Heartbreak at the Verizon - Caps 3, Canes 2
The Carolina Hurricanes lost a tough one to the Washington Capitals Thursday night as Alexander Semin scored the game-winner with just 10.9 seconds on the clock. The Canes built leads of 1-0, and 2-1, only to watch the game, as well as the important points, slip away.
Scott Walker opened the scoring just three minutes into the game by re-directing a Josef Melichar shot past Brent Johnson. It was Walker’s first tally of the year.
Later in that period, the Caps attempted to answer Carolina’s fast start with increased pressure in the Hurricanes zone. Cam Ward was equal to the task at that time and turned back all 15 Washington shots.
Near the end of the first period, Wade Brookbank made the mistake of dropping the gloves with Donald Brashear. The first reason that it was a mistake is because Brashear landed punch after punch at the back of Brookbank’s head and the Carolina enforcer failed to land a single blow of his own before he tumbled to the ice. The next reason that it was a mistake is because Carolina had just won a faceoff in their offensive zone and Anton Babchuk had the puck and was ready for a shot.
That is quite simply not a smart time to accept a challenge from the other team’s tough guy.
The Carolina lead held up until the the second period when Sergei Fedorov broke into the clear and roofed one over Ward. Defenseman Nic Wallin went to cover the puck, (Ovechkin), but no one picked up the wide open Fedorov.
Later in the second period Brookbank took another penalty as he inadvertently lifted the puck into the crowd for a delay of game call. The Canes were able to kill the ensuing powerplay and hit Brookbank as he was breaking into the clear after leaving the box. The Carolina tough guy was stopped by Johnson, but as Joe Corvo got the puck back in the Hurricanes zone, he found Tuomo Ruutu breaking into the clear and hit him with a perfect pass.
The red-hot winger made no mistake and gave Carolina the lead once again, 2-1. Ruutu now has points in five consecutive games.
The third period started out with the Hurricanes attacking and the team ended up earning a powerplay. Sergei Fedorov was called for hooking, then Brent Johnson lifted the puck out of play for a gift 5 on 3 opportunity for Carolina.
But the Canes looked much too casual with their passes and at first, were unable to generate any decent shots on goal. Near the end of the sequence though, Rod Brind’Amour broke clear and looked to have a good chance, but couldn’t handle the puck well enough to put a shot past Johnson.
The teams went back and forth in the third until Alexander Semin took a close-in shot which seemed to hit a skate or something, and somehow found it’s way past Cam Ward. There was just 2:49 left on the clock.
That was not all for Semin though, as he hit the eventual game-winner a short time later.
Needless to say, the Canes were not happy campers in the dressingroom after the game. Joe Corvo looked upset. Tuomo Ruutu said “We thought we had the game, and that was the problem. We’ve got to play 60 minutes to win. A team like this is going to come after us. We have to learn from this.”
Nic Wallin was trying to put things into perspective and said that as tough as this loss was, the team had to put this game behind them and get ready to play again tomorrow night.
The big question is, can they put this one behind them quickly? Will they come out angry against the Senators, or will they come out like snake-bitten, hard luck players who are feeling sorry for themselves?
We will see.
Other questions-
Maybe the Canes should put Ruutu, Helminen, and LaRose on the powerplays? Once again, there was no point production from the top two lines on the team.
How many points can this team squander in the final minutes, and still be able to make the playoffs? Giving up the game-winner to the Oilers with a bit over a minute left was bad enough, but this one is really tough to swallow. These points could make a difference in April.
Did Wade Brookbank earn 5 minutes for fighting, or 5 minutes for being a punching bag? He never delivered a single shot in the rumble, and as mentioned earlier it was ill-timed. While some fights can charge up a team, the Carolina bench had their heads down after this one.
Can Cam Ward quickly regain his confidence after this kind of ending? He may need to wait a bit because Leighton will probably get the next call in this back-to-back scenario.
The Canes only won 36% of their faceoffs.
The team had 15 give-aways after only allowing 6 in previous successful games.
