Comment 1:
If this game is any indication of how well both the teams will do the rest of this season, then you better watch out for Carolina! They have a lot of talented veterans in their lineup, but they also have a few rookies with quite a lot of potential. I'd be surprised if they weren't in the top three by the end of the year or maybe even tied for first but then losing out to Detroit based on goals for. Who knows! On the flip side, Vancouver needs to get their act together. I know it is very early in the season, but they need to make some changes or they will find themselves near the bottom of the standings.

Comment 2:
Vancouver really needs to work on their power play. Carolina gave Vancouver four separate power play opportunities this game. The Vancouver Whalers capitalized on exactly zero of those opportunities. If they had been able to score on even three of those four power plays, the game would have been tied and it would have gone into overtime. But even scoring on one of them could have changed the tide of the game. This is really a testament to Carolina's defensive penalty kill unit and their defense as a whole. Without that lock down D, who knows how differently the game could've ended.

Comment 3:
The importance of the face off: Those who control the face off, control the game. Carolina was dominant in the face off circle tonight winning thirty eight of sixty six face offs. With such quick control of the puck, it was very easy for them to get so many offensive opportunities. And with those offensive opportunities come the shot opportunities and goals. What's more is that the longer and more frequently your team is on offense, the more and more tired the other team's defense will get. And then the cycle continues. Looking at the stats after the game shows that only one of Vancouver's main face off guys was able to have over 50% win rate when stepping up to face off. On the other side, Carolina's top face off guys were all above 50%. Total dominance.