GDT: Weather Channel Smackdown tonight at the RBC center.

[cptjeff]

Coming off an inspiring win against the other worst team in the league by the hair of their teeth, the Hurricanes continue their homestand against Tampa.

7:00 on FS Carolinas and 99.9.

Joni Pitkanen will be back and Rodney is going back to the AHL. Otherwise the roster should be the same. No word yet on starter, but the money is probably on Legace.

In other news, the NHL doesn't have the media game notes up yet, so here are some cute cat videos instead:





This one was linked, but they had turned hotlinking off:

6_vtM6qANiI

[AmericanSoldier15U]

I wish there was someone else we could send down or sit so that rodney could keep playing. oh well. going to be a curious game, but i think with the way Stamkos is playing, Niitymaki pretty much taking the starting job from Smith, and now that Lecavlier is back in his stride, we dont have a chance.

[cptjeff]

Game notes are up. Of interest:

Refs are Kimmerly and Lee, so this could get entertaining.

The lightning have a road PP of 16%, the same as our Home PP of 16%. Tampa road PK is 73.5%, our home is 78.7%.

The Hurricanes and Lighting are 28th and 29th in penalties this year, with averages of 17 and 17.2 minutes a game respectively.

Team leaders:
Tampa Bay Lightning
Points: S. STAMKOS (22),R. MALONE (21),M. ST. LOUIS (20)
Goals: S. STAMKOS (14),R. MALONE (13),M. ST. LOUIS (4)
Assists: M. ST. LOUIS (16),V. LECAVALIER (14),A. TANGUAY (8)
PP Goals: S. STAMKOS (6),R. MALONE (4),M. ST. LOUIS (2)
SH Goals: S. STAMKOS (1)
GW Goals: R. MALONE (4),A. TANGUAY (2),S. STAMKOS (1)
3+ Goals: R. MALONE(1)
PIM: Z. KONOPKA (76),S. DOWNIE (44),M. WALKER (22)
Shots: V. LECAVALIER (67),M. ST. LOUIS (65),S. STAMKOS (59)
+/-: R. MALONE (+8),M. WALKER (+7),S. STAMKOS (+6)

Carolina Hurricanes
R. WHITNEY (14),T. RUUTU (14),J. JOKINEN (13)
R. WHITNEY (6),T. RUUTU (5),J. JOKINEN (5)
T. RUUTU (9),R. WHITNEY (8),J. JOKINEN (8)
J. CORVO (3),E. STAAL (2),R. BRIND'AMOUR (1)
T. KOSTOPOULOS (1)
J. JOKINEN (1)
Hat trick? Good one!
E. STAAL (34),T. KOSTOPOULOS (32),A. ALBERTS (28)
C. LAROSE (62),E. STAAL (54),T. RUUTU (50)
S. WALKER (+1),T. RUUTU (+1),P. DWYER (0)

(Blame the NHL for the all caps)

Season series 1-1(2pts) for the Hurricanes so far, 1-0-1 (3pts) for the Lightning.

Streaks for the Canes:

Forward Brandon Sutter has points in four straight games (11/13-19: 2g, 4a)
Center Matt Cullen has assists and points in three straight games (11/15-19: 1g, 3a)
Forward Jussi Jokinen has points in three straight games (11/15-19: 2g, 1a)

Milestones approaching:
Right wing Scott Walker is one game shy of 200 Hurricanes games played
Left wing Sergei Samsonov is one assist shy of 300 NHL assists
Right wing Erik Cole is two points shy of 300 Hurricanes points
Right wing Tom Kostopoulos is three games shy of 400 NHL games played
Defenseman Aaron Ward is two assists shy of 100 NHL assists
Defenseman Aaron Ward is four games shy of 300 Hurricanes games played

For the Lightning:

Milestones:
-- St. Louis is 8 goals away from reaching 250 in his career.
-- Lecavalier needs just three more game-winning goals to reach 50 for his career.
-- Stamkos is one away from reaching the 50 PIM career mark.
-- Meszaros is just one shy of his 100th career NHL assist.
-- Ohlund is seven goals shy of recording his 100th career goal.
-- Tanguay is 3 goals shy of his 200th NHL career goal total and 5 away from his 400th career assist.
-- Fedoruk needs just six more total points to reach 100 for his NHL career.
-- Smith is 6 wins short of 50 for his NHL career.
-- Veilleux is seven shy of his 50th career goal, one shy of his 50th career assist, and a total of eight
points shy of his 100th NHL career point total.




