Wow, is that blood? Nah, must be red paint on the ice.

Well, Mick McGeough proved once again why he is the worst ref in the NHL in last night's 2-1 OT win over Jersey.

Tuomo Ruutu (who missed warmups, but still made the game) got stabbed in the face by Patrick Elias, and left a trail of blood leading back to the bench that could be blatantly seen from the third level. He needed 40 stitches to sew up the laceration.

McGeough - GET SOME CONTACTS!

Grr...

Anyways, game was great for the Canes. They had some really good cycles against the Devils - and didn't really let them score, as Bret Hedican (I think it was him) inadvertantly knocked the puck in the net.

However, the game was not great for Tim Gleason, who got hit head first into the boards by Jersey's Mike Rupp. Scary looking when he tried to get up - almost had none of his own support skating off the ice. Only update on him I can get is that it's a head injury (duh), probably a concussion.

At least Wade Brookbank got Rupp back, totally kicking his arse later in the period.

Sergei Samsonov looked awesome, scoring both of the goals for the Canes.

Jeff Hamilton was sent down to Albany before the game.

I thought Ruutu played really well. He came out and had a huge hit on some Jersey dude, and looked to be a tough player - maybe a touch of scoring? He did get an assist on Samsonov's first goal.

As for Eaves (who also made his debut) - meh. Granted, he only had 6-ish minutes, but he did nothing spectactular.

Canes are looking great (Better than Ottawa, who fired their coach today). Tomorrow's game is against the Rangers.

Wow. A power play goal. Words can not describe my amazement.

Woohoo! Two points in the standings!

... I mean Canes won over Florida 3-1!
The win propelled the Hurricanes into 8th place, tied with the Islanders for 7th with 78 points.

The most absolutely amazing thing about this game was that the Canes scored a power play goal.

Let me repeat that, for those of you who blacked out: The Canes scored a power play goal.

Scott Walker shot in a rebound right in front of the crease to obtain the Canes' first power play goal in 34 penalties.

The penalty kill was excellent again, culminating in a Rod Brind'Amour shorthanded goal off of a pass from Chad LaRose.

Actually, the whole team played pretty well, in my opinion. They seemed to match Florida's intensity throughout the whole game.

And, believe it or not, the most infamous ref evah!^† didn't screw up any calls last night.

Maybe things are beginning to turn our way...? *knocks furiously on wood*

Canes play New Jersey tomorrow.

Erik Cole stats: 1 assist
On the season: 25 goals, 27 assists

^†A.k.a. Mick McGeough. Did you know that this blog is listed 8th on a Google search for him? I find it rather interesting.

Canes have ultimate third period

[As stated below, I conjured up this post during my Spanish exam earlier today. Factual corrections or later additions are in brackets.]

Ugh. I'm currently writing this during my Spanish exam. I have thirty minuted to burn, so I decided to write the post now, so I'll actually put some thought into what I'm writing an have an actual game recap - not the ramblings that I normally have. (Although there will be ramblings - sitting in a trailer taking an exam for 3 and 1/2 hours will do that to you).

Anyways... the game last night. Wow. Just wow. I don't know whether to be angry or happy, but I am kind of stunned.

The Canes came out in the first doing okay. There should have been a goal, but Mick McGeough proved once again why he is one of the most infamous refs in the NHL. Apparently he stopped play to call a penalty before the puck went in. But that's a bunch of crap. He needs to get contacts because he sees things that aren't there, that's for sure. Él es ciego y gordo.

So the game was 0-0 at the end of the first.
Then came the second period where the Canes went downhill fast and let Florida score 3 goals (2 in 30 seconds, I believe [Actually 2 in 50 seconds. But what does it matter? Just letting two goals in is crap.]). The Canes just didn't do anything good at all. At the end of the second, I hadn't given up hope, but, considering their play, I wasn't too optimistic.

Third period Chad LaRose nets one.
Now, I believe, if someone else on the Canes squad had gotten the goal, it wouldn't have been the same. The excitement in the arena after the goal was insane. I mean, how can you not be overjoyed when a guy like Chad, who gives 110% on every shift in every game, gets his second goal of the season?

After that, the goals just came in waves. Cole got the second, Walker stuffed one in behind Florida goalie Alex Auld to tie it, Stillman put the Canes ahead off of a nice Hutchinson pass, someone who I can't remember scored [Craig Adams], and somebody else got the empty net [Ray Whitney]. 6 goals in one period, a franchise record, I would think. [Nope, record is 7.]

Amazing, just amazing to come back from being down 0-3 in one period. It's just a feat to do that.
But then, I refrain from being too happy because the Canes dug themselves that hole to begin with, with their crappy defensive play [New guy, Seidenberg looked pretty good, though], and no offense whatsoever in the second.

And, because I still have 15 minutes to burn, I'll tell you why I think the Canes were able to pull it off: They played Led Zeppelin at the RBC Center.

Stop laughing.

No, I'm serious. Stop laughing.

I had noticed, in the last Pittsburgh game, when I was watching it on FSN, that "When the Levee Breaks" was playing. I thought to myself: They're playing that at the Igloo! How will we ever win?
End result: Pittsburgh wins 3-0.
In the first period, I heard "Rock and Roll", something that is never heard at the arena - Canes have a miraculous comeback to win the game.
Coincidence? I think not.

Erik Cole stats: 1 goal, 1 assist
On the season: 19 goals, 21 assists