PNC Arena

Game Report: Sens vs Canes (March 26)

The March 26 game was the last time a Canadian team would visit the Canes for the 2017-18 season. Our sports correspondent, who is hanging up his skates, sent along his last report.
The CNNC (and previously CanSouth) thank him for his time, contribution and enthusiasm .

Forwards Valentin Zykovers of the AHL. Foegele had a goal and an assist in his first game as the Canes beat the Senators 4-1 Monday night. Both of Foegele’s shots resulted in goals. His first career goal came with 1:08 left in the first when he skated up the end line and slipped the puck between Anderson’s glove and the post. He assisted on Zykov’s go-ahead goal with 5:22 left in the second, with the physical Russian forward poking in the rebound of Foegele’s shot to make it 2-1.

‘The best advice I got was to just shoot it on net,” Foegele said. ”So I shot it, and it just went in. It took me (until) about the third shift to realize it was just another hockey game,” Foegele said, repeatedly calling it ”a surreal moment.”

Brock McGinn and Valentin Zykov scored 98 seconds apart in the second period, Sebastien Aho scored an empty-netter with 1:59 remaining and Derek Ryan had two assists for the Canes third straight. The Canes have an outside chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2009 moving within seven points of the Devils with six games left. It was the young guys on the Hurricanes that played the key roles in winning this crucial game against Ottawa. It was the sixth career game for both Zykov and defenseman Roland McKeown- who was on the ice for each of Carolina’s first three goals. Cam Ward made 19 saves for Carolina.

“They can come in here and instill that youth and energy and vigour, and I think they’ve shown that,” Ryan said. ”They’ve done that so far, and it’s fun to have that kind of the smiles on their faces, to see Warren score his first goal in his first game and smile on the bench, he’s excited and it kind of makes me relive those memories for myself.”

Bobby Ryan scored and Craig Anderson stopped 26 shots for the Senators, who lost their fifth straight and have been outscored 22-7 in their last four. The Hurricanes beat them twice in three nights by a combined 9-3 score.

”You can look down the lineup, we’re plugging in guys to see where they fit, and trying different players here and there,” Anderson said. ”As long as the compete level’s there, you can’t fault anybody, and that’s how it was tonight. We came out, we competed and just weren’t able to get the win.”

NHL Team Stats:
http://espndeportes.espn.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400962774

Game Report: Oilers vs Canes (March 20)

The CNNC sports correspondent sent lots of images of the Canes’ game against the Edmonton Oilers. Pics and summary of this game below.


The scoring began early in a wild, five-goal first period, including a few unusual tallies. Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers just kept throwing the puck on net over and over. It was a sound strategy, considering just about every shot they took seemed to be going in.  The Oilers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 7-3 on Tuesday night. Draisaitl had a goal and three assists.

Drake Caggiula, Matt Benning and Ryan Strome scored in a span of 4:24 in the first period after Carolina jumped to a 1-0 lead, and Edmonton led the rest of the way. Pontus Aberg, Yohann Auvitu and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored as the Oilers got six goals on their first 22 shots. Cam Talbot made 30 saves for Edmonton.

”We started well and that gave us confidence,” Draisaitl said. ”We kept going after them. Kept shooting the puck, kept getting the puck back. That was our game plan.”

Brock McGinn, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Hurricanes, who have lost six of eight. Scott Darling allowed three goals on his first nine shots and six on 22 but was left in the game. He finished with 23 saves.

As the final buzzer sounded, the Hurricanes were booed off the ice by the sparse group of fans still in the stands.

 ”We have to come to work,” Carolina forward Jordan Staal said. ”We play in the NHL. We have this privilege to be here. We can’t lay eggs like that. We can’t just not work. It looks like that when we don’t and it’s no fun to play. It’s no fun to let each other down like that.”
 Carolina is still technically alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but its hopes are dwindling. The Hurricanes are nine points back with nine games to play.

Senators in town on Monday

The last Canadian team to visit the Hurricanes will be in town on Monday, March 26. The Ottawa Senators will be at PNC at 7:00pm. This is the last game of the season where you can take advantage of the CNNC hockey discount! You can purchase tickets by using Google Chrome and visiting: http://www.hurricanes.com/cnnc.

Promo code: CNNC

(Additional instructions regarding ticket purchase HERE.)

Oilers in town on March 20

There are only two Canadians teams remaining on Hurricanes’ schedule this season. On Tuesday, March 20, the Edmonton Oilers will be at PNC playing the Canes at 7pm.  CNNC discounted tickets are available for this game.  You can purchase tickets by using Google Chrome and visiting: http://www.hurricanes.com/cnnc.

Promo code: CNNC

(Additional instructions regarding ticket purchase HERE.)

Game Report: Jets vs Canes (March 4)

Photos and comments on the recent Jets vs Canes came in from the CNNC sports correspondent.  Enjoy!

Winnipeg did a commendable job preventing the Hurricanes from getting sticks on pucks – and there were rebounds to be had at times – in the dirty areas of the ice. Patrik Laine scored two goals to lead the jets to a 3-2 victory over the Canes. It was his second straight game with two goals.  It was also his third multi-goal game in the last four games and has seven multi-point nights during his streak. Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 33 shots for the Jets. Winnipeg improved to 7-2 in its last nine to close within six points of Nashville for the Central Division lead.

To the Hurricanes credit, they didn’t fold after Winnipeg’s third goal. They continued to push and were eventually rewarded on a rebound. Connor Hellebuyck made the initial save on Slavin’s shot, but the rebound bounced out to Staal, and he buried it for his 15th goal of the season. Teuvo Teravainen scored for the fourth straight game for the Hurricanes  and Cam Ward made 20 saves. Carolina fell to 2-5-2 in its last nine as it tries to hold on to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

“They made it hard to get to the net and create plays. That’s what good teams do,” Staal said. “It’s playoff-style hockey right now. I thought we’ve been digging in, working hard and battling hard. We came up short tonight, but the effort and chances were there. It just didn’t quite go our way.”

