Box Score

After starting out February 1-3, and riding a 2 game losing streak going into their final game before the Olympic break, I think it was important for Carolina to win this game.  Sitting on a 3 game losing streak for 2 weeks wouldn't be good.

Well, thankfully, the Canes agreed with me.  After putting on a pretty pathetic performance Friday night versus the worst team in hockey, our guys came out strong and played a really solid game against Buffalo, one of the better teams in the league.

Even "The Secret Weapon" Niclas Wallin got in the game with his career high 3rd goal of the season.  For the uninformed, John Forslund always refers to Wallin as "The Secret Weapon whenever he scores.  I think he had a game winning goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs back in 2002.  Wallin and Doug Weight lead the team in shots on goal with 5 a piece.

Martin Gerber and the defense gave up a few shabby goals late in the second period (at 16:58 and 17:55), but Carolina came on strong to basically dominate play in the third period, outshooting Buffalo 12-5, and that continued in the overtime 7-1, but Ryan Miller managed to get his team to the shootout, where unfortunately for Buffalo, the Canes went on to win their 6th shootout victory in 7 attempts.

I think the loss to the Pens on Friday may have helped refocus this team and reminded them that they've got to show up to win these games.

Sunday's game was preceded by a nice Olympic ceremony honoring our 2006 Olympians - Eric Staal (Canada), Frank Kaberle (Czech Republic), Martin Gerber (Switzerland), Eric Cole (USA), Bret Hedican (USA), Matt Cullen (USA), and of course, Coach Laviolette (USA).

See you after the Olympics!

GO CANES!  GO USA!

Box Score

Who says lightning never strikes the same place twice?

Carolina dropped to 1-3-1 against division rival Tampa Bay with a 5-3 loss.  The Canes actually played pretty well, outskating and outshooting the Lightning.

We just got some bad breaks.

Two Carolina goals deflected off of Hurricanes sticks.  Eric Cole ("Mr. Penalty Shot") totally beat John Grahame on his penalty shot but hit the post.  And holy cow, if Grahame can string together a few games like he played last night - stopping all 28 shots that he faced - then Team USA might actually have a chance!  Grahame made some awesome saves.

As a side note, Eric Cole was incredible last night.  That guy is FAST!

Hopefully, Carolina can rebound tonight against the lowly Penguins in front of what should be a nearly sold out crowd.

GO CANES!

BY KEN PRESTON, CarolinaHurricanes.com

Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning

Thursday, Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m. (ET)
St. Pete Times Forum - Tampa, Fla.

Hurricanes: 38-12-4 (80 pts.), Southeast Division, 1st place
Lightning: 30-22-4 (64 pts.), Southeast Division, 2nd place

I'll be recording and watching the following Olympic hockey games this year, mostly because each of them features Hurricanes players.

DATE	TIME	CHANNEL	DESCRIPTION
Wednesday, February 15	5:00 AM	MSNBC	Switzerland v. Finland
Wednesday, February 15	3:00 PM	USA	USA v. Latvia
Thursday, February 16	6:00 AM	MSNBC	Switzerland v. Czech Republic
Thursday, February 16	3:00 PM	USA	USA v. Kazakhstan
Saturday, February 18	5:00 AM	CNBC	Canada v. Switzerland
Saturday, February 18	12:00 PM	NBC	USA v. Slovakia
Sunday, February 19	6:00 AM	CNBC	Switzerland v. Germany
Sunday, February 19	10:30 AM	NBC	USA v. Sweden
Tuesday, February 21	6:30 AM	MSNBC	Switzerland vs. Italy
Tuesday, February 21	2:00 PM	USA	USA v. Russia
Wednesday, February 22	8:00 AM	USA	Men's Quarterfinal
Wednesday, February 22	10:00 AM	MSNBC	Men's Quarterfinal
Wednesday, February 22	2:30 PM	MSNBC	Men's Quarterfinal
Wednesday, February 22	3:00 PM	USA	Men's Quarterfinal
Friday, February 24	7:00 AM	MSNBC	Men's Semifinal
Friday, February 24	11:00 AM	USA	Men's Semifinal
Saturday, February 25	1:00 PM	NBC	Bronze Medal Game
Sunday, February 26	8:00 AM	NBC	Gold Medal Game

Box Score

No losing streaks for the Canes!  After dropping Friday night's contest in New Jersey, the Canes rebounded on Superbowl Sunday in a come-from-behind effort that ended in an overtime shootout.  Even the shootout went to overtime!

Once again, I couldn't watch this game, but I did listen to a lot of it.  The overtime period was incredible, with the Canes getting non-stop pressure and all 7 shots in the overtime.  I think Chuck K was about to go into cardiac arrest!

Carolina because the first team to hit 80 points, and remains atop the league.  They now get 3 days rest before playing their final game of this 4 game road trip on Thursday.

GO CANES!

TSN is reporting that Hedican will replace Kings defenseman Aaron Miller on Team USA as Miller has some kind of nagging injury.  For those of you that don't know, TSN is the Canadian equivalent of ESPN.

They're also reporting that Canes forward Matt Cullen will be on the taxi squad.  So the Hurricanes will be sending Erik Cole (USA), Doug Weight (USA), Bret Hedican (USA), Martin Gerber (Switzerland), and Frank Kaberle (Czech Republic) to Turin to play for their countries.  Plus, Eric Staal (Canada) and Matt Cullen (USA) will be in Turin as well on their respective taxi squads, which means they'll get to play if someone gets injured.

U-S-A!!!  U-S-A!!!  U-S-A!!!  U-S-A!!!

Box Score

The Canes message boards were starting to get a little crazy.  People were asking questions like "Will the Canes lose again?"

Of course they will.  And they did last night.

I didn't get to watch the game, but I listened to some of it, and from what I could tell, the Canes got thoroughly outplayed.  And let's face it, New Jersey won 3 Stanley Cups with Martin Brodeur minding the net, and clearly he's still doing a fine job.  At least on his good nights.

The Devils retired Scott Stevens number last night.  You gotta respect Scott Stevens for playing hard every minute of every game.  He was one of the game's greatest hitters.  As a Canes fan, I dutifully booed him every time he touched the puck over the last few years because I - like most in the arena - remembered the hit he put on Ron Francis in the first round of the 2001 Stanley Cup Playoffs that knocked him out of the lineup for 3 games.  Clean hit, probably, but that's not really relevant.  He took out our captain.

And as Carolina did for Ron Francis night, the Devils put on a great performance for Scott Stevens night.

As for the Canes, they're starting to get healthy, and i hear Matt Cullen may be back on Thursday.  Not bad for a guy that broke his jaw 9 days ago.

The Hurricanes take on Boston tomorrow afternoon on Superbowl Sunday.

GO CANES!