To say that the New Jersey Devils have dominated the Hurricanes this year is to say that Martin Brodeur is a decent goaltender - an understatement in the first degree. In the prior three meetings, the 'Canes have been outscored by a combined 15-3 margin, and have had no answer for the veteran precision of the other red and black team. Obviously, several key injuries and the pervasive flu bug that swept through the team in the past months have contributed to their lackluster showings, but regardless of the reasons, they have been outplayed by the Devils by a cavernous margin this year.
Tonight though, it is apparent that the gap has closed significantly. The Hurricanes, now mostly healthy, continued to bolster their playoff aspirations by defeating the Eastern Conference's top team by a 2-1 count in overtime. Sixty minutes wasn't enough to settle the contest, and they played on until 'Canes winger Sergei Samsonov scored the golden goal 1:36 into the extra frame, tallying his second of the evening and giving his team a much-needed home win. Samsonov received a pass from Scott Walker at the attacking blue line and drove to the net, being engaged by both New Jersey defensemen, Greene and Brookbank. As he maneuvered his way into the slot, he fired a weak wrister right on goalie Martin Brodeur, who kicked it out but allowed a juicy rebound to the far post. Samsonov didn't miss the second chance, splitting the defenders with a power move and slamming it home past the sprawling netminder.
In earning the victory, the Hurricanes put forth one of their most complete team efforts of the season, getting contributions from their entire lineup in all three zones. Samsonov had a whale of a game, but the real story revolved around the vowel-laden Tuomo Ruutu, the power forward who was acquired earlier in the day from Chicago. Ruutu missed the pregame skate as he was still en route to the arena from the airport 15 minutes before the opening faceoff. Being escorted to the building in the back of a police car, he had just a few minutes to review the forechecking assignments with Ron Francis before his arrival. Without time for even a "hello" to his new teammates, he threw on his shiny new red jersey and pads and came out of the locker room ready to play.
And play he did.
In his first shift as a Hurricane, literally 20 minutes after he arrived in the building, the big man blocked a shot and had two explosive hits along the boards in the offensive zone. The score sheet indicates he only had one more hit during the game, but the stat keeper was clearly dozing off during the other five or six times he laid down the law. Apart from the physical play, he was fundamentally sound at both ends of the ice, using his speed to find some open looks in the offensive zone, and his size to create problems for the Devils at the defensive blue line. The crowd erupted for him several times after big body checks, and especially after earning an assist on the first goal, his first point as a Hurricane in as many games. He certainly did his part to endear himself to his new home fans, at least the 15,466 that were in attendance at the RBC Center. Ruutu, however, was unable to finish the game after taking a high stick to the face midway through the 3rd period. Skating to the bench from the far boards, he left a ghastly trail of blood and would require forty stitches to the eye and nose area. In what is becoming a disturbing trend, the referee crew, anchored by our friend, the oft-maligned Mick McGeough apparently had their backs turned to the play, and no penalty was called.
Coach Peter Laviolette commented on the addition of Ruutu following the game: "For him to travel all day and sit on the runway and to walk into a game where you barely catch the national anthem and to play like he did, I think it speaks volumes for him. He’s excited to be here and we’re excited to have him."
Assistant GM and Hurricanes legend Ron Francis also expressed his feelings on the move: "We like the trade, we feel it will make our organization better... We got back a player in Tuomo Ruutu that we feel is a solid two-way guy, and a lot of potential. And I think right now, in the situation we're in with the amount of injuries we have, the one key factor is his versatility. He can play the middle, he can also play the wing, and we think that will give our coaches a little more flexibility."
Samsonov and Ruutu weren't the only bright spots on the offensive side. The forwards on all four lines played a solid, crisp, attack-minded game for the full sixty-one minutes and change. The Aucoin/Walker/Bayda line continues to have some great chemistry and were responsible for a number of Grade A scoring chances in front of Brodeur, who was phenomenal as usual for his team. Keith Aucoin, in particular, made it clear that he is not interested in going back to the minor league affiliate Albany River Rats any time soon. He was a consistent presence around the puck in the attacking zone and made some great decisions on both ends of the ice. The sustained pressure was taking a noticeable toll on the New Jersey defensemen, and there were a number of exceptionally long shifts where they were pinned in their zone by the Carolina cycle, particularly in the 3rd period.
