OK reader, I’ll level with you. During first intermission I was already writing the intro to this write-up as starting with something along the line of “well the good news is our lottery chances just improved.” Can you imagine what this season would be like if this team could start games effectively? 36 seconds in, it looked like we were in for another one of those games where we just wanted to get out of the opposing team’s barn without any injuries but newcomer Rene Bourque notched his first goal in the union blue sweater (well, mostly white tonight) and then Mister Never-Say-Die Hartnell was able to bury the 2nd and 3rd goal to send it to overtime. The recently stalled CBJ power play found its legs tonight with all three goals in regulation coming with the man advantage. Let’s see who the stars of the night were.
3rd Star: Victor Rask
Rask’s PPG could have been the nail in the coffin of the oft-challenged when playing from behind Blue Jackets. It was a huge goal for the Hurricanes. With admittedly a bit of a homer slant, I’d have liked to have seen Johansen pick up the third star for his game-winning shootout goal tonight since he was the only skater to get one past either of the net minders.
2nd Star: Scott Hartnell
I’ll say it again. Hartnell never quits. He logged huge minutes to the tune of 21:26 tonight with Foligno being out and was rewarded with two power play goals. As usual, he generated traffic towards the net and banged the body around like you can count on him to do. Without even comparing his numbers to healthy scratch RJ Umberger’s numbers in Philadelphia, you have got to love that trade more and more.
1st Star: Justin Faulk
If I said I wasn’t disappointed when I heard we acquired Falk and not Faulk on trade deadline day I’d be lying. He’s the kind of presence every team wants on their blue line. He was a traffic funneling machine tonight with 3P in the form of 1G and 2A while logging nearly 24 minutes of ice time. 1st star = earned.
Stud: Rene Bourque
I’ll give Bourque the nod tonight for getting what seemed like a dead team on the board. Frankly, I don’t think many expect much of Bourque in the NHL and that the CBJ are just riding out his contract but he was able to contribute effectively tonight by doing what coaches ask of all players: get in the high traffic area and look for redirects. Attaboy, Bourquey.
Secondary stud goes to Evgeny Romasko who officiated his 2nd NHL game time. I didn’t notice him at all so that means he did a great job.
Dud: Vuvuzelas
Seriously. Can you find anyone who thinks these things add to the game experience? Let’s just agree to leave them at home next time.
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