AP photos
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The Carolina Hurricanes won a game, facing a franchise-record 60 shots, but lost two players to injury Saturday at Nassau Coliseum, making a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders bittersweet.
Chad LaRose scored his first two goals of the season, including the game-winner at 7:11 of the third period. Goalie Cam Ward made a franchise-high 57 saves and stopped the Islanders' Doug Weight on a penalty shot with a second to play to preserve the victory.
But everyone was concerned, and Canes coach Peter Laviolette upset, about Weight's big hit on Brandon Sutter in the third period that left the rookie center unconscious. The Canes also lost defenseman Joni Pitkanen to an apparent knee injury.
Sutter was carrying the puck into the Islanders' zone and had his head down when Weight hit him in the head with his shoulder.
Sutter, on the ice for several minutes before being helped off, was taken to a local hospital for treatment and observation, Laviolette said. No penalty was called on the play, but Laviolette said the NHL should legislate such hits out of the game.
Sutter will be kept overnight for further observation, a Canes spokesman said. Pitkanen, who did not return after the second intermission, will return to Raleigh for further evaluation of what could be a strain.
LaRose plucked the puck out of the air in the Islanders zone, then fired a low shot past goalie Rick DiPietro at 3:43 of the first period. It was his first goal and point of the season.
Rod Brind'Amour scored on a rebound of a Joe Corvo shot at 8:49. Brind'Amour won a faceoff in the Islanders zone, pushing the puck back to Corvo, then charged the net for his fourth goal of the season.
After Freddy Meyer's goal made it a 2-1 game in the second period, Eric Staal picked off a Meyer pass in the Islanders zone and fired the puck past Joey MacDonald, who replaced DiPietro after the first period.
The Islanders outshot the Canes 60-28, with 43 shots in the final two periods. Ward's previous high in a game was 42 saves, which he has done twice.
"Cam played very well. He was really, really sharp," Laviolette said.
The previous high against the franchise was 59 shots, by Minnesota in a 7-6 over the then-Hartford Whalers on Nov. 2, 1982. The Whalers' Mike Veisor had 52 saves in the game, which stood as the franchise record until Saturday.
In the closing seconds, with the Islanders firing away at Ward and the puck loose, defenseman Tim Gleason put his glove on the puck in the crease. Gleason had his stick knocked away and said he was trying to knock the puck away
"Those last five seconds seemed like five minutes," Gleason said. "There was scrum in front of the net, I didn't have a stick and I tried to swipe at it.
"As soon as you put your glove on top of it, it's a penalty shot. Obviously I wasn't thinking penalty shot, just get the thing out of there."
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at
Comments
a win but truly awful performance
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 11:04 — rmmeliOnce again they squeezed out a win but really it was a complete shambles of a team performance. No organization, no understanding of who is where....perhaps someone can recount how many passed the Canes managed to string together. Ward obviously was out to prove he is the #1 and he did it. The defense was pathetic once again being unable to block shots and get the puck consistently out of their own zone and this was against one of the worst teams in the league. Someone tell me when Corvo is actually going to wake up and realize he is supposed to be a defenseman.
I am no expert, but after
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 10:30 — Dump and Chase (not verified)I am no expert, but after going back and watching the game recording, Pitkanen's last shift was around three minutes remaining the second. The puck was sent down to the NYI end and the camera panned away from Joni. By the time the puck came back to center he was on the bench...but he was still in the bench area until the end of the period. He was not needed the rest of the period as we went shorthanded and when the period was over, he walked out in line with the rest of the team and didn't seem to be walking gingerly. If it was due to an on-ice incident, it didn't appear to be a serious one. He missed a month last season with the Oil with a right knee injury and its possible he may have tweaked it again.
Upon further review
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 10:24 — Robert Gilday (not verified)Upon further review, after seeing the play several more times, that was an interference on Sutter by Weight. The puck was not in Sutter's possession, and Weight hit him. That, by definition is interference.
You might need to review
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 23:12 — CanesRBoringYou might need to review your understanding of hockey!
C'mon Chip
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 09:51 — Vincent Vega (not verified)Seriously, Chip, no offense, but no injury updates is inexcusable. I mean, it's kinda your job and the reason you're in Uniondale, no?
