RALEIGH — Lee Stempniak and Martin Hanzal each scored twice, and goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov notched his eighth shutout of the season as the Coyotes smacked the Canes 4-0.
The Coyotes led 2-0 after the first and built a 3-0 lead through two periods over the Canes, who had won eight straight at home.
The Coyotes, 31-3-2 this season when scoring first, scored first and it didn't take long.
The Coyotes, who were 2-for-48 on the power play in their last 13 games and are last in the NHL, scored a power-play goal.
Stempniak, obtained March 3 from Toronto, scored both goals as the Coyotes led 2-0 after the first period. Another stat: the Coyotes are 21-1-0 when leading after the first.
Hanzal made it 3-0 in the second, grabbing a loose puck in the slot and slinging it past Peters. The Coyotes are 27-1-2 when leading after two periods.
On Stempniak's first goal, he first beat Alex Picard to the puck behind the Carolina net. Vernon Fiddler then outbattled Jussi Jokinen, pushing the puck to Stempniak, who beat Justin Peters at the post at 3:59 for a 1-0 lead.
The second goal came after Jerome Samson picked up a double-minor high-sticking penalty for hitting Sami Lepisto after Samson got off a shot on the rush. Stempniak rifled a shot from the slot past a screened Peters with 4:01 left in the period.
The Canes had their chances in the first. Early in the game, they couldn't convert on a well-executed rush into the Coyotes zone by Ray Whitney, Eric Staal and Erik Cole. Whitney later gave Cole a perfectly placed touch pass for a breakaway, but Cole couldn't settle the puck and didn't get off a strong shot on goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
Samson, recalled today from Albany (AHL), did put a hard shot on goal with 6:30 left and Rod Brind'Amour backhanded the rebound, but Bryzgalov made the saves.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
Comments
Canes
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 00:02 — LetsGoPittBetter beat the Bruins!!!
But, man, what happend tonite? I only caught about 5 mins of the game on the radio, but I see they were o for 3 on the PP. Coyotes are solid this year, too bad they don't get a lot of support in AZ.
Well, I guess Canes were due for a let down. Speaking of let downs, the Islanders were once in 7th, now they have sunk to 13th! Battle of 5 teams now for the 8th spot? U guys thinkg Philly has their spot locked up?
Hurricanes v. Coyotes
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 08:12 — abramsdougI was at the game last night and here are some of my impressions. The Hurricanes are vulnerable to teams build like the Coyotes/Bruins/Flyers/Caps/Sharks/Ducks/Penguins/Blackhawks. When those teams take the ice, the size of the players looks like a high school all-star football team has been selected to play the Chicago Bears and they both dressed in hockey uniforms to do so.
The physical mis-match is patently obvious. The Hurricanes gave a valiant effort last night and the game was far better than the score. In the end, Sutter's being injured for the game, really made the new lines very disjointed. The Hurricanes lack great net presence and it shows against the bigger teams, including the Coyotes. The Whitney/Staal/Cole line had opportunities but could not convert.
Jokinen/Ruutu play well together, but they also need a big, natural scorer on their line against the bigger teams -- or a Zack Boychuk who has blinding speed to get ahead of the lumbering beasts on defense and has the hands and vision to get the puck to Jokinen/Ruutu.
There were a couple of defensive breakdowns; but they generally came from being out-muscled and the effort was there the entire game. At the juncture, the Coyotes are a better team than the Hurricanes and the Coyotes are very well-coached.
To be certain, the Hurricanes team is vastly, immeasurably better than it was at the start of the season. The personnel changes by Jim Rutherford truly helped the team. The Coyotes game was a tremendous learning experience for the entire team, but particularly so for the Albany Rats and Picard. The areas the team needs work is well seen by reviewing the tape of this game.
On the positive side, the Hurricanes never gave up. The Albany Rats played hard and again showed they deserve to stick at Carolina. Picard has excellent skill and seems to fit in well at Carolina. Pothier is an excellent defenseman. I had no idea he was as good as he is.
