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| Carolina Hurricanes vs. Buffalo Sabres - pregame - PKS Consulting LLC |
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The Carolina Hurricanes host the Buffalo Sabres at PNC Arena on Thursday.
This is the first of three games between the two teams and the first of a back-to-back set that will travel to Buffalo on Friday.
The Hurricanes have dropped their first two games of the season - the first on the road against the Florida Panthers, a 5-1 decision last Saturday while the Tampa Bay Lightning spoiled the Hurricanes' home opener on Tuesday with a 4-1 win over Carolina.
The Sabres travel to Raleigh with 2-0 record to start the season - a 5-2 win at home over the Philadelphia Flyers and a 2-1 road victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Cam Ward starts in goal for Carolina and holds an 8-6-3 record with a 2.83 goals-against-average against the Buffalo.
Jhonas Enroth gets the start in between the pipes for the Sabres as his perfect 2-0-0 sheet and 0.49 GAA is a logical choice for coach Lindy Ruff.
Puck drop coming up in 5 minutes.
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1st Period:
- Sabres gain possession early and head into the Carolina zone but they break it out cleanly
- Eric Staal and Alex Semin hovering around Enroth early
- Staal gets a great opportunity for a clean shot on goal in the slot but is stick-checked
- Jeff Skinner takes a tripping penalty at 1:07 into the period
- Hurricanes kill off the penalty as the Sabres get a few chances but nothing tangible
- Shortly afterwards Buffalo's Alex Sulzer goes off for holding Jordan Staal in the slot
- The Hurricanes power play gets a quick three shots off with Semin getting two of those - Hurricanes outshooting Buffalo 6-0 in this scoreless game with 14-16 left
- Carolina comes up 0-1 on the first power play as both teams are even-strength now
- Buffalo gains the zone but Semin intercepts it and heads up ice and gains the zone
- Semin tries to get a pass to Staal in the high slot, but it's tipped away
- Westgarth, Brent, and Dwyer out there to eat up some minutes and push some bodies around
- Cory Hodgson dodges a check from Tim Gleason and feeds Jason Pominville who's tied up by Justin Faulk and Ward makes the save
- Drayson Bowman called for boarding at 10:37 remaining in the period and Carolina will go on the PK again
- Buffalo is 3-10 on the PP so this is not a situation that Carolina wants to be in throughout this game
- Jordan Staal and Jiri Tlusty on the PK work the puck down into the Buffalo Sabres as their PP is not able to set up
- The Sabres reset and gain the zone again and get the puck to Tyler Myers at the point, but the shot is block and rolls outside of the Carolina zone
- Eric Staal and Tlusty finish the PK and Buffalo is 0-2 on the PP so far tonight
- Skinner, Jordan Staal and Semin work around the net but can't get a shot on Enroth
- Chad LaRose, Bowman, and Jussi Jokinen put in a decent shift keeping Buffalo in the neutral zone
- Still 0-0 with 6:55 to play in the period
- Skinner, JStaal, and Zac Dalpe only gain the zone once but with no shots on goal
- EStaal, Semin, and Tlusty get the puck behind the Buffalo goal and Staal is taken down by Myers who's called for holding at 5:47
- Carolina ready to begin its second PP of the period
- Faceoff starts play to Enroth's right and Buffalo manages to dump it out of the zone and Carolina resets
- The Sabres breakout of the zone and Steve Ott gets a chance for a shot on Ward, but it is blocked and goes over the glass
- With the faceoff to Ward's right the Hurricanes regroup to gain the Buffalo zone and LaRose and Tlusty are fighting for it behind the net while Jokinen hovers on the wing
- Carolina's last chance on the PP and Semin's shot gets block again and the puck is cleared into the neural zone
- EStaal takes an interference penalty at 3:46 as he is pushed from behind
- Buffalo starts it third PP sequence of the period
- Sabres moving the puck along the boards to Wards left a few times before sliding it across but the Carolina defense is playing tighter in the slot area
- Pominville gets an open shot on Ward and he makes the save and the Hurricanes kill of the penalty
- Good shift by Skinner, Tlusty and JStaal - Hurricanes still outshooting the Sabres 7-6 with under 30 seconds to play
- Boman takes one last shot from the boards to Enroth's right but it goes wide as the period ends
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2nd Period
- It doesn't take long for Carolina as Jeff Skinner picks up a fanned attempt from JStaal and scores his second goal of the season, another backhander just 1:02 into the period - Carolina leads 1-0
- Pat Dwyer is sent to the box for interference at 16:53 and Buffalo gets its fourth PP opportunity of the game
- Brent and Jokinen out on the PK along with Gleason and Faulk - a good 45 seconds of PK work
- Faulk picks up the puck after JStaal gets a stick on a cross zone pass and heads down the right wing - winds up and beats Enroth between the pads - 2-0 Carolina lead just 4:06 into the period
- Myers is sent to the box at 15:11 and the Hurricanes will start 4-on-4 and then go on the PP in 18 seconds
- EStaal, Semin, Skinner out on the PP with Jokinen and Pitkanen
- They set up in the Buffalo and Skinner tees one up but its deflected away
- After McBain fights for the puck behind his net, LaRose gets a shot off as the penalty expires
- Carolina outshooting Buffalo 16-12, leading 2-0 with 12:56 to go
