Recap: Canes Fall 4-2 In Buffalo

BUFFALO, NY. -The Carolina Hurricanes opened a two-game series against the Buffalo Sabres on the wrong side of a 4-2 result Tuesday.

Three Things:
1) Chance For Chance
Following Monday's practice Canes captain Jordan Staal talked about not allowing tonight's contest to become a freewheeling, chance for chance type game - the style that the Sabres have been playing as of late. With Buffalo being essentially out of the playoff picture, they've played a much more open type of game, unafraid to play loosely and it's worked for them, taking points in eight out of their last nine contests.
It turned out that portions of this evening's contest did become just that, and they were costly.
Despite Carolina looking like their normal self during the opening frame and taking a one-goal lead, the Sabres made it a much more run-and-gun type of second period, striking for two goals in the opening six minutes to flip the script. The Canes were able to tie the contest early in the third as they got back to their game, but Buffalo had a pair of responses to guide them to the victory.
2) Strength In The Staal Line
Both Carolina goals in the contest came courtesy of Staal's line, with the team's Captain providing assists on both.
The first was a hard-working effort by #11, stripping a Sabre during an attempted breakout, spinning play and allowing Nino Niederreiter to set up Jesper Fast.
Then, in the third, Staal's work behind the net allowed him to hit Niederreiter in front for his 22nd of the season.
Over the course of the defeat all other three forward lines were mixed up, but not the Staal unit.

3) Trying Something Different
For the first time in team history the club wore their black pants and black gloves with their white sweaters for the contest. A change in pace from the red pants and red gloves that have become standard for the team over the last several seasons, there was no rhyme or reason behind why the team elected to change things up, other than to see how the combination looked.
They Said It:
Nino Niederreiterexpressing his frustration post-game:
"That game was unacceptable. The way we came out, especially. There's no easy team to play against and they played hard. We took it for granted. We thought that would be an easy game and that wasn't the case."
Jesper Fastcontinuing on what didn't go right:
"There's no excuse. We talked about playing the right way before the game and as you saw, we didn't do that at all. As a team we didn't play good enough.
Rod Brind'Amouroffering his thoughts on his team's game:
"It's pretty obvious and pretty self-evident. We had just a terrible second period and we left it up to chance. We played a good third, we came out hard, but it was too late. We got what we deserved there."
What's Next?:
The Canes fly back to Raleigh post-game and are scheduled to practice Wednesday. Thursday they open a series of three home games in four days against the same Sabres.
Bonus Notes:
Worth A Click:
Mailbag #22: Don't Worry, Be Happy
Canes, NC Warriors Announce Partnership
Hurricanes April Schedule
NHL Standings