RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes win their second straight game, scoring twice in the first period before holding on for a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Thrashers at RBC Center Saturday.
It was the Canes' first home shutout since Nov. 5, 2007, when Cam Ward had 35 saves in a 5-0 win over the Washington Capitals.
Ward had 19 saves in Saturday's win, and the Hurricanes killed off three penalties. They've been better on the penalty kill lately, entering the game ranked No. 23 in the league.
Canes’ center Matt Cullen scored first, getting a short-handed goal on the assist from Chad LaRose. Until Thursday, the Hurricanes were the only team in the NHL without a short-handed goal. Cullen assisted LaRose for that goal, in a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Hurricanes move back into the eight and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with the win, giving them 55 points. The Florida Panthers lost and have 54 points and so did the Pittsburgh Penguins, which still have 53 points.
The Buffalo Sabres won and remain in seventh place in the conference with 57 points.
The Hurricanes now have three on the West Coast against the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks and Phoenix Coyotes.
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It wasn’t as strong as their first period, but the Canes have another solid period in the second. UPDATED: Both teams had 11 shots in the period, but the Canes had more real chances. Cam Ward did come up with a few good saves, though. In all, Carolina probably has had 10 good scoring chances that it didn't convert, though they lead 2-0. In Atlanta's 5-4 loss to the Islanders Thursday, they scored 4 goals in the third period after allowing 4 in the first. …
Hurricanes kill a penalty early in the second period, getting a few saves from Cam Ward and a couple of blocked shots, as well, on the kill. ...
Tonight is the 700th game Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice has coached with the franchise. He is only the 14th coach in NHL history with that many games coached with one franchise. Next on the list is Scotty Bowman, who coached 701 games with Detroit. ...
The Hurricanes arguably turn in one of their best periods of the year. They lead the Thrashers 2-0 after the first period and out-shot their opponents 21-4.
Keep in mind, though, that the Thrashers are one of the worst teams in the league. They gave up four first-period goals the other night against the New York Islanders, a game in which they later rallied, only to lose 5-4.
And the Hurricanes might have scored four or five goals in the period, had a few of their chances been executed only a shade differently.
Thrashers 0, Hurricanes 2 (first period):
Hurricanes go up 2-0 when forward Ray Whitney scores at 18:29, faking out goalie Kari Lehtonen in the slot after Matt Cullen sent a pass down to Whitney from the right boards. Hurricanes forward Justin Williams, who passed the puck down to Cullen, was also given an assist. It's Whitney's 16th goal of the season. He leads the team in goals scored. …
Hurricanes center Matt Cullen breaks through with a short-handed goal at 7:41, faking out goalie Kari Lehtonen in the slot. He broke through the Thrashers’ blue line on the pass from forward Chad LaRose. These two now have been part of short-handed goals in consecutive games. Canes center Eric Staal was in the box for tripping.
Until Thursday’s 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Hurricanes were the only team in the league without a short-handed goal, playing the first 49 games of the season without one. LaRose broke the drought Thursday, and Cullen had the assist. …
Canes' forward Tuomo Ruutu apparently hits the crossbar with a shot from the right circle that fooled many eyes in the RBC Center in the opening minutes. It looked like a goal to many in attendance. …
Section 114 is a thick shade of Thrashers’ blue. The occupants of eight rows of the section are solidly sporting Thrashers’ sweaters. …
Here are the Canes’ starting lines: Sergei Samsonov, Eric Staal, Tuomo Ruutu; Justin Williams, Matt Cullen, Ray Whitney; Patrick Eaves, Rod Brind’Amour, Chad LaRose; Ryan Bayda, Brandon Sutter, Michael Ryan. ...
Injury report: Niclas Wallin still on injured reserve; Scott Walker (upper body), Dennis Seidenberg (lower body) miss their second game in a row; and Wade Brookbank is a healthy scratch.
Javier Serna has covered sports for The News & Observer since 2007. He previously covered growth for the North Raleigh News, and sports at The Truth in Elkhart, Ind. E-mail
Comments
Very nice effort
Mon, 02/02/2009 - 14:27 — HockeydogGood hard played game. This should be a template for the rest of the season.
The Best So Far
Mon, 02/02/2009 - 00:10 — gf101112This was the best 60 minute effort yet. Why couldn't they play like this EVERY night??? They need to bring this style to the west coast. I'm flying to San Jose Wednesday morning to attend Thursday night's game. Paul needs to demand our new motto "SOLID"!!!!! "What ever it takes" was great in 06, but now we need "SOLID" shift in and shift out!!!!! It looks like they will have a 3 game winning streak going into S.J.! The S.J. game will determine if this team is really "SPECIAL"!!! GO CANES!!! SO. CAL. CANIAC!!!
First period was fun to
Sun, 02/01/2009 - 18:13 — ctillFirst period was fun to watch. After that, it was a display of goaltender expertise on both sides.
Elevating Cullen to the top 6, with Brind'amour onto the 3rd line (with fewer minutes), seems to be working.
Wow
Sun, 02/01/2009 - 10:30 — Canes73Best game played by the Canes this year. All lines were firing, penalty kill was aggressive, and Ward was great when he needed to be. The Canes deserved many more goals...Lehtonen stood on his head. The way they played last night reminded me of the 2005/06 team. Everyone skated hard, turned pucks over in the neutral zone and quickly turned them into scoring chances. I liked the way the offense worked....they didn't just shoot from all angles, they were creative and efficient in the offensive zone and pounded the net. This was a confident looking offense. Now I realize it was just Atlanta but you can't argue with the effort.
Great job Canes....keep it up!!!
I liked the game
Sun, 02/01/2009 - 08:59 — esteban1949BUT...we could have lost it in the middle and latter parts of the second period. As it seemed for some of the canes they may have over did it the first period. as the team came out smoking, and they "settled down a wee bit 2nd and 3rd periods...Ryan and Rodey did well. Ryan didn't have as much ice time i don't think as Ryan did, but still respectable. I noticed even Brind'Amour stepped it up as he seemed to have taken a Chad LaRose (5 hour) energy booster or something. But as a whole the team did well...the crowd seemed to get sorta quiet at times...must have been all those 3.00 RBC (all what ever is in them) hot dawgs and ever higher priced Brats...that kept the fans on the quiet side, but seeing i have never been in the building, what would i know? But we must play with the same Loser gomes home season over attitude & intensity when it comes to Vancover & San Jose !As a matter of fact, wouldn't it be in the Canes as a team, bests intrests if they did play like that...as in the final playoff game mentality? Couldn't hurt could it ?