CAROLINA HURRICANES. NEWS CLIPPINGS January 5, Canes make it 2 straight in 2-1 shootout win over Bruins

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1 Canes make it 2 straight in 2-1 shootout win over Bruins By Chip Alexander calexander@newsobserver.comjanuary 4, 2015 RALEIGH Jordan Staal is in the Carolina Hurricanes lineup, and the Canes now have their first winning streak since early November. The Canes badly missed Staal, who was out the first 35 games of the season with a broken leg. But Carolina s 2-1 shootout victory Sunday against the Boston Bruins was a full team effort, with so many contributing. Eric Staal, who scored the winning goal Friday in a 2-1 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers, had the winning goal in Sunday s shootout. Goaltender Anton Khudobin, making his first start since Dec. 23, again was tough in a shootout, denying Patrice Bergeron on the third and final shot to win it. Let s not forget the Canes fourth line. Winger Patrick Dwyer gave Carolina a 1-0 lead with 33.2 seconds left in the first period, allowing the Canes ( ) to again play from in front until Bergeron tied the score with a second-period goal. The Canes had not won back-to-back games since they started November with four consecutive victories. There have been a lot of losses, but Jordan Staal is back, some younger players are maturing and the goaltending is solid whether from Cam Ward or Khudobin, who had 19 saves Sunday. It s a lot more fun to come to the rink when you re winning games, Eric Staal said. I thought we played well. I thought we skated hard and didn t give them a lot for a long time, and when we did give them some good chances, (Khudobin) was sharp. After a fast-paced overtime that included some three-on-three play, it was on to the shootout. The Canes, with Khudobin in net, topped the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in a shootout in that Dec. 23 road game. Khudobin, facing his former team for the first time, said he once was not very good in shootouts but now is more comfortable. He looked it as Reilly Smith, Torey Krug and Bergeron failed to score for the Bruins ( ), who dropped their third straight game. I was so pumped today, Khudobin said. I wanted to win so badly. It s not because it s Boston. I want to play more and more. Canes coach Bill Peters picked Chris Terry as his leadoff man in the shootout. Terry couldn t get off a shot, and Jeff Skinner was wide with an attempt. Staal, who was 4-for-19 on career shootout shots, skated in and beat goalie Tuukka Rask with a forehand. Staal had goals in his previous three games and had some good looks during Sunday s game. Rask stopped him each time, but not the last time. Act confident, skate confident and snap it in, Staal said of his shootout mentality. The Canes had a fast start, holding the Bruins without a shot on goal for almost 17 minutes. Dwyer scored on the rebound of a Jay McClement shot as Brad Malone who earlier fought the Bruins Gregory Campbell also earned an assist. We re a fourth-line energy line, said Dwyer, who had a teamhigh six hits. We re going to get in on forecheck, we re going to bang bodies. The Bruins were playing the day after an overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators in Boston. Bergeron scored on a one-timer from the slot in the second, but Boston managed just two shots in the third. Credit the other team, Bruins coach Claude Julien said. They were fresh, they played well. And now have a winning streak. Alexander: ;

2 Hurricanes top Bruins in shootout 2-1 Posted 5:25 p.m. yesterday Updated 5:43 p.m. yesterday RALEIGH, N.C. Eric Staal doesn't often take part in the shootout. But the Carolina Hurricanes captain made the most of his chance Sunday, beating Tuukka Rask for the only shootout goal in a 2-1 victory. It was Staal's fifth shootout goal in 20 attempts. Four of those goals have decided the game, including Sunday's, to give Carolina a two-game winning streak. "I haven't had my name called a ton in that regard, but if I keep doing that, it will be called," Staal said. "You have to go out confident and be excited for the opportunity, and today I was. I've been shooting it well the last few games. Today, I didn't have it in regulation but (had) a lot of good chances. Rask made some saves, but I got the better of him in the shootout." Anton Khudobin got the start in goal for Carolina in place of Cam Ward, who had played the previous four games. Khudobin, a former Bruin, made 19 saves and stopped Reilly Smith, Torey Krug and Patrice Bergeron in the shootout. The Bruins have just five regulation wins in their past 16 games to fall to They were outshot 14-4 in the first period and 9-2 in the third. Bergeron, the Boston captain, said the team needed more of a sense of desperation. "We're halfway in, and we're not in the playoffs," Bergeron said. "It's definitely unacceptable." Carolina took the lead into the first intermission with a late goal. Patrick Dwyer stuck a rebound past Rask (35 saves) with 33.2 seconds left for his third of the season on assists by Brad Malone and Jay McClement. Bergeron tied it for Boston, one-timing a pass from Brad Marchand past Khudobin with 5:25 left in the second period. Dougie Hamilton also had an assist on Bergeron's goal, his eighth of the season. In the final minute of the second period, Boston's Smith had an open net after a nifty pass from David Krejci, but Smith hit the post to keep the score tied at the second intermission. The Bruins were held without a shot for nearly the first 17 minutes, but their first shot nearly was a goal. Smith was alone in front of the net but robbed by Khudobin. Midway through the second period, Khudobin handcuffed Smith on another attempt from close range. The Hurricanes killed off one penalty that spanned the first and second periods, giving them 20 consecutive penalty kills. Khudobin has won consecutive starts. He was before winning 2-1 on Dec. 23 at New Jersey. Notes: Boston entered having won six of the previous seven against Carolina, including four in a row. The Bruins fell to in second end of back-to-back games. Boston lost 3-2 at home to Ottawa on Saturday.... Jeff Skinner was back in the lineup for Carolina after missing Friday's game with flu-like symptoms.... Forwards Zach Boychuk and Alexander Semin and defenseman Michal Jordan were scratches for the Hurricanes.... Forward Jordan Caron and defenseman Matt Bartkowski were scratched by Boston. Canes Top Boston 2-1 in Shootout Sunday, / 5:07 PM Michael Smith Tracking the Storm: Analysis -- At this point, it shouldn t even be surprising that a score of 2-1 decides a game for the Carolina Hurricanes. For the second straight game, they were on the right side of that score, though it took a shootout to settle this one. Patrick Dwyer and Patrice Bergeron netted goals for either team in regulation. Anton Khudobin stopped all three shooters he faced in the shootout, and Eric Staal had the deciding goal. "I thought it was a good game on both sides of the puck," Dwyer said. "They were maybe a little slow starting, but I think they found their game. I think it was a pretty entertaining game all around."

