Game 5

At least OT didn’t last long. This series is coming back to Raleigh Monday night.

Quick compilation of my thoughts from the impromptu hockey Yudachat (scroll down to post 463; the “ntr JoshC” postings before are other regulars posting as “not the real” me, a common gag there):

• The Canes weren’t sharp at all after the first 20. EDM passed the puck much better after then, shot a lot more in the third and OT. They played better Carolina hockey than the Canes did.
• Staal scored 2 and assisted on 1, but his giveaways were responsible for two goals: one where it created a possession resulting in a CAR penalty and a PPG, then the misplay in OT. Cory Stillman should probably share some blame for even passing the puck there, but Staal’s got responsibility to keep his head up for the forechecker, and that hurt.
• Posts were even (1-1), but after the one Ray Whitney hit, Jussi Markkanen’s own slowness may have saved him. As the puck rainbowed across the crease and he laid flat-out on the ice from the first save, he followed it in the air with his closed catching glove in an attempt to clear it. If he actually had caught up with the puck, 50/50 he knocks it in.
• The News and Observer published parade plans today. Karma-wise, I put this on them. That’s quintessential bulletin-board material.

Final assessment has to be, though, that Edmonton was flat-out better most of the night. See you on Saturday night, and I’ll try not to bite my own nails off before then.

The Edmonton Set/Bringing It Home

If you’d asked me after Game 2 what I wanted out of the two games in Edmonton, I’d have said… no, I’d have said I wanted a sweep and the big shiny thing taking the Canes’ charter home. Let’s not lie. But realistically, the result we got is the best I should have hoped for: a split of two tight games, with periods of Oiler superiority but where Carolina has overall looked like the better team, and a Game 5 return to Raleigh with Lord Stanley in the house.

To knock down the controversies:

• The Game 3 winner was good. Miserable way to lose a game, but it could have been 4-0 Oil after the first and not looked any different on the series scoreline.
• Officiating has been questionable, but generally even. Game 4 in particular was generally odd: anything involving full-body contact was fine, but cheesy little obstructions were called very tight. I suppose that’s not the worst way to call a game, but it would be nice to have some predictability, and this whole season has had none. No sense in starting now, I guess.
• Jussi Markkanen is the story of this series for Edmonton. Goaltending has not been an issue, and this series alone has probably ensured Markkanen another few years in the league. He’s proven himself a capable playoff backup, and those are valuable commodities at the deadline. Game 4 could have been over halfway through the second but for him, Edmonton offense or no.

All this Conn Smythe talk has me nervous, so I’m not joining in. Get win #4 first, then I’ll play. That said, if there were a series MVP as in baseball and basketball, Cory Stillman would have the lead for the Finals in my book. (And for previous series: Montreal/Wardo, NJ/Wardo, Buffalo/Brind’Amour).

Game 5, tomorrow night, Raleigh. It’s a good thing American Airlines doesn’t have a 3:00 DCA-RDU with frequent flyer seats open, or I’d be on it, and selling my soul for one miserable seat in the RBC Center rafters.

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Game 2 and Hockey Cultures

Taking a quick run around the blogs in response to Eric’s excellent-as-always roundup on Game 2 — the first game I’ve gotten to watch since Game 5 in the Eastern finals. Something about other priorities.

That was a good, old-fashioned beating the Canes handed to Edmonton last night, and the Caniac blog crew is mostly keeping their heads about them. I have one slight disagreement to make with Cason out in Tucson (does that rhyme?) over Laraque’s third period and the Canes’ non-reaction, though.

Seriously, that crap out of Dredy Locks Laraque was absolute thuggery. He takes a run at Wallin’s legs then boards Andrew Ladd when the boy’s head is down. And the Canes take it?

