In Toronto, the hot met the cold as the Carolina Hurricanes entered their game with the Maple Leafs on a 5-2-1 tear for the month. The Leafs were, well the Leafs were just themselves.
The Canes have been solid with a little confidence and returning players doing wonders for their play on the ice. With little time gone they had a two-goal lead in the first on markers from Brad Malone and Elias Lindholm.
Those came 41 seconds apart and took the crowd, the Leafs and the vendors out of the game.
“Don’t get me wrong, they are frustrated, but so are we,” said Carolina captain Eric Staal, who scored two goals. “We are lower than them in the standings. They were disappointed and bitter, as they should be, but so are we. Tonight, we have a healthy lineup, and guys are contributing and playing the roles they are supposed to be. It is a lot of fun.”
Eric Staal scored less than a minute into the second period to make it 3-0 and the game was effectively over at that point.
“The guys that are on the penalty kill are really taking a lot of pride in that,” Eric Staal said. “We don’t use a lot of people on the penalty kill, and they are very aggressive. Those are the things that are key to team success; guys playing in certain roles and really embracing what is being asked of them. The guys on the PK have done that all year, and it was tough to see that one go in, but they will rebound and be just as good.”
There is little or no fight or push back in the Toronto roster.
“I get a sense that there is a big letdown,” Toronto coach Peter Horachek said. “I’m telling the guys to go right back out there and go right back to work. Don’t let it turn into negativity. It is a 60-minute game, and you can’t let one event, whether it’s a bad goal or a bad call or an injury or a goal, affect you.
“We know that we haven’t scored a lot in the past few games and we know we haven’t won. We have to find ways to get some goals. We had chances, but chances are only a stat. The only thing that matters is wins and losses.”
The Canes are now 6-2-1 in the month of January
In Sunrise, it was also the hot and the cold. In this case, it was the Vancouver Canucks who have now won three straight after beating the Panthers, 2-1.
Florida has now lost four straight.
Ryan Miller made 23 saves for the win.
Radim Vrbata and Bo Horvat picked up goals for the Canucks and Brandon Pirri scored for Florida late in the third period.
“I just couldn’t catch up to it,” Miller said. “I didn’t see the release very well. If I don’t see the release, I’m probably dead in the water, so it got through. It gave them some life, gave them a chance, but we did a good job getting the puck cleared and pressure down ice, and that was that.”
Roberto Luongo had 22 saves in the loss.
“I’m just not trying to be desperate about anything,” Miller said of his performance in the first half. “I’m trying to let everything unfold and I try to engage in the play. I’m not trying to tell myself that I shouldn’t get too caught up in one save or one moment.
“There’s going to be many of them in the course of the night and I want to make a difference, so I’m taking them as they come, make my read, make my decision and go from there. If it works out or it doesn’t, my job doesn’t change. I’m just trying to get in that headspace where each game is a continuation of the last and the last.”
In keeping with the hot and cold theme, the three-game sweep of the NHL ends in Los Angeles where the Kings were ending a miserable homestand with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames.
The loss was sixth on the seven-game stretch at the Staples Center (1-2-4).
Dennis Wideman scored in extra time to give the Flames the win.
“They’re all tight games,” Flames coach Bob Hartley said. “There’s no blowouts. Trust me. We deserve credit. Our guys play hard, but they play hard also. Whenever you get involved in a tie game late in the third period, it can go either way, and we’ve been very fortunate. It seems to go our way right now.”
The Kings are now one point back of the Flames for the second wild card spot in the west.
“We need two points right now,” Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown said. “The fact of the matter is we need points, especially against teams like that. It doesn’t matter how good we’re playing or how bad we’re playing, we need to find ways to win games.”
LA’s offense is still in neutral and despite the comings and goings in the roster with injuries there is little sympathy from any quarter in the league.
“Just got to always bounce back, keep bouncing back,” LA coach Darryl Sutter said. “That’s what you do. If we weren’t strong like that, then we wouldn’t have bounced back tonight. That’s a big point (for us) at the end of the day. That’s what you’ve got to look at.”
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