Anton Babchuk led the team with five blocked shots and finished with a plus-1.
(There was no word about Rod Brind’Amour, who left at the end of the game bleeding badly from the facial area. I assume he was in getting stitched up after the game)
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I will be staying in Washington for a couple more days and will be unable to attend the Ottawa game Friday night. The wife and I are celebrating our anniversary, so we will be taking in some sights and spending some extra time together. In the meantime, it will be up to Cory to keep us all up-to-date if he has time. (Appreciate it, Cory).
I would be remiss if I didn’t say many thanks to my better half for putting up with my shenanigans for 24 years. The time has gone by quickly.
Later!
About the Author: Bubba is a hockey fan/citizen journalist who has always wanted to be a sportswriter and is pursuing his dream. He also writes a Hurricanes blog for 
PROSE | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
It seems like Ward has a tendency to stand on his head for 99% of the game and then loses focus. The two goals that he gave up would never have been scored on him the way in the he was playing earlier in the game. This reminded me of the end of the Edmonton game. I guess you could always say that the defense has to stop given up so many shots per game. If they did that, Ward would not have the opportunity to let in soft goals. Tough loss.
One more thing, how can any of the home games not be televised locally?
Wufpirate | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Congrats to you and the wifey, my friend.
Andy | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
I cant see that this loss was Wards fault. He made some unreal stops and then the defense let Semin ( one of the best scorers in the league) walk in on him late in the game and get off a shot. That guy has to get leveled when he is skating forward and is in that close to the goal. I think coach has to put Ward back in the net tonight to give him confidence! He is one of the best goalies in the league and right now, we are lucky to have him. If we didnt have him i would be willing to bet i record would be a lot worse!
Caron | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
One word for this loss again is Ward. Until he is out of the line-up as the #1 goalie for this team don’t expect this team to be in any playoff picture.
It’s bad when hockey announcers from outside this team makes statements that “Ward has to stop shots like that if they want to win games”. He’s a pathetic final line of defense for this team. I have never wished for a player to be traded as bad I as wish for him to be gone from this team. I’m calling Santa Claus.
Hanrahanfan | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
that was just the most disgusting loss i have seen in a while. Maybe ever in the regular season. Lame! Happy Anniversary Bubba.
golferguy | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Why does Bloodbank even try to fight? I don’t remember too many wins he can count
JohnS | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Wardo played well. The 2nd goal was a fluke off a skate. The third was because we allowed an elite scorer to get a clean look from 25 feet out. Brindamour, Stall and Whitney all had open looks at the net during the game and could not convert. Their best players made it happen , ours did not.
Having said all that, poor percentages on face offs and the inability to sustain a forcheck in key situations hurt last night. Anyone who plays call behind this team is going to
see a lot of rubber and a higher percentage of quality chances.
packpigskinfan25 | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
“He is one of the best goalies in the league and right now, we are lucky to have him. If we didnt have him i would be willing to bet i record would be a lot worse!”
Now I KNOW you are either visually challenged, or delusional.
packpigskinfan25 | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Congrads Bubba! Thank you(and the wife) for all that you do(and she puts up with). Have a great anniversary!
SHADY80 | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Absolutely brutal. I was at the game last night and it was like getting sucker punched in the gut with 10.9 to go. In the last 4 1/2 minutes you could totally feel the ice tilt and our guys weren’t playing to win, just trying not to lose. With Semin flying at home that’s not a recipe for success. Living in DC for the past couple of years I’ve been to most of the games when our boys come to town and witnessed a wide variety of Caps-type fans, most of whom are generally enthusiatic about their team but for the most part harmless (good natured trash talking, always down for some good back and forth hockey talk, trying to stand up for the SE’s rep, for the most part lacking all the characteristics of our friends from Buffalo, etc.). Last night I had the pleasure of sitting next to by far the rowdiest most f’ing annoying bunch I’ve ever been anywhere near. With the natural trash talking that followed this one was particularly tough to take. Worst part was most of their points were right on. No 5 on 3 conversion. Brookbank getting stomped. Weak showing from our top lines. Lack of defensive focus and sporadic forecheck. Canes need to bounce back immediately and they need to start by crushing Ottawa tonight. Great blog Bubba and Cory, keep up the good work. It’d be nice if our boys would put in the effort on the ice that you guys do on this blog. Only seems fair. Enjoy the anniversary Bubba.