Dont' forget...
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 09:03 — Fred (not verified)I agreed with the poster who claimed it almost seems that the Canes players were friendlier to Weight than the issue with Sutter. Our enforcer couldn't lay a hit on someone?
How About It Doesn't Get Legislated Out...
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 03:29 — Sid (not verified)Because I don't want to watch a game where every knob can pull his head down to his waist and be guaranteed immune to body-checking...
Lay off Weight
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 01:36 — Dump and Chase (not verified)There is no way Weight could have known Sutter would lower his head and put himself out there at the last second. Sutter didn't have a clue where anyone around him was...That's a rookie error. You have to look out for yourself out there.
Spelling? Jeez!
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 01:26 — Anonymous (not verified)I mean, this board gives Canes fans a terrible name. You people need to learn how to spell. I can't even respond to most of the comments because I am not even sure what they are saying.
Weight's Hit
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 01:04 — Anonymous (not verified)Honestly, it really doesn't matter if the hit was legal or not. There is no place for that kind of thing in hockey. The concussion problem that is plaguing the sport needs to be addressed immediately.
Oh, as for the officiating
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 00:02 — Anonymous (not verified)Oh, as for the officiating and specifically the penalty to Bayda following the hit on Sutter, I won't fault the on-ice officials. Crap like this will continue to go on until the league finally wakes up and rescinds the instigator rule. How they continue to not see the error of their ways on that one is beyond me. Hopefully when the league finally rids itself of Gary Bettman, they'll replace him with someone who actually understands the game and get that ridiculous rule off the books.
On the non-icing, I'd have
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 23:57 — Anonymous (not verified)On the non-icing, I'd have to watch it again, but I wasn't convinced watching it live that Wallin ever touched up.
As for Weight, clam down folks. He didn't intend to take Sutter out and he IS a class act, stand-up guy. He was pretty much already committed to that hit before Sutter decided to stretch out and lower his head. This is still a contact sport and you have to be aware of your surroundings.
I know there were some rumblings when the Canes drafted Sutter, but this kid is going to be a good one for a long time. Saying he only looks good because everyone else sucks is really belittling how well he's played thus far. Just looking at all the situations the coaching staff has put him in tells you how much they think of the kid. It's a long season, and all rookies eventually hit the wall (especially ones still as slightly built as Sutter currently is), but I think we've gotten a real nice glimpse of what kind of player he'll be for years to come.
"Saying he only looks good
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 02:22 — Anonymous (not verified)"Saying he only looks good because everyone else sucks is really belittling how well he's played thus far."
Yeah, so many people have been saying that.
Your comment is ridiculous, no one thinks that.
Wait, why am I responding to someone who writes "clam down folks"?
"Wait, why am I responding
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 17:24 — Anonymous (not verified)"Wait, why am I responding to someone who writes "clam down folks"?"
Grow up. What are you, the spelling police? It's a freakin' blog. You want perfect spelling? Go read a professionally produced magazine or newspaper with an editing staff. I don't have the energy or desire to proofread whatever I write in the middle of the night in an open discussion about a hockey game. Certainly not to satisfy your English requirements.
Feel free to run this past your spellchecker. I didn't.
Clean hit!!!!
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 23:36 — david (not verified)i was at the game it was a clean hit maybe brandon should not have decided last second he would put his head down and wieght had no intentoin to hurt him at all. and the officating was bad i give u that at least 5 penalties against both teams that were rediculas but im praying for sutter he seemed ok though and he was not uncounsius just dazed leave dougy alone he is a stand up guy im sure he would have never hit him if he knew the kid would lower his head
Clean hit
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:51 — Anonymous (not verified)The hit looked pretty clean to me. Sutter had his head down (literally at his waist) & was not looking. None of the Isles' D were back, so if Weight let him go, he probably has a scoring chance. I really hope Brandon's okay. He was starting to play well the past couple of games.
Worst officating ive seen in a LONG time.
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:44 — Borsig (not verified)Speechless...
No Icing call at the end there....
WE get a penalty while our trainers carry a man off who nearly lost his head. Nice. Like bayda could have hurt weight.
TONS of missed calls. Questionable calls abound. I rarely gripe about officiating... But... This game just PROVES why the NHL, unlike any other leage has to contol all games from the league HQ. Worst officiating in professional sports, that can't be counted on.
