[Cobra Mgr]

Update on the last 3 Cane skates..........

Saturday. Lost 3-2 to Dallas. Carolina scored the 1st 2 goals in the 1st. Then were shutout the rest of the game. D Heiskinan (sp?) scored 2 goals for the Stars, including the GW w/about 10 minutes to go. It was a valiant effort to end the road trip seeing as the Canes were playing w/5 players out. Aho continued his scoring streak, but Jarvis' came to an end.

Tuesday, Canes lost their 1st home game in over 2 weeks. Vegas completed the season sweep w/a 6-3 victory. Similar story keeps getting repeated. Carolina got off to an early lead when Svechnikov got his first goal of the year. Then injuries reared their ugly heads once again. Gostisbehere entered the lineup only to have to sit out the rest of the game w/a new injury. Later D Nystrom took on friendly fire from a puck, Martinook had to crawl back to the bench from an injury he suffered on the ice.

Still Canes managed to keep it tied in the 3rd until scored back to back goals w/under 5:00 to go. An empty netter was the final tally.

Note: Evidently Dorofeyev is a solid but unspectacular player when he doesn't play Carolina. But he was like a HOF vs Canes in the 2 games this year.

Finally, last night the Canes ended the losing streak w/a 6-2 victory over the Islanders. Chicago Wolves call up Bradly Nadeau got his first career goals. Mike Reilly followed w/his 1st on the year. Both were unassisted. Bussi was in goal & not only got the win, but stopped 26 of 28 & also assisted on Blake's goal for his 1st career point. Svechnikov got 2 points including his 2nd goal in as many games. So hopefully he's woken up. Aho's point streak came to an end @ 9. Ehlers still has yet to find the back of the net, but has an assist in 4 of the last 5.

The bad news is Jarvis left late after blocking a shot w/his ankle. He had to be helped off the ice. Brind A'mour said post game that "it didn't look good".

Besides all of the injuries (3 Defensemen out & 2 Forwards) a big concern is the power play. At the turn of the calendar last season, the PP became anemic. And it has continued into this season. Not having Ghost hurts, but it goes deeper than that. Canes are currently dead last @ a paltry 9.7% success rate. That is beyond abysmal. IDK who is coaching the PP units or is designing the plays, but it is time to admit they need help. IDK who they can call in @ this moment, but Canes are too good to be this bad. Especially when their forte is puck possession in 5-on-5. It seems that getting set up in the zone would be a piece of cake. But they are struggling mightily.