After 3 consecutive losses mostly of the frustrating and ugly variety, any kind of win and 2 points in the standings would have been just fine. The Canes got the 2 points and more with a pretty decent effort that also shook a number of monkeys off backs.

A few number notes:

1) 61 from #7 using 5. With Wesley being a late scratch, the Canes played the entire game with 5 defensemen and mustered 61 minutes of ice time from 3 guys (Tanabe, Babchuk, Hutchinson) who were slotted as #7 defensemen in September. Tanabe especially played well and deserved his star. Suddenly one of the stable vets, Commodore also played well.

2) Where have you been #26? Note the pregame dinner, the route to the rink and any other details. Cole was a monster tonight just like he was in early/mid December after mostly disappearing of late. He was easily the best player on the ice tonight. On the nights when Cole plays well, he just looks like he is faster by a wide margin than anyone else on the ice.

3) Set the monkeys free...1 for #12. How important was that 4th goal? With only about 4 minutes left and a 3-1, it was unlikely to have much impact on the outcome of the game, but man did Staal need a marker of any variety before he collapsed under the weight of the zoo full of monkeys taking residence on his back.

4) #30. It would be unfair not to mention Cam Ward. I think the shots on goal stat was misleading tonight because the Isles shot from anywhere and registered a decent number of harmless shots. But even still, Ward was good when he needed to be and played very well defending a rare lead. And who can argue with 33 saves on 35 shots and a win. He is playing his best hockey of the season at a time when the team needs it.

But all the individual details aside, this game came down to 2 very simple things:

1) Gritting your teeth and battling. 3 of the Canes 4 goals were of put 2-3 bodies within 15 feet of the net and then grit your teeth, win physical battles and hack at the puck until it goes in the net. The 1st goal (Williams) was a battle won in front of the net. Cole's 2nd goal was a deflection that was a result of carving out a piece of ice 3 feet from the net. And Staal's goal was another where more than 1 Cane was involved in winning the puck in close.

2) Special teams. What happens if we see the sputtering version of the Canes powerplay that seems to rear its head about every other game alternating from the nights when the powerplay goals seem to come in bushels? Minus the powerplay goals, this game is 1-1 with 5 minutes left. Throw in a powerplay (0 for 4 on the night) goal from the Islanders, and is this a horribly frustrating 2-1 loss?

1 win against a struggling team does not erase the 0-point efforts on Tuesday and Thursday, but it gets us on the board for January, gets us within 8 of Atlanta and maybe most significantly puts a stake in the sand that says this team is capable of winning regardless of details (injuries, schedule, scoring slumps, etc.) if they bring the right brand of hockey to the rink.

I have no idea what the Canes do for defense next week if Wesley is not ready by Tuesday, but who cares right now. Canes fans drove home from the RBC Center after a win for the first time in awhile.

Go Canes!

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