3 -- As was the case on Friday night against Philadephia, the Canes fourth line gave the team a first-period lead. This one came late in the period at the 19:26 mark, as Patrick Dwyer buried a loose puck in the slot for his third goal of the season. Brad Malone tallied the secondary assist, his first helper as a Hurricane and his second point in as many games. "We're a fourth-line energy line. We're going to go in, get on the forecheck and bang bodies," Dwyer said. "We're going to try to stay out of our zone and create energy for the guys." When scoring from the top-six is tough to find, it s an added bonus to get contribution from the forward depth. "I thought we started on time and were dangerous early. We had a lot of good looks," head coach Bill Peters said. "Then the McClement line scored a big goal again to get us on the board and get us started." -- Eric Staal, the third shooter for the Canes, netted the lone shootout goal. Anton Khudobin turned away all three shots he saw from Reilly Smith, Torey Krug and Patrice Bergeron. "Don t think. Just go out there and see what you ve got as you come up the ice. I had a little bit of an idea of what I wanted to do, but I was open to changing it as I came up if I saw something else," Staal said of his strategy. "Act confident, skate confident and snap it in. I was able to do that, and it helped us get the win." "I was so pumped today... because I want to play more and more," Khudobin said. "I wanted to win so badly, and I'm glad it happened." Tonight was Staal's first shootout attempt, and he improved to 5-for-20 in his career. "I haven't had my name called a ton in that regard, but if I keep doing that, it will be called," Staal said. "You want that chance and opportunity to score." "Staalsy has been dangerous offensively and scored a bunch here recently, so he deserved the opportunity to go," Peters said. -- Goaltender Anton Khudobin, who played with the Bruins from , made his first career start against his former team today. He made 19 saves on 20 shots in regulation and overtime, the only blemish being a one-timer strike from Patrice Bergeron in the slot in the second period. It was also Khudobin s second shootout performance and win in as many starts, as he backstopped the Canes to victory in a 2-1 shootout game in New Jersey. "It's the first time for me I'm playing against my former team," Khudobin said. "I have my team right now, and I knew what I had to do." "He was real good tonight and real good in Jersey his last start," Peters said. "It's a comfortable feeling when you're making the decision on who's going to play in net. I don't think we can go wrong right now. Both guys are dialed in and pushing each other to maintain the level they're at." After 20 minutes, the Canes held a commanding 14-4 advantage in shots, Boston's first shot on goal coming with just 3:05 left to play in the first. And that shot was a grade-a scoring chance, as Reilly Smith tested Khudobin's glove side. "I knew at some point that they were coming to me," Khudobin said. "I tried to stay focused and think about the puck. I tried to be sharp on that first shot." -- Eventually, this spell of low-scoring, 2-1 games will come to an end. Until then, the Hurricanes have to keep finding a way to get on the right side of the ledger. "I'm used to it, but I'm not going to accept it. We're going to push to score," Peters said. "I think once we get into a situation where... we get three one night and four the next, I think we're going to break the seal and be fine. In the meantime, let's make sure we're winning these games however we have to do it. Right now it looks like it's 2-1." -- The Canes came in to today s game ranked sixth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage at 85.7 percent. The kill was a perfect one-for-one today, as the Canes haven t allowed a power-play goal in 20 tries over a period of seven straight games. -- The Canes will travel to Nashville to face the Predators on Tuesday night in the annual fathers trip. It s been since the first week of November that the Canes will be looking to extend a winning streak past two games. "It's a lot nicer coming to the rink and coming to games," Staal said. "Everything that goes with winning, it's just a better feeling. You want to keep that and hold onto it when you get it. You have to know how hard you worked to get it." Staal, Khudobin lead Hurricanes to 2-1 win over Bruins By Peter Koutroumpis RALEIGH, N.C. The Carolina Hurricanes outlasted the Boston Bruins and earned a 2-1 shootout win in front of a boisterous crowd of 17,212 on hand at PNC Arena on Sunday. After 65 minutes of end-to-end play during which winning netminder Anton Khudobin and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tuukka Rask kept both teams shooters at bay, it was Hurricanes captain Eric Staal who made the difference.

4 Patrick Dwyer scored Carolina s lone goal in regulation while Patrice Bergeron did the same for Boston, as the Hurricanes outshot the Bruins Khudobin s 19-save performance earned him his second win of the season, and helped Carolina to win its second game in a row. Coming into the game on a four-game point streak with three goals and an assist, Staal kept his hot shooting hands going by scoring the deciding shootout goal. Even though awarded the fireman s helmet for the game, Staal was quick to praise his netminder who earned First Star honors. Dober was sharp real good, Staal said. Good effort to finish it in the shootout. Carolina took advantage of the Bruins sluggish start defensively, and set a pace that head coach Bill Peters was happy with. We started on time, we were pretty good early, Peters said. Then they got goin as the game went along. Then as you near that finish line, and it s a one-goal game either way or it s a tie game, you re diggin in. That s the way it went from start to finish. Special teams didn t help either side as Carolina finished 0-for- 2, while Boston had one man-advantage opportunity that it drew a blank on. It was the gritty, end-to-end possessions and work that both teams put in to get the puck into the low slot at even-strength that made this one an attention-getter. A scramble in front of Rask saw Carolina s Chris Terry and defenseman Brett Bellemore both jump into the scrum to try to jam the puck into the Boston net, but with no success. The reason was that both were pushed and cross checked from behind as Milan Lucic and Gregory Campbell defended successfully on the play and without any ensuing penalty calls. Soon after, Campbell and Brad Malone tangled in the young Carolina forward s second feature bout in a week. Malone ended up the victor which energized the crowd considerably. With eight minutes to play in the period, Staal and his linemates, brother Jordan and Elias Lindholm, gave Rask some of his toughest shots to handle. As Jordan gained the zone, he circled around the net before dropping a pass to Eric who snapped a shot to the keeper s short side. Boston finally got its first shot on Khudobin with three minutes to go before the first intermission. It was a play that required an exceptional pad save that Khudobin made as he slid across the top of his crease following David Krejci s pass to the shooter, Reilly Smith. Boston continued to press in the Hurricanes zone and followed up with a few more shots on the Russian netminder, but his pad saves kept the game scoreless until Dwyer scored with 33 seconds remaining. As defenseman Justin Faulk placed a snap shot on net, Malone and linemate Jay McClement worked the puck in the corner and behind the net to eventually get another shot on goal. As Rask jammed his pad against the post to stop McClement s shot, Dwyer skated through the crease and jammed the puck into the net for his third goal of the season. Big goal by Patty gets us on the board, Staal said. I thought we could have had a few more to make it two, especially in the second. Good effort we ll take it and look forward to the next one. The Hurricanes outshot Boston 14-4 and led 1-0 heading into the first intermission. I thought it was a good game on both sides of the puck, Dwyer said. I thought they were a little slow-starting, but I think they found their game. I thought it was a pretty entertaining game all around We got it deep early. The whole group was forechecking our first line to our fourth line getting in there and banging bodies putting pressure on their D. If you can get the pressure on their D, it s hard (for them) to get out of their zone. The Bruins used the remaining time on their lone power play to generate scoring chances early in the second, but Khudobin and Carolina s penalty kill denied them. As much as the extra-man opportunity energized the Bruins offense, a delay of game penalty to Rask slowed it. The goalkeeper had to rely on teammate Daniel Paille for help during Carolina s power play. The winger blocked an Eric Staal shot on the goal line that would have put Carolina ahead by two. The Bruins eventually evened the score with 5:25 remaining in the period. Bergeron one-timed a shot from the right circle on a pass from Brad Marchand as he wheeled around from behind the net and into the right corner before finding the Boston sniper cocked and loaded to finish the play. Smith had a chance to put Boston ahead, but he hit the post after David Krejci drew defenseman Ron Hainsey and Khudobin over before passing him the puck. Both teams remained tied heading into the third period. I thought they dug in, I thought our guys had a good response, Peters said. What happens in the D-zone when you shoot the puck to break people down, now it s a random puck puck. Nobody knows where it s goin. They looked a little quicker than us at times. So they had some good shifts and in sayin that when I look at it, it s Bergeron, it s Marchand, it s Krejci, it s Lucic these are real players. These guys just know how to win.

