One
The Hurricanes played well enough, at least through 50 minutes, to take at least a point home from Columbus on Friday night.
It didn't happen, though, because Sergei Bobrovsky was the best player on the ice for either team. That happens sometimes, and the Canes should know it because Petr Mrazek has been that player for them as of late.
What's important is the response, and for the second week in a row, the Canes got back at it less than 24 hours after a Friday night loss.
Good teams find ways to park and move on from setbacks. The Canes did it last week in Nashville and on Saturday versus Buffalo; in fact, the team hasn't lost consecutive games in regulation since Jan. 15-18.
"That's what good teams do. When you have a tough one, you want to rebound, bounce back and come back with a good effort," Jordan Staal said. "It's about winning games right now. Whether it's your best game or not, getting two points is all that matters."
"It's just the sign of a good team," said Curtis McElhinney, who made 35 saves on 37 shots. "Guys have a short-term memory."
Two
Jeff Skinner hadn't scored in 13 games, and facing his former team, against which he'd already scored three goals in two games this season, you kind of figured he'd find the back of the net to break the drought tonight.
It didn't take long, either. Just 2:18 into the game, Skinner walked a puck across the goal line and banked it in off the paddle of McElhinney.
"It was a misplay on my part," McElhinney said. "One that I'd like to have back, but I thought we responded nicely."
It was the second straight night on which the Canes' start had been a bit flat-footed, but that was again rectified.
With just over six minutes left in the opening frame, Jordan Martinook's shot leaked through Linus Ullmark, and Lucas Wallmark was there to tap the puck into the net.