Rather than using my late night Thursday Canes scribbling time for a game preview, I am instead going to take a deeper look at the Skinner/McClement/Semin line from Tuesday night. I posted much of this as a comment in the forum for my last blog, so skip if it is a repeat for you. And for those who are not Canes regulars, yes, that is actually a thing and was an incredibly good thing on Tuesday night. After a sluggish 1st period on the back of 2 lackluster outings over the weekend (despite the Canes gets 3 out of 4 points), Coach Bill Peters shuffled his lines early in the 2nd period. Eric Staal went to wing with Victor Rask and Jiri Tlusty. And checking line center Jay McClement found himself centering a misfit offense adrenaline line featuring Skinner and Semin. And the results were the craziest thing I have seen so far this season for the Canes. The line was absolutely lights out. In something like 35 minutes of game time, my count had 3 penalties drawn, 2 goals (1 was by Gleason with Skinner assist), 2 posts and just general mayhem and offensive prowess non-stop in the offensive zone for full shifts.

I think the genesis of it was very simply Peters mixing and matching to find something that worked possibly also with a dose of demoting Skinner (invisible) and Semin (turnover machine) for a horrible 1st period.

As makes perfect sense after what they did Tuesday, this line will start together again on Thursday. I am skeptical that this is a long-term thing, but in the NHL when something burns that hot, you do not worry about logic or projections. You just ride it until it cools down without asking questions. To be clear, I like McClement, and think he is a great player, but historically and also from what I have seen this year, he just does not have enough finishing ability to convert enough for that line. Hidden in the middle of the offensive fury mode, you even saw that on Tuesday. Most blatant was the time he smartly sent straight to the front of the net, had Semin feed the puck right in front of him but somehow was in a position to only kick at it instead of using his stick to finish a nice pass. He also rang the post from 15 feet out on a rebound with a gaping net in front of him.

But I think the biggest gain Tuesday could be the HUGE clue to chemistry and roles. The potential issue with Skinner/EStaal/Semin is that all 3 of those guys have a preference to play with the puck on their stick. McClement plays more of a simple checking line game. On Tuesday, he quietly did the dirty work incredibly well. He won pucks (both faceoffs and board battles) every shift. This meant that the line got to play offense (required for scoring goals). After he won pucks, he did not try to morph into a playmaker because of his new line mates. Instead, he stuck to his game and strengths. Whenever possible he got the puck to his more skilled line mates who were much more likely to make a goal happen. Then last but not least, once the puck was in good hands he went to the front of the net. This takes 1 defender with him (have to cover the player parked in front of the goalie regardless of finishing ability), made a mess for the goalie (big screen on Skinner goal) and opened up more room for his skilled line mates.

When you net it out, McClement's simple hockey did 3 things:
1) Let Skinner/Semin play offense more.
2) Took some defense with him to front of net to open up more space.
3) Made a mess in front of the goalie.

So where I am going...I think there is a lot to glean for this from Eric Staal. He does not need to suddenly transform himself into a checking line player and trade in all of his finishing ability and skill. BUT...If he can make an adjustment to play a bit of a secondary role in terms of holding the puck and also be willing to hang out in/around the crease while letting Skinner and Semin buzz around, the team might just find magic. If you think about it, it really isn't that different from the Tlusty/EStaal/Semin run. Tlusty is a wing obviously but pretty nearly played the McClement role except with finishing ability. He won pucks on the boards, got it to EStaal or Semin and then went and waited where goals happen until the puck showed up. Eric Staal is a bigger body with arguably even more finishing ability. The challenge is going to be his tendency to want to flare out from the front of the net to a shooting position instead of staying in the trenches and just waiting for the puck to show up.

Eric Staal is playing pretty good hockey right now, despite being leapfrogged for the 3 stars lately by a number of other great performances. And he seems comfortable and fully bought in to Peters' system. Like I said earlier, I think you ride Skinner/McClement/Semin while it is working. But at some point, can Peters/Brind'Amour/EStaal work the video to build some of the McClement specifics into EStaal's higher end skill set?

Finally, there is a completely different level to the situation which is planning for a future that includes Jordan Staal. Whereas I would have argued that the Canes were 1 short at center (BEFORE Jordan Staal's injury), they now seem to be on track to have 1 too many when he returns. The Gerbe/Nash/Lindholm line has been the team's best recently, and possibly on the verge of being passed only by Cam Ward, Nash has been the Canes best player so far. McClement is still a great fit for the 4th-line/PK/size role that the Canes signed him for if I am right that the scoring line center thing is not permanent. And Victor Rask has jumped right into the NHL in the form of a pretty sound 2-way center who at least in terms of pedigree/track record at the lower levels has a decent ceiling offensively. So the current situation with Skinner/McClement/Semin staying together and Gerbe/Nash/Lindholm also locked in for now, Bill Peters moved EStaal to Rask's wing on Tuesday. This gives him a chance to evaluate 2 things maybe for later. First is looking at EStaal at wing. Might he shift there when his brother returns? Second is looking at Rask centering more offensive skill. As good as he was to start the season, at this very very early stage of his NHL career, he did not bring much in terms of playmaking. Immediately after being moved off his line, Lindholm went on a massive scoring binge, and Rask himself started finding the score sheet partly as the recipient of new line mate's playmaking.

With my yammering aside, the Canes take back to home ice tonight against Winnipeg looking to maintain their position as the number 1 team in the NHL for November (#ForgetOctober).

What is tonight's formula to maintain November's points streak?
--The craziness of a surging Skinner/McClement/Semin line?
--More Cam Ward?
--Rask taking another step forward leading a scoring line?

Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63 (#ForgetOctober)

Go Canes!

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