The Canes vs the Sabres tonight at PNC Arena!

Hurricanes will play tonight at home against the Buffalo Sabres. I mentioned this before, this has been a matchup that has produced a lot of goals. So in the last six games between these two teams, the Hurricanes have scored 29 goals. 29 goals? I think it was 29.

It was 26. 26 goals, not 29. 26 goals, 13 last year, 13 the year before.

It's a bunch. That is a lot. It's actually 4.33 goals per game. The Sabres have also scored a lot of goals, but fewer. The Sabres are averaging actually below their normal average because they score, but the Sabres are averaging about three and a quarter goals per game. They have 19 goals in the six games played. So actually it's like 3.17 goals per game. But that's more than Carolina usually gives up by more than half a goal a game. At least historically, the Hurricanes this year have given up significantly more than that, but you see that number has been dropping. Remember the first, what, six games they gave up 30 goals. That's five goals per game. Right now they're giving up about 3.6 goals per game. So in the last six, it's dropped considerably there.

Again, they're starting to get back to playing the brand of hockey we are used to. That'll come up in our conversation with Rod Brindamore. But you know what it is?

It's election day. So I'm curious, not that this is an election or anything like that, but if I was asking Rod Brindamore to vote for his favorite all-time player, who would that be? Oh man, my favorite all-time player.

Well, it would have to be, I have too many. I can't nail down to one, but Guilherme was my guy growing up. He was my, I was in his fan club and then I got to play against him. So that was kind of a very surreal moment.

But there's been a lot of good ones over the years. With respect to Frederick Anderson, and this is an issue that goes well beyond hockey, and we wish him all the best. Ante Ronta tonight, Yarrow Halak brought in to kind of see if he can offer something on a professional tryout.

Piotr Kicekoff is up. How would you, you know, when you look at your goaltending, are you good with what you have or are you somewhat concerned, especially in light of what Freddie's dealing with? Well, listen, they're always concerned when it comes to goaltending because it's just so important of a position. And we talked about it at length this summer when everyone was like, why do you have three?

And well, I can tell you why. Right. Now we're down to two in a way. And so that's that's just a concern for sure. And that's why you see with the moves we made and see what, you know, Halak is a proven guy over the years and see if he's got anything there.

You just you can't have enough depth to that position. And clearly we, you know, we did the right thing here this summer. And now it's just a matter of showing that up a little bit. Is there is there any way to determine whether Freddie is month to month, two, three months out? Is there any way that you can determine this? I don't think so. Not that I've been told. I think it's just kind of, you know, we know it's going to be a while and that can probably take on a life of its own there. I'm not sure. And, you know, I think it's probably way too early to assess all that.

But we know it's definitely long term. All right. Let's talk about the the last two games for Aunty Ronta, which I think have been very good. I know he allowed three goals on the island. I'm not sure you can fault him on any of them. I know you can't fault him on any of them. I'm not sure he could have done anything about any of them. But how do you think he's played the last two? Yeah.

Well, listen, you're right. Most of the goals, you know, if you can go through a game and say, well, you know, you don't you just don't want to let those ones that you should have had going because those are hard to come back from. And he's done that here lately where it's the goals that you said, what do you what do you want him to do?

And when was it to on all, you know? But but I will say, you know, then after that, he didn't he didn't have a lot of work. But when he had to and it was one in overtime, he made a great save like that. That's what you need. You do need saves when they get their grade A occasionally, right? Like they're going to happen.

You're going to give up four or five a night grade A. We got to we got to get a save there. And that's the difference. And I think, you know, if he can do that, make sure obviously save the ones we want to save and then get a couple here or there that, you know, are game changers that I think this does it all. So that's what we need out of him. What is the significance of Sebastian Aho getting the goal? I don't know.

I mean, I who knows, right? Every game kind of the new game, but does it help him feel a little more like in rhythm? You know, obviously, we need him to score and haven't done that yet. So and really still hasn't five on five. So we need, you know, we need him to go because that's your best player. He's got to be able to be your best player. So I think hopefully it jump starts in a little bit and get him, you know, feeling like he has been over the years. Yeah, he has.

I mean, both of his goals. One is shorthanded. The other is at three on three. I thought you guys I was prepared in the post game show and in the podcast to try to explain to people that even when it was three nothing, you guys I thought you guys had played pretty well, but you became much more dangerous offensively the last 30 minutes of the game. What changed? Good question. I don't know.

