Ex-Canes star in Broadway bashing Slice of the Ice - Laviolette - Team plays 'lazy game'
NEW YORK -- The Carolina Hurricanes aren't the first
troupe of performers to be dealt a harsh dose of reality
under the bright lights of the big city.
Flying high Sunday and Monday, enjoying the rarified
air of first place in the Southeast Division for the first
time all season, the Hurricanes came crashing down under
the weight of a 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Just when the Canes seemed not only to have accepted
the effort necessary to play their style of hockey but
regularly generated it -- going 5-1 in their previous
six games -- they were outworked by a Rangers team eager
to prove Wednesday's 2-1 loss in Raleigh was an aberration.
"We just played a lazy game, not working together
as a group out there in units," Hurricanes coach
Peter Laviolette said. "That probably sums it up
right there -- a lazy game. ...
"They had a step on us, skating and in the battles.
It's too bad. It's a tough way to start a road trip. We
had an opportunity tonight, and we let it slip away."
Jaromir Jagr scored twice and ex-Canes Aaron Ward, Matt
Cullen and Marek Malik all had assists for the Rangers,
while Carolina captain Rod Brind'Amour's eight-game scoring
streak ended quietly as the Canes were shut out for the
third time this season after scoring 26 goals in the previous
six games.
And where the Canes may have been lacking effort, Cullen
had it to spare. He was a dominating presence in the first
period, taking four of his five shots on goal in the first
20 minutes.
"It's always nice to beat your old team no matter
how good of friends you are," Cullen said. "It's
great. You always want to play well against your old team
and beat them. There's a little extra satisfaction."
The Rangers jumped on the Canes with two first-period
goals, one less than four minutes in when Marcel Hossa
tipped a Fedor Tyutin shot past Cam Ward, the second when
Cullen drew four Carolina players to one side of the net
and Martin Straka went the other way to feed Brendan Shanahan.
"The puck was bouncing for them, that's for sure,"
Hurricanes forward Scott Walker said. "We have to
work a little harder. I thought we just didn't have the
killer instinct."
By the time a Carolina turnover ended up with Jagr on
the left wing, where Jagr beat Ward to make it 3-0 late
in the second, Carolina's chance to win had long passed.
The Canes generated only one shot on an extended five-on-three
power play early in the second and didn't get much to
speak of out of a penalty to Jagr later in the period
despite throwing five forwards on the ice. Sixty-nine
seconds after Jagr popped out of the box, he put the game
away.
"We've got to keep up with the Jagr line,"
said Hurricanes defenseman Mike Commodore, who was on
the ice for both of Jagr's goals. "Not to take anything
away from the rest of the team, but if he scores a couple
times -- and we gave him the opportunity to be good tonight
-- they've got a good chance of winning. You've got to
try and take that line away. We just didn't do it tonight."
Down 4-0 in the third and looking to break up Henrik
Lundqvist's shutout, a Ray Whitney rebound bounced out
into the slot and was sent back toward the vacant net
before Lundqvist swept the puck away with the paddle of
his stick as easily as the Rangers swatted away the Canes.
That was as good as any scoring chance Carolina had all
night, and it came off the stick of Rangers forward Colton
Orr.
"Is it an ongoing problem? No," Laviolette
said. "But we didn't have it tonight, for whatever
reason. We've got to find it [tonight] because it doesn't
get any easier."
Tuesday's game was the first of a busy four-day stretch
for the Canes. They play at the New York Islanders tonight,
then have a quick turnaround from the back-to-back with
a noon game at the Boston Bruins on Friday.
So there's no time to brood and less time to recover.
Perhaps that's best after the two days they spent enjoying
the fruits of their labors left them a little short on
the labor Tuesday.
