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GDT: Canes v. Slugs 12/2 7:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
The Canes kick off a 15 game month with the last home game for 2 weeks.

Let’s not talk about Thursday. Last year, the Canes went 12-0-1 in December and put a stranglehold on a playoff spot and set themselves up for the division. Can they repeat it this year? No lineup changes at practice yesterday but Raanta was in the starter's crease.

The Slugs were expected to contend for a playoff spot but they’re contending for last in the division, with 22 points in 23 games, tied with the Habs for 6th. They’re 4-5-1 in their last 10 and they’re coming off a loss to the Blues, with eerily similar stats to the Canes last game. They lost 6-4 but outshot the Blues 46-20. Young goalie UPL was on the hook for all 6 goals, making just 14 saves. JJ Peterka and Jeff Skinner each have 10 goals, Casey Mittelstadt has 15 assists and is tied with Rasmus Dahlin with 20 points. Tage Thompson has been out since mid-November with a wrist injury. As mentioned, UPL was shelled in goal on Thursday but his numbers are still good, 2.88/.905. We might see Devon Levi tonight, his numbers are not good, 3.73/.876. The Slugs are 23rd in goals per game and 21st in goals against. They’re 25th on the PP and 12th on the PK.

Black jerseys tonight. Bally Sports South for TV with Tripp and Shane. Maniscalco will be back for the road trip.
 
Buffalo is in a tough spot. Dropping back to the bottom after the heady promise of last season is a bitter pill to swallow, but they pursued the basic NHL roster building model and their top 6/4 just hasn't been good enough. They counted on Thompson to be a legit star but even before getting hurt, he was playing pretty good ... but nowhere near great. They paid Dahlin a pretty penny to continue his development towards a real top pairing do it all stud and he is just kind of percolating. He's been good, but they're paying for more. Skinner is Skinner, but as flawed as he is, he's been their best player. No team with a guy as one dimensional as Jeff Skinner as its best player is hitting on much. If Luukkonnen hadn't stepped up to give them competent goaltending, they'd be duking it out with the Blue Jackets for last in the East. And while I'm pretty sure the eventual takeaway is going to be that Adams put his eggs in the wrong baskets at the top of his lineup, somebody ought to at least take a sober look at the bottom of the roster and maybe, just maybe think about how a little quality depth would have helped take the edge off of the stagnation of their top guys.
 
No morning skate for the Canes today so I assume Raanta goes in net, considering he was in the starter’s crease at practice.

The Slugs had this lineup at their skate. Eric Comrie was in goal. He’s at 3.45/.876 in 5 games this season.

Skinner-Mittelstadt-Tuch
Benson-Cozens-Peterka
Greenway-Krebs-Okposo
Biro-Jost-Olofsson

Dahlin-Samuelsson
Power-Jokiharju
Clifton-EJohnson
 
Lines and pairings are the same as last game, Necas on the 4th line with Noesen and Drury.
 
Tripp and Shane going with a play-by-play-free "mancave" broadcast tonight with GMDW as the 2nd period guest is a choice...

I thought Tripp did a decent job on the radio Tuesday night with the PBP.
 
Someone needs to tell the Bally folks that the idea of a Manningcast only works when it's offered as an alternative to a traditional play-by-play broadcast.
 
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