First problem: my initial reaction, like his, was that Laraque was out on an intent-to-injure mission. I have a small suspicion, though, that at 6’3”/240 with a pronounced tendency for mayhem, if he had really wanted to cause an injury, he’d have been successful. Furthermore, the Canes handled it exactly right. In the first round, Calgary began to lose control against Anaheim when Jarome Iginla let François Beauchemin goad him into a scrap. Any of our players on the ice are worth more than that goon. When you’re about to go up 2 games to none in the Stanley Cup Finals, you can let your opposition rage up to anything short of death or dismemberment. You’ve made your point already — it’s hanging above center ice in lights. Read More »

Games 3-4: Survival

Mmmm, crow. Mmmmm, tasty crow.

The Carolina Hurricanes withstood absolutely everything the Montreal Canadiens could throw at them for two games, and came out of la belle province with two wins and a tied series. Cam Ward was nothing short of stellar in Game 3, and strong if not required to be as spectacular in Game 4, while captain Rod Brind’Amour was everywhere when the Canes needed him. No home team has won a game this series, but Carolina needs to reverse that trend at least once as they regained home ice tonight.

Refereeing incompetence played a role again in Game 4. Habs fans will scream about Justin Williams again escaping 4 or 5 for an inadvertent high stick in the third period. To this Caniac, though, that pales next to, after a Habs rally to tie, Carolina having a go-ahead goal in the second period waved off after trail ref Tim Peel claimed first goaltender interference, then to have blown the whistle from the neutral zone during a goal-mouth scrum. As the front ref earlier in the period, Peel missed an obvious penalty called by trailer Don van Massenhoven; Carolina’s FSN South TV team of John Forslund and Tripp Tracy speculated during the second intermission that Peel was trying to pay van Massenhoven back, if screwing the Canes in the process. For that matter, Carolina’s true go-ahead goal in the third could just as easily have been disallowed for pre-goal contact that was less incidental, if not interfering directly in the play.

Tropical Depression

Carolina just lost 6-5 in the second overtime to Montreal in Game 2 of their first-round series, putting the Habs up 2-0 on the way home to the Bell Centre for two games that could end this magical year for the Canes.

I suppose it’s early to write an obituary, and I’d love to eat my words. But Carolina probably could have survived either the Cole injury or Gerber’s meltdown. The combination of the two, though, is what killed the Hurricanes. A correspondent to the News and Observer’s playoff blog did the analysis of the Cole injury’s effect on linemates Staal and Stillman, and both averaged half a point per game less after Brooks Orpik broke Cole’s neck in March. Carolina’s offense never recovered.

Meanwhile, Martin Gerber simply ran out of gas: his NHL career high in appearances was 32 before this season, last year was his professional high with 50 split between Switzerland and the Swedish Elite League, but this year he played 60 regular season games plus the Olympics. It proved to be too much, and his mediocre to bad play recently has reflected it. Cam Ward isn’t ready for the full NHL grind yet, but he’s going to have to handle at least 30 games next year. Gerber can’t do this himself.

So you have that confluence of problems. Add the Carolina scheme to that list in the narrow case of multiple-OT playoff games. It’s still a trade-off I’d make in a second, but the high-tempo style the Canes played all year is a detriment if the game goes to lengthy amounts of overtime. Legs are done after about ten extra minutes, and after that you get fatigue penalties, major line mix-and-match (was that Chad LaRose killing a penalty?!), and a set of intractable problems.

Give Cam Ward major credit overall for his play in this game, and he should absolutely start Game 3. But I’ll play the bad guy here myself and point out that, after the Canes took the 4-3 lead, he lost focus for all of a minute, and Montreal made him pay. I’m least worried about him, though. He’s a rookie backup goaltender, he’s here to learn. And he will.

Mostly, I just hate Brooks Orpik. It was a beautiful year before one lousy Pittsburgh thug playing out the string ushered the stench of death into the room. And for it, the new NHL gave him three meaningless games’ punishment.

I guess in some ways we’re still old, snakebit Hartford, even nine years on.