When the Carolina Hurricanes rattled off a string of wins like we've never seen before, we all knew it would end. They weren't going to win 9 out of every 10 games for the entire season.
Well, the injuries have piled up, and with so many guys out of the lineup, the Canes took on Tampa Bay at home for the second game in the season series, and the results ended up being the same as on opening night in Tampa - with a 5-2 Tampa win.
I was at this game - for two periods - and Carolina came out skating strong in the first period for about 5 minutes, but after that, they really seemed kinda tired. At one point, they were defending a 5 on 5 situation like it was a Tampa Bay power play - 5 Canes in the middle and 4 Tampa players around the outside passing it around looking for a shot.
The power play was off last night too. I think during one of our early power plays, we didn't even manage to get a shot.
The injuries have really decimated the Canes lineup. The loss of Rod Brind'Amour is really hurting us in the faceoff circle. We only won a third of the faceoffs in this game. And we really need to get Glen Wesley back. Plus, Niclas Wallin and Josef Vasicek are out too.
Injuries do more than take specific players out - they mess up your chemistry and your rhythm.
Andrew Ladd was called up from Lowell and played 14 minutes yesterday in fine fashion. Though he only got one shot on goal, he got 3 hits and a takeaway, and his plus/minus rating was a 0 for the evening. He played pretty well.
Ottawa comes back to town Tuesday night - buy one get one free if you bring 2 cans of food!
GO CANES!
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