Showing posts tagged “hat trick”
Kate Shefte ·
16 Dec 2009, 10:35 PM ·
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Tuomo Ruutu, seen here earlier this season in Carolina's thirds, starred in the 'Canes' effort against the Stars. File photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
RBC CENTER/RALEIGH - No dejected one-liners, no sorry statistics. The ‘Canes got almost a complete effort night and downed the Dallas Stars, 5-3, Wednesday for their eighth win of the season. Carolina put on a show for its home crowd again and got its second consecutive hat trick on home ice (the last was Erik Cole’s against Vancouver last Saturday) thanks to Tuomo Ruutu’s first career hatter and a three-goal night from the power play.
White rally towels were given out to fans before the game so it looked more like a towel trick than a hatter, but Ruutu will take it.
“The hat trick feels good,” Ruutu said. “I’ve never scored one before and at the same time, I thought we played a great game. We won and now we’re playing some music in the locker room, and that’s fun.”
Jussi Jokinen got the ‘Canes on the board in the waning seconds of a power play. Bryan Rodney sprung him with a long pass and Jokinen took off, unleashing a shot from the left circle that Marty Turco got a chunk of. It skittered past him into the net.
Tuomo Ruutu took his countryman’s lead 1:44 later and followed it up with a stunning goal. He took a cross ice Eric Staal pass and spun around to dodge his defender, then deflected a shot past Turco.
Staal, whose scoring slump has started to gather some attention, took a feed in the crease for his fifth goal of the season. He looked like the franchise player of old with three points on the night. Jokinen got the primary assist on Staal’s goal and Rodney added to his total after being called up from Albany yesterday.
Jussi Jokinen felt so giving – with it almost being Christmas and all – that he decided to set up Dallas’ goal as well. 15 seconds into his hooking penalty, Steve Ott had a wide-open net and cut the lead to two.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 2010, Cam Ward, Dallas Stars, Eric Staal, Europe, Fall, Finland, Finnish, hat trick, Joni Pitkanen, Jussi Jokinen, power play, slump, Tuomo Ruutu
Kate Shefte ·
5 Dec 2009, 5:11 PM ·
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Carolina survived a late mini collapse and got a hard-earned sixth win at home Sunday afternoon. Erik Cole’s sixth career hat trick – second all-time in franchise history – lifted Carolina over the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3. The ‘Canes made it hard on themselves yet again but didn’t surrender the equalizer and cooled the streaking Canucks, who had won four of their last five.
The win came at the end of a relatively busy week for past, present and future Hurricanes. Rutherford executed a minor deal, sending the rights to 2009 first round pick Philippe “Ron Francis Jr.” Paradis to Toronto in exchange for forward (and amateur porn star - Google fiends will know what I’m talking about) Jiri Tlusty. Tlusty will probably spend must of his time in the minors this season but could join the big league next year.
In addition, Carolina will not have longtime assistant coach Kevin McCarthy calling the shots in practice as he rejoined Peter Laviolette, who finally got hired by an NHL team. The duo will try and pick the Philadelphia Flyers up out of their slump (those who have watched the ‘Canes this season will snort derisively. “Please, you call THAT a slump? We haven’t even won on the road…”) McCarthy was relegated to a box far above the action after Francis came along and will probably take a more active role with the Flyers, not to mention rejoin several old buddies. Break out the Dubble Bubble and hair gel, because Laviolette is back in business. If history repeats, the Flyers will probably win the cup this year.
But now, back to Raleigh. The ‘Canes looked surprisingly fresh after a five day break between games.
“Typically when you lose five in a row, you don’t want to have four days off because it means your coach is going to hand it to you,” Ray Whitney said. “Thankfully, he was good to us. I think it helped give some guys who were laboring for a few weeks some time off. We had five days to think about it and we responded.”
Manny Legace was pretty incredible in turning away 33 shots on goal Sunday, many of them tough looks. He started things off with an incredible block during a penalty to Aaron Ward.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 5-3, Andrew Raycroft, Erik Cole, Flyers, hat trick, hatter, Jiri Tlusty, Kevin McCarthy, Peter Laviolette, Philippe Paradis, Ray Whitney, road trip, Vancouver Canucks
Kate Shefte ·
21 May 2009, 11:29 PM ·
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If only we could have warned them. (Photo courtesy of AgentDaleCooper, Flikr.com)
VERSUS/TV—Cam Ward, who has become almost expected to backstop the ‘Canes to victory after each loss, was lit up for six goals and the ‘Canes went down in flames, 7-4, in Game 2. Each of the upcoming games in Raleigh on Saturday and Tuesday are now must-wins, as a loss would put the ‘Canes on the brink.
Carolina picked up the pace in both previous Game 2’s, which were both preceded by blowouts. Perhaps fans should have wished for a 8-1 rout in Game 1, because in the latter two periods, it seemed the ‘Canes’ hearts weren’t in it. After climbing back twice and even pulling ahead in the first period, the Hurricanes were outscored 5-1 over the latter two periods.