5 With four minutes to go, Bergeron and Marchand put together Boston s best puck possession sequence of the game deep in the Hurricanes zone. They circled in and around the corners and behind the net and won every puck battle. Carl Soderberg had Boston s best chance to score the goahead goal, but he missed a forehand sweep wide to Khudobin s right. Krejci then set Lucic up, but the netminder made a glove save on the shot from the high slot. Regulation time ended and the five-minute overtime period maintained the same intensity level from both teams. A Jeff Skinner to Faulk set-up was stopped by a Rask pad save that was soon followed up by a crease drive from Gerbe that could have ended it, but the keeper spread out his entire six-foot-two-inch frame out to make the stop. At the other end, Khudobin made a save on Bergeron. Coinciding minors to Smith and Rask were then assessed with 1:03 to play, and both teams played three-aside. Hamilton put a shot on net that Khudobin stopped with his stick. It was one last chance that Boston had to end the game, but didn t. With overtime unable to determine a winner, both sides then lined up their shooters. As Terry and Skinner missed on their chances for Carolina, so did Smith and Torey Krug for Boston. That left Staal and Bergeron to attempt to expose Rask or Khudobin. Staal beat Rask with a shot low to the stick side. Khudobin then came out considerably far from his crease to challenge former teammate Bergeron s deke attempt which he denied with a sprawling left pad save. It s a lot of emotions, a lot of nerves, Khudobin said of earning another shootout victory. I was so pumped today. It s not because it s Boston, or Vancouver, or Detroit. It s just because I want to play more and more. I wanted to win so badly and glad it happened. Notes: Though the majority of the Bruins shots on goal came from Smith (5), Dougie Hamilton (4), Carl Soderberg (3), and Lucic (3), everyone but Jordan Staal and Ron Hainsey had shots on net for Carolina In outshooting Boston 14-4 in the first period, the Hurricanes held an opponent to four our fewer shots in an opening period for the first time since Jan. 22, 2014, in a 3-2 win over Philadelphia It was another exceptionally hard-hitting contest that resulted in a win as the Hurricanes absorbed 42 checks while dishing out 31 of their own. Dwyer led the way with six hits. Power Play: Hurricanes edge Bruins in shootout for second straight win Lauren Brownlow FOX Sports Carolinas JAN 04, :57p ET RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes got their second win in a row after knocking off the Boston Bruins at home in an exciting, back-and-forth 2-1 shootout victory on Sunday. They're now since the return of Jordan Staal on Dec. 29. Slap Shots 1. A two-game win streak is modest, but the Hurricanes will take it Yes, it's just two straight wins. And yes, the Hurricanes ( ) still are longshots at best for the playoffs. But those two straight wins mean a lot to a team that hasn't won two in a row since Nov "It's a lot nicer coming to the rink and coming to games, everything that goes with winning, it's just a better feeling," Eric Staal said. "You want to keep that and hold on to it when you get it. You had to know how hard you worked to get it." This is a young group, and even though it's almost certainly not going to make the playoffs, they're going to play as if they are. And there's plenty to learn, plenty of growth to make under first-year head coach Bill Peters and a lot of that feels easier when you're winning. It's tough to win without confidence, and it's tough to find confidence if you're not winning. "I think we're starting to gain some confidence," Patrick Dwyer said. "As you put more and more games together, you get more confident in what you're doing. If we can find that confidence within ourselves, then we can hopefully string some together." 2. As good and active as their start was, the Hurricanes need to manufacture more scoring Peters always talks about his team's start, and he was pleased with it in this one. He should have been -- his team out-shot the Bruins ( ) 14-4 in the first and worked hard for chances before finally getting a goal. "I think we got in deep early and the whole group was forechecking from our first line to our fourth line, in there banging bodies and putting pressure on their (defense),"

6 Dwyer, who scored the Hurricanes' only regulation goal in the first, said. But offense is still a problem. Since the beginning of December, the Hurricanes have scored one goal or less 10 times (out of 16). They've scored more than two just once (in a 4-1 win against Toronto on Dec. 18) and they're when scoring at least two goals. Nine of the Hurricanes' games in that span have been a 2-1 final one way or the other, including five of the last six. The Hurricanes won only four, but three of those wins have come in the last six. So they're finding a way to win some of those close, low-scoring games, but that won't go on forever. "I'm used to it, but I'm not going to accept it. We're going to push to score. We're going to start doing more things off o- zone faceoffs. We're going to get our power play ready. I don't think it's going at 100 percent right now," Peters said of his team's constant 2-1 finishes. "So if it's a power play every other game, in this recent stretch, instead of being at 2, you're at 3. So now you've got a little bit of wiggle room. So we're going to hold our offensive guys more -- not more accountable, but we're going to put them in situations to score.... I think once we get into a situation where we go, whether it's on the road or we play at home and we get three one night and four the next, I think we're going to break the seal and be fine. "But in the meantime, let's make sure we're winning these games however we have to do it. Right now, it looks like it's 2-1." 3. The return of Jordan Staal likely came too late for the playoffs, but it's important nonetheless The Hurricanes' burly 26-year-old center broke his leg in the preseason, and his presence was sorely missed, if for no other reason than his physical presence that opens things up for everyone else. But Peters has finally gotten to see one of his best players in action over the last few games, and he's clearly loved what he's seen. "I like him. I like him a lot. I like everything about his game. I really do. I like the fact that you can put him in every situation imaginable, he can play in it," Peters said. "He's an intelligent guy. He's a competitive guy. He's won. He's won a cup in Pittsburgh. He's into what's going on on the bench. He's a very intelligent hockey player and he's a competitive hockey player, and I like that." He won 63 percent of his faceoffs against the Bruins, but he's still a bit rusty on the offensive end. Still, what he gives the Hurricanes right now isn't necessarily quantifiable on the stat sheet -- although