ECSF - Game 3

The Hurricanes head into the swamp tonight. New Jersey is back up against the wall, fighting for their playoff lives. Big news, they are bringing back a player from injury - their savior! Colin White?

He's their best defensive defenseman, but Scott Stevens or Scott Niedermayer he's not. He's going to be shadowing Staaly, most likely. The guy is recovering from a groin injury. It took Whitney several games of playing to fully be back at 100%. I don't think he'll be able to keep up with the Canes' speed forecheck.

People (NJ beat writers, NJ fans) are even getting into some revisionist history, saying White wouldn't have allowed Staal to be standing to score the game tying goal the other night. WTF ever. You don't know what would have happened: the ifs, ands, or buts game has to stop. It's all conjecture. That can go on ad infinitum on both sides - *if* White played, Staal wouldn't have scored. *if* Cole was in the lineup, we would have been up by more anyway and we would probably be playing Buffalo right now instead. Who cares? Deal with the present, not a nebulous alternate-reality past. We might as well talk about what if JFK wasn't shot, or Lincoln? It accomplishes nothing other than to start a flame war on message boards and soothe griping fans upset at a loss.

The fact of the matter is that the team defense of the Devils is not what it used to be. Marty Brodeur is playing well and he is one of the greatest of all times, but the Canes are throwing many more shots on him than he's used to. They're crashing the net, getting rebound opportunities, and generally getting under his skin. The goalie interference calls are even a little iffy at times. The refs are calling anything remotely close and Brodeur knows it. He's been lobbying the refs even before the series started!

Predictions for tonight:

Canes 4 Devils 1
LaRose finally scores. Brodeur has owned him, but he has had some major chances. His goal will be the difference maker. Williams (Justin, not Jason, for people unable to keep them separate in their minds) will get one tonight too. The Devils aren't deep enough to handle the number of forwards we can throw at them. They (NJ) will come out strong but surrender the first goal on a counter-attack in transition.

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Post-game
Canes 3 Devils 2
A win's a win, so no complaints. LaRose was kept off the board. Williams made a difference and popped in a goal. The Devils came out strong and got the first goal, but we got two back quick. I think the Devils actually dictated play for most of the game, but at gut-check time they blinked and we didn't. One more win and this series is over. Lets get it in game 4 and make a clean sweep of it. Go Canes!