I question the coaching decision to run Brind'Amour on the power play and the penalty kill. Against bigger, faster, more physical players, I think the coaches had better options available than Brind'Amour. I prefer Samson and Dwyer over Brind'Amour on the penalty kill. I would have given Boychuk time on the power play because the power play really looked out of sync last night.
A Few More Thoughts on Canes v. Hurricanes
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 22:04 — abramsdougI went back and watched the first two periods of the game on video. In reviewing the game with the benefit of hindsight, I was impressed with the number of good scoring chances the Hurricanes had last night. Cole had three great chances. Staal had at least two excellent chances. Ruutu had two good scoring chances. Brind'Amour had two good chances. It was one of those games where the team was playing hard, but the Coyotes goalie was better.
In particular, I felt the defense played better than I thought watching the game at the RBC. On the third goal, Picard blocked the shot with his stick and it bounced high and then right onto the stick of the Coyotes. Carson was trying to find the puck and turned the wrong direction trying to see it. On the second goal, Taylor Pyatt set a perfect screen. On the first goal, Harrison got caught in no man's land around the net.
Cole's skating was excellent; although it would have been superb if he could have lifted the puck rather than hitting the goalie's pads. If the Hurricanes could draft a Cole like younger, bigger forward to go with Staal and Whitney or Staal and Jokinen, the Hurricanes could have four lines with true power forwards on each line. Osala really could help the Hurricanes.
I'm glad a watched the game again because it did show quite a number of excellent plays. The inability to get net presence was still patently obvious; and that really hurt on the power play.
We were due
Mon, 03/15/2010 - 07:56 — GoShelfto lose a game like that. Outshoot, outchance, and overall outplay our opponent with nothing to show other than lopsided stats. It was kind of a frustrating game to watch, neither team was that sharp. For the Canes, it was a lot of little things that added up in the end, missing ten foot passes, not getting the puck deep, turning the puck over at our blue line, and not converting on the numerous chances we had. Bryz was brilliant, but we hit him in the chest quite a few times too. Hopefully Sudzey is back in the lineup on tuesday.
Osala
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 22:39 — sittler27Friend of mine officiated several games that Osala played in the AHL. His take is that not only is he big but also thick and when he bears down is hard to move off the puck. But he commented that he lacks consistently. Strong series of shifts or period and then he cruises. He has seen him play the occasional complete game and then take the night off the next.
But he is young and that is part of the development and learning porcess to get to the big leagues. JD stuck in the NHL all those years with what he will tell you was limited talent because he never took off a shift. I suspect he is having those conversations with the kid and hopefully we will see him with the senior squad next year.
You are a pretty dedicated fan to go back and look at video. I have always looked to this blog to read your well thought out opinions on the games and team issues. Thanks.
Thanks. The more I get
Mon, 03/15/2010 - 14:58 — abramsdougThanks. The more I get to meet the Hurricanes players, the more I have realized they are great young men. Players like Boychuk are the age of some of my sons. I think if somebody were to criticize me for work I performed, and that is any person's right to do so, I would hope they'd try to be fair-minded about it. For the Hurricanes players, the hockey community here is pretty tight. My opinion of course is feather-weight only, but even so, I wanted to make certain I had not criticized players unfairly or misjudged them.
A prime example was the third Coyotes goal. At the RBC I really was convinced Carson had lost concentration, for the first time since he had been at Carolina. I was dead wrong and when I saw it on the video, the puck bounced high off a stick and nobody knew where it was. It was just a hockey god's bad bounce.
With Osala, from what I hear and see, Osala really has all the tools to be an impact player for the Hurricanes. He has great hands and anticipation for such a large, strong player.My impression is that he will work like a maniac in the off-season to improve/master his first and second stride. When that happens, the sky is the limit for him.
Bryzgalov
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 10:33 — sittler27I think you are right on point. The Canes were far from overwhelmed and out shot and out chanced the Coyotes by a considerable margin. Bryzgalov was outstanding as usual. Not hard to see why he may be the top goalie in the league this year. It looked like the Canes were trying to beat him by finessing shots and picking corners and missed the net altogether on several occassions.