Peters thinks soon enough, it will be. "He's a horse. He's a big, strong man and he's powerful and he gets a half a step on you and he's going to turn the corner. Eventually, as he gets his timing down offensively, we'll get a little bit more offensively out of him.... I think he's going to be a guy who's very dangerous moving forward," Peters said. "You can use him in so many different ways. It gives you options as a coach, and that's pleasant." Perhaps the person happiest about his return is his older brother, as Eric Staal now doesn't have to take on center duties and can go back to the wing full-time. He clearly has chemistry with his brother, and they're playing off each other very well with the younger, bigger Staal creating room for the smaller, more offensive-minded one. "It's been fun for me to see No. 11 back, skating the way he is. It looks like he hasn't missed -- or, he's making it look like he hasn't missed half a season," Eric Staal said. "It's been fun, and we'll keep it going and develop even more chemistry as we go and try to keep getting the wins." "Jordan has come in and is a big body through the middle, and he's been able to take some pressure off of Eric and put him on the side there and Eric's going up and down the wing," Dwyer said. "You find them in the zone and you're not going to push those guys off the puck. If they get it down below the goal line, they're going to be in there for awhile." Three Stars Anton Khudobin: The Hurricanes' backup goalie saved 19 of the 20 shots he saw, not to mention stopping all three attempts in the shootout. After going winless to start the season, he now has wins in his last two starts (both shootouts) and managed to stay engaged in spite of seeing just four shots in the first period. "After my first win, I didn't play for a long time. So I was so pumped today. It's not because it's Boston or Vancouver or Detroit. It's just because I wanted to play more and more. I was like, I wanted to win so badly," Khudobin said. "I'm glad it happened. That's why my emotions were just all over all of my mind." Patrick Dwyer: The Hurricanes' fourth-line forward was part of a line that gave the team a lot of energy, and in just 11 minutes of ice time, he dished out six hits (a team high) and connected on the only shot he took, which was a rebound off of a Jay McClement miss. Peters wants his team to be active around the net, and he was. Eric Staal: The veteran winger had the game-winner in the shootout, scoring on the Hurricanes' third attempt. He also was active offensively, taking four shots, and just looks like a different player since the return of his younger brother.

7 Bruins fall to Hurricanes for third straight loss By Amalie BenjaminGlobe Staff January 04, 2015 RALEIGH, N.C. The Bruins need points. They need wins. They need strong, smart, together hockey, especially against inferior teams. And yet on Sunday, the Bruins came out disastrously. Boston did not land a single shot on net for the first 16:55 of the game. The Hurricanes second to last in the overall standings to Edmonton, and in line to be part of the Connor McDavid/Jack Eichel sweepstakes landed 11 in that time. How does that happen? How does a team desperate for points, desperate for wins, desperate for anything, come out that way against the Carolina Hurricanes? I have no idea, said Tuukka Rask, one of the few good players for the Bruins, with 35 saves on 36 shots. Honestly. It was embarrassing. I have never seen anything like that. Seventeen minutes without a shot on net. Usually when you play a back-to-back game, the team who played back-to-back games is the sharpest one in the start because they re still kind of hyped up from the game before. But not in our case. It was bad. It didn t get much better. Though the Bruins eked out an overtime point, they lost, 2-1, in a shootout as the Hurricanes got a third-round score from Eric Staal. But it shouldn t have gotten that far. There were too many mistakes. Too many passes to no one. Too little intensity. Too few shots. Not enough traffic and chaos around the net and former Bruins backup goalie Anton Khudobin, who made 19 saves. Asked if perhaps the Bruins need to relax more, Rask said, Maybe mix in a couple beers before the game, relax the nerves. That might be the last option. He turned serious. We see the play, we don t make it, and then it s too late to make a play and we try to force it and it s a turnover and we spend a minute in our own end, Rask said. That s just how it is. It s mental. It s mental. It s not like the skill is gone. It s just mental. Many of the mistakes were unforced. The Bruins were outworked, and it resulted in yet another lackluster game. Not that Carolina capitalized on much of it. The Hurricanes got their only goal with 34 seconds left in the first period when Patrick Dwyer knocked in a rebound of a shot in the slot from Jay McClement. The Bruins got the equalizer at 14:35 of the second on a Patrice Bergeron one-timer. Though the Bruins were more active in the second period, it was back to ugliness in the third, when they had just two shots on net. It was not the way to add points. It s frustrating, Bergeron said. I think that s an understatement. Bottom line, at this point, especially at this time of the year with our positions in the standings, it s about results. It s about finding a way. They couldn t on Sunday. Before the game, coach Claude Julien criticized Milan Lucic for recording just one measly shot on goal in Saturday s overtime loss to Ottawa. But that was a problem up and down the lineup on Sunday, with seven Bruins forwards not being credited with a shot on goal, including Loui Eriksson, David Krejci, and Brad Marchand. I don t know, Julien said, when asked how he can fix his team. At this point, guys, I don t know what to tell you guys. All I m telling you is that we need to be better. We re self-inflicting stuff. It s what it is. Can we be better? Absolutely, we can be better. Did the other team play well? They did. But at the same time, it doesn t mean that we can t be better than we were. The Bruins played on their heels, without intensity, making mistakes they should be too good to make. When things are not going your way, you kind of do too much instead of doing less and going back to basics and the foundation of your game, which is just play passionate hockey and make sure the effort is there, Rask said. You work your butt off every night. That s what we have to do. We can t keep forcing the play because that s not going to turn things around. Hard work is going to turn things around. Keeping things simple is going to turn things around. The Bruins certainly hope so. Because after getting just 2 points out of a weekend they hoped would yield 4, after their third straight shootout or overtime loss, the present is bleak. Asked if it was a low point for the team, Bergeron said, Yeah. I think it is. Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com. Follow her on