Oh and to Doug Weight - Please try not to take out your anger that you got traded to a sybstandard team on our prosepects. Yes the kid had his head down, you saw he had his head down. Just becasuse YOUR career is over, doesnt mean you have to try and end someone else's. Used to have respect for you as a stand up guy. That ended tonight. Clean hit? Borderline hit. Un called for. You saw the kid had his head down and you led with your elbow. You almost looked remoresful afterward. Perhaps thats becasue you should be, and might be suspended for that one.
The canes need to stop relying on cheap labor prospects and rookies. Sutter looks good right now becasue frankly, we suck. We play 20 minutes of hocky in a a 60 minute game. Sutter has talent, but he looks so good becasue he is trying. The rest of the team looks lazy and as if they dont care wether they win or lose (with the exception of a few players). Time to produce or be traded. We have no franchise players right now. We look terrible on the ice.
Im tired fo watching this team play for 20 minutes then give up.
What's up with everybody
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 14:08 — Anonymous (not verified)What's up with everybody being so negative about Bayda? He may not be the biggest, toughest guy....but I haven't seen him back down from much of anything. And while everybody's moaning about how our guys don't stand up for each other......at least he did something!
As for the game, we needed the points & did what we had to do to get them. I agree that we need to be tougher as a team, don't get me wrong......but at least we got those points! Remember, it was only 2 points that separated us from the playoffs last year.
feel free to turn the
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 23:25 — Anonymous (not verified)feel free to turn the channel, jackass
Fat Finger Syndrome
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:39 — esteban1949sorry for the typos, and like you I too am concern as Chuck K called it a " rookie " mistake, I don't want anyone to get their brains scrambled like that. Obviously you have never been around or volunteered to work with people who have surivied a spinal cord or brain injuries have you? Next time you go to the mall watch how people avoid people or kids with CP in wheel chairs...you'd think the people were afraid of getting aides or something. Glad the Canes won, but still too many cheap penalties, and there is no way the canes should have allowed that many shots at Cam like that . But a Win is still a Win...even the ugly ones huh ? Go Canes !
Brandon, just want you to
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:19 — Anonymous (not verified)Brandon, just want you to know back in Raleigh we are all praying for you.
Way to go Douggie!!!
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:10 — Anonymous (not verified)Way to go Douggie!!! Knocking out a teenage rookie with less than 10 games in the league! Woo-hoo!
Best wishes collecting that paycheque from an organization so pathetic it gives a contract to a has-been like Doug Weight.
has anyone heard how joni
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:08 — Anonymous (not verified)has anyone heard how joni and sutter are yet or what happened to joni
Sutter
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:06 — Caniac Chris (not verified)Prayers are for Sutter...that was a nasty collision.
Good thing he has youth on his side. Dough weight might need a total hip replacement!
No icing?
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:05 — Robert Gilday (not verified)Would someone in the league office explain how at the end of the game the linesman missed an obvious icing? Not making the call almost lead to having the game tied and possibly losing a point. Of course, it never should have come down to that missed call. What's the status of Pitkanen?
Sutter
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 22:01 — Anonymous (not verified)Yeah, it was a legal hit. Of course, Weight could have gone for the puck, but he went for the hit instead.
I just hope Sutter is going to be okay.
WTF is going on with Pitkanen? Come on, Chip, tell us something we can't read in the Game Summary!
Agreed, no point in Chip
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 23:25 — Anonymous (not verified)Agreed, no point in Chip having "access" if he doesn't update us...
Hey Chip--Any medical update
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 21:58 — Anonymous (not verified)Hey Chip--Any medical update on Sutter and Pitkanen?
record broken ?
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 21:25 — esteban1949The Canes have allowed too many shots 52 and the 3rd period aint over yet.and we also took too many cheap penalties...and poor Sytter made a rookie mistake and got his bell rung rewal well too.man what a game...
Canes really gutted it out
Sat, 10/25/2008 - 21:55 — Anonymous (not verified)Canes really gutted it out for an inspiring win! Rookie mistake? Spell much? I'm tired of teams taking liberties with our players. Its very frustrating--Most importantly, I hope Sutter is okay....