More of (Most of) the Same
The Hurricanes didn't like their start in Friday's game in Columbus, they didn't like the execution on one of their two power plays and they didn't like the final score.
Other than that, though, there wasn't much to fault with the team's effort.
"It was our first that killed us. It's a 60-minute game," Jordan Staal said. "We finally got our legs going and pretty much dominated the rest of the game, but that's the way it goes sometimes."
"We were sluggish to start," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We didn't come out the way we needed to, obviously, but the rest of the game we were pretty solid. If you don't score, you're not going to win anyway, but we certainly had enough opportunities."
The Canes peppered Sergei Bobrovsky with 46 shots, including 32 in the final 40 minutes, but the Blue Jackets' goaltender stole his team a pair of points.
"That's just our game. When we're doing that, we can play and dominate any team," Staal said. "We've got to do that right off the bat. It's there for us. We just have to make sure we're all dialed in and ready to go."
On to the Next One
There's no doubt that Friday's loss stings, especially considering it was against a Metropolitan Division opponent chasing (and tying) the Canes in the standings.
PROJECTED LINEUP
But, the Canes still occupy a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and they have another chance to snag two points against the Sabres.
"The tough part is the guys played really hard. We gave it everything we had," Brind'Amour said. "You'd hope to deserve a little better on that one, but it doesn't always work your way. It's going to test us again having to come back tomorrow."
The Last Meeting
It was a wild one when these two teams last met on Feb. 7 in Buffalo. The Sabres erased a two-goal deficit in the final five minutes of the game to force overtime, and Teuvo Teravainen, who posted a three-point night (2g, 1a), scored in 3-on-3 action to lift the Canes to a 6-5 win.
The Opposition
The slumping Sabres will get a boost to their lineup when Jack Eichel returns from a two-game suspension on Saturday. He's expected to assume his usual role on the team's top line, centering Skinner and Sam Reinhart. The Sabres are just 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and have dropped six in a row (0-5-1) dating back to March 2.
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS KEYS TO THE GAME
