• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

GDT: Canes @ Ducks 2/3 10:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
The Canes begin a road trip of consequence in Anaheim against the high flying Ducks.

After the 4-1 loss to the Rangers on Broadway, the Canes can answer the question of whether January was an illusion or the start of a longer streak. Games tonight and Saturday against teams solidly in the playoffs and a game on Thursday against a fellow cellar dweller will provide a good gauge. The lines and pairings in practice yesterday were:

E. Staal-J. Staal-Lindholm
Tlusty-Rask-Semin
Skinner-Nash-Gerbe
Malone-McClement-Dwyer

Sekera-Faulk
Gleason-Murphy
Hainsey-Bellemore

No word on starting goalie. Peters said that Marcoux was meeting with them and they'd determine it today. Morning skate at 11:30 PST/2:30 EST.

The Ducks are tied with the Preds for best record in the league. They've lost 2 in a row, to San Jose and Chicago, by a combined 10-4 score. On Thursday, the Sharks scored 5 in the 2nd to blow open a 1-1 game, eventually losing 6-3. They lost to Chicago 4-1 on Friday. They had been on a 6 game winning streak. Boudreau switched his top 2 lines, putting Matt Belesky with Getzlaf and Perry and putting Patrick Maroon with Kesler and Kyle Palmieri. Getzlaf leads the team in scoring with 50 points; his 35 assists are 5th in the league. Perry and Belesky lead with 19 goals. Canes draftee Frederik Andersen is the starter in goal, having played 41 of their 50 games. He's 9th in GAA but only 19th in Save %, at .918, only marginally better than Ward and Khudobin.

Fox Sports Carolinas for TV.
 
All-European second line and that first line is pound-for-pound and inch-for-inch with the Duck's Kopitar/Perry handful.

Again, a good measuring stick.

And Frederick Andersen, too? Much late-night fun.
 
I'm glad to see that Semin is going to get more than just that Rangers game to show something. This team needs to see if they can salvage anything out of him before they get to the offseason and are faced with buying him out or not or trying to trade him while retaining money or taking on someone else's contract mistake. He's not going to get better or improve the slim to none chances someone else would trade for him by not playing in actual games.
 
On Semin, I don't think it's fair to saddle this guy on rookie Rask. What's Rask suppose to say to the guy when he wanders around all out of position? Keep him with the Staals and make him the Captain's and Assistant Captain's problem.
 
Elsker said:
All-European second line and that first line is pound-for-pound and inch-for-inch with the Duck's Kopitar/Perry handful.

Again, a good measuring stick.

And Frederick Andersen, too? Much late-night fun.
Click to expand...

I think you mean Getzlaf? Kopitar plays a few miles north of Anaheim.
 
I'm hoping that switch was as much about trying to get Lindholm's confidence back than it was thinking that Semin might mesh with Tlusty and Rask. Who knows though, maybe that Rask line will get something going.
 
cmaleski2 said:
I'm hoping that switch was as much about trying to get Lindholm's confidence back than it was thinking that Semin might mesh with Tlusty and Rask. Who knows though, maybe that Rask line will get something going.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking it's more about Lindholm, as well, as there's this from the Gameday Hub:

Drawing back into the Canes lineup will be 20-year-old forward Elias Lindholm, who was a healthy scratch in New York on Saturday. Slotted on the second line to begin the game against St. Louis, Lindholm was dropped to the fourth line and played just 12:53 against the Blues, well below his average of 16:40 per game.

“He’s got to get playing with speed again and playing with pace. He’s got to hang onto the puck, make plays and get back to work,” Peters said. “The length of the All-Star break for a younger guy probably hurt him a little bit, and now that he got to watch a game, it can be beneficial. He watched it, talked to Roddy and met with me, and he was real good about it. We expect him to come in and get right back to work.”
Click to expand...

Although putting Semin with Tlusty and Rask probably realistically gives him more touches of the puck and opportunities for shots than playing with Eric and Jordan, who can command a lot of puck time.
 
Elsker said:
I'm thinking it's more about Lindholm, as well, as there's this from the Gameday Hub:



Although putting Semin with Tlusty and Rask probably realistically gives him more touches of the puck and opportunities for shots than playing with Eric and Jordan, who can command a lot of puck time.
Click to expand...

Agree. Lindy looks like he's in that mid-late season tired phase that some of these young bucks hit in their beginning years. Personally, i think Rask is there too, he's just big enough to show a little more impact but that little bit of scoring prowess he showed early in the year is nowhere to be found. They both will be better after another summer in the weight room.
 
andyt said:
I think you mean Getzlaf? Kopitar plays a few miles north of Anaheim.
Click to expand...

Yeah ... the last thing anybody needs is Anaheim adding Kopitar to the collection of beasts they already have up front. Jeez.

Note that the Ducks are coming into this one on the heels of getting their lunch money stolen in their last two after a blistering 6-game win streak. They'll likely be in a salty mood tonight.
 
Khudobin in nets tonight. Cam didn't participate in the morning skate but will be capable of backing up tonight (maintenance day according to Peters). I guess that playing over 120 minutes on back to back days took its toll on Cam?
 
cmaleski2 said:
Khudobin in nets tonight. Cam didn't participate in the morning skate but will be capable of backing up tonight (maintenance day according to Peters). I guess that playing over 120 minutes on back to back days took its toll on Cam?
Click to expand...

I think it's more the travel ... and the fact that Khudobin earned another go in net after his team bailed on him early against the Blues. That hook clearly wasn't on Anton.
 
I'm still trying to see if my TV is working right, because I could have sworn it showed an Alex Semin goal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top