Interesting random tidbits:
With last game against Toronto, it was the first time in franchise history 4 straight games have gone to OT.

In their last 9, Tampa has been outshot 298-214 while posting a 4-1-4 record.

[DaleCooper]

What the Canes will be doing in the standings over the next few months:

[AcidQueen]

Awesome--so when we lose tonight cptjeff, I can blame you for stealing my GDT.

Thanks a lot!

[cptjeff]

Originally Posted by AcidQueen

Awesome--so when we lose tonight cptjeff, I can blame you for stealing my GDT.

Thanks a lot!

I glanced at the forum and didn't see the master thread on the GDT, and figured nobody would care that much. Besides, I was actually up before noon today.

Well, becuase I slept from 12-8 yesterday and was up all night, but still.

[dmonk]

I have Stamkos, Lecavalier and Malone on my fantasy team....

I suppose I'll end up being a happy customer win or lose.

[The Sam]

Originally Posted by dmonk

I have Stamkos, Lecavalier and Malone on my fantasy team....

I suppose I'll end up being a happy customer win or lose.

You say that now, but then St. Louis will probably score a hat trick.

[MarkyMarkNC]

Most important stat for tonites game - $1 hot dog nite

[Zach - #1 Canes Fan]

Ward or Wallin sure would've looked great in River Rats jerseys

[Denzil]

Originally Posted by Zach - #1 Canes Fan

Ward or Wallin sure would've looked great in River Rats jerseys

I don't actually think they'd crack our top 6.

[Zach - #1 Canes Fan]

Originally Posted by Denzil

I don't actually think they'd crack our top 6.

Hey, I never said they had to play

[Guerzy]

Should be a good game, but I don't see us coming out on the winning end. Tampa has been playing well with only one regulation loss in their last 12 games. In that span they're 6-1-5 collecting 17 of a possible 24 points.



Tampa's starting line-up from The Daily Faceoff,

Tanguay - Stamkos - St. Louis
Malone - Lecavalier - Szczechura
Wright - Halpern - Downie
Fedoruk - Konopka - Veilleux

Hedman - Walker
Meszaros - Hale
Krajicek - Foster


Smith (Nittymaki tomorrow vs. Atlanta)

[caniacho]

It's time for lose.

[WalkerBabe]

Remember Thursday night, guys, when you actually BEAT the Leafs??? CARRY IT ON, GUYS, JUST CARRY IT ON ...

GO, 'CANES!!!

[Guerzy]

I wonder what Maurice will give Brind'Amour for icetime tonight after giving him 10 minutes the other night. I hope it's more of the same, but I won't be surprised to see him back up to 20 minutes.

Daily Faceoff is reporting our lines to be much of the same with the addition of Pitkanen back,

Whitney - Sutter - Cole
Jokinen - Cullen - Ruutu
Samsonov - Brind'Amour - LaRose
Kostopoulos - Yelle - Dwyer

Gleason - Corvo
Ward - Pitkanen
Alberts - Wallin

Legace

[Joe McGrath]

Brindy has already payed too much.... I jest of coruse.

[Guerzy]

Interesting bottom 6 to start the game. Brindy on the 4th to start here.


Samsonov - Yelle - LaRose
Kostopoulos - Brind'Amour - Dwyer

[imayagainknowanton]

Ward burnt for the 23952935th time this season and takes a penalty. Thank god we added his "grit" at the expensive of anything remotely resembling skill or speed. I miss Seidenberg.

[Guerzy]

Brindy has looked pretty good so far. I will say though I hope we keep his minutes limited. Brindy can likely be effective in a limited role, but once you pile the minutes on him and give him close to 20 a night, he becomes rather ineffective. Keep him between 10-13 a night. With that said, since we've seen a good period out of him, Maurice will likely increase his icetime and we'll be right back to square one.

[dmonk]

Pitkanen presence is clearly seen.

Yelle is so much better than Brindy in that 3rd line.


How didn't we score there?

[imayagainknowanton]

Massive fail on the two-on-none. Whitney had an empty net and shot it right at Smith.

[ikani87]

This is the kind of game where we miss a ton of chances, then go down 1-0 and can't come back.

[ikani87]

Originally Posted by ikani87

This is the kind of game where we miss a ton of chances, then go down 1-0 and can't come back.

Derp.

Same ****. Different game.

[cptjeff]

St. Louis scores. They really need to trade him to the blues sometime.