The Hurricanes scored at least three goals in each of their last three games (2-0-1) coming into tonight’s game, in which they were unable to find a third tally. Peters often calls the league a “race to three,” and Winnipeg won that leg tonight.

Game Report: Canucks vs Canes (Feb 9)
 You will find below the CNNC sports correspondent’s report and pictures of the Canucks recent visit to PNC Arena.
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The Canes 3-goal fast start in the first period was all that was needed for an important Canes 4-1 home win. Low scorers Brett Pence (only 14 seconds into the first period) scored his second goal of the season. Phil Di Giuseppe got his first goal in over a year. Sebastian Aho scored his 20th of the season with Justin Williams (10th) rounded out the home teams scoring in the third. The four goals were all at even strength — a rarity for the Canes in the past month. Darling was in the nets and played a solid game.

”There was a little bit of desperation for sure,” Pesce said. ”We’ve had some trouble scoring these past few games. But you have to score to win, and we know where the standings are. Every win is sort of a must.”

”I think everyone found a way to contribute,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. ”All in all, it was a good night.”

Michael Del Zotto scored the only Vancouver goal and Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 shots.

”It’s not Markstrom’s fault tonight,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. ”We weren’t good enough to win this hockey game, that’s for sure.”

The Canucks came back after the first period with a stronger effort in the second with the goal from Del Zotto and stopping the Canes on a pair of power plays.  Due to injury, Brock Boeser, was a late scratch for Friday’s game eliminating the Canucks’ leading scorer. Boeser is a front runner for the Calder Memorial Trophy. The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.” It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL.

Game Report: Habs vs Canes (Feb 1)

The CNNC sport correspondent attend the other game against a Canadian team last week and forwarded this report.

The Carolina Hurricanes beat Montreal 2-0 behind a strong 27 shot shutout performance from Cam Ward, his 27th shutout of his 13-year career. Ward was chosen the first star of the game. During his long career Ward has beaten the Canadiens on many occasions however never in a shutout until now. His lifetime record of 36 games against the Habs now stands at 20-12-4. It gave the Hurricanes a sweep of the season series.

”It’s crunch time. All you’ve got to do is look at the standings, and we’ve kind of preached that this is our playoffs,” Ward said. ”We’ve got a lot of games here at home, you want to kind of build some momentum, get some fans into the building and reward them with some wins.’’

The Hurricanes goals came off the sticks of Brett Pesce and Brock McGinn. Pesce was the best player on the ice with all the offence the Hurricanes needed with a goal at 2:43 of the second, blasting a slap shot from the point that got past Price. Cary Price made 28 saves for the Canadiens, who have lost three in a row and fell to 2-5-2 in their last nine games.

”You don’t like losing, and it is frustrating, but I think there was an effort there tonight,” coach Claude Julien said. ”But I’d like to see desperation add to that effort, because that’s what we need to turn things around.’’

Some of the Habs worked hard, notably Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, Jonathan Drouin and Jakub Jarabek. The game was somewhat physical with Canadiens outhitting the Canes 54-21. Both the Habs and Canes entered the game as two of the league’s leaders in team shots: The Hurricanes rank fourth in the NHL with an average of 34.3 shots, while the Canadiens are two spots behind at 33.8 shots per game.

 

 

NHL team stats:
https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-car/2018/02/01/2017020780#game=2017020780,game_state=final,game_tab=stats

Canucks in town on Feb 9

The Vancouver Canucks will facing the Carolina Hurricanes on the ice at PNC Arena on February 9 at 7:30pm. If you haven’t purchased your CNNC discounted tickets, you can do so using Google Chrome: www.hurricanes.com/cnnc.
Promo code: CNNC

(Additional instructions regarding ticket purchase HERE.)

Game Report: Sens vs Canes (Jan 30)

The CNNC sport correspondent and event photographer tag-teamed for the report on Tuesday’s game.

The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1, winning the first game of their eight-game home stand. Hopes to make the playoffs rest heavily on this homestead performance. The big news was the return of Sebastian Aho to the lineup after missing two weeks with a concussion and a knee injury. He didn’t disappoint with a huge goal in the third period to even up the score. 
”I was very excited. I’ve been waiting for this since I got hurt,” Aho said. ”It felt really good to get that goal.’’

Aho’s goal brought the crowd alive, the Hurricanes played stronger and Rask fired a power-play wrist shot from the left faceoff circle past Anderson on the goaltender’s stick side with 11:32 remaining which turned out to be the game winner.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau opened the scoring in the second period and Craig Anderson made 37 saves. Ottawa had other scoring chances hitting three posts (two in the first period). The Sens have now lost six games in a row.
 ”I really think we deserved to get out of this with at least one point,” coach Guy Boucher said. ”I really thought after two periods we had a chance to win this one.”
Tom Dundon, the Canes new majority team owner (66%) was concerned about the low ticket pre-sale status for this game and opened up the lower bowl and club level for fans with tickets in the upper level. Many took advantage of the offer and upgrade. A total of 11,448 attended the game, the higher concentration of fans closer to the ice was a boost for the Canes.

Sens and Habs in town this week

A treat for Canadians in The Triangle: both the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens will be at PNC Arena this week–on January 30 and February 1, respectively. (Games both start at 7pm.)  If you haven’t purchased your CNNC discounted tickets, you can do so using Google Chrome: www.hurricanes.com/cnnc.
Promo code: CNNC.

(Additional instructions regarding ticket purchase HERE.)