbeek’s 403 points within a few weeks.
Medical Watch:
• RW Erik Cole(notes) (upper body) is expected to be out for 2-to-3 weeks.
• LW Chad LaRose(notes) (lower body) is expected to be out 3-to-4 weeks.
• D Joe Corvo(notes) (lower leg cut) left the Nov. 30 game in the first period after he was cut on the leg by a skate. He required surgery and he could miss up to two months, so a pre-Olympic break return might be optimistic.
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