8 Hurricanes Puck Talk: Bruins Find No Honey in Raleigh January 4, 2015 by Mark Shiver Bruins are bears. According to the Wikipedia definition, Bruin is folk term used for brown bears (from the Dutch bruin meaning brown). Bears are known to love honey. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game confirms that bears do in fact love to eat honey. Sunday afternoon in Raleigh, NC, the PNC Arena proved not to be a honeycomb for the Boston Bruins, as they skated to an overtime shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1. Bottom Line on Top For the second consecutive game, the Hurricanes fourth line provided the initial score, getting the team the always crucial first goal and the lead. This time it was Patrick Dwyer who lit the lamp for the Canes. The assists came from Jay McClement and Brad Malone, as Patty was at the net to launch the puck past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. Coach Bill Peters has been banging the net front presence drum for quite some time. Dwyer was right there in place to smack McClement s rebound into the neck. It was the kind of play that a fan sees and wonders why in the world the Canes are mainly only getting one goal per game. Plays such as Dwyer s need to become routine for Carolina, especially if they are going to grow into a playoff contender in the future. Goalie war Both Hurricanes goalie Anton Khudobin and Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask played very well. Dobby stopped 19 of 20 shots faced and Rask said no to 35 of 36. (Why can t Carolina get more than one goal if they are firing 36 times at the opposing goalie?) Apparently one reason lies in the play of the elite goal tender Tuukka Rask. Stopping Eric Staal in a goal mouth scrum was just one of the 35 saves for Rask. The Bruins have struggled lately, but Tuukka Rask is still an elite goalie in the NHL. Certainly the Hurricanes have struggled scoring for quite some time. I talked about their one-goal dominance in December, after their disappointing 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. On Sunday, the combination of Rask s prowess in-goal and the Canes scoring woes combined to once again give Carolina a 1 on the scoreboard after regulation. Fortunately for the Hurricanes, Anton Khudobin was equal to the task at hand and kept the Bruins at bay, holding them to one goal in regulation, also. Khudobin shutting the door on Reilly Smith of the Bruins was just one of the confident plays he made in the net. Hurricanes starting goalie, Cam Ward was able to enjoy a much-needed and well-deserved rest as Khudobin took care of business against the Bruins. Having Dobby play up to his potential is a huge plus for the Carolina Hurricanes. It s great to see him get another win. Bruins hand in the honey pot Patrice Bergeron got the Bruins on the board at 14:35 in the second period. A one-timer that Anton Khudobin was simply unable to block. The Bruins goal tied the game at one. The game would stay tied until the end of overtime. Again, the play of the goalies was a large part of this low scoring affair in Raleigh, but both teams are hurting in the scoring department. Unlike the Canes, the Bruins have not been getting held to only one goal per game, but they have been losing more than the fans in Boston have come to expect. Sunday s goal from Bergeron was really good, but even he admitted after the game that the Bruins are dealing with frustration. What s up with Bugsy? Last week, I wrote about Brad Malone Bugsy to his teammates. He showed some much-needed heart for his team in a brawl with Brandon Prust of the Montreal Canadiens. In Carolina s next game, he followed up his newly found fervor with his first goal of the season, scored Friday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. Bugsy promised to shave his beard when he broke the ice and scored his first goal, and he did. The clean-shaven Brad Malone is fighting, perhaps literally, to stay on the Hurricanes roster. Beard or no beard, he mixed it up again Sunday, this time with Gregory Campbell of the Bruins. Regardless of the differing views held by many on fighting in hockey, Bugsy has turned it up a notch in showing passion for his team. He has a two-game point streak going. It may make the difference on his remaining on the roster. Bruins v Hurricanes shootout The game wound up a tie after regulation and overtime. Shootout time in Raleigh started with the Hurricanes Chris Terry. an unusual move by Coach Bill Peters as Terry is normally not the first name called in a Canes shootout. Jeff Skinner was next. Tuukka Rask kept both Terry and Skinner out of the net. Anton Khudobin kept the Bruins out, stopping Reilly Smith and Torey Krug. In an unusual move, Eric Stall was skater number three for Carolina. He has had a hot hand lately, and Coach Peters called on number 12. He confirmed his thinking after the game: Staalsy has been dangerous offensively and scored a bunch here recently, so he deserved the opportunity to go. Eric Staal came through, making it look easy as he approached Rask and flipped the puck over him and into the back of the net. Advantage Hurricanes. The former member of

9 the Bruins, Anton Khudobin dug in against Patrice Bergeron. Dobby won, game over. The Hurricanes have been playing very well on defense. This point can be lost when they are losing. But, they have not been getting blown out. 2-1 games have been maddening, especially when they are the team with the 1. They will need to keep the strong defense going, especially next week as they face the Preds and the St. Louis Blues on the road, and the Buffalo Sabres sandwiched in-between at home. The hungry Boston Bruins came to Raleigh looking for a win. They left with one point, so most of the honey stayed in the pot. Their play was really weak on offense. At one point they went nearly 17 minutes in the third period without a shot on goal. They can t win like that, and the Hurricanes can t seem to find the net. The answer for Carolina will come if they keep firing and stay strong on defense. Coach Bill Peters summed it up after the game: I m used to it, but I m not going to accept it. We re going to push to score. I think once we get into a situation where we get three one night and four the next, I think we re going to break the seal and be fine. In the meantime, let s make sure we re winning these games however we have to do it. Right now it looks like it s 2-1. The Bruins will have to find their own answers. The team seems to be gripping and uptight. Having a beer may or may not be the answer for the Bruins. If the Hurricanes keep running into the scoring wall, maybe knocking back a few will help them, too. I don t really believe that, but it will sure be nice when the scoring well opens up for the Canes. They ll get their next chance Tuesday night in