He’s hardly the reason the ‘Canes lost, but I’m going to call out Eric Staal anyway. He is not being covered as hard or as well as he was during the Boston series, yet the perennial playoff workhorse has one point in two games and no goals in five. After rocking the first round and a half and climbing the scoring charts with nine goals, Staal looks to have shifted into autopilot. The ‘Canes need him to score badly in order to have a chance of climbing out of this 2-0 hole. No pressure or anything.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 7-4, blowout, Cam Ward, Evgeni Malkin, Game 2, hat trick, loss, match penalty, Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Bayda, Sidney Crosby
Kate Shefte ·
7 Apr 2009, 10:12 PM ·
7 Comments
“Today, I took over in net against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period and tried to save my team’s dignity. I allowed six goals. One of them was a real beautiful deflection…off my own defenseman. FML.”
-The post that will mysteriously crop up on fmylife.com tomorrow morning
RBC CENTER/ RALEIGH—Eric Staal scored his fourth hat trick of the season and the ‘Canes put it in cruise control, scoring thrice in each period and four on the power play, en route to a 9-0 demoralization of the New York Islanders. All three of Staal’s goals were set up by his BFF, Erik Cole. Anton Babchuk had four assists and Dennis Seidenberg had three.
“I’m not sure our confidence could be any higher right now,” Seidenberg said.
Doug Weight, out of the line-up the last time these two teams played, was back to engage in more douchebaggery. However, Brandon Sutter was safely in Albany where Weight couldn’t get to him, so all was happy in Caniacland tonight.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 9-0, Cam Ward, Doug Weight, Eric Staal, Erik Cole, franchise record, hat trick, home ice, home winning streak, Joey MacDonald, New York Islanders, playoffs, slaughter, Tuomo Ruutu
Kate Shefte ·
6 Mar 2009, 10:47 PM ·
3 Comments
RBC CENTER/ RALEIGH—In front of 18,100 ravenous fans who pulled their No. 26 jerseys out from the backs of their closets and cheered loudly every time his name was mentioned, Erik Cole made his return to Raleigh a victorious one indeed. Cole scored the back-breaking third goal and his teammate Ray Whitney – not to be outdone – scored a power play goal in each period to lead the ‘Canes to a 6-1 win over the Calgary Flames.
“Well I’ve been trying to tell people for years how good I was, but no one would listen,” Whitney joked. “I’ve must have caught Jim (Rutherford) at a soft moment, and he agreed.”
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Calgary Flames, Erik Cole, hat trick, Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen, Ray Whitney, trade deadline
Kate Shefte ·
22 Feb 2009, 6:38 PM ·
1 Comment
RBC CENTER/ RALEIGH—In over a decade of existence and 13 games, the Hurricanes have never bested the Avalanche at home or away. In one of the team’s most inconsistent seasons on record, it finally managed to defeat Colorado, 5-2, and win its third in a row. Matt Cullen scored his first career hat trick and the ‘Canes crawled within one point of the 8-seed, at least temporarily.
The game was pegged as Military Appreciation Night and a large display of helicopters and armored cars were on display outside of the RBC Center for wide-eyed little boys have their picture taken in. Military personnel were given the same discount that students on College Nights receive and the different branches were seemingly grouped together in the stands. The U.S. Marines were proud but not few, and took the title of loudest and most boisterous at the game.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Chad LaRose, Colorado Avalanche, Eastern Conference, hat trick, Joni Pitkanen, Matt Cullen, playoff
Kate Shefte ·
15 Jan 2009, 10:58 PM ·
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The Hurricanes of old (circa 2006, that is) made a miraculous reappearance tonight, turning a three-goal deficit into nothing before giving up a late power play goal that cost them the game. Down 4-1 going into the third period, the ‘Canes scored three goals in less than eight minutes to put themselves back into the game after sorry first and second periods, but eventually lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-4.
One of the few teams whose goal-scoring woes have been worse than Carolina’s of late have been the Maple Leafs, who many agree are sitting pretty in the John Tavares sweepstakes. However, it seems that these days the best way to ignite a struggling offense is to play the Hurricanes. The ‘Canes couldn’t buy their first tally and hemorrhaged goals in the second period, falling behind 4-0 before mounting a Philadelphia-esque comeback in the third period.
“We played forty minutes of pretty much crappy hockey, but during the twelve we played well we almost won it,” Tim Gleason said.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey 3 goal, bobblehead, comeback, hat trick, Jason Blake, penalty, Tim Gleason, Toronto Maple Leafs
Kate Shefte ·
31 Dec 2008, 7:11 PM ·
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Going into tonight’s game, the Hurricanes have finished 5-4-3 in the second coming of “Mo,” which isn’t horrible but not enough to shake them out of the 8-seed tango that the team is currently mired in with the Buffalo Sabres. In addition, the ‘Canes have lost a lot of ground on the Southeast division-leading Capitals, who are now 12 points ahead of Carolina in the standings. Even though several of Washington’s regulars are still injured, they have opened up a giant lead and, at this point in the season, look to be unstoppable.
