Practice Report: Back In The Swing
A Raanta update, the penalty kill and more as the team takes off for Philly
The session came just over 12 hours after the
surprising news that the organization had signed drafted goaltender Jack LaFontaine
amid a need for healthy options at the position. As the team was on the ice, LaFontaine and Canes General Manager Don Waddell held introductory media availability, welcoming him to the franchise and allowing him to field questions from both local and national reporters.
During the call Waddell shed some more light on why there was the urgency there was to bring LaFontaine aboard, given the unique timing of it being during the second semester of his final NCAA season. Antti Raanta, who did not play this weekend due to an upper-body injury, will also not be traveling with the team Monday and won't be available for Tuesday night's contest. This comes in addition to the team already having
three goalies in their minor league system on the shelf due to injury
.
"Antti] is seeing the people he needs to see and being evaluated," Waddell continued. "I don't expect it to be long-term, but I don't expect [his return] to be within the next few days either."
That means that Frederik Andersen and Alex Lyon will be the two goaltenders on the team flight as they head to the City of Brother Love for their third meeting of the season. Both were on the ice this morning, as Raanta was the only absentee from the whole group. When asked if Andersen was 100% and if he'd start tomorrow in Philadelphia, Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour said "probably", but also said that that decision is made day-of-game, most times.
A Glance Back At Saturday
Beyond the current hectic nature of the goaltending situation, the Canes will look to get back in the win column
[after the Florida Panthers snapped their five-game win streak Saturday night
. When asked of his thoughts after having a few days to watch back and digest the outcome, Brind'Amour offered the following:
"It wasn't a great game for us. We got going at times, but they're a tough team to play against the way, the way that they play. I don't know that we were ready right at the start to engage that game the way we needed to. I thought we kind of got back into it and had a chance to win, just obviously didn't get it. That's a good team over there in Florida. They're one of the best for a reason and you can see why."
Even with the honest assessment the Canes are still 9-1-1 in their last 11 outings, sitting tied with the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division standings. Their points percentage of .758 sits comfortably the best in the entire NHL, topping Florida by .29.
Down A Man? No Problem.
One area that's been a crucial portion of the team's success as of late has been their penalty kill, which heads to Pennsylvania having killed off their last 29 consecutive attempts. Not allowing a power play goal since December 7 in Winnipeg, the team's shorthanded bunch has moved all the way up to second in the NHL, trailing only the Pittsburgh Penguins by 0.4%.
"Doing the right things over and over again will get the job done more often than not and I think that's what you've been seeing recently," Ian Cole, one of the anchors to the team's kill, shared. "It's inevitable, we are going to get scored on and we know that, but it's about bouncing right back, doing the right things and getting back to it. For the past month we've been fortunate, but those tides can change quickly if you're not careful."
Tomorrow night's contest against the Flyers is the first of three this week for the Canes, followed by Thursday night at home against Columbus and then hosting Vancouver on Saturday afternoon at PNC Arena.
Worth A Click:
Canes Assign LaFontaine To Taxi Squad
Canes Sign LaFontaine To Entry-Level Contract
Mailbag #12: A Dozen Deep
Recap: Canes Take Point In Overtime Loss To Florida
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