Nashville. NHL fines Flyers organization for violation of CBA Sunday, / 1:30 PM / News NHL.com NEW YORK The National Hockey League announced today that it has fined the Philadelphia Flyers' organization for the team's travel to Nashville on December 26, This team activity was in violation of Article 16.5(b) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players' Association. The League will have no further comment on the matter. Canada, Russia ready to play for gold again at WJC Monday, / 12:49 AM / 2015 World Junior Championship By Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff Writer TORONTO -- For the 14th time in tournament history, Canada will play against Russia in the gold-medal game of the 2015 World Junior Championship at Air Canada Center on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NHLN-US). Each team earned a ticket to the final with semifinal-round victories on Sunday in Toronto. Russia defeated Sweden 4-1; Canada earned a 5-1 win against Slovakia. "It's special; Canada and Russia, it's one of those great rivalries in hockey," Canada defenseman Josh Morrissey said. "It's always very intense. Hearing the fans chant 'Canada' and 'We want Russia' in the end was pretty cool, it's pretty inspiring." It will be the eighth gold-medal game between Canada and Russia since Canada holds a 7-6 lead in the championship-round games. Russia, however, has defeated Canada in the playoff round the past four years, including the bronze-medal games in 2013 and "It's going to be unbelievable," Canada forward Connor McDavid said. "I dream of getting this opportunity and we have it in front of us. But we can't look too far ahead because we have a great Russian team next. This is going to be pretty cool [Monday]." Canada has won three of the past four gold-medal games (2005, 2006, 2007) against Russia, but the latest entry in the storied rivalry occurred in 2011 when Russia scored five

10 unanswered goals in the third period to earn a stunning 5-3 victory in Buffalo. "We know we have to play a complete 60 minutes of hard hitting and fast-paced hockey against Russia," Canada defenseman Joe Hicketts said. "We expect them to play a fast game too. They play more of a North American style of hockey on this NHL-sized ice. We'll have to get pucks deep and hopefully withstand some of their push-backs." Russia is certainly riding an emotional high after successive playoff-round victories against the United States (3-2) in the quarterfinals and Sweden (4-1) in the semifinals. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers) has stopped 65 of 68 shots over the past two victories and 120 of 126 for the tournament with a 1.50 goals-against average and.952 save percentage. He credited his teammates in the victory against Sweden, which entered the game ranked second in the tournament with 24 goals. Shesterkin and his teammates denied the Swedes on three power-play chances. "I feel OK; all my teammates have adapted to the pressure and that's why we have done so well the past two games," Shesterkin said. The Russian offense has been led by the top line of Ivan Barbashev (St. Louis Blues), Paval Buchnevich (New York Rangers) and Vyacheslav Leshenko (2015 draft eligible), which has combined for six goals and 15 points. Forward Alexander Sharov (2015 draft eligible) scored two goals against the Swedes and has four in the tournament. "We've seen [Canada] games and they have pretty good skilled guys and a couple of them playing in the NHL," Barbashev said. "They have a pretty good team this year. I think it helps that we had a tough road to the final; we had a couple pretty hard games against the United States and Sweden. We know how to play and we'll be playing the same way we played [against Sweden] and [the United States]." Russia two-way forward Nikolay Goldobin (San Jose Sharks), who has one goal and three points, has found good chemistry alongside Sergei Tolchinski (Carolina Hurricanes) and Vladislav Kamenev (Nashville Predators). Russia ranks third on the power-play (34 percent efficiency; 11-for-32) and third in penalty killing (85 percent efficiency; 24- for-28) in the tournament. The country has scored 29 goals in seven games to rank second in that category. "Everybody understands we don't have a chance to have mistakes," Barbashev said. "We know it was kind of brutal in [Group B], but after the quarterfinals and semifinals everybody was together and we play for 100 percent." Canada's top line of Sam Reinhart (Buffalo Sabres) centering Max Domi (Arizona Coyotes) and Anthony Duclair (New York Rangers) has done well all tournament. "[Russia] is a strong team," Reinhart said. "They play a physical game and come at you with everybody. We have to keep our pace up against them. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a very physical game." Reinhart has four goals and 11 points in seven tournament games, Domi has four goals and seven points and Duclair has four goals and nine points. Nicolas Petan (Winnipeg Jets) scored a hat trick in the victory against Slovakia on Sunday and now has seven goals and a team-leading 14 points. Connor McDavid, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, notched three more assists against Slovakia to boost his scoring totals to two goals and 13 points with 25 shots on goal. McDavid entered the tournament having missed five weeks after sustaining a right hand injury on Nov. 11, but he has a goal and five assists in the past two victories in the playoff round. McDavid still remembers losing to Russia in the bronzemedal game at the 2014 WJC in Malmo, Sweden, and is looking forward to playing in what is sure to be an emotional night in Toronto for all Canadians. "I can't really explain it; it's a feeling that you're going to have to feel when you skate out there," he said. "Every time you skate on the ice at the ACC, the fans are going crazy. It's so exciting every time." Canada captain Curtis Lazar (Ottawa Senators) has come up big in the clutch for his country, scoring five goals and 12 points in the tournament. Defensively, Darnell Nurse (Edmonton Oilers) and Shea Theodore (Anaheim Ducks) will look to shut down Russia's top line, just as they did center Jack Eichel, a projected top-two choice in the 2015 draft, and his linemates in a 5-3 preliminary-round victory on New Year's Eve. Morrissey (Winnipeg Jets) not only has three points and a plussix rating for Canada, but he has been a big physical presence in every area of the ice. Goaltender Zachary Fucale (Montreal Canadiens), who has started the past two games and has allowed one goal on 29 shots, has performed well when his number has been called early in each game of the playoff round. "Canada versus Russia is something you dream of," Hicketts said. "That rivalry has been around since the 1972 Summit Series that I have been told about and see highlights all the time. It's going to be something special."

