Weekly Recap: So-so week for the Canes

This past week was somewhat of an up-and-down week for the Canes. Let's review it, eh?

They started out the week with a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia, then rebounded with a blowout of the Islanders at home. Then came a home-and-home series, which the Canes split, losing the away game and then winning the second night at home.

The good news is that the Canes were able to break out of that brief goal-less funk at home by scoring 7 against the Islanders, and also notching 3 against Florida. The bad news? Well, two things stick out at me - one is that the Canes let the Panthers put 50 shots on them in the Friday night game. That's the Florida Panthers, who, while not quite as horrendous as their Carolina counterparts this season (football reference), still should not be allowed to show that sort of offensive output against the Canes. I mean, David Booth and Marty Reasoner are their top points scorers... and we let them put seven goals on us.

The other topic in the not-so-good category would be the team faceoff percentage. Last week the Canes site did a piece on it, and, well, let me show you the screenshot I just grabbed from NHL.com: (click image for better version)

Yeah, those numbers. They're not good.

That's two of our solid centers at the very bottom of the league in faceoffs. The above linked article mentions things like slow starts and people playing center who aren't used to it. Perhaps valid reasons, but this is something that needs to improve. Perhaps bring in Rod Brind'Amour, a beast at faceoffs, to teach something to these guys? I would hope that someone has thought of this, considering he works for the organization and all.

So, this past week was what I would call an overall "neutral" week. 2-2 over the four games, bringing the season record also to .500 at 7-7-0. That places the Canes at 10th in the East and 4th in the Southeast with 14 points - an overall change of nothing from last week standings-wise. Not too bad, but I would like to see the Canes get above .500. This week they play Edmonton, Philly and Montreal, meaning one bottom-dweller and two teams who are currently leading their divisions. I'd be concerned if we lost by a significant margin to Edmonton, and the other two are toss-ups - hopefully we'll go 2-1 this week.

Oh, I almost forgot, this past Saturday was Erik Cole's birthday - turned 32 and had an assist that day! The Canes site has a nice article on his and Samsonov's good starts this season. I know I'm definitely liking the return of the Cole of old!


Erik Cole stats (Friday): 1 goal
(Saturday): 1 assist
On the season: 3 goals, 5 assists

Chad LaRose stats (Wednesday): 2 assists
On the season: 2 goals, 4 assists