In truth, despite the swarming offensive effort, the Carolina defense was what allowed them to notch this big win. The team was extremely solid in their own end, yielding a mere 24 shots to the potent Devils' attack. Filling out the defensive effort were, oddly enough, the forwards. Matt Cullen and Eric Staal in particular made a couple of timely backchecking plays to shut down quality New Jersey opportunities. Cam Ward was impenetrable, and the only goal he allowed came on a weak deflection off of defenseman Bret Hedican's stick on a Brian Gionta centering pass.
A scary moment in the first silenced the crowd. On his 4th shift of the night, Tim Gleason, arguably the team's best defensemen of late, was boarded face-first by the towering Michael Rupp, and went down in a heap along the wall. When he finally made it to his feet, some five minutes later, Gleason's whole body was limp and he appeared quite dazed. Preliminary reports are calling it an "upper body injury", but I would be shocked if Gleason didn't suffer a serious concussion. Of course, with the injuries to Matt Cullen and David Tanabe, the Hurricanes are all too familiar with the lingering problems a concussion can cause. The diminutive Glen Wesley deserves credit for immediately going after Rupp, though the linesmen rushed in quickly to prevent Wesley from being clobbered by the big man. The job of retaliation, then, was left to enforcer Wade Brookbank, who obliged by giving the offender a few tastes of the right fist in Rupp's first shift following his 5-minute spell in the penalty box - much to the crowd's enjoyment.
The Hurricanes have now won 7 of their last 10 games, and have earned 15 points out of a possible 20 during that stretch. As a result, they are in control of their own fate in the Southeast Division, and will enjoy playing 4 of their next 5 games at home, where they are performing well of late. On Thursday night, the New York Rangers come to town, and you can expect tensions to be high and gloves to be dropped frequently if the previous two meetings are any indication. The game will be televised at 7:00 PM on FSN South.
Tonight though, it is apparent that the gap has closed significantly. The Hurricanes, now mostly healthy, continued to bolster their playoff aspirations by defeating the Eastern Conference's top team by a 2-1 count in overtime. Sixty minutes wasn't enough to settle the contest, and they played on until 'Canes winger Sergei Samsonov scored the golden goal 1:36 into the extra frame, tallying his second of the evening and giving his team a much-needed home win. Samsonov received a pass from Scott Walker at the attacking blue line and drove to the net, being engaged by both New Jersey defensemen, Greene and Brookbank. As he maneuvered his way into the slot, he fired a weak wrister right on goalie Martin Brodeur, who kicked it out but allowed a juicy rebound to the far post. Samsonov didn't miss the second chance, splitting the defenders with a power move and slamming it home past the sprawling netminder.
In earning the victory, the Hurricanes put forth one of their most complete team efforts of the season, getting contributions from their entire lineup in all three zones. Samsonov had a whale of a game, but the real story revolved around the vowel-laden Tuomo Ruutu, the power forward who was acquired earlier in the day from Chicago. Ruutu missed the pregame skate as he was still en route to the arena from the airport 15 minutes before the opening faceoff. Being escorted to the building in the back of a police car, he had just a few minutes to review the forechecking assignments with Ron Francis before his arrival. Without time for even a "hello" to his new teammates, he threw on his shiny new red jersey and pads and came out of the locker room ready to play.
And play he did.
