Power Play: Canes edge reigning Stanley Cup champs to win second straight
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes (2-6-2) came into this weekend winless and in desperate need of something, anything, to get them going. They got a win on Saturday over a pretty bad Arizona team, but Sunday night's 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings (6-4-2) -- the defending Stanley Cup champions -- meant just a little bit more.
1. A goalkeeper might just be emerging, and he's a pretty familiar face.
Carolina head coach Bill Peters said before the season that he wanted a "stud" to emerge in goal. Cam Ward has now won two straight starts, and what's more, he's looked very good doing it. He recorded his first shutout since 2012 in the win over Arizona, and then he made almost every single save he could late in the game when his team needed him most on Sunday.
"He was great, just as good as he was last night. We gave him a couple of chances where they got by us. Not much he could do on those, I don't think," Justin Faulk said. "If he brings that every game, I think we have a chance to win all the time. If not, I think he's going to steal us a couple playing like that."
Ward, naturally, was modest about his own performance. But his teammates weren't.
Team captain Eric Staal chief among them.
"It's been very good. It's been fun. I'm sure he'd say the same," Staal said of what it's been like to play in front of him. "It looks like he's comfortable in there. We're doing a good job in front of him clearing some lanes and letting him see the puck. He made some timely saves that you need. Tonight he did that again as well as last night -- the important ones, when he needed to be there, he was. We were able to capitalize on some of the chances we had to get the lead."
2. Team morale is certainly up and it's starting to look like the team Peters envisioned it would be.
When Peters took over, he said he was going to hold players accountable. The fans have heard that before. With the benching of Alexander Semin against Arizona, Peters showed that he's serious, and it's clear his better players are getting the message.
"If Bill doesn't feel like you're doing what he wants you to do or what you're asked, that's his right. He's the coach and you need to be a professional and be ready to work and compete and wait for your next opportunity," Staal said. "It's no different for anybody else and we know that. I think everybody knows that. You bring it every day and you go from there."
He's not all discipline, though. Ward said it's been the positivity of the staff that has kept them going through the dark days.
"As difficult as it has been, you've got to come to work the next day and try to get better," Ward said. "The guys have been able to stick with it, as hard as it's been and how difficult it's been. It all starts with the coaching staff. They've been extremely positive through the tough times."
Sure, the Hurricanes had some bad breaks early on in some of their closer losses. But as Peters said, the hockey gods are just.
"The game's fair. Let's not kid ourselves. If you do good things consistently, you're going to get rewarded. And you have to earn your breaks," Peters said. "It's starting the formation of an identity. We want to have an identity and we want it to be positive in the characteristics. I think this weekend, we started to form an identity and guys started to believe."
3. The Charlotte Checkers line is turning into something great for the Hurricanes.
When the former minor-league players get together on the ice, something good tends to happen. Riley Nash, Victor Rask, Chris Terry and Zach Boychuk are among the Checkers' alums, and on Saturday, the Hurricanes got back two more key pieces (and former Checkers) in Patrick Dwyer and Nathan Gerbe.
"When I think of those guys, I think of speed. Gerbs is flying again; he turns on the turbo jets and he's off. Same thing with (Dwyer)," Ward said.
Rask got his first NHL goal early in the game, but he's been a valuable contributor all season, trying to help replace the injured Jordan Staal's physical presence. He and his former Checkers teammates, though, already had plenty of chemistry.
"His goal tonight was a prime example -- I think we've probably scored that goal in Charlotte before with a 3-on-2 rush and hitting the middle guy," Terry said. "So it's definitely nice to play like that and have that comfort level up here."
"By trade, they're goal-scorers, as we know," Peters said. "So they've scored at the American League level. They have skill. (Boychuk's) a former first-round pick. They're coming into their own a little bit right in front of our eyes. That's what I see. I thought that line was very good."
Chris Terry: Terry picked up two points on the night with a goal and an assist, and the offensive specialist did just that, sparking the lineup when it needed it, particularly on the power play. "The opportunity to be in those situations, play on the power play and just shoot the puck like that, that's what I'd done in Charlotte for a couple years and just haven't changed my game when I've come up here -- just tried to be a responsible, two-way player but chip in offensively," Terry said.
Elias Lindholm: The sophomore sensation picked up two points a night after he scored his first two goals of the season, adding another goal and an assist on Sunday. "I don't know if it's confidence or it's just, he's worked hard. He's worked really hard," Peters said of Lindholm. "It seems like he's got the puck a little bit more on his stick, and he's more comfortable having the puck. But he's doing a better job moving his feet with the puck, too. He's not as quick to give it up. Very skilled player at 19 years old."
Justin Faulk: The Hurricanes' star defenseman hadn't played as well this season as he would have wanted. Then Saturday night, Faulk took a puck to the chin and ended up getting several stitches. "It's just stitches, it's all right," Faulk said with a grin, rubbing at the wound after the game. "Nothing broken, so we're good." He finished with a team-high 25 minutes and he finished the two games on Saturday and Sunday at +3, something his coach was pleased with. "I liked his compete and I liked the fact that he took one in the lips, stitched up and came back and played one of his best games of the year," Peters said.