I think it's hard to say. I actually thought we played good off the whole game. Yes, we got we got a little more desperate when we got down. And to be honest, the other team, you know, when they get ahead sometimes comes off the gas a little and that's that's a big difference when you, you know, we all of a sudden we're in their end the whole game and, you know, they were kind of hanging on. And that's that's what you want from Vermont to get four sat on the other team. And, you know, put a lot of parks at the net and we had a lot of good opportunities and our goal was good.

But, you know, you can't stop everything if you put enough there. And that's kind of what happened. The net front presence by Seth Jarvis on the Dimitri Orloff goal. Do you think Elia Sorokin ever saw that puck? Yeah, well, that one for sure. I think it went off there, D, but so it might not matter.

But you're right. It's because we had a guy going there. And then even the first goal, Chad, you know, we had three guys there. Jordan Stahl especially kind of does a drive by rate of the shots coming. And all the other guys are there.

Quickie and Marty. And because they're there, they attract their guys. And, you know, it goes off one of their guys and goes in a lot of times.

It doesn't work that way. We see it where they get blocked because there's so many bodies there. But that's why you got to keep doing it. And, you know, I just I love the way we played that game.

I thought it was perfect textbook. You know, we had a couple of mistakes and they ended up in our net that those are going to happen. We didn't we didn't give up a whole bunch.

And we certainly created a boatload. So that's that's the recipe for success. Yeah, this is what, six games in a row now or so where it's it's looking a lot more like you wanted to look right.

I think so. I mean, I think, again, you know, where it's all about, you know, suppression of chances for the other team. I mean, that's you got to limit those as best you can. And, you know, we've given up some good ones, but I think it's a little more magnified because they seem to those ones kept going in. And, you know, the other night we got to save. And I think that's really the key in the whole thing. And we just got to, you know, we got a tough game tonight because you're playing a team that's all about creating chances.

And, you know, football on his own and hanging out behind you and just doing some things that it's harder to play against. And we're going to have our hands full. Yeah, they are. They are ready to go at all times, even though you guys have beaten Buffalo for four of the last six. And you guys have scored a lot of goals on them.

They are more than three goals a game against you, which is well above what you normally allow. What is it about them? And I know they've got some dynamic talent, especially now in the blue line.

What is about them that's so dangerous? Well, it's just the mentality. And I think, like you said, there's Thompson is one of the elite players of the game. And you watch him when he gets the puck on a stick. And it's pretty, pretty impressive. And they got a bunch of other guys, too. Now, I think they got five or six of the real top, top players. And you mentioned a couple on the blue line with, you know, power and the lean like those guys really did. And they're just kind of coming into their own. And so it's, it's, it's in the way they're playing it. It's kind of, I don't want to say loosey goosey, but it's, you know, they're definitely going for it. And that's sometimes can be working your advantage.

You can also work against you as we've seen, too. So that's where we just have to stick to our game and kind of not get caught up in that one. Rod Rindamore, the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, if you are listening in Raleigh, Stormwatch comes your way at 6.30 tonight. And that is, it's always cool. It's good. It's going to feel weird to be back at PNC Arena. I know. So we, the Hurricanes opened the season at PNC Arena against Ottawa, one. Then they went west for five games, four in the Pacific time zone, then Colorado, then came home, changed underwear and flew to Tampa. I know. And now it might be dark before we can even get to PNC Arena.

It's going to be dark in 10 minutes. Then came home and played two games, Seattle and San Jose, back to back. And then left again.

Geez, I'm tired for that. Right, exactly. They went to Philadelphia. They went to New York to play the Rangers. Then the Islanders come home, one game, Buffalo. Then they go to Florida. They're playing the Panthers and the Lightning on Friday and Saturday. They won't know what to do when they stay in one place more than a week. Fifteen games in, Carolina would have played four at home. Wow.

That's it. They have played three of their first 12 at home. Hey, at least they have a winning record, even though they can't stay in one place. It is. I mean, with all of the problems, they are still seven and five on the season.

If they can get through this stretch, six of the remaining seven games in the month of November will be on home ice. I'm here for it. And that's good. Absolutely.