Canes make the hop into 8th place

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http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/recap...id=DL|CAR|home

Games like these don’t always live up to their billing, but that wasn’t the case in a big Saturday night match-up at the RBC Center.

Erik Cole scored the overtime winner as the Hurricanes, who had been sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference for what seemed like an eternity, finally caught the Atlanta Thrashers in the simplest possible way – beating them in a head-to-head match that ended by a score of 4-3.

With the Canes earning two points and the Thrashers one, the two teams are now level on 58 points with Carolina holding the tiebreaker by having played two fewer games.

“We talked about this being a huge game and we won it, so we should enjoy that part of it,” said Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice.

“Both teams knew what this game meant in terms of the standings, and I think we were ready for it and so were they,” said Brandon Sutter. “It was back and forth, but we managed to get the two points.”

The only blemish for the home team was that they twice relinquished one-goal leads in a third period that saw each team score twice. First, Sutter gave his team its first lead of the night with a perfectly-placed rocket of a wrist shot from the top of the circle that beat goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, who had a strong game with 33 saves, over the right shoulder.

Then, the Thrashers’ Brent Sopel and the Hurricanes’ Jiri Tlusty would trade goals 28 seconds apart to restore the Canes’ lead before Atlanta defenseman Zach Bogosian sent it to overtime with 1:24 remaining and Pavelec pulled for the extra attacker.

“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t win it in regulation with two opportunities to step on them in the third, and that’s something that has been an issue for us a little bit,” said Cole. “We’re just going to have to keep working to try to limit those mishaps.”

Well I figured it was only a matter of time, and with Cam Ward on his game, the Canes could make some noise and keep climbing up the standings. The Rangers are four points up now and are kind of slumping.

The Canes just need to put some distance between themselves and the Thrashers and playoffs should be a shoe in. Maybe a move for another scorer or a top 4 defenseman at the deadline and they could make a move through the playoffs like they did a couple years ago.

[Appstate2012]

ya was an awesome game, and im pretty sure they had just got done showing a highlight of cole doing the same thing to the thrashers a while back. Made it even more epic

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http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=...navid=sb:recap

The New Jersey Devils continue to roll.

Mattias Tedenby scored his second goal of the game 2:42 into overtime and the Devils continued their winning ways without goalie Martin Brodeur by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center.

Fellow rookie Nick Palmieri tied it with 2:54 to play in regulation and Johan Hedberg made 20 saves and picked up an assist on the game-winner in helping the Devils win for the 10th time since Jan. 9 (10-1-2).

"The confidence is definitely higher than the first couple of months," Hedberg said after New Jersey moved within 15 points of a playoff spot following a poor start. "This is probably a game we would have lost earlier in the year. It was great to come back and get this one with the young guys getting the goals."

Rookie Jeff Skinner had two goals for Carolina, which moved a point ahead of idle Atlanta in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Brodeur hurt his right knee in a win Sunday over Montreal and the team listed his status as day to day.

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said the 38-year-old Brodeur will have to rehabilitate his knee before he can play again so it's unlikely that he will be back soon.

Tedenby's game-winner came on a counter attack. The Swede took a pass from Travis Zajac, skated between the circles and zipped a shot past Cam Ward for his seventh goal of the season.

Tough loss but the Devils are back to their trapping ways and are back winning. A point is better than nothing for the Canes. The Thrashers keep losing, but the Sabres are coming up behind them now. Next up for the Canes is a tough game in Philly on Thursday.

[Appstate2012]

Tough loss being up 2-1, with so little time left.

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http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2010020817

PHILADELPHIA - Flyers goalie Brian Boucher admits he's never played behind a defense as suffocating as this year's six-man unit in Philadelphia.
The irony is that the Eastern Conference-leading Flyers remain the only team in the League without a shutout this season. While they came close again on Thursday, Boucher was just as thrilled with the next best thing -- a victory.

Jeff Carter and Danny Briere connected for power-play goals in the third period and Boucher turned aside 31 shots as the Flyers continued their mastery of the Carolina Hurricanes with a 2-1 victory before 19,726 at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers, who stand atop the East with 36 wins and 77 points, have ranked among the top 10 in goals-against average (2.50) much of the season.

The Flyers led 2-0 and were less than eight minutes away from that elusive first shutout before Tuomo Ruutu scored with 7:53 remaining.

"I'm aware we don't have a shutout this year and it's always nice for the goalies, but we tried to keep them off the board, especially in a tight game like that," defenseman Braydon Coburn said.

When asked where exactly this Flyers defense stood in his 11-plus seasons in the League, Boucher had nothing but praise.

"It's probably the best," Boucher said. "We've got six really good defensemen that make our job -- the goalie's job -- a lot easier out there. You can count on them to block shots and make right plays. We've got speed, we've got some skill, we've got the smarts out there. It's fun to play behind them."

After two scoreless periods, Carter put the Flyers ahead 18 seconds into the third when he collected a feed from Mike Richards in the right circle and ripped a power-play wrister that deflected off goalie Cam Ward's left glove and into the net. Carter now has 6 goals and 9 points in his last six games and 10 goals and 15 points in his last 12 contests.

Briere made it 2-0 at 11:27, retrieving a pass from Claude Giroux at the left post before firing up and over Ward from a tough angle. The 'Canes pulled within a goal just 37 seconds after Briere scored when Ruutu, who finished with five hits, jammed home a rebound for his first goal in 12 games.

