RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Hurricanes (5-6-3) continued their November streak with a 4-1 win over Calgary (9-6-2), and don't look now, but the last team in the NHL to get its first win has suddenly turned into the hottest at 5-0-1 in the month of November.
1. Head coach Bill Peters said he wanted to make the team tough to play against at home. So far, so good.
The Hurricanes didn't have a good start to this season anywhere, but one of the biggest issues the last few seasons has been a lack of success in home games. Quietly, in spite of the cold start, the Canes are 4-1-1 at PNC Arena so far.
"If we can go 4-1-1 in every six-game segment, I would take that. I'd sign up for that right now today. But it's a tough league. You've got to do good things. You've got to win the games you're supposed to win and you've got to manage the puck properly," Peters said. "Our starts can be better, both at home and on the road."
The building hasn't been as full as it has been in past years, but if the Canes can keep this streak going, that should change in a hurry.
2. This doesn't look remotely like the mentally weak Hurricanes teams of the past few seasons.
Get off to an early one-goal deficit? Have a break go against them? The teams of the past would have folded under the slightest bit of adversity.
These Hurricanes bounced back from trailing, though, and showed fortitude and toughness.
Even during the long losing streak to start out the season, the Hurricanes were down but they were not out. And a big reason was that Peters kept insisting that if they put the work in, it would eventually pay off.
"I think we've got 20 guys ready to play every night and wanting to buy into the system and play together as a team. We've been able to do that, I think, over the past 5-6 games that we've gotten points," said Justin Faulk (who had a team-high three points). "I think when we have that, you do grow confidence, you do grow trust within each other to do things within the system and you do grow trust within each other to play the system and do things the right way and win games."
"When you get down like we were looking for our first win, there's obviously not a lot of confidence. That's a pretty big thing when you don't have confidence," said Jeff Skinner. "Getting (Eric Staal) back in the lineup was a big boost for us, and getting that first win was a bit of a boost. That confidence creeps back in your game and you keep doing the good things and hoping it'll pay off, and it has been as of late. Hopefully we can keep it rolling."
3. This Hurricanes team according to Peters, is still searching for an identity.
"The thing is, when you have an identity, you can't give it to yourself. It's like a nickname, right? You can't give yourself a nickname. So when we do have an identity, people will know what it is," Peters said.
There are a few consistent and straightforward messages coming from up top, though, and the main one is keep doing the right things and rewards will find you.
The other is that Peters won't tolerate a lot of deviation from his system. Other than that, even he doesn't know what to expect from this group on most nights. The confidence is still high, though, and it's working. More importantly, they're buying in.
"I just want to have a consistent game and I want guys to be able to play a certain style so when I'm watching it, I can recognize what's going on out there," Peters said. "I don't want random players or randomness in our game. I want good structure with offensive skill and creativity."
Jeff Skinner: Carolina's young star scored his 100th NHL goal. "It's a nice achievement, I think. Hopefully I can get a couple more," Skinner said, grinning. "Definitely a nice achievement. I think something to be proud of, I guess."
Cam Ward: The Hurricanes have now won four in a row with Ward in net, and he stopped 22 of the 23 shots he saw and the only goal he allowed was on the power play. "I'm just having fun, really. I'm a lot more relaxed and I find when I'm relaxed, I'm seeing the game a lot better. It's nice to get some wins under our belt and hopefully we can keep it going," Ward said.
Justin Faulk: The defenseman had a shaky start to the season, but he's been a big reason why things have turned around. "(Faulk's) been better here recently. He's hanging on to the puck, he's making puck plays and he's been real good," Peters said.
