Canes let opportunity slip away
Mar 1, 2009
Tags: Hockey, Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes did more than just lose to the Atlanta Thrashers 5-3 after leading by two goals with less than 10 minutes to play, the team missed an opportunity to take sole possession of seventh place in the East. Carolina jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the team did not play with the same urgency seen on the RBC Center ice on Thursday night and drifted through portions of the game. When Anton Babchuck gave the Canes a two goal cushion 1:41 into the third , Carolina shifted into neutral and Atlanta kicked it into high gear. Eric Staal said it best, "I think we sat back against a team that doesn't really have anything to play for and we were cheating on the rush and we made some mistakes and they capitalized. hose are mistakes we can't make this time of year."
Last night showed an area that the Canes need to address and can possible add at the deadline, toughness on the blue line. The defense for Carolina is built around skilled players who can jump into the play and provided offense, last night the team needed more players that can clear the puck out of danger areas and be physical against players like Ilya Kovalchuk who had way too much room to operate and had a hand in all five Thrasher goals. The Canes did not have Nic Wallin in the line-up and his physical presence was missed. But still Carolina could use one more blue liner who can take away time and space for the opponents top players.
This game could be attributed to playing down to the level of your opponent, and for at least 40 minutes Atlanta was content to let Carolina win the game without breaking too much of a sweat. If this was November, maybe that is acceptable, but with the playoffs on the line the Hurricanes have to play every opponent as if it is game one of a playoff series and set the tone. With both Buffalo and Florida losing the Canes had a chance to get into the top eight and put pressure on their opponents to win. Now the calendar turns to March and the Canes cannot afford to have any more down shifts.
