By Bud L. Ellis
For a team that’s averaged 97 points the past four seasons, having just six points through eight games and sitting in fourth place in the division is a strange feeling.
The Carolina Hurricanes will look to find themselves and start a winning streak when they hit the road for a Midwestern weekend swing at Colorado and Minnesota this weekend.
The Canes need something to jump start their 2009-10 season, one which has began with lackluster performances and disappointment. The stumble came Wednesday, when Carolina lost 4-3 to a New York Islanders’ team that was winless on the season entering the matchup.
Offensive woes have kept Carolina from hitting its stride so far this season, Carolina having scored just 18 goals in eight games. And while the Canes are 2-1 in the Southeast Division, they already are six points behind two-time defending division champion Washington.
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Friday, October 23, 2009 at 9:47 pm by bud
Tags: Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
It took five extra minutes of overtime and a shootout, but the Carolina Hurricanes finally found their way into the victory column.
Sergei Samsonov and Tuomo Ruutu scored in the shootout, and goalie Cam Ward made 29 saves as the Hurricanes snapped a season-opening two-game losing streak Tuesday, beating Tampa Bay 2-1 in Raleigh for the Canes’ first victory of the season.
For a team that reached the Eastern Conference finals a year ago, the victory erased some of the angst from two ugly season-opening losses last weekend, games Carolina lost by a combined 9-2 score.
But Carolina got it done Tuesday, opening a key early stretch of Southeast Division contest with a victory.
Jussi Jokinen scored for Carolina in the first period, converting on a power play. Tampa Bay tied the game in the second period, but the Canes’ defense held the Lightning at bay the rest of the way.
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 9:56 pm by bud
Tags: Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes, Jussi Jokinen, National Hockey League, Sergei Samsonov, Southeast Division, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tuomo Ruutu
By Bud L. Ellis
Nine goals allowed in their first 120 minutes of the season was not what the Carolina Hurricanes had in mind.
A 2-0 loss to Philadelphia Friday night opened the 2009 season on a sour note, and the taste grew even more bitter the next night when Boston hung seven goals on the Canes in a 7-2 defeat, a game in which forward Erik Cole broke a bone in his lower left leg (he’ll miss at least a month, perhaps longer).
Heading into Tuesday’s Southeast Division opener against Tampa Bay, a Carolina team that made it to the Eastern Conference finals last season is seeking something positive to turn around what’s been a wretched six periods so far this season.
Only Vancouver and defending Western Conference champion Detroit are 0-2 so far, and maybe there’s a good place to start, the fact that if Detroit is also 0-2 on the season, maybe things aren’t so bad.
But all joking aside, nobody expects either the Wings or Canes to stay below .500 for long. However, defending division champion Washington already is out to a 2-0 start, and Atlanta looked impressive in beating Tampa in its season opener Saturday.
The last thing the Canes need to do is fall behind in the standings early on, as points earned now don’t have to be made up later. With three games this week against division opponents (Tampa Tuesday, Florida Friday, at Tampa Saturday), a good week of hockey will level-set things for Carolina.
But another bad week, and suddenly the Canes could be six or eight points out of first just five games into the season. Not exactly what Carolina, or its fans, had in mind.
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Monday, October 5, 2009 at 8:31 pm by bud
Tags: Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings, Erik Cole, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals
