Just like almost all other Canes wins in recent history Saturday's win featured Jeff Skinner and Justin Peters jockeying for position as the Canes 1st star. Jeff Skinner notched another whirling dervish type 3rd period goal that proved to be the game-winner, and Justin Peters gave up only a single goal in regulation for the 4th time in his last 5 starts.
Early on, the game had a bit of the same feel as the Vancouver game without many real good chances either way, but a Paul Bissonette deflection got the Coyotes on the board and started the Canes off down a goal as has been too common of late. But the Canes compete level was good. The team avoided costly breakdowns. And true to recent form, Justin Peters was there whenever that was not enough. So despite getting down a goal early, the Canes were in the game and got better from there. It was not by a huge margin, but aside from the continued power outage on the power play, I thought the Canes were the better team in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Mike Smith was good too, so it never resulted in any breathing room, but 2 goals was ultimately enough.
The win keeps the Canes in 3rd place now going into a 5-day layoff. With no chances to earn points for 5 days, in the bunched up Metro Division it is actually possible that the Canes take the ice Friday all the way down in 6th place if its Metro foes win out during the break. But regardless of the day-to-day swings in the division, the Canes clearly enter the layoff with a positive vibe coming off a decent breakeven road week on the back of last week's 3-0 record.
A few quick notes:
--Jeff Skinner. If you get a chance, look at the Skinner again. It is the definition of why he is scoring so much from all over the ice right now and just beating goalies sometimes even when it looks like he should not. The puck was loose after the face-off at which point he got his stick to the puck and got it on net in a hurry. The key thing is that I completely omitted the 2nd step where he got his feet set and his stick cocked to shoot and get something on it. It never happened. In true Jeff Skinner form of late, he shot from whatever odd skate position he happened to have at the point he got his stick to the puck. It is the split second difference from his ability to get contortionist-like shots on net that is vital to his scoring run.
--Justin Peters. He just keeps getting better. The team went from trying to win in spite of Justin Peters to winning with Justin Peters to winning because of Justin Peters. But even the early version of that 3rd phase still looked more like a fringe AHL/NHL goalie on a hot streak. Then somewhere along the way the rebound control that was non-existent even in the early portion of his 2013-14 success suddenly showed. Then all of a sudden, his aggressive movements that often led to him overplaying the net/puck just completely disappeared. I have given credit to Peters for absolutely everything he has done, but I have been slow to give him credit for that just being how he plays now and into the future past the end of some hot streak. Are we nearing the point where you have to consider that he is not on a hot streak but rather a late bloomer who suddenly turned the corner? Part of me is still slow to flip that switch, but with each passing win it starts to look more possible.
--The power play. Other than the minor nit of giving up the 1st goal again, the only big negative was again the power play. The Canes went 0 for 4 with the man advantage and failed to capitalize in multiple situations that could have been big goals. The fact that the team won anyway eliminates any damage but does not change the situation. I think it comes down to a couple things. First, the team fails to enter the zone with any cohesion. Most of the dumps are the forced, "I had no choice" variety versus the kind where you get 2 forwards headed full speed to a corner and throw the puck there for them to outnumber and win back quickly. Second, there is not enough motion. How many times tonight when the Canes did gain control in the offensive zone did a Cane sit and look and look and look and then finally move the puck elsewhere? Finally, if the pretty stuff isn't working sometimes you just need to get bodies to the front, get the puck to the point and have them throw it in there and try to score ugly. The pretty isn't working, and the Canes don't have enough ugly right now.
--Andrej Sekera. He had another great game. If you wanted to put up a 3rd star behind Skinner and Peters for the past 2 weeks' success, I think he would be it.
--Nathan Gerbe. His goal to pull even was a big one obviously. It is too bad that it came just after the penalty kill ended instead of to increase the Canes' shorthanded totals.
Next up is a long rest and then a quick burst of 3 games in 4 nights before Christmas. The challenge this time of year is to stay focused and maintain intensity amidst all of the other stuff swirling around outside of hockey and with a disjointed practice schedule.
I have a few decent blog topics lined up with a couple drafted already to fill the gap with no games next week:
--What to do with the goalie situation.
--13 players 13 comments on the forwards.
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