Canes are playing better

Canes lost 3-1 to the Rangers last night.

From what I was able to see, it is evident that this team is playing a lot better than they had been previously this season. Are they playing well enough to beat the 9th place team in the Eastern Conference? Apparently not. But they do look better.

The lone goal in this game was scored by Sergei Samsonov on a nice wrap-around. Of course, half a minute later the Canes let the Rangers kill all momentum by tying it up. But, to the Canes' credit, they didn't collapse completely and allow a bazillion goals after that. See, I told you they were playing better.

The one person who isn't playing better is Cam Ward. On the above goal he had slid waaaaay out of the crease, giving an open net to Marian Gaborik (who definitely does not need an open net to score). There have been several times in the past few games that I've seen him out of position and it led directly to a scoring chance, if not to a goal.

I'm not sure what would be causing this sort of play by Cam - maybe he's still recovering from the injury? If that's the case (although I find it tough to believe that a leg laceration messes up your awareness of the crease), then I hope he gets better soon because this team does not need its goaltender screwing up.

The next game is tomorrow against Montreal. It's Erik Cole bobblehead night!