November 1, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; Carolina Hurricanes forward Eric Staal (12) carries the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning at PNC Center.The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
The Carolina Hurricanes continue to struggle on offense in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Carolina came out well in the first period, but they did not follow it up in the second period. The Canes did not get much done in the third until the final ten minutes, but by that time it was too late.
Ben Bishop stood on his head and continues to be a “Cane Killer”. Let’s take a look at the scoring summary, a game recap, and more.
Scoring Summary
Tampa opened the scoring half way through the second period to make it 1-0. Victor Hedman‘s slap shot bounces off the end wall, off the back of Justin Peters and in. A bad break for the Hurricanes, but they had 30 minutes of hockey to play after that goal.
Steven Stamkos scores on a rebound over half way into the third period to make it 2-0 Lightning. Alex Killorn‘s shot on goal was saved by Peters, but Steven Stamkos was on the door step as he beat Jiri Tlusty to the puck. Steven Stamkos was knocking on the door all night, and he finally got one past Peters.
The Canes came back with life following the Stamkos goal. They were buzzing around Ben Bishop for a while, but Alex Killorn ruins the chances of a comeback as he scores with under 3 minutes to go in the third.
After an offensive zone faceoff win by Manny Malhotra, Justin Faulk and Andrej Sekera collide as they both go for the puck. Alex Killorn then takes the puck, passes to Martin St.Louis, which created the 2 on 1, then St.Louis passed it back to Killorn as he scores on a sprawling Justin Peters.
Those were the scoring plays from tonight’s 3-0 win for the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Game Recap
The Carolina Hurricanes get shutout on home ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The offense is still not there for the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Hurricnaes had 4 powerplays against the Lightning. The powerplays looked good, but it doesn’t matter how good they look if they don’t score. They didn’t carry the momentum from the powerplay into even strength play.
For a majority of the game, the first line played well. Eric Staal and Alex Semin had very solid scoring chances through out the game. Eric Staal knows he has to score. He talked about that after the game.
"“I feel pressure every year… In my position, I have to be chipping in more offensively, doing more in the offensive zone. Things just aren’t going my way right now.”– Eric Staal"
Eric Staal knows what he needs to do. He played well tonight, but at the end of the day, you have to get points on the score sheet if you are players like Eric Staal, Alex Semin and Jordan Staal.
The defense looked good tonight against one of the best offensive teams in the NHL. Justin Peters played his best game I’ve seen him play in a good bit. Peters was the lone reason this game wasn’t at 3-0 or 4-0 after two periods.
Manny Malhotra won 15 of 20 faceoffs in his Hurricanes debut, and it was very obvious that this was a good signing by Jim Rutherford. Malhotra played very well in the bottom 6, and ended up on a line with young Elias Lindholm and Tuomo Ruutu. This line played well in the third period.
In short, the Canes need to score. The big time players on the Carolina Hurricanes need to produce. Some one just needs to produce.
The Game By The Numbers
Martin St.Louis (7 shots) and Steven Stamkos (9 shots) acounted for 16 of the Lightning’s 32 shots. That’s half of Tampa’s shots from those two players.
The Hurricanes were very sucessful in the faceoff dot. Jordan Staal was the only Canes centerman to go under 50% on faceoffs. Eric Staal won 10 of 17 draws (59%), Elias Lindholm won 2 of 3 (67%), Riley Nash won 3 of 5 (60%), and Manny Malhotra won 15 of 20 (75%) of his draws.
The Tampa Bay Lightning blocked 24 shots, meanwhile Carolina blocked 15.
Tampa Bay out shot Carolina 32-31.
Andrej Sekera led the Hurricanes in time on ice with 24:55. Brett Sutter played a mere 2:35 total time on ice. Alex Semin led Canes forward in time on ice with 22:58 against the Lightning.
Sami Salo led the Lightning in time on ice with 22:33. Steven Stamkos led Lightning forward with 20:27 of ice time.
The Carolina Hurricanes play Saturday night in New York, as they take on the Rangers. The offense needs to come along, and come along soon for the Hurricanes. They are going into King Henrik’s building, so you have to assume Henrik Lundqvist will be on his game, even though he has had a rough start to the season.
There will be Pre and Post Game Reports on Cardiac Canes tomorrow. And make sure to check us out on twitter for in game news and updates. The final score of tonight’s game, Tampa Bay Lightning – 3, the Carolina Hurricanes – 0.