Carolina Hurricanes Focus Changed to Well Being of Eddie Lack

Odd Back to Back for Detroit and Carolina Hurricanes

Tonight’s game was the beginning of an odd and very interesting back to back series between the Detroit Red Wings and Carolina Hurricanes. Because of the results of the Icegate Game of 2016. Detroit is in an unusual situation by playing games back to back to back. Not that it hasn’t happened before (San Jose, 2003) but it is very rare. Detroit did get a home game out of it with a win Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.

Key Points of the Game:

In the 1^st, Carolina came out to play and look ready to keep the streak alive. Jeff Skinner didn’t disappoint all the excited Carolina fans with the first goal.

Things in the 2^nd changed, dramatically, especially for the Hurricanes. The Canes came out flat and seemed timid at times. What seemed way to apparent was the Hurricanes defense pressing too much. That’s when caught flat footed the Canes give up a breakaway to Anthony Mantha that ties the game at one.

Within a minute of given up the breakaway to Mantha the team turned around and did the exact same thing giving Anthony his second of the period.

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For some odd reason after that, Justin Faulk seemed to be taking strides to get the Canes back into the game on his own. There were two to three times Faulk tried to drive right down the middle like a forward. Faulk efforts were rewarded with just over a minute left in the 2^nd. That’s when he gets a chance to set up a fire a rocket to tie the game again.

The 3^rd period started eerily like the 2^nd with Detroit taking charge right out of the gate. With Carolina fighting off bad penalties and just bad offensive opportunities the Wings, who were really controlling the game finally find the back of the net.

From that point on the game got real interesting. One thing I found to be positive for the Hurricanes, was Detroit actually falling back into a defensive mode. Kind of reminded me of past Canes teams. Carolina who didn’t have only a couple of shots during the first half of the period came alive and took charge. With 9 shots in the last 5 minutes, Justin Faulk saved the game with less than a minute to play.

OT

Carolina and Detroit went back and forth in the first minutes of overtime when Carolina makes the same mistake on offense much like the whole game. With all the Canes deep past the blueline the puck comes out for Andreas Athanasiou on a breakaway. Anthanasiou drives in and scored the game winner.

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That’s when the game ended and life began for this writer. I was, unfortunately, sitting on the other side of the arena when this play happened. No sooner did the goal lights come on, but Eddie Lack laid limp. As many fans were confused and trying to understand the situation the whole arena went quiet and focused on what was unfolding in front of the goal.

In Closing

For me, I noticed a very uncanny silence take over the arena that was unnerving. My Friends and I in section 312 were paralyzed to what had just happened and had more questions than answer. For good reason, no replay was being played on the jumbotron. It didn’t take long for both teams to gather around the net as all the medical staff took over. It seemed like forever that the medics worked on Eddie Lack. Finally, the stretcher was put underneath him and the medics moved quickly to get him to the hospital.

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For this writer and my friends in section 312, this was the most sobering experience of any Carolina Hurricanes game we had experienced. Yes, it was important for the Canes to get the win but in the end, Eddie Lack’s health and wellbeing matter more than any game. It is important for me to mention that even with what happened, all the Detroit Red Wings fans were outstanding and at times show a lot of compassion. The Detroit Red Wings team also stayed out on the ice with the Hurricanes to show support for both the team and Eddie Lack. Our prayers are with Eddie Lack tonight. Get well soon.

https://twitter.com/eddielack/status/846572022004154369

Eddie Lack did announce to Carolina Hurricanes fans later that night that he was being released from the hospital. While it was scary at the time, hopefully, this means that things are on the way to being better. Or at the very least there are no injuries that are life altering. We keep Eddie Lack in our thoughts and will bring you more info as it is released.

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