Some of the contributors to this blog often criticize Mo's system. Well Phoenix is a prime example of a team that is conservative. They trap and lock after they get a lead and apply the same type of aggressive back pressure as the Canes. The result is a team near the top of the West. Their point total would place them second in the East. Their system relies on being opportunsitic, whcih they certainly were last night with only 20 shots and I thought Peters' ususally good positoning was just a touch off.
I'm as puzzled as you as to why Rod was out for more than a minute on the PP. He was late to the puck every time. I'm also not a big fan of Cole with Staal. Back when he had that strong outside move and big burst of speed he did create space for Eric. Several times last night he was in Staal's lane, in the wrong place on the forecheck and couldn't thread a pass. To my mind he negated what Whitney and Staal bring.
Phoenix didn't look overly
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 14:11 — ctillPhoenix didn't look overly conservative to me. All three of their forwards drove to the net repeatedly. However, they were supremely confident in their D men and in Bryzgalov -- and justifiably so. Basically they dared the Canes to score, and the Canes could not.
Not sure what game you were
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 16:41 — sittler27Not sure what game you were watching. They had twenty shots and half the scoring chances of the Canes. And their checking pattern was obvious. The reason they could drive to the net on occassion was their size. But I sure wouldn't categorize it as "repeatedly".
Check out their stats for the year. Low scoring and low goals against. In fact if you read the press from the major western conference cities, all the sports writers marvel how they went from an undisclined free wheeling team last year to a " tight, consevative, scheme this year". My point is that its not necessairly a bad thing and can win you a lot of games, which is also evident in their overall stats. They are one of the lowest scoring teams in the upper echelon of the league.
And btw, no professional hockey team goes out with a strategy that "dares the other team to score".
PHX had multiple players at
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 19:29 — ctillPHX had multiple players at or behind the net on their first three goals. Maybe it's their size, maybe it's their intent. Either way, we don't often see that from the Maurice Canes. PHX forwards also let two Canes breakaways get set up, but it didn't matter because Bryzgalov swallowed both of them -- and on each breakaway, the PHX D was right behind the play in case Bryzgalov did give up a rebound. Very impressive.
Size Matters
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 21:59 — sittler27I agree with you on the size issue. Phoenix has some big guys up front who can skate and they gave the Canes D all they could handle behind the net. The Canes are not big up front and that has be an area rectified next year. Tough to ask guys like Larose to constantly try to come up with the puck against guys that outweigh them by 40 pounds. Hopefully something they can work on through free agency since they don't have a lot of big skilled guys in the minors and it will take time to build through the draft. I was 5'11'' and 185 lbs. when I played a little over 20 years ago and never thought of myself as small. Today I'd be just another small forward if I could even crack a line-up.
Not sure what to tell you about the breakways. Their system is as I described it but every team makes mistakes and I can assure you that they weren't "letting" the Canes have those. Lucky for them it was Colesy. No hands.
I'm not here to be a Mo apologist. But some of the comments he gets about his alleged system are not always accurate nor fair. His isn't the exciting run and gun system the Capitals use, but you sure can't compare the talent level in their line-up to ours. If he had that kind of talent he'd likely let them run. Although in my opinion even the Caps will have to tighten up considerabley if the want to go deep into the playoffs. Mo does the best he can with the players he has. Let's not forget that 7 of their players started the year in the AHL. I did some consulting work recently and was a presenter at the NHL GM meetings. My take is that Paul is highly regarded and the Canes are respected for what they are currently getting out of their roster and their overall standard of play since mid December.
sigh....
Sat, 03/13/2010 - 22:58 — esteban1949gee where the Canes over whelmed or what ? and samson had what 4 shots on goal ?? at least he and the rest of the canes did try...Boston is next too...hmmm I wonder ...
The Canes are Good,My Grandkids are Better, and Life is Great !!
Go Canes !!