Canes vs Jets tonight, on the road!

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See website for details. Rob Vrindamore, all right, you guys are starting your second six-game road trip of the season. My guess is that you feel pretty good about the way your team has played, especially the last couple of games. Yeah, I thought we played really well, to be honest with you, for the last while. I don't know how long, but it feels like really, I mean, we didn't get some of the wins, but I thought we were good in. Overall, I thought our game has been pretty solid, and, you know, we obviously, some areas we needed to get a little tighter in, but overall, I think it's been really, really good. Yeah, but specifically to the last two games, they've been dominant performances in every possible way in one game, and you said it after the Islanders game. You didn't get good enough goaltending to win it, and there were mistakes made, but ultimately it came down to goaltending, and you got good goaltending against Buffalo, and you finished more of your chances.

I mean, to me, that's really what it's about. It always comes down to that, it seems like with us, you know, can we finish the chances we get? The other team is going to get chances, you know, and then, so it's just a matter of, we generally get more than the other team, which is what you want, and then it's just a matter of finishing them off. And, you know, the other night, that game felt very similar to a lot of games we played this year, just we were able to score, and then it kind of takes the stress right out of it. It's been two weeks, almost, since Ante Ranta has played since that game against Tampa. I know he was under the weather, I guess, on Saturday, otherwise he would have played against Buffalo.

What has, I mean, you don't have to say anything to that guy, he's a veteran, he's been here before. Your thoughts on number 32, drawing back in? Yeah, well, listen, it's the most important position in the hockey, you know, it's the quarterback in football, and it needs to be solid every night, and that's the pressure of that position, unfortunately, and, you know, when he's on, he's as good as it gets, right? I mean, when he's solid and plays well, it's no different than Kuch, so I think it gives us not just a good chance to win, but almost like a real slam dunk when they're playing solidly, so we need him to be what he can be.

We've seen it, you know? There's no question about it. He's a very, very good, capable goalie, and we need that out of him. Is last change overrated a little bit? Because on home ice, you've had the ability to match up your lines and defensive pairings as you see fit, but is it somewhat overrated? Yeah, a little bit, but, you know, I say that, and yet I know when I get the match up at home, we seem to pretty much, I don't want to say dominate the game, but we really outplay the other team, and it doesn't necessarily, like I say, come out on the score, but it looks the way it should, because you're suppressing the other team's best players, and, you know, if you can do that, you know, you're in good shape.

Now, on the road, you don't get that necessarily, but to your point, is it overblown? Yeah, because the other guys can do the job, too, and they should be able to do that, and, you know, generally, I do think it's overblown a little. At the end of the day, if you have a good team, it shouldn't really matter. And that's really what you have with, you know, your lines being, your forward lines being so balanced, and your defensive pairings right now, and you've said it, you feel comfortable with any pairing on the ice. Obviously, there's no substitute for what Shea and Pesci do, or what Slavin and Burns do, but your third defensive pairing has been really, really good over the last two weeks.

Yeah, they've been, I mean, we made that change and put, you know, Chatty, and we've talked about that. He's just an elite skater, and he can cover up for any kind of mishaps, and so he's a good partner for anyone. You know, when you have a guy that's just consistent and not flashy, but he can help you out, and that's really what you need out of that pairing, and so I think he solidified it a little bit, and then you've seen the results. I thought the days of the Enforcer were over, but apparently Jack Drury has become, you know, your version of, I don't know, a tough guy. Yeah, well, you know, it's definitely not bad, but at the end of the day, what you love about it is it's almost even more impressive because he's not that tough, you know, and yet he's willing to stand in there and try to, you know, offend his teammates. Whether it's the right play or not at that time of the game, we can debate that, but the guys appreciate that, and that's what a good teammate will do, and that's definitely what he is.

Second time this year, I think he's done it, but I think it maybe resonates more because of, I know the production is up, so it's easy to say he's elevated his game, but I do think that Jack looks like a little bit of a different player over the last two or three weeks than he did maybe earlier in the year. Yeah, well, he's gotten a little more ice time, right, because of the changes we've made, kind of, like you said, kind of more, I would say, balanced and getting to play with a little bit different type of players, too, and, you know, like that, and he can do that. That's what I like about him is, you know, if you need him to play a defensive kind of role, he can kill penalties. If I need to put him on the power play, he's actually very, very good at that, so he has that ability in his game.

Alright, final thing before I let you go. Sometimes you get energy after killing off a power play. It seemed to me, in the game against the Sabres, that the energy was coming during that stretch where you killed off about five minutes of power play time, including a five on three. Yeah, you're right. Special teams, whether you like it or not.

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Start having the most fun ever at ChumbaCasino.com. Become the game. Especially with the calls, because you just don't know what you're going to get. The other night, I still don't know how we could get a four-minute penalty on that call, and that's literally the game if it goes the other way.

It could be. So, you have to be able to, like you said, kill the penalties, and or if it goes your way and you get the power points, you have to make it count. At the end of the day, we made it count by killing it. We did a really nice job. We only hit the goal posts all on, so we got a little bit of a break, but you need that too. You do need some breaks here and there.

You're right, we definitely built off of that. Thank you. Good luck against the Jets. Talk to you Wednesday. Okay, buddy. Take care. Thanks, Rod. Go to piperloo.com. That's piperloo.com.