- Both teams at even strength and the Semin, JStaal, Tlusty line hovering around the blue line until Semin finds Tlusty who gets a good shot on Enroth who make she save
- Tempo and possession is all Carolina's and Skinner breaks into the zone and misses on scoring his second of the night
- Buffalo sets up in the Carolina zone and Ward makes a save on a shot from the left point
- Hodgson pushes off from coverage by Gleason and finishes the play, scoring the rebound left off a Thomas Vanek shot that was deflected by Jordan Leopold into the open net - Carolina lead now is 2-1 with 10:50 to play
- After a faceoff to Ward's left, Christian Erhoff gets a cross zone pass from Sulzer who wires a shot in the slot that Pominville gets a stick on to tie the game with 9:21 left
- Drayson Bowman gets a great shift in with LaRose and Jokinen and puts a pass in the slot to Faulk who pinches to get a shot off
- Skinner picks up a loose puck as Dalpe works to keep the puck behind Enroth and wraps it to score his second of the game to retake the lead 3-2 with 6:04 to play
- Off the faceoff, EStaal wins the draw and gets the puck back to Pitkanen, who slides it across to McBain and he finds EStaal and he breaks in to beat Enroth between his legs, scoring his first of the season to extend the Hurricanes' lead to 4-2 with 5:55 to play
- Ward makes a big save Jochen Hecht and Buffalo begins to put pressure on the Hurricanes as they were caught on a line change
- Drew Stafford with a hard shot from the left faceoff circle and Ward turns it away and Faulk moves the puck up towards the Buffalo zone - Hurricanes leading 4-2 with 1:45 to play
- With 1:17 to go, LaRose is called for slashing and Buffalo will have its fifth PP of the night
- The Sabres don't wasted time and get a few quality shots on Ward
- Tlusty does a nice job to waste some time
- Dwyer breaks in on the PK, beating the Buffalo defense and he just misses ringing a backhand attempt of the post as the period ends
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3rd Period:
- LaRose still in the penalty box for 43 seconds so Buffalo continues on the PP as the period begins
- The Sabres gain the zone but Gleason sends it down
- Erhoff gets a shot on Ward from the point on the next set-up
- As the penalty ends the Hurricanes come the other way with Semin taking a shot wide
- At even strength, Buffalo has had its best sequence ina while with Ward making a stop and the defence keeps the rebound from going anywhere but in the net
- Pominville carries it in to Ward's left and lets a sneaky shot go near Ward's pad and the post that the Carolina netminder makes the stop on
- JStaal blocks two successive shot attempts and the puck trickles out ino the neutral zone
- Bowman gets a great feed from Jokinen at center ice and steaks in and puts a shot to Enroth's glovehand as the netminder makes the save
- Skinner, JStaal, Dalpe line putting pressure on the Sabres defense as Sangunetti keeps it in and dumps it into the slot area
- A little tussle in the corner as Steve Ott crosschecks JStaal - Jay Harrison comes in to to join the party
- On an ensuing Sabres possession, Pominville on the right hash mark passes to Vanek who moves into the slot and backhands back to Pominville for the goal into the open net past Ward - Hurricanes lead is now one goal - 4-3 with 13:54 to play
- Buffalo all over Carolina as Ward tested on two quality shots as the pace of play has really picked up at this point
- Skinner steals the puck at center, enters the Buffalo zone with a pass to JStaal and he feeds a breaking Dalpe just inside the blue line - his shot catches Enroth's shoulder and goes over the glass
- Pitkanen pinches to Enroth's left and he finds EStaal on the left facoff dot who wires one over the Sabres netminders' shoulder for his second goal of the game - Carolina leads 5-3 with 10:54 to play
- Jokinen gains the zone with Bowman but he is slowed down and the Sabres' Sulzer is called for holding at 9:27 and the Hurricanes get another PP opportunity on the night
- Tlusty out with EStaal and Semin on the PP with Faulk and Pitkanen
- Carolina moving the puck well on the PP, along the boards and through the slot - Enroth holding strong in net
- JStaal, Skinner, Dalpe on next PP unit with McBain and Sanginetti
- As penalty expires, JStaal takes a hooking penalty with 7:16 to play
- Erhoff lets a shot go from the point that Ward turns away during Buffalo's sixth PP sequence of the game
- Carolina able to dump the puck down the ice twice so far and Harrison sends it down for a third time
- Less than a minute left on the penalty to JStaal and the Hurricanes send it down the ice once more
- Bowman gets it and skates into the Buffalo zone and shoots on goal to waste more time
- At the other end Marcus Foligno takes a quality shot that hits Ward square in the chest as the keeper holds onto the puck for a faceoff - Hurricanes still leading 5-3 with 4:48 to play
- Carolina outshooting Buffalo 35-33 currently
- LaRose, Bowman, Jokinen successfully keeps the puck in the Buffalo zone
- JStaal gains the zone and slides a pass to Skinner and his shot just flies over the crossbar
- JStaal gets the puck back and feeds one to Dalpe that challenges Enroth to make a low pad save to the right
- Under two minutes to play and Carolina looks to be in firm control
- As Buffalo pulls Enroth for the extra attacker, EStaal launches one down the ice from center ice and scores this third of the night with 1:28 left - his first hat trick of the season
- Carolina leading 6-3 now with a minute to play - Dalpe asssisted on Staal's goal
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