In his first shift as a Hurricane, literally 20 minutes after he arrived in the building, the big man blocked a shot and had two explosive hits along the boards in the offensive zone. The score sheet indicates he only had one more hit during the game, but the stat keeper was clearly dozing off during the other five or six times he laid down the law. Apart from the physical play, he was fundamentally sound at both ends of the ice, using his speed to find some open looks in the offensive zone, and his size to create problems for the Devils at the defensive blue line. The crowd erupted for him several times after big body checks, and especially after earning an assist on the first goal, his first point as a Hurricane in as many games. He certainly did his part to endear himself to his new home fans, at least the 15,466 that were in attendance at the RBC Center. Ruutu, however, was unable to finish the game after taking a high stick to the face midway through the 3rd period. Skating to the bench from the far boards, he left a ghastly trail of blood and would require forty stitches to the eye and nose area. In what is becoming a disturbing trend, the referee crew, anchored by our friend, the oft-maligned Mick McGeough apparently had their backs turned to the play, and no penalty was called.
Coach Peter Laviolette commented on the addition of Ruutu following the game: "For him to travel all day and sit on the runway and to walk into a game where you barely catch the national anthem and to play like he did, I think it speaks volumes for him. He’s excited to be here and we’re excited to have him."
Assistant GM and Hurricanes legend Ron Francis also expressed his feelings on the move: "We like the trade, we feel it will make our organization better... We got back a player in Tuomo Ruutu that we feel is a solid two-way guy, and a lot of potential. And I think right now, in the situation we're in with the amount of injuries we have, the one key factor is his versatility. He can play the middle, he can also play the wing, and we think that will give our coaches a little more flexibility."
Samsonov and Ruutu weren't the only bright spots on the offensive side. The forwards on all four lines played a solid, crisp, attack-minded game for the full sixty-one minutes and change. The Aucoin/Walker/Bayda line continues to have some great chemistry and were responsible for a number of Grade A scoring chances in front of Brodeur, who was phenomenal as usual for his team. Keith Aucoin, in particular, made it clear that he is not interested in going back to the minor league affiliate Albany River Rats any time soon. He was a consistent presence around the puck in the attacking zone and made some great decisions on both ends of the ice. The sustained pressure was taking a noticeable toll on the New Jersey defensemen, and there were a number of exceptionally long shifts where they were pinned in their zone by the Carolina cycle, particularly in the 3rd period.
In truth, despite the swarming offensive effort, the Carolina defense was what allowed them to notch this big win. The team was extremely solid in their own end, yielding a mere 24 shots to the potent Devils' attack. Filling out the defensive effort were, oddly enough, the forwards. Matt Cullen and Eric Staal in particular made a couple of timely backchecking plays to shut down quality New Jersey opportunities. Cam Ward was impenetrable, and the only goal he allowed came on a weak deflection off of defenseman Bret Hedican's stick on a Brian Gionta centering pass.
A scary moment in the first silenced the crowd. On his 4th shift of the night, Tim Gleason, arguably the team's best defensemen of late, was boarded face-first by the towering Michael Rupp, and went down in a heap along the wall. When he finally made it to his feet, some five minutes later, Gleason's whole body was limp and he appeared quite dazed. Preliminary reports are calling it an "upper body injury", but I would be shocked if Gleason didn't suffer a serious concussion. Of course, with the injuries to Matt Cullen and David Tanabe, the Hurricanes are all too familiar with the lingering problems a concussion can cause. The diminutive Glen Wesley deserves credit for immediately going after Rupp, though the linesmen rushed in quickly to prevent Wesley from being clobbered by the big man. The job of retaliation, then, was left to enforcer Wade Brookbank, who obliged by giving the offender a few tastes of the right fist in Rupp's first shift following his 5-minute spell in the penalty box - much to the crowd's enjoyment.
The Hurricanes have now won 7 of their last 10 games, and have earned 15 points out of a possible 20 during that stretch. As a result, they are in control of their own fate in the Southeast Division, and will enjoy playing 4 of their next 5 games at home, where they are performing well of late. On Thursday night, the New York Rangers come to town, and you can expect tensions to be high and gloves to be dropped frequently if the previous two meetings are any indication. The game will be televised at 7:00 PM on FSN South.
