Goals galore, but Hurricanes score more
Rally in Raleigh denies feel-good end to one woeful eastern road swing
A meltdown. A total freaking meltdown.
How else can you really describe the shocking sequence of events that took place in the third period Tuesday? After all, the Vancouver Canucks had got mad, they had got even and it looked like they were in cruise control with a 5-2 lead. Then disaster struck. They surrendered four goals in a span of 4:40. It chased Ryan Miller, who returned after missing two games with an ankle injury, from the net in favour of Jacob Markstrom as this five-game road trip ended with a resounding thud in a stunning 8-6 setback to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“You come into the room after something like that and you’re just shocked,” Canucks defenceman Erik Gudbranson said. “I’m just blown away by what happened. What can you say? We hung Millsey (Miller) out to dry and you feel terrible as a group because he deserves so much better from us. That’s tough.
“We just completely fell apart in the third period. That first goal in the third was one to get them going and then they get the next goal and make it 5-4. You kind of grip your stick a little tighter.”
It didn’t look like it was going to play out this way. The Hurricanes were up 2-1 in the first period, and then the tide turned.
When Ron Hainsey left his feet and targeted the head of Loui Eriksson with a vicious check on the sideboards, Luca Sbisa responded and the combatants rightfully received five-minute fighting majors. But Hainsey got nothing for his attack on Eriksson — not even a charging minor — and the sense of frustration was palatable. The department of player safety should check out the video.
More importantly, it appeared to be a wake-up call and a rallying point. If you subscribe to the theory that the Canucks are never going to get an officiating break, then making an impression where it counts most was going to matter.
Sven Baertschi responded to a one-game scratch by scoring twice
and adding an assist, and a line that couldn’t do anything right was doing everything to end the trip with a win. After the Hainsey hit, the Canucks scored three second-period goals in 4:36.
Baertschi found Alex Burrows from behind the net with a sweet feed, Markus Granlund banged in an Eriksson rebound and Ben Hutton unloaded a slapper from the point that was deflected but still found the mark.
And when Baertschi added his second goal just as a power play expired — he took a behind-the-net pass from Henrik Sedin in the slot — it was 5-2 and it looked over. The Canucks outshot the Hurricanes 18-9 in the second period and only a meltdown would put a damper on everything. And it did.
“That’s a game we’ve got to win,” captain Henrik Sedin said. “We turned pucks over in bad spots and it cost us. I’ve seen this before and it’s not the first time, but it’s surprising the way we played.
“It’s all about how we respond Friday (against Tampa). The way we come out is going to say a lot about this team. There were some really good things tonight — the way Sven played and Sbisa battled, and Hutton played better. But it’s easy to forget those things when you lose a game like this.”
A Jeff Skinner power-play redirect started the third-period barrage. Gudbranson lost his check on the play and that should have been the sure sign of imminent danger. Then three goals in a span of 1:42 by Hainsey, Victor Rask and Justin Faulk — goals that featured everything from Miller being screened, not tracking pucks properly and being totally deserted.
Jordan Staal and Brandon Sutter then traded late goals, but it wasn’t enough to counteract the shock therapy. The Hurricanes would add an empty-netter and win their first game against the Canucks in the last eight meetings. They had not triumphed since winning in Raleigh on Dec. 15, 2011.
The Hurricanes also extended their home-ice win streak to seven games and sent the Canucks home with a sobering 1-4-0 road trip record.