Good road game for the Canes, especially in Philly. Too bad they couldn't scrape a point by, but playing Philly tough in the their own barn isn't something to hang your heads about.

[JDM]

It was a good game, I thought we could have pulled that one out, but oh well.

Anyway, we recalled Brett Sutter, Brandon's cousin, to play for the injured Ryan Carter on the 4th line.

http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news....id=DL|CAR|home

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http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2010020840

ATLANTA – The Carolina Hurricanes ended a three-game losing streak and moved two points ahead of Atlanta for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot as Erik Cole scored with 1:19 left in regulation for a 3-2 win over the Thrashers at Philips Arena in a battle for eighth between Southeast Division foes.

Cole, who beat Atlanta in overtime on Feb. 5 with a goal, scored on a wrist shot from right circle after taking a feed along the boards from Sergei Samsonov. Cam Ward was brilliant in stopping 41 shots. It was the second straight night in which Carolina scored goals late in the third to earn points. On Saturday, they scored twice in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and lose 4-3 at
Tampa Bay.

Atlanta has won just once in its last five.

Carolina entered with a three-game losing streak but with four points in its last four (1-1-2). The Hurricanes had won all three meetings in the season series entering Sunday and all of them either came in overtime or in a shootout.

Ladd got his second unassisted goal of the game in almost exactly the same fashion. He picked up a loose puck after it bounced off the board and past Canes defenseman Jamie McBain in the neutral zone and scored on a breakaway just 26 seconds into the third period.

Despite being outshot 20-5 in the second period, Carolina took a 2-1 lead into the third period – mostly because of the fantastic play of Ward. Atlanta put constant pressure on the Canes in the second period, but some nice work by Carolina earned the go-ahead goal. Jeff Skinner raced down the ice to retrieve a puck behind the Thrashers' net as two Thrashers followed. He quickly got the puck to Tuomo Ruutu, who passed it back to Joe Corvo for a slap shot high in the zone in the middle of the ice that beat Ondrej Pavelec to the blocker side with 1:36 left in the period.

Earlier in the period, Andrew Ladd scored on a breakaway, blocking Corvo's shot and outracing the defenseman to the puck. Ladd made a nice move around Ward to score before plowing into his former teammate at 3:20. It was Ladd's 18th goal, marking a career-high for him and also helping him take over the team lead.

Carolina scored the first period's only goal. Joni Pitkanen, along the left boards, faked a slap shot and slid a hard pass through the middle to Jiri Tlusty, who potted a wrist shot from the slot about 15 feet out at 9:06.

Big win for the Canes. Corvo's goal from Ruutu and Skinner was a nice play. Back up on the Thrashers now. It's too bad the Canes went on that three game slide while the Rangers were skidding or else they could've made some solid ground on them.

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http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2010020840

ATLANTA – The Carolina Hurricanes ended a three-game losing streak and moved two points ahead of Atlanta for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot as Erik Cole scored with 1:19 left in regulation for a 3-2 win over the Thrashers at Philips Arena in a battle for eighth between Southeast Division foes.

Cole, who beat Atlanta in overtime on Feb. 5 with a goal, scored on a wrist shot from right circle after taking a feed along the boards from Sergei Samsonov. Cam Ward was brilliant in stopping 41 shots. It was the second straight night in which Carolina scored goals late in the third to earn points. On Saturday, they scored twice in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and lose 4-3 at
Tampa Bay.

Atlanta has won just once in its last five.

Carolina entered with a three-game losing streak but with four points in its last four (1-1-2). The Hurricanes had won all three meetings in the season series entering Sunday and all of them either came in overtime or in a shootout.

Ladd got his second unassisted goal of the game in almost exactly the same fashion. He picked up a loose puck after it bounced off the board and past Canes defenseman Jamie McBain in the neutral zone and scored on a breakaway just 26 seconds into the third period.

Despite being outshot 20-5 in the second period, Carolina took a 2-1 lead into the third period – mostly because of the fantastic play of Ward. Atlanta put constant pressure on the Canes in the second period, but some nice work by Carolina earned the go-ahead goal. Jeff Skinner raced down the ice to retrieve a puck behind the Thrashers' net as two Thrashers followed. He quickly got the puck to Tuomo Ruutu, who passed it back to Joe Corvo for a slap shot high in the zone in the middle of the ice that beat Ondrej Pavelec to the blocker side with 1:36 left in the period.

Earlier in the period, Andrew Ladd scored on a breakaway, blocking Corvo's shot and outracing the defenseman to the puck. Ladd made a nice move around Ward to score before plowing into his former teammate at 3:20. It was Ladd's 18th goal, marking a career-high for him and also helping him take over the team lead.

Carolina scored the first period's only goal. Joni Pitkanen, along the left boards, faked a slap shot and slid a hard pass through the middle to Jiri Tlusty, who potted a wrist shot from the slot about 15 feet out at 9:06.

Big win for the Canes. Corvo's goal from Ruutu and Skinner was a nice play. Back up on the Thrashers now. It's too bad the Canes went on that three game slide while the Rangers were skidding or else they could've made some solid ground on them.

[JDM]

I was thinking about making a new thread but decided not to, but anyway there are some rumors going that there is a pending trade involving Ian White, who isn't playing today. This is kind of an odd move because we need more defense, but I guess I should wait to see who we get in return before I criticize it.

Edit: If I were JR I would be trying to trade Pitkanen, not White. But we shall see.