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GDT: Canes v. Stars 11/13 7:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
The Canes look to extend a season high 4 game point streak and avenge an earlier loss against the Stars.

Lines at the morning skate look unchanged from Saturday:

Aho-Staal-Teravainen
McGinn-Ryan-Williams
Skinner-Rask-Lindholm
Nordstrom-Kruger-Jooris

Slavin-Pesce
Fleury-Faulk
Hanifin-van Riemsdyk

Dahlbeck and PDG skated with the extras so they'll be keeping John, Tripp and Chuck company. Darling gets the start in net.

What is different is the PP units, shaking up units that are 1 for the last 23:

PP1: Staal, Lindholm, Aho, Teravainen, Pesce
PP2: Williams, McGinn, Skinner, Ryan, Slavin

Faulk and Hanifin are most notably missing.

Dallas has 18 points in 16 games and are coming of a 5-0 win over the Isles on Friday night. They're only 3-5-0 on the road. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are tied with 8 gaols, John Klingberg has 14 assists, tied for 10th in the league. Ben Bishop and Kari Lehtonen have similar numbers in goal, .914 Save % and 2.40-ish GAA. Dallas leads the league on the PP, converting 31.3% and a staggering 39.1% on the road, converting 9 of 23 chances. Their PK is almost as good, 3rd at 87.5% but 18th on the road at 79.2%.

Fox Sports Carolinas for TV.
 
I think Forslund is calling the other game tonight-- I think I read elsewhere that Shaya is coming up from Charlotte to work the play-by-play.

Special teams are struggling- bad! No PP goals in 5 games and a total of 6 PP goals this entire season. Dallas has the best PP in the league.
 
Well, I did want to see Slavin on the PP...they are taking that to another level removing Faulk and Hanifin. Not like it can be any worse so why not?
 
Still Faulk in the PP. The problem with Slavin or Pesce instead of Faulk on the PP is the minutes Pesce and Slavin already play in the PK and 5v5. Slavin would end up a 30 min a game player if he plays on the PP too (some Dmen do this....).
 
And just like that we are 10th in the conference, 2 points out of a wild card slot with games in hand on everyone in the conference. And the team in that last wild card slot is our opponent in 2 of the next 3 games.

7-5-4 after 16 GP is not bad. But convert 2 of those OT losses to wins, say Anaheim and Arizona, and we're in that wild card spot tonight.

66 games remain. Play eleven 3-2-1 series and we're in with a 90% probability with 95 points.

Of course, the road is never so steady or easy. But it's literally 0.500 hockey but be a tough out for one of the 3 losses that balance the 3 wins in each 6-game series.

That's the minimum to playoff hockey. But, hey, Canes...we will take more.
 
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I'll take it. Still don't like the way Peters is using Williams and Skinner.
 
cmaleski2 said:
Still Faulk in the PP. The problem with Slavin or Pesce instead of Faulk on the PP is the minutes Pesce and Slavin already play in the PK and 5v5. Slavin would end up a 30 min a game player if he plays on the PP too (some Dmen do this....).
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We're the least penalized team in the league, so they're not burning a lot of time on the PK. Slavin had a team high 21:18 last night but only 16:00 at ES, less than everyone but Pesce. If Smith can keep managing the minutes like that, it shouldn't be a problem.
 
I thought Slavin started poorly, but ended the game with his usual greatness. It hasn't been smooth sailing for him recently, but his bad moments are more than offset by his good ones. And speaking of good ones, Staal was simply a beast out there, clearing the way for his line mates and Brock McGinn was a constant threat all night. Aside from the 2nd period, it was a great effort and a lot of fun to watch.

And if there had been more than 2.5 seconds left after Skinner's goal, I'm sure we would have seen a major fight on the ice.
 
ThinIce said:
And if there had been more than 2.5 seconds left after Skinner's goal, I'm sure we would have seen a major fight on the ice.
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No question. Rousel was itching for a fight on the last face off.

I thought Haydn Fleury was very good last night too, continuing an upward trend.
 
Agreed on all counts. Might add nice to see Terravainen shooting - and rewarded.

The one thing I would prefer is that we use two defenseman on the powerplay, instead of the one with the extra forward playing the dual role. I was never a big fan of that kind of pp makeup. If we balance it out right enough the PP is a good place for defenseman to develop their offensive game, while not being a defensive liability vs a forward playing that role. In today's NHL maybe not so much of an issue (with the use of the 3-3 OT)

Maybe you lose offensive potential by using two defenders on the PP, but you can trust that two defenders are going to defend and make better decisions to pinch (or not) on the play vs. the thinking of most forwards.
 
andyt said:
I thought Haydn Fleury was very good last night too, continuing an upward trend.
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Totally agree, at times this season Fleury has been the best defenseman the Canes have had on the ice. Just win baby, give the people what they want!
 
CanadaCanes said:
Totally agree, at times this season Fleury has been the best defenseman the Canes have had on the ice. Just win baby, give the people what they want!
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Given Fleury has been paired with Faulk and Hanifin, I think that's an accurate assessment:thumbsup(22):
 
andyt said:
No question. Rousel was itching for a fight on the last face off.

I thought Haydn Fleury was very good last night too, continuing an upward trend.
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Excellent point Andy....I should have mentioned him. We were commenting during the game how comfortable he looks on the ice. Maybe the long development was the right idea...I'm still concerned about Hanifin and wonder what he would be like if he had a season or two to develop.
 
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