The Carolina Hurricanes: Win First Home Opener Since 2008

The Carolina Hurricanes are snake bitten when it comes to starting the season in Raleigh losing their last seven before tonight.

After the disastrous road trip to start the season, the Carolina Hurricanes returned home hoping some home cooking would help set things straight.  They started the season 1-3-2 giving up three leads along the way.  Two of those leads were 3 goal leads in the third period.  Frustrated by bad turnovers and uneven goalie play, Carolina slinked back to the Triangle with a losing record despite outplaying their competition in a majority of the games.

Michael Smith quoted Bill Peters:

"We’re scoring, but we’re reckless in order to score. I want to tighten up our game. Last year we had an identity as a team…You’ll know when it’s clicking. Right now it’s not clicking. It’s not clicking for 60 minutes. We’re well aware of that, and we’re working towards fixing those problems."

The Hurricanes, with just two days of practice after their loss in Detroit on Tuesday, didn’t have a whole lot of time to figure it out.  Carolina’s schedule did them no favors either.  On deck for the Hurricanes first home opener was the New York Rangers.  The Rangers were playing like they wanted to show people their Stanley Cup window was still wide open.  New York boasted of being the top, or near the top, in all the offensive metrics out there and also led the league in goals.  For a team like Carolina with shaky goaltending and questionable defense at times, this was the worst team possible.

The Game Begins

The crowd was large.  Only 1,100 short of being sold out.  It was one of the biggest crowds for opening night in memory.  And when the puck dropped the crowd was actually cheering for the Hurricanes instead of being drowned out by the Yankee transplants.  Play was even between the two teams.  A chance here, a chance there, but nothing too dangerous.  The game seemed to settle into a flow with neither team pushing to break the status quo.  It wasn’t until around the eleven-minute mark the balance changed.  New York pressed hard on Carolina and forced them to commit a penalty.  During the ensuing power play, Mats Zuccarello would put one in.  Cam Ward sprawled out on the ground didn’t have a chance.

Bill Peters challenged for goalie interference, but replays clearly show Ron Hainsey pushing a Ranger on top of Ward preventing him from saving the goal.  Carolina came back unfazed and four minutes later Jeff Skinner tied it up.  Skinner gathered the puck behind the net and skated to the slot untouched; he ripped a hard shot to the far post and it slipped in between Henrik Lundqvist’s arm and body on the blocker side.  Wearing the “A” for the first time in his career, Jeff Skinner strived to show that he deserved it.

Skinner’s Heroics

The first ended all knotted up, but the second wouldn’t remain that way for long.  Brett Pesce gathered the puck in Carolina’s zone and zoomed it up the ice to a streaking Skinner.  Flanked by two Rangers defenseman, Skinner used his speed and skated by one and then positioned himself to keep the other at bay before slotting home a backhander over Lundqvist’s shoulder.  It was a short-lived lead.  Ryan McDonagh caught Mats Zuccarello with a pass behind the Canes’ defense, and Zuccarello skated in 1 on 1 with Cam Ward.  Ward guessed five hole, but Zuccarello shot for the post and the game was now even once again.

Related Story: The Workings of a Top 3 Power Play

At the end of the second period, Ryan McDonagh tripped Lee Stempniak and went to the box.  With the Ranger’s best defenseman in the box, the Carolina Hurricanes were presented with a golden opportunity to take the lead.  The clock ticked down on the Hurricanes’ power play and the period.  Finally, with seconds remaining, Jeff Skinner blasted a shot from the top of the faceoff circle and it found the net.  Hat’s came pouring down onto the ice, but on the replay, it showed the puck clearly hitting Bryan Bickell’s jersey before entering the net.

Holding the Lead

The third period was a tense affair.  The Carolina Hurricanes were in familiar territory.  Getting the lead was never the problem it was holding the lead the team had found oh so elusive.  Play went back and forth, but the best chance again belonged to the Hurricanes but Lundqvist shut the door to make to keep it 3-2.  On the other end, Cam Ward made his share of great saves as the Rangers pressed to tie the game.  In the end, it wasn’t enough.  After pulling Lundqvist, the six Rangers still couldn’t score and the game ended 3-2.  Up next on Sunday is the Philidelphia Flyers who beat the Hurricanes 6-3 the last time they met in Philadelphia.