Carolina Hurricanes: Takeaways from Road Win vs. Detroit Red Wings

The Carolina Hurricanes won their second game in a row last night, this time on the road against the Detroit Red Wings. Here’s what went right.

The Carolina Hurricanes are on the path to starting another winning streak after beating both the Florida Panthers and the Detroit Red Wings in back-to-back games.

Last night, the Hurricanes walked out of Little Caesars Arena with two more points in the standings, and have elevated themselves to 6th overall in the league. The Carolina Hurricanes have managed to find their game after losing 4 in a row, and have been able to win 6 of their last 7 games.

The Detroit Red Wings, on the other hand, are firmly planted at the very bottom of the league table with 17 points – two points behind the Los Angeles Kings.

Last night’s game was the Hurricanes’ to lose from start to finish, and James Reimer and Co. managed to keep the Red Wings off the scoresheet entirely, as Reimer earned his first shutout as a Carolina Hurricane.

Many, many things went right, but there were a few that stuck out more than others: Reimer stood tall all game, the Canes managed to play a tight game defensively, and the Canes actually managed to play a full 60 minutes, for the first time in what seems like ages.

1. James Reim-demption?

James Reimer got his first shutout as a Carolina Hurricane last night. Let that sink in a bit.

Since the Carolina Hurricanes acquired James Reimer in exchange for Scott Darling, I’ve been huge on his upside and what exactly he can bring to the Canes’ lineup, even as a backup goalie.

Last night, I believe he showed us just exactly what that potential is. There are quite a few people in the Carolina Hurricanes’ fanbase that can’t stand Reimer, or think he is a ‘bad’ goaltender; I think more than a few of those people have changed their tune (or at least quietened down about it) after last night’s performance from Reimer.

To be fair, 19 saves isn’t a ‘huge’ game, by any stretch of the word, but Reimer did exactly what goalies are paid to do: make the stops that need to be made.

His best of the night, a beautiful stop on a Darren Helm breakaway, left me (most of us, honestly) with mouths agape, and in awe at just how clutch Reimer can be, has been, and will continue to be down the road.

Hopefully last night helped not only Reimer, but his teammates and the non-believers in the fanbase build up a bit more much-needed confidence in the newest Hurricanes’ netminder.

3. Canes Finally Realize Hockey Games Last 60 Minutes

Okay, who finally broke down and told them?

The Carolina Hurricanes have notoriously played a bit lazily the past few games, usually after pulling ahead early on.

That wasn’t the case last night. The Carolina Hurricanes, in surprising fashion, managed to not only stick with the game for the full 60 minutes, but they also survived a late 3rd period onslaught, most of which saw the Canes down by 3 men due to an unfortunate penalty by Nino Niederreiter, and Jimmy Howard getting pulled in favor of an extra attacker.

All in all, the Carolina Hurricanes played a great hockey game on both ends of the ice, from start to finish. This is the type of game we all know the Canes can play. The most impressive part of all of this is that the Canes are managing to string together wins, and snag points in the standings without Erik Haula.

If the Carolina Hurricanes can keep up the pace while he’s out, they’ll only be setting themselves up for that much more success when he finally draws back into the lineup full-time.

In the meantime, let’s keep our fingers crossed that Andrei Svechnikov‘s point streak continues (he has more points than Alex Ovechkin at the moment, by the way), Martin Necas continues to make an excellent case for the Calder Trophy, and Joel Edmundson keeps using Bauer sticks. (RIP to his point streak, though).

Question for CC Readers: Do you think the Canes can continue the style of play we saw last night?