The sweep of the NHL starts in Raleigh, where the Hurricanes used a 36-save effort from Cam Ward in a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday.
Eric Staal and Jordan Staal each scored to lead the offense for the Canes.
Eric Staal, rumored to be trade option, scored for Hurricanes in win over Flyers – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“You dream of playing in the NHL and you dream of playing on the same team and scoring goals to help the team win,” Eric Staal said. “It doesn’t get much better, to be honest.”
The older Staal is rumored to be a trade option for Carolina.
“He’s playing phenomenal hockey, the best I’ve seen his whole career,” Eric said of his brother Jordan. “It’s been really fun to watch him turn into the player I know he is. He’s huge for this group and he’s going to continue to be huge for this group down the stretch. It’s been fun for me to see his game grow.”
Scott Laughton was the lone Flyers goal scorer.
“Their goaltender was the difference,” Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said. “You walk away from this one and we didn’t get the two points, and that’s all that really matters this time of year. But we did play a [heck] of a hockey game, so we’ve got to carry that play and that mentality into a home game in two days.”
In Toronto, the visiting Nashville Predators got a hat trick from Filip Forsberg in a 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs.
“It was great,” Forsberg said. “It obviously put our team in a great spot at 3-0 and it was all we needed for tonight.”
Forsberg has nine goals in his last nine games.
“I thought I played pretty good at the start, but the puck didn’t go in for me,” Forsberg said. “I didn’t think about it too much. The Nashville media was kind and didn’t remind me about it too much. Obviously I like this streak better.”
Carter Hutton made 25 saves for the Preds’ win.
Josh Leivo and Morgan Rielly scored for the Leafs.
“The pace of his (Leivo) game has to improve, and he has to get a lot stronger,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “He’s got to commit to physical fitness in the offseason and get strong. As he does that he’ll become a way better player because his hands and his mind are good. He can do a lot of work to make that happen.”
In Edmonton, the Oilers lost yet again, this time to the Ottawa Senators.4-1. It was the Sens fourth straight win.
Nick Paul, Zack Smith, Mark Stone and Alex Chiasson scored for the Senators.
“We want to keep this thing going, because we still have a lot of work to do,” Ottawa center Curtis Lazar said. “Winning is fun and confidence can be a scary thing, but we can’t look to far ahead. The game against Vancouver is going to be big, and anytime the puck drops we have to be ready to go.”
Craig Anderson backstopped Senators to fourth straight win – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Craig Anderson made 31 stops for the win as Ottawa improved to 29-26-6.
“This was big for us. We were embarrassed in our own building and we weren’t happy about it,” Anderson said of Ottawa’s first game against Edmonton. “I think after that game we really had to look at ourselves and change a couple of things and make sure we were on the right page moving forward. This was another good team win where we played simple, solid defensive hockey and capitalized on our opportunities in the offensive zone.”
Cam Talbot was the hard luck loser for the Oilers and made 21 saves.
Jordan Eberle was the lone goal scorer for Edmonton who have lost five straight and are 1-7-1 in their last nine games.
“I wouldn’t put them all in that category, but there were some [players] that should be embarrassed when they leave,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said.
Hard to imagine the Oilers not in a selling frame of mind as the trade deadline approaches next week.
“I’m really disappointed,” McLellan said. “It doesn’t get any easier. I am concerned about the spirit of our team. I think there are a lot of guys waiting for something. I don’t know if it is changes coming, them leaving, new guys coming in, that’s a dangerous, dangerous thing. I can’t justify any of the three goals we allowed tonight. The third goal broke our back. It broke our spirit, the way they got it and how easy it was.”
The Oilers are far too heavy in talent to be abused year in and year out.
“We’re not happy with how it’s going.” Eberle said. “I thought early in the game, I didn’t think we were hard enough. I thought we were getting outmuscled, out battled and outcompeted to some pucks. I thought we had a bit of a push at the end of the second, and obviously, got that goal and almost had a couple of more the next shift. But we’re not happy, this is frustrating. We can’t be doing that, especially in our home rink.”
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