Lurking behind the Hurricanes in the standings are the ever-present but forever rebuilding Florida Panthers, currently only two points behind Carolina in 10th place. The Panthers have shown their dominance over Western Conference opponents, going 4-1 on a road swing in December, but continue to fall repeatedly, as the Hurricanes have done, to struggling teams such as the Islanders and Lightning. The Panthers always seem to be in this precarious position, where they are poised to strike but just can’t get their ducks in a row, and they have already been counted out. But perhaps this will be the year that their late surge isn’t too late to make a difference.
And now, back to the Hurricanes. 5-4-3 doesn’t sound stellar, but it’s par for the course given the coaching change and rocky schedule that included two matchups with Philadelphia, Montreal, and Boston. The Eastern Conference-leading Bruins defeated Carolina twice by scores of 4-2, at home and in Boston. Carolina looked competent against the Bruins, which is a success in and of itself this season, outshooting the Bruins twice and letting a late goal through that ultimately decided each game. However, the Hurricanes will likely be facing the Bruins if they win the battle for that magical 8-seed. (Ruh roh!)
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Atlanta Thrashers, Bruins, Eric Staal, Florida Panthers, hat trick, New Years, Paul Maurice, plus minus
Kate Shefte ·
16 Dec 2008, 9:10 PM ·
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The Hurricanes fell twice in the shootout in their two match-ups since that convincing win against Washington last Sunday, a 6-5 loss at Philadelphia and a 3-2 loss against the Rangers. In the latter game, they barely made it to the extra inning; in the former, they surrendered a four-goal lead in the third period. The loss, in which the ‘Canes led 5-1 with 19 minutes remaining, was one the Hurricanes would rather forget, but at least the Flyers fans in attendance were able to witness history; it was Philadelphia’s biggest comeback in almost 20 years.
Philly’s Scott Hartnell notched a hat trick to put Hurricanes fans watching from home on the ends of their seats, but the Flyers weren’t done; the Hurricanes’ young defense collapsed and allowed Scotty Upshall and Simon Gagne to tie it up and prompted the crowd to hit a new decibel, never before heard by human ears. The Hurricanes limped into overtime, confidence shattered, and made nothing of a 4-on-3 power play. Gagne scored the deciding shootout goal, and Rod Brind’Amour and Tuomo Ruutu – the only ‘Canes to have won a shootout for their team this year, against the Tampa Bay Lightning – managed weak shots on Antero Nittymaki, which were enthusiastically turned away. A three-point effort by Eric Staal went to waste and Michael Leighton quickly became the scapegoat of the game after his shootout save attempt on Gagne saw him lying on his back, well out of the crease, while the puck soared over him into an empty net.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey comeback, Eric Staal, four-goal, hat trick, Michael Leighton, Philadelphia Flyers, save, Scott Hartnell, shootout
Kate Shefte ·
21 Nov 2008, 10:33 PM ·
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Can the ‘Canes find a way to have Henry Staal come down to Raleigh for every home game?
Eric Staal made his old man proud and broke out of his scoring slump in a big way tonight, scoring
Eric Staal (Gregg Forwerck, Carolina Hurricanes)
three goals in the first two periods for the ‘Canes’ first hat trick of the season. The hatter, Staal’s fifth of his career, gave him sole possession of first place in franchise hat tricks. Before tonight, he was tied with Erik Cole for the lead.
Staal provided all the offense the ‘Canes needed and Ward took care of the rest, giving the team its first win over western conference foe Phoenix for the first time since 2002.
“Sometimes its hard, but you can’t change your game,” Staal said. “I know I can score in this league and I know I can contribute offensively. I thought for the most part during the last few games I’ve been working hard, but it just didn’t happen.”
The Hurricanes dug themselves into a hole early when Staal drew a four-minute high-sticking penalty and Patrick Eaves received two minutes for the same infraction, giving the Coyotes 48 seconds of 5-on-3. The ‘Canes reorganized and managed to kill it off, but of course, it wouldn’t be a Hurricanes game if the other team didn’t score first. After the Staal penalty expired, the Coyotes scored with 37 seconds remaining in Eaves’ minor.
The Hurricanes could not have scheduled a better time for their annual father’s trip, in which players, coaches, and staff invite their father to travel with the team and attend a road game. Eric Staal has traditionally performed very well with his father, Henry, in the building; he scored his first hat trick in 2005 against Philadelphia during the inaugural fathers’ weekend. Staal finally snapped an eight-game goalless streak after he collected a Sergei Samsonov rebound and tucked it under Ilja Bryzgalov. Staal yelled and threw his arms up in the air, clearly relieved.
“Never once did anyone in this locker room worry about Eric,” Cam Ward said. “Even when he’s not scoring he’s bringing something to the game. It is nice to see him get rewarded for the hard work.”
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Eric Staal, hat trick, Phoenix Coyotes, Ray Whitney, scoring slump