11 Petan's three goals lead Canada to gold-medal game Sunday, / 11:38 PM / 2015 World Junior Championship By Mike Brophy - NHL.com Correspondent TORONTO -- Canada will play for the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship for the first time in four years after a 5-1 win against Slovakia at Air Canada Centre on Sunday. Canada will play Russia on Monday in Toronto for the gold medal (8 p.m. ET, NHLN-US). Sweden and Slovakia will play for the bronze medal at 4 p.m. on Monday. Nicolas Petan (Winnipeg Jets), who was placed on a line with Canada captain Curtis Lazar (Ottawa Senators) and Connor McDavid (draft-eligible 2015) midway through the game, led Canada with three goals. Canada fans littered the ice with hats after Petan scored his third goal of the game. "It was an incredible feeling," Petan said. "In the moment you don't really think about it, but years from now I'll look back on it and think it was pretty cool. It was just one of those nights where pucks were finding me." Canada defenseman Joe Hicketts (Detroit Red Wings) said he was not the least bit surprised that Petan was able to put on such an extraordinary performance against Slovakia. "I play against him in the Western [Hockey] League and I can tell you he is a special player," Hicketts said. "For him to come here and put on a performance like he did, it is something I expected from him." Canada, which leads all nations with 15 gold medals in this tournament, lost against Russia in 2011 one year after losing against the United States in the gold-medal game. Since then, Canada has won one medal (bronze), which came in Canada got a bit of a scare late in the game when McDavid collided with a Slovakian player near center ice and appeared to be shaken up as he skated to the bench. McDavid thought Lazar may have had a hand in the collision. "I'm fine," McDavid said. "Curt likes to throw the weight around and I was coming back on the guy and he wanted to hit him and just got mixed up, but I'm fine." Canada left wing Max Domi (Arizona Coyotes) also was hit hard late in the game, but said he was not injured. The Canadians, who are 6-0, opened the scoring at 4:27 of the first period when Petan snapped a high shot over the glove of Slovakian goalie Denis Godla from in tight with Slovakia's David Soltes in the penalty box for tripping. It was Petan's second goal of the tournament. Each team had six shots on goal in the first period, and Canada goalie Zachary Fucale (Montreal Canadiens) made CAROLINA HURRICANES superb saves on Peter Cehlarik (Boston Bruins) from in tight at 8:30 and Pavol Skalicky on a breakaway with a pad save at 14:44. Petan made it 2-0 at 18:06 of the second period when his shot got under the crossbar after Canada defenseman Darnell Nurse started the play by moving the puck up the ice. Canada increased its lead to 3-0 1:26 later with defenseman Shea Theodore (Anahiem Ducks) scoring his first of the WJC after being sent in alone by Anthony Duclair (New York Rangers), but Slovakia got on the scoreboard with 3.4 seconds remaining when Soltes got his first of the tournament after taking a pass in tight. Duclair scored his third goal of the WJC at 2:47 of the third period when he banked a shot in off the left leg of Godla from behind the Slovakia goal. Petan completed his hat trick with a power-play goal at 11:59 when his high shot got past Godla. "Right from the start, you could see he had jump to his game tonight," Canada center Sam Reinhart (Buffalo Sabres) said. "He had the puck pretty much the whole time he was out there." Slovakia appeared to make it 5-2 at 13:34, but it was ruled Matus Sukel kicked the puck past Fucale. Canada beat Slovakia 8-0 in their tournament opener Dec. 26 in Montreal, but got a much better game from the opposition in the semifinal. "The biggest thing tonight was not taking them lightly," Petan said. "They got better as the tournament progressed and I think some teams do take other teams lightly. We had a slow start but got better as the game progressed." Slovakia's Martin Reway felt his team deserved a better outcome. "We all knew it was going to be tight like this. It doesn't look like a 5-1 finish but if you saw the game you knew it was a tight game," Reway said. "We didn't help each other; one guy carried the puck and the other four guys just looked at him and waited for passes. It's not going to work against teams like Canada or Sweden." It was Canada's 17th consecutive appearance in the semifinal. Slovakia's best showing at the WJC was a sixth-place finish in Canada was without Robby Fabbri (St. Louis Blues), who injured his ankle against Denmark on Friday.

12 Russia defeats Sweden to advance to WJC final Sunday, / 6:37 PM / 2015 World Junior Championship By Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff Writer TORONTO -- Russia forward Alexander Sharov scored two goals and Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves to lead Russia to a 4-1 victory against Sweden in the semifinal round of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship at Air Canada Centre on Sunday. The victory assures Russia a third appearance in the gold medal game in the past five years. It last won gold at the 2011 WJC in Buffalo following a five-goal third period that led to a 5-3 victory against Canada. It was the country's first gold medalwinning effort since 2003 in Halifax and Sydney, Canada. Russia coach Valeri Bragin, who considered this game his team's best defensive effort of the tournament, was asked after the game if this year's team compares to that resilient bunch he had in "We will be in the final [Monday] so we'll see if they have heart," Bragin said. The gold medal game is scheduled for Monday (8 p.m. ET; NHLN-US) in Toronto. Russia will play the winner of Canada- Slovakia. Sweden will play for bronze at 4 p.m. ET. In what many believed would be a back-and-forth match between two of the top offensive teams in the tournament, Russia took away Sweden's speed through the neutral zone while shutting down their red-hot power play. Sweden, which entered the game having scored at least one power-play goal in every game, went 0-for-3 on Sunday. Sweden defeated Russia 3-2 in the preliminary round in Group B of the 2015 WJC six days ago. "We created a lot of chances in that preliminary round loss but couldn't score but when the game was more important, in a battle to reach the final, we were more offensive and scored," Shesterkin said. "We did [on Sunday] what we should have done in the preliminary round." When Sweden did settle into the offensive zone, Russia packed it in to deny a clean shot on goal and forced the Swedes to work the perimeter. "I think they were better than us in the first two periods," Sweden forward Adrian Kempe said. "We did not come out very good. They seemed to have a 3-on-2 against us on every shift. We played a little bit better in the third but it wasn't good enough. "I am really frustrated. I know we can beat them and we can beat all the teams here. It's so frustrating to play that poorly." Sweden, which had its five-game winning streak snapped, entered the game ranked second among 10 teams with 24 goals in the tournament. The Swedes were denied a fourth straight appearance in the gold medal game. In addition to Sharov (2015 draft eligible), who gave Russia a 3-0 lead on a blast from between the circles off a turnover 1:31 into the third, forward Maxim Mamin and defenseman Ziat Paigin (2015 draft eligible) scored for Russia. Shesterkin (New York Rangers) made 13 saves in the third. "Before the game the goalies thought there would be much more shots but I think the big reason we won was because players were blocking shots and did a great job," Shesterkin said. "I thank my teammates for making the difference." Sweden pulled to within 3-1 in the third when Lucas Wallmark (Carolina Hurricanes) scored off a sensational individual effort, collecting a pass and skating through the crease before directing a shot between his legs and past Shesterkin at 11:30. Wallmark had a goal disallowed with 22.9 seconds left in regulation when teammate Jacob de la Rose (Montreal Canadiens) was called for goalie interference. "We lost to a better team," Sweden coach Rikard Gronborg said. "I think they were well prepared and we tried everything to get some kind of spark. We needed to get more pucks on net with the hope of maybe getting a bounce but they did a good job shutting it down and they were in the shooting lanes the whole night so it was one of those games." Mamin extended the lead to 4-1 when he buried a rebound at the right hash at 12:39. Ivan Fishenko took the initial shot from the left circle that Sweden goaltender Linus Soderstrom (27 saves) stopped but couldn't control. Gronborg opted to pull Soderstrom with 3:59 remaining in the third but Russia would not be denied. Sweden had defeated Russia in 10 of the past 11 games at the WJC, all of which had been decided by one goal. Sweden defeated Russia 2-1 in the semifinals of the 2014 WJC. The last time Russia had a victory against Sweden was a 4-3 win in the semifinals in "Everybody knows [what happened in 2011]," Russia forward Ivan Barbashev (St. Louis Blues) said. "Everybody was watching. It was just an unreal game for Russia. They had been losing 3-0 after second and they scored five goals; it was unreal. We have a pretty good team this year, we can beat anyone." Russia opened a 2-0 lead in the second period on goals by Sharov and Paigin. Sharov finished a 3-on-2 breakout when he collected a pass from Anatoli Golyshev in the left circle and ripped a shot past Soderstrom high to the long side at 11:18. "It was the question of scoring, so we got chances the first game and didn't score and this game we scored four goals and that's the reason we got the win," Sharov said. "In both games we thought that we would have an advantage." Paigin then scored the first power-play goal of the tournament against Sweden in 19 tries when he took a pass from Rinat Valiev (Toronto Maple Leafs) at the top of the right circle and fired a shot past Soderstrom to the long side. "It's an unreal feeling; I was ready for this all my life and I'm very excited," Valiev said. "I think we're playing like one team. That's the biggest important thing for us, trying to play physical and trying to play like one team and support each other."