Cory | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Happy Anniversary Bubba!
This was a rough one — the key will be not getting stomped tonight, b/c that could lead to a downward spiral.
Caron | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
packpigskinfan25
I guess the hockey announcers on Sports Center who analyzed the games last night were visually challanged and delusional too. We don’t have the Stanley Cup honeymoon delusions of Ward anymore. I use to be one of his biggest fans, but I got off that bandwagon.
Your goalie is your final defense to stopping the puck, when he consistantly allows allows at least 1 soft goal 3 out of 4 games your team has to work harder to just make up his mistakes and then Wardo fans find anything they can to blame the forwards and defenseman for his soft goals. The Wardo excuses are getting old and thank goodness fans who use to defend him are finally realizing he does not need to be a part of this team next season. We’re stuck with him this season. Mark my words, if we don’t go to the playoffs he will be the 1st player traded. We have enough problems with this team without having to deal with his consistant soft goals.
Sunny | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Congratulations to you & your wife, Bubba! Enjoy your time together in DC
On a less happy note…Corvo said it best, that was garbage. I don’t ever really post anything too negative, but that was too much. Cam’s great early performance ruined in the final minutes. The inability to score with a 5 on 3. The missed assignments & absolutely atrocious decisions. No response when skill players are run, or really any physicality at all. Comes complete with a tough guy who couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag. The GM, coaches, & players all deserve credit for this beauty.
Highlight of the night (besides Ruutu’s pretty, pretty goal): Babchuk preparing to fire the puck at the net, then lowering his stick & rolling his eyes in disgust when he sees the “fight” breaking out.
wylde4canes | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
For everyone laying this one at Wardo’s feet, y’all need to realize their is plenty of blame to go around. I am NOT a Ward fanboy by any stretch, but he was not the biggest reason we lost that game. Apathy seems to be the overall mindset of nearly everyone on the ice. Seids, Wallin and the third line aside, this team does not want it as bad as the competition does. Work Ethic from every position on the ice is the reason we lost last night, the reason we lost to Edmonton and the reason we will continue to lose games we have no business losing. I am willing to cut Roddy and Staal a little (very very little) slack because it is evident that both are playing through injuries right now.
Capt. Stinky | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Attitude reflect leadership, captain. (brindy)
marc | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Wouldn’t you turtle too, if you knew that the whole league knew that you were soft & could be run over easily? That opposing teams could physically punish & injure players, and have only Brookbank and his 2:00 of ice time to worry about? Team attitude falls at the feet of the coach 1st, captains 2nd. I am starting to blame Lavi.
Andy | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Let me guess, you think Leighton could be doing a better job. What a joke that is. Ive got the scouting report on that guy, fake a shot, let him go down and then pick ANYWHERE in the top of the net that you would like to score. That’s exactly what Toronto did last weekend against him. Bottom line is, Ward is our #1 goalie and people like you packpigskinfan25 need to back him up unless you think you can do better of course. If so, get out on the ice. If not, shut your mouth and stop being so negative! Thanks!
packpigskinfan25 | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
Now that is just a little uncalled for Andy. An opinion is and opinion. But yes I do think Leighton would be better. He has played at least as good as Ward all season. He is and also MAKES himself bigger in the goal. Ward makes himself smaller. Their #’s are similar. Your scouting report could be the same for Ward only you dont have to fake the shot… just shoot high glove side. Sure Ward is our #1. Sure Leighton is a #2. Maybe we just need a new #1.
I actually used to stick up for Ward, but last night made me sick.
BTW, I DO NOT need to back him up… I have the right not to. I might very well later in the season, but right now this team needs a kick in the balls. I am not NHL goalie, hence I do not get paid. He is, and he does.