13 Sweden entered the game with the tournament's best powerplay, converting at 50 percent efficiency (12-of-24). "It felt like we got shocked," Soderstrom said. "I think on our power play we just stood there waiting for them to do something. It felt like the entire game we were so passive and just watched the Russians do whatever they wanted to do." Checkers Break Streak with Rout of Texas Created: January 4, :26 pm Mired in their worst winless-streak of the season, the Checkers bounced back with a 5-2 stomping of the Texas Stars on Sunday. The Checkers set the tone right out of the gates, outshooting the Stars 16-5 in the first frame and lighting the lamp twice courtesy of Justin Shugg and Keegan Lowe. Rookie Patrick Brown extended the lead just 37 seconds into the second period with his first pro goal, with a deflection up and over Stars goalie Jussi Rynnas. Texas got on the board later in the frame, with defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka threading a wrister from the slot past Drew MacIntyre, but Alex Aleardi responded quickly for the Checkers. Aleardi, recalled from the ECHL the morning of the game, carried the puck into the zone with speed and sniped a laser into the short side corner to put the home team up by three once again. With a power play late in the third, the Stars pulled goalie Jack Campbell, who replaced Rynnas at the start of the period, in order to have a 6-on-4 advantage. The move backfired, however, as rookie Trevor Carrick flipped a puck from his own goal line that bounced all the way down the ice and into the vacated net to make it 5-1. Derek Meech tallied a goal with just over five minutes left, but it wasn t enough to spark a rally, and the Checkers took home the 5-2 win. For the third time this season the Checkers won the second half of a back-to-back series with the Stars after dropping the first. The difference between last night s disappointing loss and tonight s romp was a simple one. The pucks were going in, said head coach Jeff Daniels. Some nights they go in and some nights they don t, and we ve had more nights where they don t go in. After ending last night s contest by surrendering four goals in the final frame, the Checkers came out red hot, peppering Rynnas right from the start and building a two-goal lead quickly. I thought we came out with a purpose, we were skating, attacking the net and making good habits, said Daniels. We definitely came out strong and it kind of led us to the win. The team s ability to rebound from disappointing performances has been a bright spot all year, with praise being given to the leadership in the locker room and the overall heart and compete of the players. We show up to the rink every day ready to work, and that s the makeup of that team and the mentality of that team, said Daniels. They re workers. They want to grind it out. I knew we d come out and work, it was just a matter of if we were going to score some goals. Veteran forward Kyle Hagel did his part to kick start his club, dropping the gloves early on in the contest. Less than four minutes later, the Checkers would get on the board. We ve been on a losing streak and sometimes you need something like that to spark some fire into the guys, said Hagel. The boys in the room seemed to appreciate it, and it always feels good when we score one when you re sitting in the box. That makes you feel like it was worthwhile and it was a good spot in the game for a fight. The Checkers now have a tough stretch ahead of them, as they will embark on a four-game road trip to face three of the conference s top eight teams in Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Rockford. The key to gaining some traction in the standings will be consistency, something that has eluded the Checkers so far this season. But with more performances like tonight, those results should start coming. We can t just win one, lose one, lose another and then win one, said Brown. We ve got to keep winning. We ve got to rack up some points and start making a climb in the standings.

14 We don t want to change our game, said Daniels. I know our record is not good on the road but we ve played some of our best hockey on the road, we just haven t been rewarded for it. We ve just got to bring what we brought tonight to the road and hopefully we saved some goals for the road. When I look at our team I really don t see us as a losing team because almost every single game that we lose is by one goal or a late comeback in the third period or we out-shot them and other teams are still finding a way to win, said Hagel. We re a lot better team than our win/loss record indicates. It felt good to get rewarded with a win tonight. Hopefully that s the start of a more fortunate streak for us. NOTES The Checkers five goals were one more than they had in their previous three games combined. It marked their fourth game with five or more goals this season Charlotte broke a fourgame winless streak (0-3-1) that marked its longest of the season Justin Shugg s three points (1g, 2a) were a new career high. He has goals in each of his last three games, marking the second time he has accomplished that feat this season (a four-game streak from Nov ) Keegan Lowe s effort (1g, 1a) marked his second career multi-point game and first since Oct. 31, 2013 (2a) Aleardi, recalled earlier in the day from the ECHL s Florida Everblades, was playing his third game in two-and-a-half days The Checkers have gone six consecutive games without scoring or allowing a power-play goal Carrick s empty-net goal was the Checkers sixth shorthanded tally of the season, giving them three more than they had all of last season Shugg, Lowe and Dennis Robertson all posted a game-high, plus-3 rating Drew MacIntyre made 26 saves in his first game back from representing Canada at the Spengler Cup Forwards Gabriel Desjardins, Greg Nemisz and Brody Sutter and defenseman Beau Schmitz missed the game due to injury. TODAY S LINKS CAR home Nashville Predators Predators fall to Ducks in shootout Eric Stromgren, estromgren@tennessean.com 11:59 p.m. CST January 4, 2015 ANAHEIM, Calif. The Predators' struggles with backup goalie Carter Hutton in net continued Sunday. The Ducks rallied with a late score to force overtime and won 4-3 on Ryan Kesler's goal in the fourth round of the shootout at Honda Center. Sure, it was a tough point earned against the team with the most points in the NHL and in the second game of a back-to-back set. Hutton didn't really see it as a moral victory, however. "Obviously, I want to win hockey games," he said. "I thought I gave us a chance to win. I think we're getting into a habit of giving up a lot late in games it's happened to us the last couple of games. I can only control what I can, and I thought I played well." Hutton had 30 saves and dropped to in his starts in his relief of Pekka Rinne this season. "No break for him," forward Mike Ribeiro said. "He played outstanding tonight. He made some big saves there on the (penalty kills) in the third period to keep us with the lead. I think it's frustrating for everyone to not give him a win."